Sodo Oh No

2008-05-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

It looks like Jeff at Lookout Landing is tired of people like me who are rooting for the Mariners to lose. I'd like to comment on his list:

Do me a favor and spare us all the bullshit about how you want this team to lose 100 games so that there will be major changes up top.

(1) no you don't

Uh...I do.

(2) it's not an original thought

I never claimed it was.

(3) it's not funny

I'm not trying to be funny.

(4) it's May 6th

Yes, it's May 6th in a season that the M's made moves that can only be construed as making this a win now year...14-20.

(5) this team isn't going to lose 100 games

Probably not, but what's the point of following sports if you can't dream?

(6) there's no evidence that they'd make any major changes

True but each year that have been bad has hurt attendance more and the combination of the moves they made with a epic losing season might - I say, might - help. What other choice is there since I know there is no way then will win with this crew without total crazy luck.

(7) there's no evidence that they'd replace the current guys with anyone better

Certainly the most damming point. My true dream is that it becomes so bad that they sell the team.

(8) executives smart enough to find a better GM wouldn't need a 100-loss season to do it

True but so what?

Seriously, just drop it. It's tired.

Sorry but it's truly how I feel. Anyway, go Liverpool for now and I'll have my season tickets for Sounders FC next year. Maybe they will care about winning.

2006-12-13T19:09:00.000-08:00

I said I was done when the didn't fire Hargrove at the end of the year but, you know, I really didn't mean it.

Well, with the Snelling for Vidro trade I am absolutely done. I'm not wasting any more of my time or emotion on a team run by this front office. If the ownership changes or they completely clean house in the front office I will look again, until then they won't be getting another dime or moment of time from me.

-mh

2006-10-26T22:40:00.000-07:00

Finally the MBSBL 2005 season is finished. Here are the final standings:

Team            W    L   Pct   GB    RS    RA
05 Sounders    98   64  .605    -  1014   830
05 Bobble He   92   70  .568    6   904   823
05 Iowa Hay    87   75  .537   11   876   851
05 Burnt Toa   84   78  .519   14   975   895
05 Parker Bo   83   79  .512   15   907   895
05 Swirlies    78   84  .481   20   898   971
05 Bashers     77   85  .475   21  1010  1027
05 Toetags     68   94  .420   30   857   967
05 Runyons     62  100  .383   36   797   979

2006-06-30T14:45:00.000-07:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 32 - 06/29/2006

We're on the bandwagon! Since the M's look good now we decided to do a show. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2006-05-05T07:15:00.000-07:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 31 - 05/04/2006

What do you know, the M's keep playing games and we keep talking about them. I'm trying to remember but I don't think what we say about them is ALL bad. You'll have to listen to really find out. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2006-05-02T11:06:00.000-07:00

The good old days. I just uploaded my 1995 ALDS montage video to YouTube. Enjoy!

2006-04-18T14:11:00.000-07:00

Here is some backstory for the RBI Baseball Game 7 clip.

2006-04-14T13:25:00.000-07:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 30 - 04/14/2006

The Mariners are back and so is Mostly Mariners. We talk over the first two weeks of the season and wonder if anyone is going to listen to this. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2006-04-10T21:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry John to scratch at the scar but holy cow! Check out RBI Game Six, a reenactment with Nintendo RBI Baseball (1988) of the bottom of the 10th of game six of the 1986 World Series with the Vin Scully audio.

Via MetaFilter.

MBSBL is Back !!!!

2006-01-05T13:53:00.000-08:00

Mike got the latest Diamond Mind season on disk the other day and has already set out email to last years MBSBL participants. If you're a reader of this blog and you're interested in fielding a team in MBSBL this year. Drop us a line at sodoohno@yahoo.com and we'll add you to the mailing list. Follow the links on the sidebar to relive last years exciting MBSBL league.

