Encouraging things, for the most part. Everybody's healthy, including Erik Bedard, who's going to go to camp able to participate in all pitching and pitcher activities. Adrian Beltre is peaches. Carlos Silva also dropped about three Brandon Faheys from his waist by doing a lot of flexibility work, and, well, whatever, we'll see how long that keeps up, and whether or not it makes any difference. Considering that, performance-wise, he was pretty much the same in 2008 as he was in seasons prior, I'm inclined to say the only difference it might make is in terms of durability. Fat doesn't alter repertoire, and Silva's repertoire sucks.
Consistent with things we've heard and inferred all winter, Brandon Morrow's going to have to pitch his way out of being a starter, whereas Aaron Heilman will get a shot but is realistically on the outside looking in. The team and Josh Fields still aren't anywhere close to coming to an agreement. Jeff Clement's going to catch until he doesn't, but will probably still get a fair bit of time at DH, as the staff had a lot of good things to say about Kenji Johjima. While Endy Chavez is, as of this writing, the starter in LF, Zduriencik's still scouring the market, looking to add another everyday piece that may play the outfield (but would probably DH). It seems pretty clear to me that, after evaluating Wladimir Balentien, the new guys aren't really that high on his skillset or the probability of his becoming a significant part of the future. While I'm not necessarily wild about the prospect of giving that much playing time to Endy Chavez, I do agree that Wlad isn't a great bet to turn into a particularly valuable player, and that we need a better long-term LF.
And so on. We're trying to trade a starter, which basically means we're trying to trade Jarrod Washburn. Griffey's an absolute long shot. All kinds of stuff came up, and if you want more thorough coverage, you should check out the recaps by Larry Stone, Larry LaRue, and Ryan Divish. For now, I'll just leave you with this:
"The biggest key, we have to increase the talent level in this organization. I can't sit here today and look at this major-league ballclub and feel warm and fuzzy about it. I see potential, I see things I like about this club. But I also see things that need to be improved. From the ground level to the top, we need to improve the talent level.''
-Jack Zduriencik
A front office that's smart, and a front office that's honest. I love us.
0 recs | 80 comments
Ahh, it is nice to have the revolving door in LF re-installed.
Matthew - January 23, 2009
A revolving door does have a lot more mobility than our previous left fielder
Graham MacAree - January 23, 2009
Most notably, it revolves
Jeff Sullivan - January 23, 2009
sometimes I felt Raul was revolving out there
msb - January 23, 2009
Twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom.
Aaron Campeau - January 24, 2009
You know, I was thinking about making this exact reference.
Matthew - January 24, 2009
Great minds etc.
Aaron Campeau - January 24, 2009
I am maintaining that season 8 is the peak of the simpsons.
Observe:
Treehouse ep (Hugo, Lisa’s tooth city, Kang v Kodos)
Hank Scorpio
Rodney Dangerfield as Burns’ son
Burlesque house
Ned commits himself
Homer and the space coyote
X-Files spoof
Marge makes pretzels (Aaaaaaannnd heeere come the pretzels)
Burns and Homer trapped in the cabin (I would like to subscribe to your newsletter)
Poochie (Worst. Epsiode. Ever.)
The gay episode
Bob and Cecil
Homer the beer baron
Edna and Seymour get together
Bart gets a credit card
Burns loses his money
Mr. Sparkle
Frank Grimes
The Spin-off spoof episode
Matthew - January 24, 2009
I would agree that Season 8 is the best season in terms of overall quality, yes.
Aaron Campeau - January 24, 2009
I beg to differ
Season 4 is my personal favorite: only 2 weak episodes (Itchy and Scratchy: The Movie and the clip show), and a bunch of pantheon ones: Homer’s Triple Bypass, Mr. Plow, Last Exit to Springfield, Whacking Day, Kamp Krusty, Krusty Gets Kancelled
Sportszilla - January 24, 2009
Season 4 is my GFs favorite
we just bought it on DVD really cheap at Best Buy.
bluemax - January 26, 2009
That's an impressive list.
I forget sometimes how awesome Simpsons used to be.
JAH - January 24, 2009
I'd go with S6, but S8 is solid.
JI - January 25, 2009
This was my fist thought as well.
Wilder. - January 23, 2009
I like the lack of bullshit in that quote.
Two prospect things that interested me…
1) Clement’s the catcher until he can’t, but Moore’s coming up pretty quickly now and the organization seems to love him, passed ball issues and all. I’m curious to see how they try to sort that out, because both would be plus bats for position. It would be nice to use one ot help rest the other, but I don’t think they’re as valuable as a package as they are apart.
