The Seattle Mariners in 2009

i am falling in love again. they might lost 90 but at least they're gonna be smart about it

http://ussmariner.com/2009/01/05/ms-hire-tom-tango/
http://www.lookoutlanding.com/2009/1/4/709001/cat-s-out-of-the-bag

Putz, putz:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/larrystone/2008747963_stone16.html

A poorly constructed roster and a long list of underperforming players would seem to be two major culprits. That's just me. But add Putz to the chorus of those who point to a dysfunctional clubhouse as tearing apart the Seattle ballclub. John McLaren and Bill Bavasi, you might recall, both alluded to the exact same thing upon their firing last June.

I started by asking Putz if all that was overblown. He shook his head and said no, and noted that there was an undercurrent of internal tension all season.

"There were just some guys that just aren't really team guys," he said. "There's a lot of guys that are team guys in there. There was definitely some butting heads on certain things. What the hell can you do? Some guys are just stubborn."

He refused to name any names. But his inference was strong.

"I'm not going to throw anyone under the bus," he said. "But I think everybody knows who everybody is talking about. It is what it is. Hopefully, it changes for them over there."

Can the Mariners ever win with "non-team guys" on the roster?

"I don't think so," he said. "It depends. It depends if they hold everyone accountable equally, or some guys just get special treatment, like it's been in the past."

You don't have to be a Rhodes scholar to ascertain that Putz was talking primarily about Ichiro. We've heard that line of thinking before, of course, usually in veiled or off-the-record comments. Putz, able to speak frankly now that he's wearing a different uniform, was more direct.

When I asked him specifically to comment on Ichiro, Putz said: "It's hard to argue with 200 hits every year, and a lifetime, what, .320 hitter (actually, .331). I just think there's so much more he can do that doesn't happen. I would have liked to have seen him take more chances on the basepaths. It seems like he was only going to steal a bag when he was absolutely sure. I don't think he even realizes how good he is at stealing bags.

"I don't know. Two-hundred hits isn't easy, and to do it eight straight years, it's hard to argue. You can't really knock the guy for his work ethic. His routine is ridiculous. Everything is the same every single day. I mean, he's prepared to play. But ... "

1. Hey, smart guy -- part of being good at stealing bags is knowing when to not run (aka not causing your team an out).

2. He is good at his job, works really hard, does not fuck up... but...?

wait, the M's hired tom tango? that's phenomenal.

hope i don't have to read about this bullshit all season

the bullsquid abt ichiro will evaporate if they start winning

"You can't really knock the guy for his work ethic. . . but I'm going to try."

isn't jj putz the one-season wonder closer who was injured half the year in '08, had an era near 4, and is kind of a fatty?

More like a two season wonder, but otherwise yeah.

apparently beltre has beef w/ichiro too and is turning the locker room against him~

http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/mariners/2009/02/16/beltre_talks_of_clubhouse_tens.html

Runner on second? Sac bunt every time. Down by two or three? Drag bunt or bloop something over an infielder's head (even if you're more likely to be challenged in that situation with a really hittable fastball).

"Hot Stone" = really nasty pun.

Everybody respects .750 OPS hitter Adrian Beltre, but no one respects the 8-time gold glover who has a higher career BA than Beltre's career OBP.

basically it just sounds like a bunch of mediocre players who are taking it out on quiet zenmaster ichiro, whose careful basestealing wasn't reckless enough, whose supposed defensive miscues stood out in an OF featuring raul ibanez, and who just likely isn't "bro" enough for them.

in his defense, Beltre did have that really awesome contract year when he was on da juice.

 Year  	AVG 	OBP 	SLG 	OPS  
1998	0.215	0.278	0.369	0.648
1999	0.275	0.352	0.428	0.780
2000	0.290	0.360	0.475	0.835
2001	0.265	0.310	0.411	0.720
2002	0.257	0.303	0.426	0.729
2003	0.240	0.290	0.424	0.714
2004	0.334	0.388	0.629	1.017
2005	0.255	0.303	0.413	0.716
2006	0.268	0.328	0.465	0.792
2007	0.276	0.319	0.482	0.802
2008	0.266	0.327	0.457	0.784

I was just noticing that very same thing, Mr. Shasta. Which of those lines is not like the other?

It's a good thing the dude can pick it at 3B, because otherwise he's pretty worthless.

beltre's last year with the dodgers was worth ~10 WAR - compare with bonds' 2004, which was ~12 WAR, and you get an idea of how much his glove is worth. he's a very good player, no doubt about it.

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=639&position=3B
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/can-we-please-stop-undervaluing-adrian-beltre

Isn't it more like Beltre's contract has BECOME more in line w/ his fair value? Seattle pretty obviously overpaid when they landed him...

