I can't believe I'm sourcing all of this from a Larry LaRue column, but here goes...
Cliff Lee still felt the strain while playing catch yesterday and the club has shut him down for a week. Wakamatsu mentioned the previous time frame in healing (six weeks) and that he "hoped" new treatments would get Lee back on the field sooner. My concern at this point isn't really in the injury, but in the timing. With it coming midway through Spring Training, Lee doesn't only have to heal, he has to stretch out still.
Like we saw with Ryan Rowland-Smith last season, injuries to starting pitchers at this juncture can cause them to take longer to get back up to game speed than at any other time of the year. I'm not predicting doom or anything, but if you haven't already prepared yourself for April without Cliff Lee, then I would start. On the plus side, maybe we add Cliff Lee and Erik Bedard to the rotation at the same time in early May! That would be fun, right?
Jack Hannahan is flying to Philadelphia to get checked out for a possible sports hernia on his groin injury. While that may come back negative, it does indicate that he is not progressing too well back to recovery.
Apparently, Don Wakamatsu confirmed that Casey Kotchman is the team's everyday first baseman and not a platoon player. On one hand, Wakamatsu also just said that about Milton Bradley in left field and that's clearly a fantasy. On the other hand, welcome back Mike Sweeney!
0 recs | 153 comments
Happy Friday!
xero3k - March 26, 2010
I can't believe it either.
Ryan Divish - March 26, 2010
Ugh
OlSalty - March 26, 2010
Ryan Garko is unattractive anyway
Jeff Sullivan - March 26, 2010
Really?
I don’t think he’s that bad…
I’d rank him above Sweeney.
appleshampoo - March 26, 2010
I have to say I have a soft spot for the Garko.
by the way, if you just google ‘Garko’? you get some completely other glamour type boy.
msb - March 26, 2010
Incredible second half run once everyone's healthy!
Who’s with me?
JY - March 26, 2010
I'm with you, man
royalcurve - March 26, 2010
Mmmmmmm ...
That Kool Aid tastes good!
HitKing69 - March 26, 2010
It was actually Flavor Aid, but whatever.
Sec 108 - March 26, 2010
Playoffs!
xero3k - March 26, 2010
A furious surge
From deep in the basement of the division at the AS break, passing the A’s to reach a solidly uncontested 3rd place by September!
wandergeist - March 26, 2010
What I can't figure out is why I'm surprised
Corco - March 26, 2010
I've always wondered how a sports hernia is different from a regular hernia.
Mariner John - March 26, 2010
You get this kind from sports
Jeff Sullivan - March 26, 2010
You asked!
Matthew - March 26, 2010
Medicine ruins words like pouch, sac, and fluid
Jeff Sullivan - March 26, 2010
You think that's bad?
Matthew - March 26, 2010
So someone's gonna touch Hanny's balls
Jeff Sullivan - March 26, 2010
Hannahands-on medicine!
Robert Lintott - March 26, 2010
I recognize about 30% of the words there
and it was still MORE than enough to give me shivers all over.
Limerickx - March 26, 2010
You only need to recognize three
“scrotum is inverted”
wandergeist - March 26, 2010
Doesn't it seem oddly specific to mention "the little finger"
Why? Are the other fingers too large? What if the physician has small hands? Is it because any other finger would be weird? Isn’t using the pinky like you’re raising a teacup more than a little weird in itself? Is it because the doctor is expected to do this with one hand and the other fingers are needed to do the “palpating” ? Why? What’s he doing with the other hand? Are they afraid the doc is going to do some medical version of monkey steals the peach?
wandergeist - March 26, 2010
And I disagree! I think it makes them more impactful when you use those words in non-medical contexts.
Just like ‘moist’
Matthew - March 26, 2010
.
msb - March 26, 2010
Moist and palpated inverted scrotum in the same thread, this is the worst post of all time*.
At least since I’ve been reading.
Kermit. - March 26, 2010
I really want to post the picture out of my lecture notes on hernia that involves herniation of a reasonable amount of abdominal content.
