Part five
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So as you may have heard from somebody else by now, earlier today the Mariners signed Brian Falkenborg to a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite. If the name sounds familiar, it's because this isn't Falkenborg's first go-round with the organization - he was Mariner property from 2001 through 2003, spending a lot of time in Tacoma before moving elsewhere. Most recently he was pitching in Japan, but his season was plagued by injuries and some way or another he wound up back here.
It's hardly an earth-shattering move, and I can't blame you if you're not getting ready to stencil "FALKENBORG" onto the back of a t-shirt, but before you write him off as just another nobody, I think it's worth giving him a chance. Save for a couple roles, the bullpen's basically an open competition at this point, and Falkenborg's stuff matches up pretty well with anyone else's. Where he used to sit in the low-90s, two years ago he was able to pull himself up into the 94-97 range, and along with that he's got a heavy curve and a sharp splitter that he claims to have improved with Fukuoka. That's a solid repertoire, and even better is that all three of his pitches work against both left-handed and right-handed batters. In other words, in any given at bat, Falkenborg can come after a batter with three different quality(?) pitches. That's not very common for a reliever, and I think it gives Falkenborg the potential to really shine.
Who knows. Falkenborg's never really stood out, and after a series of leg injuries last year, it's difficult to say what kind of shape he's in. But if he's healthy, he has some of the best stuff of anyone competing for a job, and given a 10-20% improvement in command, there's no telling what he could do. It wouldn't be the first time we had a hard-throwing righty come out of nowhere to succeed in relief. So keep him in the back of your mind. While he might currently be on the outside looking in, in the worst case, there's nothing wrong with adding another body, and in the best case, he may just surprise you.
2 recs | 41 comments
So true.
JI - March 11, 2009
It seems like just yesterday we were watching Lopez pour champagne on Felix in the clubhouse
and now here we are talking about another one of Jack Z’s brilliant no-downside NRIs who have a lot of upside if everything breaks right. It’s a good time to be a Mariners fan.
seattlebruin - March 11, 2009
I'd like to think
that winning a WS is more like taking acid – you never come down, you merely adjust.
Bearskin Rugburn - March 11, 2009
You never come down from acid?
Then why isn’t my life nuttier?
DAMellen - March 11, 2009
It is
you’ve just adjusted.
philosofool - March 12, 2009
Supposedly it stores itself in your spinal fluid, and never truly leaves the body.
It’s theoretically possible to crack your back and suddenly be right back in the middle of things.
BrettJMiller - March 12, 2009
I know someone that this happened to.
Apparently tripping in the ER sucks. This is a big part of the reason I was never tempted to do LSD.
Aaron Campeau - March 12, 2009
No wonder I love visiting the chiropractor.
Sec 108 - March 12, 2009
This is how NASA knows if you've ever done acid.
abender20 - March 12, 2009
And yet another low risk, medium upside reliever that Jack Z has assimilated into the World Champion Seattle Mariners.
Goose - March 11, 2009
Great now we're stuck in an infinite loop
OlSalty - March 11, 2009
Are you saying that Brian Falkenborg could lead us to the WS if we actually signed him?
Coach Owens - March 11, 2009
If it weren't for this story, there would only be one Google news result for Brian Falkenborg.
Vatinius - March 11, 2009
There was one before?
HARRYP09 - March 11, 2009
Only because he was mentioned in passing in a story about the Cubs first intra-squad game in 2008.
He is as obscure as Erik Bedard is halcyon.
Vatinius - March 11, 2009
Not bad.
Might be useful to have around because wow I can’t believe Erik Bedard agreed to a 1-year extension.
ThundaPC - March 11, 2009
He sort of had to after lost all his free agent value by missing half the season with ASS TIGHTNESS
OlSalty - March 11, 2009
I have a feeling something is whooshing over my head.
Double06 - March 11, 2009
Me also
Either that or we’re trying too hard
pygmalion - March 12, 2009
This is part 5 of a series
You have to read 1-4 to understand the post.
johnbai - March 12, 2009
I've read them
The difficulty is discerning the significance of this one: “Life returns to normal”? (That is, the new GMZ normal – imagine what this post would look like if Bavasi were GM). That’s why I said that we’re trying too hard to read something into it.
pygmalion - March 12, 2009
Bingo
Sportszilla - March 12, 2009
So is the dramatic twist Falkenborg going batshit crazy and murdering the entire squad?