2005-11-01T16:09:00.000-08:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 29 - 10/28/2005

It's the end of the season recap episode of Mostly Mariners. The post on this was delayed for technical reasons...please disregard John's prediction of Epstein returning to the Red Sox. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2005-09-27T15:22:00.000-07:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 28 - 9/27/2005

We made it back for one more regular season Mostly Mariners. The M's...what can you say? We manage to say stuff about them for about 15 minutes before we turned to games that matter and the great playoff races happening. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2005-08-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 27 - 8/30/2005

It's the end of August, the M's stink and it's more Mostly Mariners. Today we try to answer 12-year-old listener Charlie's question: "Why are the Mariners so bad?" We talk about the good (Felix), the bad (the rest of the pitchers), and the ugly (... no it's too easy). Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2005-08-10T14:05:00.000-07:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 26 - 8/10/2005

All Hail The King!!! We waited until Felix Hernandez's first home start for this show and we were glad we did. What a game for the 19-year-old. We break it down in awe. We talk about some of the other rookies, the Moyer trade that wasn't, the state of the playoff races and more. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2005-08-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 25 - 8/1/2005

Hey! We have something interesting to talk about. Yikes, it has been pretty ugly for the M's the last two weeks. But the trading deadline brought three trades that we disect and talk about the future of the team. We touch on the current standings and playoff picture and talk more steroids with Rafael Palmeiro's suspension. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2005-07-12T16:26:00.000-07:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 24 - 7/12/2005

A special long-distance Mostly Mariners as John is on vacation at Cape Cod deep in the Red Sox Nation. We do talk a little Sox as well as the Boone DFA to Twins story arc and the amazing road sweep of the Angels. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2005-06-28T13:56:00.000-07:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 23 - 6/28/2005

Heeeerrreee's Mostly Mariners! And a big welcome to all of you visiting for the first time from the iTunes Podcast Directory. We hope you enjoy the show It was not such a good week for the M's! We talk about that, Boone's big weekend in San Diego, potential trading deadline deals and the various division races. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2005-06-22T09:52:00.000-07:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 22 - 6/21/2005

We're back with ~~Sodo Oh No~~ - I mean Mostly Mariners! It was a good week! We talk about the great job the kids have done (don't ever play Boone again!), some of the division races and we end with some great ideas for additional 1995 statue giveaways. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed with a podcast client.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2005-06-15T14:59:00.000-07:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 21 - 6/14/2005

More Mostly Mariners! This week we talk about the interleague games, which of the current players will be on the next good Mariners team (hint: not many), and some other items. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed with a podcast client.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2005-06-01T15:19:00.000-07:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 20 - 6/5/2005

Here's a Mostly Mariners episode! After taking a couple of weeks off we talk about the roster shakeup, the bad starting pitching, the bad offence...it's not a real upbeat episode - kind of like Episode III. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed with a podcast client.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2005-05-24T16:07:00.000-07:00

Read all about the M's Bill Bavasi bemoaning the lack of having a serviceable shortstop on the major league roster. Poor poor Bill. As you read the article don't forget to pay special attention to the part where it mentions the M's deciding to get rid of Carlos Guillen because he wasn't worth a long term "investment" and he was "fragile". How much was Carlos Guillen making when the M's traded him? $2.5 million, then during an all star year with the Tigers he signed a 3 year $14 million dollar deal.

The M's had their shortstop, signed at a decent wage, locked up for an entire year before they had to make any decisions on a long term investment. Instead Bavasi went for Omar (the emptiest .300 hitter on the planet) and Rich Aurilla. In 2004, at worst, the M's would have had a great utility player locked in at a decent salary to take over for either Spezio or Aurilla in case they got injured or failed to perform (as ultimately both did). At best they would have had Guillen's breakout year before deciding to pursue him into free agency. What did they get instead? A couple of non-prospects and a hole at SS for the next 3-4 years.

Since when does getting TB misdiagnosed by the medical crew on your team make you fragile? Even if Carlos only played his average of 130 games a year (over the last 4 years) his production of last year .318/.379/.542 towers over anything the existing M's shortstops have done or will do.

I'm sorry Bill. You don't get to cry to the press when you are responsible for the stupid decisions that got you into your mess.

2005-05-23T13:03:00.000-07:00

Aaron Sele throws a 4 hit, complete game shutout, facing only 30 batters? Wow, kudos to Sele. I guess that makes him the staff ace right about now.

Ugly statement of the week: M's take their first homestand since July of last year.

We'll have a new show up sometime this week responding to viewer comments, the return of Pat Borders and the current blog world infatuation with pitching mechanics, aka - why does it take Gil Meche 117 pitches to complete 6 innings?

