Seattle Mariners 2012 team thread

[Coug00]

Re: Seattle Mariners 2012 team thread

Rock bottom in my eyes.

I think if things continue, Jack Z and Wedge will be finished in Seattle after this season.

Z has drafted well, but his other acquisitions leave quite a bit to be desired so far.

I sympathize with Z. There's not a single GM in baseball who would be successful taking on the mess he did and turn a team around quickly while reducing budget by $20m. At this point in time, I like his acquisitions of Montero, Smoak, Guti, Vargas, Ryan, Carp, etc. Figgy is the only one that has been a disaster. He didn't have the assets to make any big splashes, so I'm not exactly sure what he was supposed to do.

Wedge, on the otherhand, has been a disaster. I'm tired of seeing the hitters get themselves out, rather than work the count to get a hittable pitch. There's a reason the MLB is full of pitchers w/o an out pitch...cause hitters get themselves out so often.

The good news is Millwood is taking the mound today.

[12]

Re: Seattle Mariners 2012 team thread

I sympathize with Z. There's not a single GM in baseball who would be successful taking on the mess he did and turn a team around quickly while reducing budget by $20m. At this point in time, I like his acquisitions of Montero, Smoak, Guti, Vargas, Ryan, Carp, etc. Figgy is the only one that has been a disaster. He didn't have the assets to make any big splashes, so I'm not exactly sure what he was supposed to do.

Wedge, on the otherhand, has been a disaster. I'm tired of seeing the hitters get themselves out, rather than work the count to get a hittable pitch. There's a reason the MLB is full of pitchers w/o an out pitch...cause hitters get themselves out so often.

The good news is Millwood is taking the mound today.

I think Z was put in a terrible situation that he couldn't win. Hopefully he is not the scapegoat for the team's struggles, but it is looking like this year will be more of the same with 90+ losses and low attendance numbers. I think most M's fans know who the real culprit is, but they are immune to accountability.

I've said it a million times but I hope the team is sold. Safeco Field is a great park that will draw a lot of fans if the product on the field is worth seeing. I hate being this way but my wife and I have talked about making the three hour trip to Seattle to catch a game in May or June, as kind of a last "date night" before our second child arrives in August... This might sound lame, but I just don't know if it's worth the money and time to go over there and watch them. I want to go, I want to be excited about it, but right now it's looking like we might do something else. I consider myself a pretty die hard fan and know the game, I know their system, and have loved this team for the past 23 years - ever since I was just a little guy. So it's sad to see that this is what it has come to.

I understand the rebuilding process, but it's painful. I try and keep my thoughts positive because I feel like better days are ahead, but I also feel like those days will not arrive until the team is under new control.

Regarding Z's acquisitions, right now, the Smoak trade is looking like a bust. I loved getting him at the time and I would like to think that I still believe in him, but the truth is he has around 850 MLB plate appearances and he is still struggling mightily. He still has time and it's not a huge sample size, but he needs to find a way to turn it around this year. Maybe a quick trip to Tacoma to work some of these kinks out will help. It seemed to help Carp last year, so who knows.

I agree with you about the team's overall approach at the plate. There's not a whole lot of patience going on. I wish Jaso got some more starts at catcher because Olivo is painful to watch. Saunders is hanging on for dear life and is probably an AAAA guy. Great athlete, but so far, a terrible baseball player. Hopefully Guti and Carp get back soon because we sure need them.

[MarinersVsDodgers]

Re: Seattle Mariners 2012 team thread

Figgins strikes out EVERY first AB of the game for the M's. Move him to the bottom of the lineup once Carp returns, or remove him from the lineup completely. I think that would improve the lineup a lot.

[12]

Re: Seattle Mariners 2012 team thread

Here's my hope for when Carp and Gutierrez return from their DL stints:

Ichiro, RF
Gutierrez, CF
Ackley, 2B
Montero, DH
Carp, LF
Seager, 3B
Smoak, 1B
Jaso/Olivo, C
Ryan, SS

Still not a great lineup, but I think Ichiro needs to get back to leading off.

I have a feeling that if Smoak's struggles continue, he'll be sent to Tacoma. Could be wrong, but man, the kid is really struggling at the dish and needs to clear his head some how.

[Coug00]

As crazy as this sounds, I hope they continue to find ways to keep Figgy in the lineup. The K's are a little concerning, but he's sporting the best line drive rate of his career (27%) and sitting with a .289 BABIP. He is actually playing pretty well at the plate, his luck just sucks. Smoak is another guy with a BABIP lower than it should be considering his LD rates (.250/26%).