Looks like a watermelon testicle.
abender20 - March 26, 2010
Baker has a little more on the Sweeney situation here
(link)
I can’t believe everyone got scooped by LaRue.
Jeff Sullivan - March 26, 2010
I guess if he gets injured playing the field it'll be easier to cut him
OlSalty - March 26, 2010
In that case he goes on the DL
So they don’t have to cut him. They can keep him around as a
babysittermascotclubhouse presence.wandergeist - March 26, 2010
I don't know if I'd label it a scoop.
But he does seem motivated when it comes to Baker
Ryan Divish - March 26, 2010
Seemed like he had the Sweeney story before anyone else
although with LaRue, it’s impossible to differentiate between a scoop and hopeful speculation.
Jeff Sullivan - March 26, 2010
It probably helps to be Sweeney's lapdog
Matthew - March 26, 2010
SWEENEY IS A LAPDOG
Jeff Sullivan - March 26, 2010
Making this all the more degrading
Matthew - March 26, 2010
Ryan Garko, Brad Nelson, Tommy Everidge, and Mike Carp are all going to play every day in Tacoma
Jeff Sullivan - March 26, 2010
So, that won't be an earthqauke we are feeling, just men running the bases?
msb - March 26, 2010
Nothing quite like seeing Brad Nelson playing right field.
Ryan Divish - March 26, 2010
Right. Nelson in RF and LaHair in LF... good times.
marc w - March 26, 2010
If only LaHair was still around.
Manzanillos Cup - March 26, 2010
I HATE MIKE SWEENEY'S SWING
Jeff Sullivan - March 26, 2010
He looks like he's swinging a 60 oz bat.
Manzanillos Cup - March 26, 2010
Is "I bet you did?!" really a question?
Of course they did! There’s no need for it to be a question?
Coach Owens - March 26, 2010
Great, now it happened to me.
Curse you, Jeff Sullivan.
Coach Owens - March 26, 2010
Matthew wrote this.
Mariner John - March 26, 2010
I didn't write this post
Jeff Sullivan - March 26, 2010
Didn't even notice.
That’s my bad.
Coach Owens - March 26, 2010
I feel like Geoff Baker
Jeff Sullivan - March 26, 2010
Please elaborate
Ryan Divish - March 26, 2010
People think Baker writes everything on his blog, even when Larry or Condotta stand in
Jeff Sullivan - March 26, 2010
True, and it annoys those guys immensely
How hard is it to look at the byline on there?
Ryan Divish - March 26, 2010
That's one thing about me and LaRue
people never confuse our blog posts
Ryan Divish - March 26, 2010
.
Jeff Sullivan - March 26, 2010
.
The hell they never do!
PositivePaul - March 26, 2010
And besides...
When did the TNT let you out of your cage long enough to let you post non-anonymously on other people’s blogs? :-)
PositivePaul - March 26, 2010
It's not even just the byline
Even the writing styles of said bloggers are distinguishable.
Maybe it’s Baker’s picture at the top of the blog that’s confusing people.
ThundaPC - March 26, 2010
They literally slap his face on every post
That is what confuses me if I’m not looking closely
Poochie - March 26, 2010
His face is everywhere
Ryan Divish - March 26, 2010
It's almost as if he's trying to create a brand
Jeff Sullivan - March 26, 2010
Geoff Baker's face
Burned into hides with hot metal instruments.
The stuff of nightmares.
wandergeist - March 26, 2010
The picture is a big part of it.
Janic - March 26, 2010
I will never understand people
Big blogs aren’t one-man performances, Internet.
Jeff Sullivan - March 26, 2010
I've always figured that you just have thousands of screennames and all the comments are actually by you
Dewey N - March 26, 2010
This whole site is a piece of one-man performance art?
wandergeist - March 26, 2010
If this were true it would be the most funny thing I could think of.
And oddly sad.