2005-05-19T08:16:00.000-07:00

Lost in the joy of last nights comeback win over the Yankees is the fact that Jamie Moyer pitched poorly for the 4th start in a row. His line last night was a woeful

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
J Moyer	5.0	8	6	6	3	2	1	101-57	6.11

He allowed 11 baserunners in 5 innings. That is Selesque and doesn't bode well. The fact that it took him 101 pitches to struggle through 5 innings is also a bad indicator. How long do we let Moyer go before admitting 2004 was a strong indicator of his current, true ability and stop waiting for a bounceback 2005 season? The M's have already started tinkering with the rotation, sliding in Mateo and "optioning" Joel to AAA.

BTW - The M's do play the Yankees one more series this year. (Unlike my statement in the podcast). They are done with the BoSox after a single home & away matchup and only get to play Tampa a single home & away this season. If you get some time, take a look at the entire schedule. It's a mess. Frankly I don't remember a season having as many home & away, back to back series against the same teams. They played at Boston & NY, then hosted them. At Tampa, then host them next homestand, At Cleveland, host Detroit, Cleveland then play at Detroit. It's not a big deal when playing within your division but the bunch up the other AL series this way seems kind of strange and silly.

2005-05-16T15:50:00.000-07:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 19 - 5/16/2005

Another Mostly Mariners is up! In this show John talks about his experience amoung the Red Sox fans at Sunday's "home" game, Olivo's good day, the Starting situation and other Mariners topics. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed with a podcast client.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2005-05-12T09:15:00.000-07:00

The M's East coast road trip was a total disaster. Winning only 1 out of 3 in Boston wasn't bad, however the M's then went into New York and did the one thing we said in our show that they just couldn't do. They got swept by a bad Yankee team. When the hitting was there, the pitching wasn't, when they pitched well, they didn't score runs.

Jamie Moyer has had 3 miserable starts in a row. His last 3 starts has seen him pitch a total of 8.2 innings, giving up 27 hits, 17 runs, and watching his ERA go up 3 points. That's truly miserable.

The team has lost 9 out of 10 games are in danger of losing any goodwill they managed to generate at the start of the season by simply not being as bad as the 2004 team. With a team OBP of .309 and OPS of .672 they aren't providing the offensive numbers that the truly mediocre pitching staff needs to win. Only Randy Winn and the mighty Ichiro! are providing their expected offensive numbers.

It's already apparent that this team isn't going to contend. My stretch goal for the team is now a .500 record

2005-05-09T22:28:00.000-07:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 18 - 5/09/2005

Another Mostly Mariners hits the net! In this show we talk about the M's losing streak and answer some viewer mail. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed with a podcast client.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2005-04-26T14:06:00.000-07:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 17 - 4/25/2005

Another Mostly Mariners hits the net! In this show we bounce around a bunch of topics, discussing the start of the M's season, the state of the AL West, being lucky vs. being good, Lou Pinella and the balance of all the American League divisions. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed with a podcast client.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2005-04-21T11:28:00.000-07:00

Things that make you go hmmm:

2005 AL Avg Game Score
Rk. Name          AGS
1. Franklin, Sea  67.0
2. Astacio, Tex   66.0
3. Wakefield, Bos 64.0
4. Chacin, Tor    63.0
5. Halladay, Tor  60.3

2005-04-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

Just Like Old Times

24,841

That was the attendance at the Mariners-A's game last night. As Seattlest reports, the lowest for any game at Safeco Field. The blowback from the atrocious season last year was widely predicted and it coming true. Despite spending big money on two free agent hitters for the first time in the clubs history, attendance is way down. I think it will turn around eventually. This Mariners team, whether they contend for the playoffs or not, is infinitely more interested and fun to watch than last year's. But, I would not mind calling home and saying "hey, let's go the the game" to my daughter and just walk up and get some tickets.

2005-04-18T16:25:00.000-07:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 16 - 4/18/2005

We're back for more Mostly Mariners! In this show we discuss our "problem" with Willie Bloomquist, the M's week in review, and the ugly bench situation. We also take off on this Slate article about steroids versus lasik eye surgery. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed with a podcast client.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2005-04-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

Whoops! I missed John's last two entries because the site RSS feed has stopped working. I have switched over the the Blogger supported Atom feed. Please renew your subscriptions. Note that the podcast feed is a different URL as Blogger does not support podcasts.

