Mariners staring at basement again
It was another cellar finish, their third straight, for the Mariners last year. And it won't be a stellar season this year unless some high-priced vets come through.
It was Aug 9, 2006, and an afternoon getaway date at home against Tampa Bay was on the slate. Having won the first two games of the series the Mariners were looking for a sweep as they struggled to get back to the .500. Jarrod Washburn, signed away from their rivals down in Anaheim the previous winter was on the mound, and Seattle was pumped after winning the night before on 10th-inning walk off salami by Richie Sexson.
Washburn would need some help from Rafael Soriano and JJ Putz, but the three arms combined on a 4-hit shutout and the Mariners had the sweep with a 2-0 win. Though they were still 56-57 and last in the division, Seattle was just 5½ out of first. And as we’ve all learned in baseball over the years, anything is possible.
But while anything is possible, if only in our dreams and hopes, reality is very often cold and hard. The Mariners departed on an 11-game road trip through their division and came home 12 games below .500 after being swept first by the Rangers, then the A’s and finally the Angels. And though they would play six games over .500 after the trip, Seattle would finish last in the NL West at 78-84, 15 games south of Oakland.
Not that the division’s cellar was unexpected after the squad finished in the same slot the previous two seasons. But even though the club improved by nine games in the win column, manager Mike Hargrove, now beginning his third season at the helm, and the club was nonetheless disappointed and left to ponder all winter the woulda’s, coulda’s and shoulda’s had they brought home just a 5-6 record from that fateful road trip.
Ownership, which shelled out nearly $90 million in payroll last year, probably won’t give the same group time to ponder anything next winter should the club finish last in the division this season.
OFFENSE
While the sticks weren’t completely to blame, the offense does deserve a big chunk of the responsibility for last year. Only the Devil Rays scored fewer runs than the Mariners last season in the AL, and Seattle out-homered just four other Junior Circuit clubs on the year. That’s not something Seattle management envisioned when they inked sluggers Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre to megabuck deals prior to the ’05 campaign.
And of the 120 shutouts AL clubs suffered last year, 15 of the goose eggs belong to the Mariners. The club scored one or two runs on 30 other occasions.
Sexson and Beltre can’t shoulder the entire load, and Sexson has clubbed 73 homers to Beltre’s 44 since their arrival. But they also combined for 272 strikeouts last season, and 275 the year before. The infield corners, especially Beltre at third, need to pick up their offense this time around.
While Sexson and Beltre have been disappointing, the future for the middle of the diamond is bright after second baseman Jose Lopez and Yuniesky Betancourt completed their first full seasons in the bigs. Both need to work on their plate discipline, something that can be said for all young players. And Lopez is nursing a sore ankle from an injury in winter ball, something that bears watching this spring.
Also completing his first season in the big leagues was catcher Kenji Johjima. The import from Japan had a fine season at the plate with 18 homers and a .291 batting average, and committed just seven miscues out of over 900 chances in the field.
Johjima’s backup this year will be Rene Rivera once again, meaning Johjima will need to be in the lineup as often as possible. Infield backups will be Ben Broussard at first, Willie Bloomquist in the middle of the infield and Sean Burroughs who was inked to a minor league deal this winter. The minors is most likely where Burroughs will begin the year, especially since he injured a shoulder fishing near his home in San Diego just before the start of spring training.
Jose Vidro, acquired from the Nationals, will also see some time in the infield, possibly at first, second and third. But he’s being counted on to DH for the most part.
The outfield will find a different alignment this year than last, assuming everyone is healthy. Ichiro Suzuki will shift from right to center in order to accommodate Jose Guillen in right. Raul Ibañez will remain in left. Guillen is coming off elbow surgery, so his availability at least to start the season remains a question mark.
If Guillen can’t play the field to start the season, Suzuki will shift back to right with Jeremy Reed playing center. Mike Morse is vying for an outfield reserve role. Adam Jones is the youngster in waiting for center after the club switched him from shortstop a couple of years ago. He’s a former 1st-round pick from 2003 and should be up at some point this season, especially if the club is heading for another poor finish.
PITCHING
You hear it all the time how Seattle’s Safeco Field is the reason some of the team’s offensive numbers aren’t so high. And that ‘excuse,’ for wont of a better word, does hold some water for Mariners hitters. Of the 29 times the offense tallied eight or more runs in 2006, only 11 of those games came at home. But can someone tell me why then that of the 27 times the opposition scored at least eight times in Seattle games last year, almost half, 13, were at Safeco? Could it have something to do with their pitching?
Of course it could. Seattle pitchers finished tied for eighth in the AL with a 4.60 ERA last year. The team they were tied with? Why, Texas, the same Rangers staff that pitches half of their games in the hitter-friendly Ballpark That Dubya Built while Mariner hurlers are spending half of their games in the pitcher-friendly Safeco.
Seattle tried to address their pitching before last season by signing Washburn. But he was not the staff ace they thought they might be getting. Jarrod’s ERA was 4.67, well above the 3.20 he turned in with the Angels the previous season and slightly above the entire staff’s ERA. The lefty will have to step it up this year.