Kirk - March 26, 2010
To be fair, the byline doesn't show up in Google Reader
So, unless somebody clicks through for the whole article (and yes, I know it has to be done to read the whole thing) then it can go missed
tootthekazoo - March 26, 2010
So you're saying that you're LL's third best writer?
Coach Owens - March 26, 2010
Well then
Curse you, Jeff Sullivan.Curse you, Matthew Carruth!
Coach Owens - March 26, 2010
It is getting harder to tell
lemonverbena - March 26, 2010
Reading is getting harder?
Matthew - March 26, 2010
It was a backhanded compliment
Didn’t actually miss the byline.
lemonverbena - March 26, 2010
Sigh.
Larry Stone is feeling depressed, too.
msb - March 26, 2010
Goddamit I hate you Mike Sweeney
Poochie - March 26, 2010
They better go out and sign Gaudin to make up for this
OlSalty - March 26, 2010
But oh wait he's sucked in 9 innings of Spring Training so I guess he sucks
OlSalty - March 26, 2010
THIS TEAM SHOULD KNOW BETTER JESUS FUCK
Poochie - March 26, 2010
I don't think Mike Sweeney would support that sort of remark
Jeff Sullivan - March 26, 2010
x
Poochie - March 26, 2010
Re: Sweeney
At least this ensures the clubhouse to be depression-proof. He better produce like mad though.
ThundaPC - March 26, 2010
It's official
We’re trying to build a bench worse than the one we had in 2008
Poochie - March 26, 2010
Question?
So if Bradley plays LF nearly everyday. Is it going to be the old men Griffey and Sweeney DH platoon again? Is this really happening?
InSpokane - March 26, 2010
Appears to be the likelihood
Griffey/Sweeney platoon, Kotchman & Bradley everyday, Byrnes as the backup. We’ll see what happens when Lee comes back and we presumably go to an 11-man pitching staff, but that could be a long way off.
Jeff Sullivan - March 26, 2010
I still don't believe it.
InSpokane - March 26, 2010
How is Wak comfortable with Sweeney playing first if he hasn't done so at all in ST?
One Emeritus roster spot is more than enough already.
lemonverbena - March 26, 2010
With that setup,
I would put money on one of Bradley/Griffdawg/Sweeney getting injured before Lee comes back, necessitating some kind of move to bring back Garko or Langerman (assuming we sneak him through waivers again). Wait, is Langerman on the 40-man? This shit gets so confusing.
appleshampoo - March 26, 2010
Who the hell is "Langerman"?
Or is that Griffey’s new comic book persona:
Languor-man!
wandergeist - March 26, 2010
Langerhans
Random nickname Fin gave him that for some reason I picked up.
appleshampoo - March 26, 2010
Langerhands
Lanyardhams
Lang-der-hanz
lemonverbena - March 26, 2010
Neihaus said "Langerman" a couple times and it stuck.
Decatur - March 27, 2010
Speaking of the Griffey/Sweeney platoon
What’s the deal with Sweeney’s reverse platoon split? With over 5600 PAs, 37 OPS points seems substantial. Why is the org convinced that at this point in his career Griffey can still perform better than Sweeney against RHs?
Manzanillos Cup - March 26, 2010
I'm not sure they are
I suspect if Griffey had no more history in Seattle than Sweeney, and wasn’t being counted on to keep Bradley under control and Ichiro happy, we’d be hearing about how Griffey was getting cut and the “veteran position race” had been won by Sweeney.
wandergeist - March 26, 2010
So Chad Gaudin was released by the Yankees
With Cliff Lee on the shelf indefinitely and Ian Snell a bit of a wild card, I kinda think it’d be great to bring him into the rotation. He’s better than Fister, probably better than Vargas, and possibly better than Snell. And no commitment.
Bearskin Rugburn - March 26, 2010
OK Lee's not on the shelf indefinitely
Bearskin Rugburn - March 26, 2010
Don't know what got into me there
Bearskin Rugburn - March 26, 2010
Because it's almost opening day
Which makes us like children. And you try telling a child he has to wait over a month for something he really wants NOW.
seattlecougar - March 26, 2010
Plus we're M's fans
And tend to lunge from tentative joy into worst-case despair at the first hint of a setback.
wandergeist - March 26, 2010
There is a lot of history to support this reaction.