2005-04-15T22:33:00.000-07:00

This news just ruined my day. OK, writing a big check to the IRS this morning really ruined my day but learning that Sheets signed with the Brewers for 4 more years is the icing on the cake. You see I had little fantasy dreams of the Mariners using some of the newly freed up money available at the end of this year to go after a top end hurler like Sheets. He was the best of what was going to be on the free agent market this offseason. Now the Brewers (The Brewers of all teams!) locked him up for a very reasonable sum for the next 4 years.

Argh....at least the Sonics finally clinched the division. They outperformed my expectations by 200% this season. Congrats to them.

2005-04-12T15:50:00.000-07:00

I just can't let articles like this one go by without a comment. Art Thiel is an idiot if he thinks that the package of Olivo, Morse and Reed was anything but a steal for the M's for Freddy Garcia and Ben Davis.

The M's got 2/10's of their every day starting lineup, plus another potential MLB player for a pitcher that was occasionally brilliant, often bad and mostly mediocre. There is a reason his nickname was FrankenFreddy. You never knew what Garcia would take the mound.

Attempting to suggest the trade was bad writing but Thiel takes it to the extreme when he dares to compare Raul Ibanez to Reed (even couching his opinion by limiting it to this year) and takes it a step further to dare to compare Freddy with Johan Santana. Freddy isn't worthy to carry Santana's towel to the shower.

Even with the M's woeful pitching this season and flameout of their vaunted minor league players I'd make the Freddy trade again in a heartbeat. Freddy is never going to be a HOF pitcher at the level of Johnson or Schilling. He's not going to be a staff ace at the level of Santana or Mussina or even a go to pitcher like Moyer. Trading Freddy was a great deal for the M's when it happened, it's a great deal in hindsight and Thiel is an idiot for suggesting otherwise.

Anyone else notice that Raul has become enamored with the right field porch at Safeco and has become a total pull hitter at home?

2005-04-11T16:14:00.000-07:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 15 - 4/11/2005

The season has started and it's time for Mostly Mariners! In this show we discuss the very exciting, if frustrating, first week of Mariners action, the injuries to the starters, the great offense and more. We also plug our Boxscore RSS Feed service. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed with a podcast client.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2005-04-04T18:02:00.000-07:00

MLB Boxscore RSS Feeds

I'm happy to announce the availability of boxscore RSS feeds for all Major League Baseball teams. Here is the feed page. You can subscribe to the boxscores for your favorite team there.

This is information I really wanted to come into my new reader. I didn't want to do this myself but I could not find anyone else providing boxscore feeds, so here they are. As a bonus, since the boxscore formatting is based on Tim Shippert's autobox script, the boxscores have enhanced sabermetric information such as up-to-date on-base average, slugging average and WHIP.

I've looked over the boxscores to today's games and it looks like everything is working, but if you see something weird going on let me know.

I hope you enjoy this RSS service.

2005-03-21T20:54:00.000-08:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 14 - 3/21/2005

It's a REALLY delayed edition of Mostly Mariners. In this episode we discuss how spring training is proceeding, the fifth starter job, our plethora of utility infielders and March Madness. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed with a podcast client.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2005-02-19T11:29:00.000-08:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 13 - 2/17/2005

It's a delayed edition of Mostly Mariners. In this episode we discuss how the MBSBL draft is going, where Winn fits in on the M's, steroid allegations and the end of hockey. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed with a podcast client.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2005-02-02T09:15:00.000-08:00

We have kicked off the draft for this year's Mariners Blogosphere Simulated Baseball League. Follow along on the draft site and see if you would have drafted differently. John and I won our own league last year - which was a tad embarrassing. But we broke up into two teams this time around - and there's a lot more competition.

Also I'd like to congratulate two of the GM's of the league, Peter White and Jeff Shaw, who are going to be writing for U.S.S. Mariner. Fantastic!

2005-01-30T16:58:00.000-08:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 12 - 1/28/2005

Welcome back to Mostly Mariners. In this episode we discuss the return of Aaron Sele, the contract of Roger Clemens, the Mariners outfield, and the Super Bowl. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed with a podcast client.

The Mariners Blogosphere Simulated Baseball League is open for signups few only a few more days. It's free! Head over the to the site and sign up for a team.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2005-01-18T15:16:00.000-08:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 11 - 1/18/2005

It's time for Mostly Mariners. In this episode we discuss the contract of Ron Villone, the NFL playoffs and other topics. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed with a podcast client.