Washburn doesn’t even have to be the staff ace as that job should belong to young Felix Hernandez beginning this year. King Felix had a rough full season after his sparkling debut over 12 starts at the end of 2005, but he has reported to camp this year in much better shape and is expected to be the Opening Day starter for the M’s.
In need of pitching, especially a true veteran to at least call their staff ace, Seattle instead went out and spent more Washburn-sized money on Miguel Batista, giving the veteran about $25 million for three years, an awful lot of money on a 36-year-old who has just one 200 inning season in his arm, that coming last year when the D-backs were desperate for anyone to chew up innings. The Mariners also inked Jeff Weaver in the offseason. They’ll give Weaver about the same this year as they’re giving Batista, so that’s the bad news. But the good news is it’s only a one-year deal.
Still desperate for starting pitching, the Mariners also dealt a solid reliever in Rafael Soriano to the Braves for lefty Horacio Ramirez. Now, don’t get me wrong, especially since I think Ramirez might just fare better than either Batista or Weaver. But when was the last time Atlanta parted with a solid pitcher in a trade?
Soriano will be missed in the pen, but at least the Mariners still have JJ Putz in the closer’s role. In fact, Seattle gave the former Wolverine a nice 3-year deal to keep him in their pen at least through 2009. Putz dazzled as a closer last year, saving 36 with a 2.30 ERA and excellent 104/13 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Chris Reitsma was signed and will likely be the chief setup arm from the right side to open the season. Julio Mateo will also get some work, assuming his broken hand from last year is healed. Arthur Rhodes and George Sherrill will have the lefty work, with other names like Aaron Small and Sean Green also relief possibilities.
Key Player(s): You’ve got to figure that Ibañez is coming off his career year, so a lot of the big punch in the order is squarely on the bats of Sexson and Beltre. This isn’t Murderer’s Row, we know that. So my finger is pointed directly at Washburn and Batista as veteran arms in the rotation.
Futures: The Greek lists the win break at 79½ while Pinnacle is a game lower at 78½. Pinnacle also lists Seattle on their futures board at +1048 to win the AL West, +2993 to win the AL and +8150 to go all the way. Bodog has the Mariners at 76½ on the over-under for wins, 10:1 in the AL West, 40:1 in the AL and an even 100:1 to win the Series.
My projections are 77 wins on average, meaning Seattle is very likely going to take a step back this season.
It was another cellar finish, their third straight, for the Mariners last year. And it won't be a stellar season this year unless some high-priced vets come through.
It was Aug 9, 2006, and an afternoon getaway date at home against Tampa Bay was on the slate. Having won the first two games of the series the Mariners were looking for a sweep as they struggled to get back to the .500. Jarrod Washburn, signed away from their rivals down in Anaheim the previous winter was on the mound, and Seattle was pumped after winning the night before on 10th-inning walk off salami by Richie Sexson.
Washburn would need some help from Rafael Soriano and JJ Putz, but the three arms combined on a 4-hit shutout and the Mariners had the sweep with a 2-0 win. Though they were still 56-57 and last in the division, Seattle was just 5½ out of first. And as we’ve all learned in baseball over the years, anything is possible.
But while anything is possible, if only in our dreams and hopes, reality is very often cold and hard. The Mariners departed on an 11-game road trip through their division and came home 12 games below .500 after being swept first by the Rangers, then the A’s and finally the Angels. And though they would play six games over .500 after the trip, Seattle would finish last in the NL West at 78-84, 15 games south of Oakland.
Not that the division’s cellar was unexpected after the squad finished in the same slot the previous two seasons. But even though the club improved by nine games in the win column, manager Mike Hargrove, now beginning his third season at the helm, and the club was nonetheless disappointed and left to ponder all winter the woulda’s, coulda’s and shoulda’s had they brought home just a 5-6 record from that fateful road trip.
Ownership, which shelled out nearly $90 million in payroll last year, probably won’t give the same group time to ponder anything next winter should the club finish last in the division this season.
OFFENSE
While the sticks weren’t completely to blame, the offense does deserve a big chunk of the responsibility for last year. Only the Devil Rays scored fewer runs than the Mariners last season in the AL, and Seattle out-homered just four other Junior Circuit clubs on the year. That’s not something Seattle management envisioned when they inked sluggers Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre to megabuck deals prior to the ’05 campaign.
And of the 120 shutouts AL clubs suffered last year, 15 of the goose eggs belong to the Mariners. The club scored one or two runs on 30 other occasions.
Sexson and Beltre can’t shoulder the entire load, and Sexson has clubbed 73 homers to Beltre’s 44 since their arrival. But they also combined for 272 strikeouts last season, and 275 the year before. The infield corners, especially Beltre at third, need to pick up their offense this time around.
While Sexson and Beltre have been disappointing, the future for the middle of the diamond is bright after second baseman Jose Lopez and Yuniesky Betancourt completed their first full seasons in the bigs. Both need to work on their plate discipline, something that can be said for all young players. And Lopez is nursing a sore ankle from an injury in winter ball, something that bears watching this spring.