JLC - March 11, 2009
You just blew my fucking mind
lemonverbena - March 11, 2009
Falkenborg sucks
Deanna says he has no command of his offspeed stuff and his fastball is generously clocked at 92.
johnbai - March 11, 2009
Would Falkenborg make for a good designated closer?
Robert - March 11, 2009
Robert - March 11, 2009
Don't we all.
RafaelCarmona22 - March 12, 2009
What's with the warnings on "IoI" and "use the subject line"?
brent in Korea - March 11, 2009
Uh
We don’t like chat speak here (I have seen it tolerated VERY MINIMALLY in ironic instances).
And a subject line is a necessary part of a good post.
See the guidelines here, here, and here
appleshampoo - March 11, 2009
The only chat-speak tolerance I remember
was the short life of the “ZOMG no politics!” meme. Then again I’m more of a USSM junkie so I’ve probably missed lots of stuff.
pygmalion - March 12, 2009
Long standing rules of the site
As mentioned in the links in the comment above, and also mentioned countless times in comment threads of the site.
Matthew - March 12, 2009
Is it time to panic yet?
mark sobba - March 12, 2009
Falkenborg is no Mark Lowe
Although my conjecture is based purely on gut, I don’t expect him to pitch well.
katal - March 12, 2009
But we still have Mark Lowe so we don't really need Falkenborg to fill his role
seattlebruin - March 12, 2009
So 100 days and we're basically back to normal.
Llewdor - March 12, 2009
Falkenborg is from Redmond
Flamefox111 - March 12, 2009
It's funny
I was in a meeting at the office the other day, in one of the few rooms that has a view of Safeco Field. Back in November I had to avoid these because I couldn’t stop gazing over at the stadium, shaking with tremors of giddy excitement as the highlights of the Series played on a loop in my head. My manager had to talk to me on more than one occasion about my lack of focus… All I could tell her was that she’s not a Mariners fan. She doesn’t get it.
But now… I actually was able to zero in on the hour long focus group. Sure, I’d steal the occasional glance and smile, but I just didn’t have the same immobilizing emotions wash over me. I’m not sure if it’s that I don’t care as much now, that the comparative dullness of this uneventful offseason has sapped the in-the-moment excitement of playoff baseball from me, or if, three-odd months later, my body has finally adjusted to this level of glee and I’m just numbed to the sensation.
Both scare me, in their own unique ways. That I could care any less today than I did in October is an affront to my fandom, and I’d like to think I’m not one of those bandwagon d-bags who made it so hard to get into Safeco down the stretch. I was there in 2004 and 2008, when the rest of this city swore off baseball forever. Selling my car to raise money for scalped Series tickets was worth it, but it kills me to know that those thousands of dollars are going to be spent on Sounders and Seahawks tickets the minute we drop 3 in a row mid-summer.
No, I think it’s the numb one. I’ve loved this team more than I’ve loved anything else – animal, vegetable, or mineral. I waited 25 long years to see them win it all. I can’t think of anything else I’ve waited that long for, or that I’d have the patience to wait for now. I have a hard enough time waiting in line at the grocery store. Now it’s only here, in this small corner of the Internet, where I can relive the small vestigal pleasures of last Fall with others who share my plight.
Perhaps this is our curse. All the GTE moments where souls were offered up for a final strikeout or a bloop single to drop in. Without signing the contracts, maybe we did. Forever destined to wander this mortal planet as shells of our former selves, hollowed and empty from getting that which we wanted most. Only time will tell. Pitchers and catchers report in a few days… Then the exhibition games start. It’s less than 2 months til opening day, and I don’t think I’ll know until then if I’ll ever feel the same.
But one thing’s for sure: You bet your ass I’d trade it all over again without hesitation.
seattlecougar - March 12, 2009
It's like Mariners fanfiction.
HARRYP09 - March 12, 2009
I still can't believe we let Russell Branyan go when he was only got 2/$7 from the Indians...
Maybe I’m just bitter since I’ll have less chances for him to sign the home run he hit to me in game five.
Am I an asshole because I’m still bragging about this? I think I’m an asshole.
BrettJMiller - March 12, 2009
Redmond High School. Represent!
Am I right, Graham? Mellen?
Green! Green! Gold! Gold! whitewhitewhitewhitewhitewhitewhite!
ConorGlassey - March 12, 2009
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