The Mariners Blogosphere Simulated Baseball League is open for signups. It's free! Head over the to the site and sign up for a team.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2005-01-12T19:57:00.000-08:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 10 - 1/12/2005

We're back with more Mostly Mariners...but that's really not a good name today as there is just not much to talk about the Mariners. Instead we talk about the Beltran and Randy Johnson signings, the bizarre Derek Lowe signing, the Seahawks "playoff run," Sonics Basketball, and our NFL playoff picks. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed with a podcast client.

Also we are coming up on the last chance to sign up for this year's Mariners Blogosphere Simulated Baseball League. Check out last years web site. We're opening the league this year to bloggers and fans. If your interested in participating in a Diamond Mind sim league, send us an email.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2005-01-04T22:58:00.000-08:00

Mostly Mariners Podcast - Episode 9 - 1/04/2005

Yes, we've changed the name of the show! We hope you like it. It's more positive which is how we're feeling about the Mariners these days. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed with a podcast client.

Today we talk about signing Pokey Reese, competitive balance in the AL West and the other divisions, the Randy Johnson trade, the Seahawks in the playoffs and other topics.

Also we are coming up on the last chance to sign up for this year's Mariners Blogosphere Simulated Baseball League. We're opening the league this year to bloggers and fans. If your interested in participating in a Diamond Mind sim league, send us an email.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2004-12-21T21:04:00.000-08:00

Sodo Oh No Podcast - Episode 8 - 12/21/2004

Happy Holidays! It's time for a Sodo Oh No podcast. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed with a podcast client.

Today we talk about the USS Mariner pizza feed, some notable non-tenders, other topics, and we give a shout out to the poker podcast Card Club on Lord Admiral Radio. Also we are still taking GMs for this year's Mariners Blogosphere Simulated Baseball League. We're opening the league this year to bloggers and fans. If your interested in participating in a Diamond Mind sim league, send us an email.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2004-12-18T01:15:00.000-08:00

Sodo Oh No Podcast - Episode 7 - 12/17/2004

Happy Day! It's another Sodo Oh No podcast. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed with a podcast client.

Today we talk about the Beltre signing and what it means for the M's this year and in the future. Also we are still taking GMs for this year's Mariners Blogosphere Simulated Baseball League. We're opening the league this year to bloggers and fans. If your interested in participating in a Diamond Mind sim league, send us an email.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2004-12-15T11:11:00.000-08:00

FYI - I (John) will be attending the M's pizza feed on Saturday. If you're a reader or a listener stop by and say hi. I'll be wearing some sort of bright colored fleece (orange or yellow) and my Ebbett's Field Flannel old style Rainiers jersey. I'll have some sort of recording device to gather comments during the feed for a later podcast. Stop by and give us your $.02 or stop by and give Mike an audio load of crap for blowing off the feed because he's too lazy to pull himself off Bainbridge for a few hours.

I'll also be taking names and email addresses for the simulated baseball league. Sign up and test your skills as a GM. Note that this is not a fantasy league, it is a simulated league using player statistics from the 2004 season. Join up and try and dethrone the 2003 champs (us).

2004-12-14T23:00:00.000-08:00

Sodo Oh No Podcast - Episode 6 - 12/14/2004

Yes! It's a Sodo Oh No podcast. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed with a podcast client.

Today we talk about the Sexon saga, Delgado and cornering the market of 1st basemen, the Wilson deal and other topics. Also we are still taking GMs for this year's Mariners Blogosphere Simulated Baseball League. We're opening the league this year to bloggers and fans. If your interested in participating in a Diamond Mind sim league, send us an email.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2004-12-07T15:39:00.000-08:00

Sodo Oh No Podcast - Episode 5 - 12/7/2004

It's time for another Sodo Oh No podcast. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed with a podcast client.

Today we talk about steroids, arbitration for Wilson and Vallone, those other Seattle sports teams and other topics. Also we are still taking GMs for this year's Mariners Blogosphere Simulated Baseball League. We're opening the league this year to bloggers and fans. If your interested in participating in a Diamond Mind sim league, send us an email.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2004-12-03T19:41:00.000-08:00

Steroids. I really need to talk my feelings over with John and we'll make a podcast out of it. Frankly, I'm not feeling to good right now.