I dread seeing Carp 'Ibanezing' LF when he returns. I wish Montero was further along defensively behind the plate so Smoak and Carp could share 1B/DH.

[thaima1shu]

Re: Seattle Mariners 2012 team thread

I dread seeing Carp 'Ibanezing' LF when he returns. I wish Montero was further along defensively behind the plate so Smoak and Carp could share 1B/DH.

Exactly why I want Olivo benched. It's not like he's a gold glove caliber catcher anyways. There's no point in having him back there, as we might as well be seeing what Montero can do catching 4-5 times a week. Then we wouldn't have to see Carp out in LF.

[12]

Re: Seattle Mariners 2012 team thread

I wish they would just DFA Olivo. I am not understanding Wedge's admiration for him. Another passed ball today. Defensively, he's not a good catcher. Offensively, he is a serious liability. I understand that Montero is not ready to catch 120 games per year, but you would think that him and Jaso could split the duties. It's just kind of confusing.

On to the positives... Good game today. 15 hits and a win. The sticks showed up today. How about Alex Liddi? Maybe I have been selling this kid short because I always felt he would be an AAAA guy and never offer much at the Major League level. It was just one game but what a nice performance. Vargas was unspectacular but did a good job keeping that hefty Detroit offense in check. Hopefully they can give Felix some of that same run support tomorrow, but some how I think he'll have to pitch lights out to get a win.

Hultzen looked good today as well... 5 2/3 innings, two hits, three walks and five strikeouts. Picked up his second win of the year, evening his record at 2-2. If he keeps it up and Noesi/Millwood keep struggling, the M's might have to break up the Big 3 for a bit. I'm guessing this will happen in June sometime.

[WazzuRC]

Re: Seattle Mariners 2012 team thread

I need to contribute here more. Good M's discussions going on.

Exactly why I want Olivo benched. It's not like he's a gold glove caliber catcher anyways. There's no point in having him back there, as we might as well be seeing what Montero can do catching 4-5 times a week. Then we wouldn't have to see Carp out in LF.

DFA Olivo when Carp comes back, and let Jaso catch. Montero should only be catching twice a week these first couple of months. We need him well rested so he's getting his AB's and working on his offensive game IMO.

FYI, Pineda is done for the year. Just saw on ESPN.

[WazzuRC]

Re: Seattle Mariners 2012 team thread

Hultzen looked good today as well... 5 2/3 innings, two hits, three walks and five strikeouts. Picked up his second win of the year, evening his record at 2-2. If he keeps it up and Noesi/Millwood keep struggling, the M's might have to break up the Big 3 for a bit. I'm guessing this will happen in June sometime.

Hultzen is looking fantastic. Walker has been lights out outside of a few control issues, but they've done a number on his mechanics so he's working out the kinks. Paxton has struggled a bit lately, giving up 13!!! BB's in his last 2 starts.

[Coug00]

So I mentioned earlier about Figgy hitting the ball well and not getting rewarded. Thats pretty much the whole damn team. I love to see the batted ball metrics to evaluate how well players are hitting the ball when they make contact. Usually there's a decent correlation to players hitting line drives and having a good BABIP...obviously since hitting line drives is a good thing. Not so with our Mariners.

The AL average when you take BABIP and subtract LD% is roughly 8%. The M's don't have a single player above league average. Montero is the closest at 7.1%. The M's own SIX of the bottom 24 unlucky spots in the AL. Ichiro, Seager, Ackley, Smoak, and Figgins are all in the top 17 in line drive % in the AL, yet the offense is struggling.

Want to feel worse? Erick Aybar is hitting line drives on only 6% of balls put in play (Ichiro is over 30%). His infield hit rate is less than 1% above his career average. Yet his BABIP is over .300. Baseball can be a bitch!

[thaima1shu]

Re: Seattle Mariners 2012 team thread

FYI, Pineda is done for the year. Just saw on ESPN.

Sure makes me feel a hell of a lot better about the trade, though I feel terrible for Pineda. Really liked him and was upset to see him go.

[Coug00]

I need to contribute here more. Good M's discussions going on.

Hopefully it keeps up even if the M's collapse.

[Coug00]

Liddi is stroking! 6-0?!

[thaima1shu]

Hell of a game. Liddi needs to keep playing

[12]

Re: Seattle Mariners 2012 team thread

Man, what a pleasant surprise Liddi has been...

I am glad to be wrong about Felix not getting run support today... WOW. I was at work but was all smiles when I looked at the box score a bit ago. Love seeing all of the offense, hopefully the team can build off of this and keep some of it going.