2) If you’d told me years ago that the organization was going to sour on Wlad so quickly, I would have been a little upset, sad I guess, because I’ve followed the guy since before he even broke the Arizona League home run record (still standing). However, with guys like Saunders (more complete and left-handed) and Halman (more talented) coming up, I care less. I’d like to see him succeed, but despite the incredible strides he made once he hit double-A, I don’t know if he’s yet a legitimate MLB starter, or better than the other two.
JY - January 23, 2009
I care less, though I still care
I still think Wlad is capable of surprising a lot of people – it’s just not going to be in an M’s uniform. And yeah, it’s harder to be upset about that with Saunders/Halman.
On Moore, this really is going to be interesting. It’s just too bad that they haven’t been able to utilize Rob Johnson’s little power surge to trade him for something interesting. Given the way the org values both Johnson and Moore, it’ll be interesting to see how they’re used in Tacoma, and interesting to see how long the leash is with Clement. “He’s a catcher until we say he’s not” is fine, but not exactly a ringing endorsement.
marc w - January 23, 2009
Agreed Wladdy has a lot of potential...
but he probably won’t be in a M’s uni for us to see it.
Slurvey - January 23, 2009
I don't think Wlad is ever going to turn into anything for anyone.
All he has to offer is power, and he doesn’t offer enough of that to make up for not bringing anything else to the table.
He might have some modicum of success in a park better suited to him, but I don’t think he’s any sort of star in the making, or even a good regular.
Jeff Nye - January 23, 2009
WLAD is a little too Wily Mo Peña-like for me
Young, monster power, limited everything-else, some upside but there you go.
Gomez - January 23, 2009
Still...
I look at the turn he had in double-A, running a 2:1 K/BB in a year after running a 4.85:1 K/BB in advanced-A, and can’t help but think that it’s proof that he’s capable of learning and making major adjustments. That’s part of what makes him difficult to let go.
JY - January 23, 2009
He's not as good as Wily Mo.
Aaron Campeau - January 23, 2009
I highly doubt that
Dewey N - January 24, 2009
Probably not, but they seem like similar players
Gomez - January 24, 2009
Hmmm the M's new slogan is...
“A new day, a new way.”
Slurvey - January 23, 2009
a distinct lack of Sodo.
and Mojo.
msb - January 23, 2009
Lame
Robert - January 23, 2009
just image Neihaus saying it ....
msb - January 23, 2009
Unfortunately still lame
Double06 - January 23, 2009
it makes me think of the Japanese baseball slogans
like “"Think Hard, Win More”"
msb - January 23, 2009
Now imagine Morgan Freeman saying it.
The Typical Idiot Fan - January 23, 2009
You just blew my mind.
Slurvey - January 23, 2009
Now it's awesome.
But still not a suitable Mariners slogan.
Double06 - January 24, 2009
Ahhhhh. Better.
royalcurve - January 24, 2009
Not as lame as Sodo Mojo.
Goose - January 24, 2009
Sodo Mojo was great the first year.
After that, not so much.
Aaron Campeau - January 24, 2009
Nah, it was lame the first year, too
I’ll agree that it wore badly, though.
The Ancient Mariner - January 24, 2009
It's the irrational positive conontation it carries.
I feel the same way as those teal uniforms they used to wear — they’re my all-time favorite unis but good lord they’re ugly as sin.
Double06 - January 24, 2009
Last few years of slogans
Sodo Mojo
My! Oh, My!
What a Show!
Get all of it!
The Mojo’s Rising!
ThundaPC - January 23, 2009
You forgot 2003's Viva la Mojo
Hey Now! Get all of it! was possibly the most ridiculous slogan ever
Corco - January 23, 2009
Yes. Get all of it! was absolutely terrible.
royalcurve - January 24, 2009
Nice try but it reminds me of U2 pop songs
Gomez - January 23, 2009
"Wii Be Looking Better Homie"
Slica - January 24, 2009
Not to be a Silva Appologist, but he was worse this year than in he had been before.
Aside from his terrible 2006, he was (approximately) a league average arm who could pitch ~190 innings. Certainly not worth 4/48 (or whatever his contract is), but not as bad as Captain Sucktastic from this year.
If he rebounds to 2007 numbers, and gives us 200 innings of average(ish) performance combined with our new and improved defense, he could look good enough to get rid of him, although we’d probably still end up eating a good portion of his salary.