John here, We'll definitely chat about this during the week. On one hand I'm happy the truth is coming out (sort of), on the other hand, I'm sad that the true extent of steroid use in MLB will overshadow the achievements of all players for years to come.

2004-11-30T16:04:00.000-08:00

Sodo Oh No Podcast - Episode 4 - 11/30/2004

Here's the latest Sodo Oh No podcast. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed with a podcast client.

Today we talk about how many first basement the M's can sign, the Jason Kendall trade, the Nintendo Mariners and other topics. Also we are still taking GMs for this year's Mariners Blogosphere Simulated Baseball League. We're opening the league this year to bloggers and fans. If your interested in participating in a Diamond Mind sim league, send us an email.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2004-11-19T07:52:00.000-08:00

Sodo Oh No Podcast - Episode 3 - 11/18/2004

Here's the latest Sodo Oh No podcast. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed with an iPodder client.

Today we talk about free agent signings, the MVP and Cy Young awards, and this year's Mariners Blogosphere Simulated Baseball League. We're opening the league this year to bloggers and fans. If your interested in participating in a Diamond Mind sim league, send us an email.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2004-10-28T14:35:00.000-07:00

Cool! We're (kind of) mentioned in this Philadelphia Inquirer article on podcasting.

2004-10-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

Those of you that have been listening to the Podcasts know that I spent the first 26 years of my life living in Massachusetts. I was 11 years old and was allowed to stay up late for the first time in my life in 1975 when Joe Morgan blooped a hit to shallow left center field. That was my introduction into the misery of being a Red Sox fan. In 1978 I rushed home from a soccer practice, turned on the TV and watched Bucky bleepin Dent hit a popup that carried into the screen above the green monster. In 1986 my college roommates and I were dancing around in our rental house at UMass when Johnny Mac and Bill Buckner combined to take years off our lives. We barely bothered watching game 7. Last year I curled up at home and watched in horror as Aaron Boone added another name to the curse mythology.

This year when making our annual pilgrimage back east to visit our extended families I decided to pick up a Red Sox cap. I've been wearing it faithfully for the whole playoffs. Somehow, deep down, I knew that this was the year. Last night I had to leave the house after the 7th inning to play soccer. At around 9:00 I subbed out, there was a new text message on my phone. The moon was in full lunar eclipse. The game was over. The Sox had won. The curse is dead.

The Red Sox can now be like almost every other team. Sox fans can stop waiting for the shoe drop. Now we can just sit back and enjoy the games. I'm a happy guy.

2004-10-25T19:57:00.000-07:00

Sodo Oh No Podcast - Episode 2 - 10/25/2004

We have a new episode of the Sodo Oh No podcast for you today. Here is the direct MP3 download. Of course, it's even better if you subscribe to our podcast feed with an iPodder client.

Today we talk about our playoff viewing experiences, give some predictions of the World Series, talk about the Mike Hargrove hiring and discuss (Carlos Beltran) the Mariners' (Carlos Beltran) free agent (Carlos Beltran) options (Carlos Beltran)...we think Carlos Beltran might be a good fit for the team.

Give us feedback on the show by leaving a comment here or sending us a text or audio email. Enjoy!

2004-10-21T19:18:00.000-07:00

The M's should not get left out of the bidding for Beltran. This guy is the combo of speed, power and all around ability that can cover up so many holes in a team. He probably covers more ground in center field than Cameron, plays so shallow that it's impossible to go first to third on anything hit through the infield and yet manages to get deep on anything hit over his head.

He's not only fast but he's a smart base stealer as well.

He's everything the Yankees need but they might have higher priorities. You can all thank my other favorite team for exposing the Yankee pitching and giving the Yanquis braintrust a new direction to focus their newest spending effort. Beltran would make the current Mariner team better by 15 wins himself. He's probably a better investment than even Vlad was last year.

Break the bank, make the big splash, sign the best player not named Bonds in the league. Mr. Bill Bavasi, GO GET CARLOS BELTRAN!!

Oh Yeah....next podcast will come next week after Mike gets back from vacation. I'll wax on poetically on how I knew the Sox would pull out a victory (I did predict them in 6 games) and we'll talk about the ALCS, NLCS, World Series and Grover.

2004-10-12T23:47:00.000-07:00

Sodo Oh No Podcast - Episode 1 - 10/12/2004

Here is the RSS feed for the first Sodo Ohno podcast

http://casdra.com/home/sodoohno.rss

Put this feed into ipodder. The show is around 25 minutes long. Mike and I touch on everything from the current baseball playoffs, M's owners and free agents to Brian Price, Larry Dierker and Scott Boras.