Ken Griffey Jr. is heading back to the Mariners on a one-year contract, reportedly for a base salary of roughly $2 million and incentive bonuses as well.

Harold Reynolds: making magic happen since yesterday.

A telephone conversation with Willie Mays on Wednesday morning helped Junior decide that he was better off returning to the team that he grew up with, rather than the closer-to-home Braves, who have their Spring Training in Orlando, about 20 minutes from Griffey’s home.

Mariners president Chuck Armstrong told MLB.com Wednesday night he received a phone call from former Mariners infielder and MLB Network broadcaster Harold Reynolds on Tuesday, asking the club executive if he would mind calling Mays, who wanted to talk to Griffey but not if it would be an imposition. Armstrong jumped at the opportunity to talk to arguably the greatest player in baseball history, placed a call to Mays, and the wheels to Griffey’s return to the Northwest hit the ground running.

“Willie said he didn’t want to impose, but he explained why he thought Ken needed to come back to Seattle,” Armstrong told MLB.com from his Seattle-area home. “He asked if it was OK for him to call Junior. Willie talked about the legacy aspect of it and how it was for him when he went from the Giants to the Mets at the end of his career.

“He couldn’t have been nicer about it. I told him, ‘Willie, you are the reason Junior wore No. 24 in Seattle.’”

Mays called Griffey on Wednesday morning and apparently hit a home run.

“We can’t thank Harold enough for what he did,” Armstrong said.

Dude better bring the correct offering for Beltre, though.

From ESPN MLB front page:

Beltre might defy Mariners, play in world classic

"Team guy," huh?

why didn't they want him to go?

Seattle fears he is not fully recovered from operations last September to repair a ligament in his left thumb and to remove bone spurs from his left, non-throwing shoulder.

"I don't want him to jeopardize anything," Wakamatsu said. "He seems to feel he can't judge that unless he gets in there (in a game). He feels he's farther along that we've anticipated."

Seattle's team doctor estimated Beltre would need four months to rehabilitate. That time frame ended six weeks ago, and the hand seems fine. But last week, Beltre was getting treatment on his achy shoulder.

"Since they told me they didn't want me to play I don't want to go over there and get hurt and hear, 'I told you so,"' Beltre said. "But I still probably have the same chance to get hurt here as I do there. It (would be) just a matter of bad luck. And I might play DH over there, so it might even be easier on my shoulder."

Hearing "I told you so" would be so much worse than missing a bunch of games.

"Same chance" -- right.

before we get too far into this season we need to say goodbye, pay tribute to, our former mariners
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd118/embarchie/452839295_629aa26a53_o-1.jpg

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd118/embarchie/raul.jpg

http://www.lookoutlanding.com/images/admin/489992349_51545973d7.jpg

Stuff about that guy who is "prepared to play, but..."

http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/stone/2009/02/26/ichiro_most_valuable_baserunne.html

There are some crazy fuckers on that comments page.

http://www.lookoutlanding.com/2009/3/9/787743/a-brief-look-at-phillippe

not brief but good gifs

so... Chad Cordero?

An ulcer has descended upon Ichiro (15-day DL).

via Perrotto at BP:

The 1989 Mariners are the only team in major league history to produce three rookies who were still playing 20 years later: Griffey, Johnson, and Vizquel.

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd118/embarchie/al2.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd118/embarchie/al4.jpg
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd118/embarchie/al3.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd118/embarchie/al5.jpg

that was such an awesome game, even though I only saw it starting around the eleventh inning

Turned this off after the top of the 13th (ugh).

ok, i had no idea Aardsma (Mr #1 Alphabetically) was their closer.

poor endy

yeah. that wAs ugly.

saw something i hadnt seen before tonight: an unassisted double play by a pitcher. popup on a bunt fading toward first and then morrow ran it over himself

jeez, ichiro is having a ridiculous season

Too bad he's a clubhouse cancer.

Too bad he has 13 walks and has only scored 36 runs.

too bad he can't turn some of those hits into walks, might make that .900 ops a little better. also too bad that beyond branyan, his teammates can't hit the ball this year.