Vatinius - January 23, 2009
The only real meaningful difference was a jump in LD%, and that's just noise
Carlos Silva the Mariner was not much different than Carlos Silva the Twin. The real outlier was 2005.
Jeff Sullivan - January 23, 2009
To recreate 2005
Perhaps you just need to give him a minor knee injury at the beginning of the season. It happened in Seattle the first time, maybe it can happen again.
ubelmann - January 23, 2009
Can't we just give him a major head injury and try to void his contract?
seattlebruin - January 24, 2009
Nah, because some stupid team from Tennessee will fuck you over.
joof - January 24, 2009
Fine, we'll just trade his expiring contract for draft picks to a financially unstable team
seattlebruin - January 24, 2009
Clement's Future
Is Clement destined for a backup role? I mean, if his catching doesn’t develop and we’ve got better options…it hasn’t seemed like his bat is really outstanding for a position outside of catcher. Will Clement be our backup catcher/DH/1B in a couple of years?
mwalter - January 23, 2009
If Clement can lift his OPS into the 800s then someone'll find room for him somewhere
and there’s also the probability that, should Clement have to change positions, his offense would improve.
Jeff Sullivan - January 23, 2009
Where could he move?
Any chance he could learn 3B?
The Ancient Mariner - January 23, 2009
The thought of Jeff Clement at 3B frightens me.
BrianL - January 23, 2009
Maybe SS…how much worse than Yuni could he be?
mwalter - January 23, 2009
A metric fuckton?
Aaron Campeau - January 23, 2009
I've always visualised him as an immobile left fielder
Corco - January 23, 2009
No
1B or DH.
Jeff Sullivan - January 23, 2009
Yeah, that's what I figured.
The Ancient Mariner - January 23, 2009
I'd someone to convince the FO to open up the purse
and land Swisher and another bat to DH/ Ben Sheets
The AL West is worse than mediocre, and those 4-5 extra wins just may do the trick.
JI - January 23, 2009
I think you're missing a verb in that subject line.
BrianL - January 23, 2009
someone needs to come up with a sentence-diagraming program
msb - January 23, 2009
And then you'd have to teach people to use it.
Good luck with that.
JY - January 23, 2009
oh, I'd just want to diagram badlyconstucted sentences.
primarily to mock them.
msb - January 23, 2009
Verbs are for communists
JI - January 23, 2009
Swisher+~Abreu+Sheets=contention.
Aaron Campeau - January 23, 2009
We can contend right now assuming no one else in the division makes any improvements.
JI - January 23, 2009
And, money being equal, I'd much prefer Dunn to Abreu.
JI - January 23, 2009
I don't think Dunn is going to come to the AL.
If I had a guess I’d say he’s convinced this is all about the economy and not about a shift in the market re: his skillset; I think he’s wrong (at least a little bit) but if he thinks he can wait it out a year and rebuild his value by playing LF in the NL, I think that’s what he does. If I’m wrong, sure, I’d prefer Dunn.
I think contention is possible right now, but I think the A’s are still the odds on favorites and the Angels and Rangers are still better teams. It’s going to be the bizzarro AL East; lots of mediocre teams competing for one playoff spot.
Aaron Campeau - January 24, 2009
...Though if Abreu can re-learn how to walk I'd take Abreu
As to Dunn, I think he’ll follow the money.
JI - January 24, 2009
Quick, someone go lay a trail of dollar bills from Texas to here
seattlebruin - January 24, 2009
I can't even imagine them trying to find room for Sheets in the rotation
Jeff Sullivan - January 24, 2009
Jarrod Washburn for closer!
seattlebruin - January 24, 2009
If Silva could pick a couple miles up on his fastball by pitching in relief
I don’t think he’d be the worst closer ever
Corco - January 24, 2009
That's some high praise
Jeff Sullivan - January 24, 2009
I <3 Carlos Silva
Corco - January 25, 2009
TENS
Aaron Campeau - January 25, 2009
Congratulations, you've found the Venezuelan Todd Jones
seattlebruin - January 24, 2009
Attitude-wise, Silva seems like a front-runner
So only putting him in the game when the team has a lead might keep him more focused. Although this may also lead to undesirable blood pressure levels.
ubelmann - January 24, 2009
Actually, the way he eats
I have to figure his blood pressure levels are always
undesirable . . .
The Ancient Mariner - January 24, 2009
I was thinking more about the blood pressure of the fans
ubelmann - January 24, 2009
Fuck the rest of those guys worse than Sheets
JI - January 25, 2009
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