Feel free to drop us comments through this blog post or send us audio and we'll answer questions on the next show.

2004-10-11T13:46:00.000-07:00

Mike and I are getting ready to try something new in the area of sports blogging.

Tomorrow we'll be recording 30 minutes of our baseball conversations and distributing it as a podcast. What is podcasting? Click here for a quick summary on podcasting. As we learn more about the format we'll figure out how to bring guests on the "show". Drop us an email at sodoohno@yahoo.com if you're interested. We'll be contacting some of our favorite bloggers to see if they are interested in participating. KOMO 1000 has jumped on the bandwagon and are podcasting many of their newsclips.

Topics for show #1 will be:

Current baseball playoffs, M's search for a new manager, Bavasi, free agents and other things as one subject inevitably leads to another.

We hope you enjoy the new format.....

2004-07-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

Yes it is true. Carlos Guillen's VORP (Value Over Replacement Player) is 3rd best in all of baseball. He is ahead of Vlad, ARod, Tejada - need I mention Rich Aurilia. Guillen need to be considered as an MVP candidate.

2004-07-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

What a great ballgame. Sunday's 7-5 win over the Indians is the first game I've watched start to finish since I walked out of the Yankee game after Jeter's homer. Even if they lose with these guys at least it will be interesting. How about Bucky's small sample size start: .625/.769/1.375! I'll be at the Red Sox game on Tuesday and I'm really looking forward to it.

2004-07-15T10:41:00.000-07:00

Wow, this jolted me into posting. The M's will put John Olerud on waivers and be calling up Bucky Jacobsen from Tacoma. I'm pretty stunned by this move and should indicate a complete tear-down of the team leading up to the trading deadline. I can't say I disagree - but I would love to hear that the cost savings this year will be put forward to next years budget. USS Mariners makes the case that this won't happen.

Frankly I'm a lot more interested in using my late season tickets now. I want to see what the minor league talent can do so hopefully the team can identify what they really need. There is no need for a multiyear rebuild with this team. They have more cash than any team except the Yankees and Red Sox and if they use it correctly they will be back in it next year.

2004-06-23T10:09:00.000-07:00

The Tigers have signed SS Carlos Guillen to a 3 year contract extension. He's the best shortstop in the league this year. He has 15 Win Shares so far compared to Rich Aurilia's 3 for the Mariners. Before the season I wrote that it didn't have a problem with acquiring Aruilia as Guillen does have a history of injuries, but I had a HUGE problem with giving up Guillen - especially for the crap we got for him. Guillen would have started the year as the utility infielder who could actually PLAY BASEBALL. When it became clear that Aurilia couldn't hit, no problem, in goes Guillen. Just a totally shortsighted move to trade your starting shortstop entering the prime of his hitting career for nothing.

2004-06-18T13:40:00.000-07:00

To any and all readers....

I'm off for an 8 week family vacation. I doubt I'll have much in the way of internet access and when I do the effort will go into blogging the family trip instead of wasting time writing about Bavasi's horrible collection of "talent".

Hopefully I'll be able to catch games in Baltimore, St Louis, Chicago and Minnesota as the gang and I trek across the USA in the family truckasaurus, after making a brief flying detour to Wallyworld in Orlando. Wish me luck.

Mike will blog as time and energy and desire permit.

I picked a good year to be without daily M's access for most of the summer. Shrek sarcasm mode on - I'm sure when I get back they'll have completed some miracle comeback and be fighting for 1st in the division - Shrek sarcasm mode off.

2004-06-10T14:44:00.000-07:00

Just some random stream of consciousness thoughts on the past week in Mariner baseball....

Let's start with Clint Nageotte's start on Monday night. It's quite obvious that while Nageotte has some good "stuff" he has no idea where the ball is going to go on any single pitch. The words used most often for his start were "effective wildness". Clint alternated between throwing great breaking balls, a god knows where this is heading fastball and several "my eyes are as big as Puss n' Boots" hanging pitches.