Also completing his first season in the big leagues was catcher Kenji Johjima. The import from Japan had a fine season at the plate with 18 homers and a .291 batting average, and committed just seven miscues out of over 900 chances in the field.
Johjima’s backup this year will be Rene Rivera once again, meaning Johjima will need to be in the lineup as often as possible. Infield backups will be Ben Broussard at first, Willie Bloomquist in the middle of the infield and Sean Burroughs who was inked to a minor league deal this winter. The minors is most likely where Burroughs will begin the year, especially since he injured a shoulder fishing near his home in San Diego just before the start of spring training.
Jose Vidro, acquired from the Nationals, will also see some time in the infield, possibly at first, second and third. But he’s being counted on to DH for the most part.
The outfield will find a different alignment this year than last, assuming everyone is healthy. Ichiro Suzuki will shift from right to center in order to accommodate Jose Guillen in right. Raul Ibañez will remain in left. Guillen is coming off elbow surgery, so his availability at least to start the season remains a question mark.
If Guillen can’t play the field to start the season, Suzuki will shift back to right with Jeremy Reed playing center. Mike Morse is vying for an outfield reserve role. Adam Jones is the youngster in waiting for center after the club switched him from shortstop a couple of years ago. He’s a former 1st-round pick from 2003 and should be up at some point this season, especially if the club is heading for another poor finish.
PITCHING
You hear it all the time how Seattle’s Safeco Field is the reason some of the team’s offensive numbers aren’t so high. And that ‘excuse,’ for wont of a better word, does hold some water for Mariners hitters. Of the 29 times the offense tallied eight or more runs in 2006, only 11 of those games came at home. But can someone tell me why then that of the 27 times the opposition scored at least eight times in Seattle games last year, almost half, 13, were at Safeco? Could it have something to do with their pitching?
Of course it could. Seattle pitchers finished tied for eighth in the AL with a 4.60 ERA last year. The team they were tied with? Why, Texas, the same Rangers staff that pitches half of their games in the hitter-friendly Ballpark That Dubya Built while Mariner hurlers are spending half of their games in the pitcher-friendly Safeco.
Seattle tried to address their pitching before last season by signing Washburn. But he was not the staff ace they thought they might be getting. Jarrod’s ERA was 4.67, well above the 3.20 he turned in with the Angels the previous season and slightly above the entire staff’s ERA. The lefty will have to step it up this year.
Washburn doesn’t even have to be the staff ace as that job should belong to young Felix Hernandez beginning this year. King Felix had a rough full season after his sparkling debut over 12 starts at the end of 2005, but he has reported to camp this year in much better shape and is expected to be the Opening Day starter for the M’s.
In need of pitching, especially a true veteran to at least call their staff ace, Seattle instead went out and spent more Washburn-sized money on Miguel Batista, giving the veteran about $25 million for three years, an awful lot of money on a 36-year-old who has just one 200 inning season in his arm, that coming last year when the D-backs were desperate for anyone to chew up innings. The Mariners also inked Jeff Weaver in the offseason. They’ll give Weaver about the same this year as they’re giving Batista, so that’s the bad news. But the good news is it’s only a one-year deal.
Still desperate for starting pitching, the Mariners also dealt a solid reliever in Rafael Soriano to the Braves for lefty Horacio Ramirez. Now, don’t get me wrong, especially since I think Ramirez might just fare better than either Batista or Weaver. But when was the last time Atlanta parted with a solid pitcher in a trade?
Soriano will be missed in the pen, but at least the Mariners still have JJ Putz in the closer’s role. In fact, Seattle gave the former Wolverine a nice 3-year deal to keep him in their pen at least through 2009. Putz dazzled as a closer last year, saving 36 with a 2.30 ERA and excellent 104/13 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Chris Reitsma was signed and will likely be the chief setup arm from the right side to open the season. Julio Mateo will also get some work, assuming his broken hand from last year is healed. Arthur Rhodes and George Sherrill will have the lefty work, with other names like Aaron Small and Sean Green also relief possibilities.
Key Player(s): You’ve got to figure that Ibañez is coming off his career year, so a lot of the big punch in the order is squarely on the bats of Sexson and Beltre. This isn’t Murderer’s Row, we know that. So my finger is pointed directly at Washburn and Batista as veteran arms in the rotation.
Futures: The Greek lists the win break at 79½ while Pinnacle is a game lower at 78½. Pinnacle also lists Seattle on their futures board at +1048 to win the AL West, +2993 to win the AL and +8150 to go all the way. Bodog has the Mariners at 76½ on the over-under for wins, 10:1 in the AL West, 40:1 in the AL and an even 100:1 to win the Series.
My projections are 77 wins on average, meaning Seattle is very likely going to take a step back this season.
Plus, I know you, and you no doubt have Nightmare Boy (Jeff Weaver) going something like 2-17 with a 9.56 ERA, right? 