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26-41, Chart

Fangraphs!

20100618_reds_mariners_0_66_lbig__medium

Biggest Contribution: Cliff Lee, +69.0%
Biggest Suckfest: Michael Saunders, -10.8%

I will never be prepared for this trade. I will never be prepared.

0 recs  |  71 comments

Comments

I fucking love this guy

Loved watching Randy Johnson in his prime too, but this guy is something special. He’s like a combination of Maddux intellect and Johnson’s talent (without the 100mph fastball).

Every game he starts here should be a sellout.

The worst thing about Cliff Lee is that Felix isn't as cool anymore
2nd best pitcher on the staff

I know it’s heresy in some parts, but imo Felix is the second best pitcher on this staff right now.

Anyone that thinks Felix is better than Cliff Lee is bad at evaluating pitchers
Cliff Lee entered tonight with a 1.89 tRA
Agree!
GOTTA TRADE CLIFF
GOTTA KEEP CLIFF
Reminds me of Pokemon

However, I wish it was us doing the catching of Cliff.

We still have Charizaardsma.
Don't worry since we have him he's registered in our pokedex.
MagiCarp
Catch and release :(
Makes me sick we didn't become a contender this year.

What a waste of a gift trade.

Look at it this way: he was never ours to begin with. It's like we got him on loan as if he were an international soccer star.
Before he goes,

there must be a Cliff Lee smile day.

What, first 10,000 fans to smile creepily the whole game get a creepy Cliff Lee smiley key chain?
The most annoying thing

is reading all the “He’ll look good in Yankee pinstripes” comments and knowing they’re likely true. How messed up is baseball when everyone knows exactly how the season will play out?

We don't all know how it'll play out.

A lot of people thought the M’s would win 85+ games this year.

He doesn't wear stirrups, he won't look good in Yankee pinstripes.

Period.

I don't think I've genuinely loved a player like this since Mike Cameron left

Cliff needs to retire a Mariner dammit

Is it wrong to buy a jersey of a player we have for only one year?
No
Definitely not

You are retarded
I like him a lot more than Felix
That's because you are dumb
I know you are but what am I
A home made shirt.
I don't get it
The day we trade Cliff, I'm going drink myself into a coma.

I know we have a budget but I wish we could just say screw it and give him whatever he wants.

What if he wants a WS ring in 2010?
There's always stealing.
I am a Cliff Lee fan for life now, I think.

He looked a tiny bit off at first, but once he got into a groove he was scary good.

Even "off" CLIFF FUCKING LEE" is amazing.

He is simply the BEST. Since we can’t keep him, we better get the very out of him.

If this game was in Cincy Cliff knew they would have had 2 hr and possibly 4.

That is the kind of thing that would help the Mariners sign him long term. What a damn shame.

Josh Wilson's drive would have left the yard, too

That place is a fucking bandbox.

I still can't believe the Phillies basically handed Cliff Lee over to us.
Can you imagine how good they would be with Lee and Halladay?

I mean they were already NL favorites but they could have been that much better.

I bet they could have gotten better prospects back if they traded him at the deadline.
Great game, glad I got to see Lee at least one more time before he goes.
It's hard to believe so many of us took umbrage with the projections that had Lee as more valuable than Felix.

It’s laughable now.

Felix is STILL 24 years old, people.

It’s hard to think of him this way because he’s been pitching in MLB for 5 years, but geez. Cliff Lee’s a finished product. Felix Hernandez still isn’t yet.

That doesn't mean Cliff Lee isn't awesome and better right now, though.

It just means Felix still has another notch he can take it up.

Yeah, I'm not an idiot.
Well, the way I see it is this...

Cliff Lee was not HOLY CRAP CLIFF LEE at age 24. But Felix is still King Felix at age 24. So while I am sad Cliff Lee will be going, I’d be a lot sadder about Felix. Cliff Lee is a very good pitcher, but he’s not a likely HOF’er unless he pulls a Jamie Moyer. Felix, on the other hand, has enough resume through age 24 that if he stays healthy, he’s likely to be a HOFer. It’s kind of like the difference between Schilling and RJ.

How is it like Schilling and Johnson?

Although they had both shown flashes of brilliance early on, neither Curt Schilling or Randy Johnson was consistently great until their late-20s.

OK, then change it to " the difference between a young HOF pitcher at 24 and a very good but not HOF pitcher at 31".

I was focusing more on “HOF resume” and “not quite HOF resume” more than respective ages. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure which which prospective HOF pitchers at age 24 had a teammate like Cliff Lee for 3-4 months.

I love the charts for games that are tied for long stretches of time

No matter how much WPA can change within an inning, it always ends back up at 50%

Does anyone know how Jack Z feels about the current record?

Is he still holding hope for the season, or has he given indication that its time to prepare for next year?

Publicly or privately?
Yeah, let me shoot him a quick text.

Hmmm, guess he’s busy fielding calls about Lee.

No need for sarcasm.

I was just curious because I don’t read much of the press, so I was hoping someone who does would be able to pull a quote that may indicate one way or another.

The other day he gave a quote about getting the team back into the division race, but I wouldn't take it as anything more than posturing.
Most front offices aim for at least coming off as cryptic. This front office just doesn't let anything out.

The fans need to hear that this season still matters otherwise why bother buying tickets? But it’s one thing to say that they are still trying to get back in it and it’s another entirely to trade for Eduardo Perez.

It's fairly irrelevant what's being said in the press.

Every GM in the universe is going to do the “We’re trying to get back in this” song and dance up until they trade away players for prospects. You might as well be asking a world-class poker player if he’s bluffing.

Is there any way to persuade Cliff to stay?

You guys have some sick minds, lets brainstorm!

Maybe a 15 game winning streak for starters.
Pay him lots and lots of money

But that wouldn’t be a very good idea.

Aw why not???
Please use proper punctuation.
So let's just trade Lee for a huge haul, use those players to go on a second half run to get to ~75-80 wins, then sign him to a 7 year, $Texas contract in the offseason.

That’s plausible, right?

… :(

It's such a joy watching the guy pitch, I would be A-OK if the Mariners offered him stupid-money to return.
Too bad your name's not Howard Lincoln.
Mine is.
Well, if you're the Seattle Mariner CEO...

… could you add about 30 million to next year’s budget compared to the one for this year? That way we could get Cliff Lee back AND add a decent SS or C, plus some talent at 1B.

Story checks out.
Question from an ignorant guy

I know this is about bemoaning the impending loss of Cliff Lee, and yes, I’m frustrated about that — I wish we could keep him.

But could someone explain to me what’s up with Eric Bedard? Is he ever coming back? Is he someone to be excited about? Won’t he offset (a little) of the loss of Lee? Or is he finished?

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