InSpokane - March 26, 2010
The mule may flinch excessively
But he still has reason to flinch
wandergeist - March 26, 2010
That's it, I'm getting a donut
Jeff Sullivan - March 26, 2010
I think you mean a drink.
InSpokane - March 26, 2010
Has anyone made donut-flavored ale?
msb - March 26, 2010
I have had a few Belgian style ales that taste a little like donuts.
InSpokane - March 26, 2010
Screw donut...
I want bacon ale!
Actually, Rauchbier isn’t that far away…
PositivePaul - March 26, 2010
Mike Sweeney's spring training babip is north of .500
OlSalty - March 26, 2010
Uh, yay?
ToddK - March 26, 2010
With a career babip of .301 and a more likely babip due to age of .290
OlSalty - March 26, 2010
So what you're saying is a .577 batting average is likely unsustainable
Jeff Sullivan - March 26, 2010
Let me ask Fogel
OlSalty - March 26, 2010
I just want to know where they see improvement versus just dumb luck because I assume they're also aware of this
OlSalty - March 26, 2010
Actually I don't even know what I was trying to say here, I'm just pissed
I guess I was thinking the justification for this in other people’s minds is “Well obviously he’s not going to hit .577, but he couldn’t possibly be THAT lucky, some of it must be him riding that hot streak from last year.”
Which I was just saying, yes, in 26 at bats he certainly could be just that lucky. Ground breaking stuff I know.
OlSalty - March 26, 2010
It all seemed so perfect and exciting before spring training happened.
How foolish of me to get my hopes up.
sanford_and_son - March 26, 2010
As Jack said
You don’t get any kind of prize for winning the offseason.
wandergeist - March 26, 2010
So it's not about the beginning of the day?
Dewey N - March 26, 2010
The end of the day is the beginning of the next day.
And if there’s a new day, there must be a new way… so I think it’s kindof a wash here.
Two Rs and Two Ls - March 26, 2010
But we don't want Wash here.
ToddK - March 26, 2010
At least if it goes poorly enough for you,
You can always give it all up and go be with Elizabeth
tootthekazoo - March 26, 2010
It's the big one!
Kermit. - March 26, 2010
We seem to be considerably less than Fucking Baller
lemonverbena - March 26, 2010
Shannon on 710 right now
msb - March 26, 2010
"The bright spot is that the injury is not a tear..."
sigh.
msb - March 26, 2010
Weee she says to forget about Washburn because she wants someone who can pitch now.
Shannon is good at her job.
BrianL - March 26, 2010
GAUDIN!!!
Bearskin Rugburn - March 26, 2010
Meanwhile Geoff still thinks that Washburn will be ready on or near opening day.
BrianL - March 26, 2010
She is good
She’s smart, well informed, has rational opinions and isn’t afraid to air them.
I want to have her babies.
wandergeist - March 26, 2010
What I don't get about Washburn
It’s obvious he would have to build himself back up again, meaning he’s not ready to go for a few weeks either. But for someone in his position trying to latch on to replace someone injured, isn’t it in his best interest to try to get as much work done on his own as possible? I know he can’t pitch to live batters or anything, but it seems like with all his millions he could afford a trainer and some facilities to at least get out there and throw max-effort pitches in a simulated game or something to at least get his arm conditioned. Then if he gets a deal, it’s a much shorter delay to get back into the game.
I would love to go get him (irrational like for the guy), but if he really won’t be able to pitch until mid-April if we signed him right now…meh.
appleshampoo - March 26, 2010
Winners don't need to train. They roll out of bed ready to pitch 6 innings and give up 4 runs.
Sec 108 - March 26, 2010
But if he guts it out and throws 110 pitches in the effort then he officially qualifies as "a gamer".
As in “yeah, but he’s a gamer”.
