Sigh

I could sit here and write a bunch of words on what is ailing the Mariners, what needs to be done, blah blah blah, but it would just be an effort of futility. I won't waste mine or your time writing it because, well its all been said. Seriously, just scroll down, and you'll see everything I wrote in the preceding weeks that HASN'T been done. Oh sure, Bavasi has his scouts everywhere trying to find a deal. Hey heres a thought, send some of those scouts to Tacoma, and they'll come back saying "hey! theres these two good OF and a good lookin young catcher down there... maybe we should work a deal for these guys!" Tacoma could go along with it and "trade" us those good lookin youngsters. Sounds dumb? I say just dumb enough that Bavasi could fall for it. Also, I'm not as mad as I've been because I've finally come to the realization that this is NOT a playoff club, and that we simply over achieved. Now with a few minor moves we could have increased our chances, but hey why would McLaren start Broussard, who in 200 less at bats has 2 more bombs then Vidro, and one less then Raul. He also plays 1b and LF, and wouldn't ya know it? Those are our two weakest areas! and I know, I know, Ben is abysmal in the OF, but then again so is Raul, and at least Ben would be hitting.
My honest outlook now is hoping that this 7 gm losing streak becomes 10 or 15, and pushes us out of the playoffs. That would stop Bavasi from trading away our future, it would allow us to finally give those kids a shot, and it would [Hopefully] mean the heads of Bavasi and McLaren. McLaren is nice enough, but he has no clue whats going on, maddingly refuses to put a lineup out there with a chance to win, and is the worst manager of a bullpen I have ever seen. I never thought I would see the days when I prayed for Hargrove to be back killing our arms. At least he always put the best guy out there. And now, thanks to a post on Lookout Landing, I can find a little peace in watching the Mariners. When Raul strikes out to kill a rally, I'll try laughing instead, because it is kind of funny to know whats going to happen. I'll laugh everytime we face a right hander and I see Ben Broussard chillin on the bench. I'll chuckle to myself everytime McLaren passes on Sean Green to bring in Reitsma in the 8th to get torched. When I see that Wlad or Jones hit ANOTHER bomb in AAA, I can smile because I'll know that they'll probably be traded soon and then will finally get there chance to shine in the Bigs. Welcome to Mariners baseball.
My shirt Idea (tossed it out on the USS Mariner boards to some good response):
Mariners Mantra: If it doesn't make sense, DO IT!
We could even have it be a monthly shirt give away, each one with a different Mariners mistake. Some of my favs would be:

• Scott Spezio
• Rich Aurilla (we could even have Carlos Guillen on there to show how dumb that move was)
• Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek for Heathcliff Slocumb!
• David Ortiz (yes THAT David Ortiz) for Dave Hollins
• Soriano for HoRam! Weaver for 8 mil!

The possibilities are endless, and if anyone has other ideas feel free to leave a comment or email me. Also, to Travis, who asked why Morse is in the AZL, he was doing well in AAA (batting over .300) but ESPN has him listed as *O (out) with NO other information as to why. His last AAA game was June 26, and before that the 15th so there must be an injury somewhere in there. He will never have a place on the Mariners, as he can actually HIT the ball and theres no need for one of those. and he had that whole steroid extravaganza so they want no part of him in the big leagues. Oh, and I think Johnny could do a comparable job to Chris Reitsma, who is just horrible. Now, just like the Sopranos, or our season, whichever you like, I will fade to black....

ED

The Mariners offense reminds me of those Viagra commercials. They have ED, and every once in a while they pop a viagra and go crazy, but otherwise we are limp. Now if we could be like Levitra and have a window where we could choose when to blow up, that would be nice. But sadly this is real life baseball and there is no pill that can help us. (Well there is an experimental pill called AdamJonesavitra that Bill Bavasi is utterly afraid of). When talk of what could help us arises, there a couple schools of thought:

• The Mariners need a right handed power arm to help us get to Putz. FALSE
• The Mariners need to add a Starting Pitcher. FALSE

The bullpen argument is the most laughable. If people weren't so enamored with the radar guns, they would notice that Sean Green is doing a tremendous job. Toss in Sherrill as the lefty option and we are set there. If you need a fireballer, we have Morrow and Reitsma (neither of which I would trust in the 8th inning), and if your worried about using our lefty specialist in the 8th, we still have O'flaherty who has done well. If we are really that worried about our bullpen, we should instead look within the Org. Mark Lowe will be back soon, and if one is worried about the long relief we still have Julio Mateo doing well in AAA. There is absolutely NO need to trade for bullpen help.

Now when I said false to the second school, the one saying we need a starting pitcher, I am not saying that we couldn't use a better starter or two. I am merely saying there is no pitcher available that will improve us THAT much, and to mortgage the future for someone like Dontrelle Willis would be foolish. Now this one could change, and if a better option becomes available for the right price, by all means we should go for it. But I do not want to see us send off some good prospects for some rent a pitcher. Thankfully there has been so little SP available that Bavasi hasn't overpayed for it.