JJ Putz isn't busy right now. Maybe he can confront Ichiro about the empty .400 OBP and how it could quickly drop to somewhere around Ichiro's career average if there isn't a quick, permanent spike in selectivity.

at least Harold Reynolds' blog assured Ichiro he doesn't have to walk

"It's impossible to prove that. Please analyze it among yourselves. I cannot."
—Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, after he was asked if he was more locked in at the plate than ever before. (Art Thiel, SeattlePI.com)

Hahahahaha

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Tee-hee-Junior-dons-one-batting-glove-to-honor-;_ylt=AiWimPg437dXFhuBErPFBxCFCLcF?urn=mlb,175389

i was just looking at jr's career stats and i realized that he and frank thomas have eerily similar careers in terms of peak and decline (and subsequent sporadic bursts of excellence.)

jarrod washburn i hope u just walked off the mound for the last time in a mariners uniform

dude's having a pretty good year, no? he stunk it up when i picked him up for my fantasy team tho

I WANT PROSPECTS also he is a bitch; last year he called out a teammate in a way you just don't do. he needs to go back to wisconsin and shoot stuff.

ichiro with his first ever walk off hit? him getting hugged and mobbed was pretty cute, you gotta admit

no. /J's fan

http://www.lookoutlanding.com/2009/7/30/969367/ian-snell-the-new-tony-montana-of

Snell demoted himself from his major league team, purposefully pitched like Garret Olson for a half-season, and from 1978 to 1995 sent 16 bombs to targets including universities and airlines, killing three people and injuring 23. In late nineteenth century England, Snell brutally murdered dozens of prostitutes.

“I’m guessing probably the entire stadium didn’t have a good view of that play,” he said through an interpreter. “I did catch the ball. But even if I didn’t, I probably could have scooped the ball up and put it in my glove and say, `Hey, I caught it,’ and probably nobody would have known about it.”

Aardsma really fucked that one up last night.

Should be interesting to see how Snell does against New York (as opposed to Scranton).

Adrian Beltre hit in the nut, out for the rest of the season. dude doesn't wear a cup

Snell didn't fair so hot. CC was lights out.

Adrian Beltre hit in the nut, out for the rest of the season. dude doesn't wear a cup

― jergins, Thursday, August 13, 2009 6:59 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

ok what

RECENT INJURIES & TRANSACTIONS

8/13 A. Béltre, SEA, 3B Severely contused right testicle

Achin Baltre

Let this be a lesson, Eric Byrnes.

Better yet, rub some dirt on it.

"Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu had trouble holding back a grin as he answered questions about Beltre's not-so-funny misfortune."

Wow, just watched the Buerhle-Hernandez game from Wednesday in condensed form. Very, very entertaining!

http://prospectinsider.com/view/the-truth-about-aumont

ok i cant blieve ryan langerhans is an mlb-level player but theres no way that was strike 3

Robertson threw one strike to him.

Now w/ Bill Hall

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Ichiro-believes-the-slap-single-can-be-a-sign-of?urn=mlb,184767

"Chicks who dig home runs aren't the ones who appeal to me. I think there's sexiness in infield hits because they require technique. I'd rather impress the chicks with my technique than with my brute strength. Then, every now and then, just to show I can do that, too, I might flirt a little by hitting one out."

LOL

love ichiro

I wonder if he actually said "chicks" or if that's just a translation thing.

"cooze"

from BP last week:

"Look for the Mariners to consider trying to sign Red Sox left fielder Jason Bay as a free agent in the offseason, as his wife is from Seattle and he lives there in the offseason."

the red sox must be really down on bay, i haven't heard any talk about them trying to re-sign him

He was declared the MVP frontrunner by a couple MLB Network lolanalysts at the ASG break

Bay and Holliday are both free agents this year, right?

ichiro i <3 u

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4-BzFIv1P8

never heard a Chinese baseball broadcast before... crazy.

"GOODBYE!"

haha it's kinda uncanny to hear someone of another tongue say "goodbye" the way we'd say "adios" or something

Suzuki was 2 for 10 in his career against Rivera before the home run.

"Against a pitcher like Mariano Rivera there is no way you can plan small things like that," he said. "Mike Sweeney created an opportunity for us and I just went with the flow he created. It was an at-bat where I went with my emotions."

the ichiro photos from the last couple of nights melt this cold heart of mine

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/b1/fullj.6f8f1473786accaa55dd0d5c3529fbc1/6f8f1473786accaa55dd0d5c3529fbc1-getty-85134444og014.jpg
http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/35/fullj.f0ef5c265234899be0af338ac263c291/f0ef5c265234899be0af338ac263c291-getty-85134443og021.jpg
http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/ff/fullj.9b81294faaf7423f50a273d73a089bbe/9b81294faaf7423f50a273d73a089bbe-getty-85134443og019.jpg

did he give them the "suck it" sign when he got to home plate?

Suzuki was thrown out by plate umpire Brian Runge for arguing a called third strike in the fifth, the first ejection of the season for the Mariners and the first of the All-Star outfielder’s career, including his years in Japan.

Suzuki used his bat to draw a line on the outer edge of the plate, indicating he thought David Purcey’s(notes) strike three pitch was outside. That led to the ejection.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_ylt=AoepB.Wg6CbHAhFz7aXq.WQRvLYF?gid=290926114&prov=ap