Kermit. - March 26, 2010
"Look,
there’s actually a little gas gauge here that shows E after 95 pitches"
appleshampoo - March 26, 2010
According to the piece by Hickey a week or so back
"He is throwing on a regular routine in hopes that he gets a job, and it’s possible that he could be ready to join a rotation in three weeks, maybe four, after finding a home.
“It’s all about the right situation for Jarrod,” Boras said. “He’s on the same kind of throwing schedule that other clients have been on when it’s taken them a three-to-four week schedule to get ready.”
msb - March 26, 2010
Cool, thanks.
appleshampoo - March 26, 2010
Ugh.
This season will definitely require a flask.
appleshampoo - March 26, 2010
The caption for Sweendog is awesome
I think it’s time for a new Ichiro!/Griffdawg/Sweendawg cellphone .gif, don’t you think?
d0nkey - March 26, 2010
Baker now on 710
msb - March 26, 2010
Sweet
Dewey N - March 26, 2010
Heh.
@ kirbyarnold U.S. Navy parachute team impressively drops into Peoria Stadium before the M’s game. No, they didn’t bring Jarrod Washburn with them.
msb - March 26, 2010
Bradley at DH
Via Baker’s latest blog:
“Sweeney…will be a right handed DH on some days and a pinch-hitter on days when Milton Bradley assumes some of that role.”
So assuming your bench is Moore/Sweeney/Byrnes/Tui, it seems like you’ve essentially removed the possibility for Bradley to play DH and have any backup options in the outfield. You put Byrnes in LF, and of course Guti and Ichi. If any of them go down, now you’ve got no backup outfielder, unless you send Junior out there to flail around or lose your DH.
Unless I’m missing something. Fucking hell.
appleshampoo - March 26, 2010
As Tui played OF yesterday, I think that'd be the plan.
I’m uh…. that’s… goooooo health!
marc w - March 26, 2010
Riiiiiiight.
I forgot about that. Like I honestly forgot. But it doesn’t really make me feel any better about it.
appleshampoo - March 26, 2010
Come on Kansas City
You know you want a reunion tour.
BrianL - March 26, 2010
That's what I've been hoping for
C’mon Dayton, you know you want him back now that the M’s have given him the stamp of approval you value so highly.
wandergeist - March 26, 2010
That's the last bit of hope that I'm cling on to.
Hopefully all of this is just PR fluff designed to land Sweeney a job somewhere that’s not Seattle.
xero3k - March 26, 2010
That wacky play with Wilson stealing home makes the day better.
msb - March 26, 2010
Any day that includes a steal of home --
Delayed, pure, or wacky — is a better day.
wandergeist - March 26, 2010
Ichiro stole home and also got a forced a runner out at 2nd on a base hit to right field.
This is a strange game so far.
marc w - March 26, 2010
Unless I missed something (listening with half an ear)
Ichiro got caught off the bag at first and went into a rundown between first and second with Wilson on 3rd. Wilson (not Ichiro) stole home while that was going on and came in head-first under the tag at the plate. Since Ichiro ended up safe at second he’d get creditted with part of a double steal, I think, but not of home.
wandergeist - March 26, 2010
Yep.
Also Ichiro advanced to 3rd on a balk directly afterward, which could confuse things.
appleshampoo - March 26, 2010
Yah, 2 balks in the game.
msb - March 26, 2010
Dave & Ken Phelps in a discussion of boning bats.
it really needed some Beavis & Butthead snickering.
msb - March 26, 2010
As much as this all hurts
At least we aren’t the Cubs.
http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=5030935
blueside714 - March 26, 2010
I'm still very excited.
wilsonpdx - March 26, 2010
Ken Phelps! Ken Phelps! I got to have Ken Phelps' bat!
appleshampoo - March 26, 2010
Suck it indeed.
Goose - March 26, 2010
Terrible news about Cliff Lee, however for me at least, good news on Sweeney.
That meathead Chris Snyder can go to hell.
Sam Regens - March 26, 2010
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