Now what needs to be done is a revamping of our offense, and it is something that theoretically could all come without need for a trade. Raul and Richie are KILLING the team, Richie to the tune of 4-27 (.148) since the break and one rbi in all of July. Raul is a double edged sword as he is murdering us in the lineup (batting third!!) AND in the feild. So what to do? Glad you asked. As I (and everyone else) have been saying for some time, bring up Adam Jones. But thats just beating a dead horse, so a few other things could be done. I love Jason Ellison and his heart, but hes just not cutting it. His job is to play D and run the bases, and he only does one of those well. Bring up Jeremy Reed to be our fourth OF (we know he can play D with the best of em, and honestly I trust his bat more then Ellison's). Broussard should start somewhere (LF, DH, 1B) everyday against righties. This would give us more pop in the lineup, better D and hitting on the bench, as Raul, Vidro, or Sexson would be available off the bench depending on lineups. If we want to get drastic, we could even bring up Wlad to do some DH, which would give us some more power. Most of all though, I just want to see SOMEBODY in the middle of the line-up not named Sexson or Ibanez. The ball is in Bill Bavasi's court, and I don't know bout the rest of you but that worries me....

Updates

Some of the kids we've been talking about in the Mariner's Farm System:

• CF Mike Saunders (A+High Desert): followed up a grand slam Tuesday with another HR last night, his 14th on the year. Over his last 5 games he's batting .421 with 2 doubles, 2 runs, 2 hrs and 8 rbis.
• SS Carlos Triunfel (A+High Desert): Has an 8 game hitting streak, including 6 straight with an rbi.
• CF Charlston Jimerson (AA West Tennessee): went 2-3 with his 17th hr of the season. Currently has a 14 game hitting streak, during which he has batted .404 with 13 r, 5 2b, 4 hr, and 15 rbi.
• RHP Johnny DuRocher (Rookie League): 1.0 ip, 2 h, 0bb, 2k. On the season he's 2-0, 4.20 ERA, 15.0 ip (9 g), 8 r, 7 er, 2 hr, 3 bb, 13 k, opp. avg .224. If you took out one outing in which he gave up 6 er in 1.0 ip, he has allowed 1 run in 8 other outings.
• RF Wlademir Balentien (AAA Tacoma): Batting .373 with 26 r, 4 2b, 3 3b, 9 hr, and 27 rbi (13 multi hit games) since June 15 (If Seattle makes a move Wlad is the most likely candidate to be traded)
• CF Adam Jones (AAA Tacoma): Had the game losing error in the 12th inning last night. Still though is batting a robust .389 with 9 r, 3 2b, 1 3b, 4 hr, and 10 rbi in his last 8 games. Went 5-5 the night before, and the only question remaining is when will he finally get another shot in the Bigs.
• Wife Beater Julio Mateo continues to plug away in AAA. Not sure what the M's are waiting for in regards to recalling him, unless they plan on moving him or releasing him after the season. More info when it comes.
• Clay Bennett reopens talks with Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels about the Teams future in Seattle.

Bad Times

This will be a short one as I'm a little hungover and don't feel like doing any research or finding anything. I do however have one thing that is bothering me to no end. Went to the Mariner's game last night and saw King Felix lose, but worst of all I saw the pathetic excuse for a fans that the Seattle fans are. They are a bunch of yuppies who are just happy to be "out" and to get to watch a "baseball game." They don't care much about the outcome, and only go to games because the team is winning this year. Brian Roberts would be booed in any other city if he had blown a save for that teams closer in the ASG. Fans shouldn't have been happy when Jay Gibbons CRUSHED a Felix pitch for a 3 run bomb and the lead, but who cares about the mariners? he hit that far! Only one dorky kid in the section we were by knew who Adam Jones was, and it just shows that true fans dont get good seats, only people with money do. It disgusts me to be a part of a group of fans like we have here in Seattle. and to make matters worse, when I went to buy a Felix jersey, I found out that jerseys there cost $175!! What the fuck is that about? Who can afford that shit? Not the family that walked in ahead of us, not I, and not the group behind us. I guess those are only for rich Asians or something but thats just insane. Needless to say the only thing that saved my trip to Safeco last night was the large amount of beer I drank and the heckling of Baltimore fans and bullpen coaches. Stupid Snider and Arias... but I digress. Something needs to be done, a large scale intervention with "seattle fans" because its getting out of hand.

Great Link

Saw this great article on J.J. Putz, thought I would pass it along
Also, be on the lookout for the daily Carlos Triunfel update.

Last night (07/16) : High A High Desert: 2-5, R, RBI
~Side Note~ Michael Saunders, who represented the M's in the minor league all-star game, went 3-5 with a double, 2r, 2rbi, and 2 sb (no. 24 and 25 on the year, only 7 CS). Hes a .298/.395/.480 hitter who takes alot of walks but somehow also manages to strike out quite often. Hopefully he can work on his plate discipline as he progresses but he has a bright future. Another one to watch for.