He works extremely slowly and every pitch is an effort. In 6 innings he threw 107 pitches. The good news is that 59% of them went for strikes. The bad news is that it took him 107 pitches to get through 6 innings. Contrast that to Freddy and Joel needing 117 pitches to get through 8 innings the past few games. He's got a heck of a breaking ball but don't let anyone try and convince you that he's the next Kerry Wood. My question to the readers. Has anyone ever been a successful MLB pitcher by being "effectively wild". The closest I player I can come up with is Mitch "wild thing" Williams. Mitch, despite giving up a lot of walks still managed to put up decent ERA's by giving up less than a hit per inning and combining it with great strikeout numbers. Feel free to hit the comments button and contribute your suggestions for "effectively wild" pitchers. All the great ones who started out wild, didn't become great until they gained control.

After Nageotte the M's decided their 5 run outburst would do for the rest of the week. The futility of the M's offense reached its zenith for the year on Tuesday night in the 8th inning. Given a gift triple to John Olerud to lead off the inning the M's managed to strand him there. Boone failed to get the ball into the outfield and then Spezio and Hansen K'ed to gift wrap the game for Houston. It's quite a contrast to the 2001 team where they always seemed to manage to get runners in from 3rd.

The offensive futility continued last night as Freddy pitched well enough to win playing for any other team.

Watching Boccachica in center has confirmed just how bad a fielder Winn is. I'd rather see Jamal Strong getting a tryout than Hiriam but there apparently is some secret handshake agreement among all MLB GM's that you can't truly "give up" on a season until after the all star break no matter how crappy your team is. Hence, you'll see no mass AAA player shift until mid July.

2004-06-09T13:39:00.000-07:00

The Mariners our featured in the latest Baseball Prospectus Triple Play. Ouch!

Ineptitude: Presented without comment, only tears...

Mariner Hitters, AVG > Average AL Hitter:

Player AVG AB
Ichiro Suzuki .340 247
Dave Hansen .333 45
Jolbert Cabrera .301 103
Dan Wilson .280 143
AL average hitter .270 --

Team rank: 20/30

Mariner Hitters, OBP > Average AL Hitter

Player OBP AB
Hiram Bocachica .571 4
Dave Hansen .412 45
Ichiro Suzuki .383 242
John Olerud .372 168
AL average hitter .341 --

Team rank: 24/30

Mariner Hitters, SLG > Average AL Hitter

Player SLG AB
Raul Ibanez* .505 194
Dave Hansen .452 45
AL average hitter .424 --

* On 15-day DL for a hamstring injury

Team rank: 29/30

2004-06-06T21:36:00.000-07:00

Guillen is the worst manager in MLB. What on earth was he thinking when he decided to walk Edgar with a 1-2 count, 1 out, men on 2nd and 3rd with Koch on the mound? Koch is known to be wild, Edgar hasn't hit this year and was down in the count. Why on earth do you fill the bases and give a fresh count to a new batter in that situation?

Thanks Ozzie, we needed the victory. You and Melvin both spent the weekend fighting over bonehead of the week honors. Bob has the lead with his brilliant "down by 3, 2 men on, 8th inning, lets bunt strategy" but you reclaimed the honor with your "9th inning total brain spasm" tonight.

Winn butchered another ball tonight. It's not center field that has him confused. It's playing the outfield. At least he went 4-5 from the plate including a monster home run (his 1st of the year).

On the trade rumors.....The M's should be looking for POSITION players only not trading for cast off starters from other organizations. Contreras? Fugedaboutit.

Free Bucky....

2004-06-03T07:17:00.000-07:00

In his column today, Larry Stone of the Times talks about possibly not getting much in trade for Freddy. That was fine but then he makes this leap:

It's all sobering enough to make you think that the Mariners should put their efforts in another direction — a pre-emptive strike to re-sign Garcia to a multi-year extension.

It is, after all, the best way to ensure they get fair market value for Garcia, who represents the most difficult piece to obtain for rebuilding teams — a staff ace.

Now hold on a second! Before that start of this season would anyone seriously be using the words Freddy Garcia and staff ace together? There was a huge discussion in the blogosphere about whether to offer him arbitration or not! So the guy has a great two months in his free agent walk year, and we should take to the indicate his future performance? I don't think so. The M's should be trading Freddy for the best position play prospect package they can get.

2004-05-25T20:22:00.000-07:00

Anyone else out there realize that almost 1/3rd of the Mariners wins have been extra inning games? Just think how horrible our record would look without the extra inning wins. If we were contending for the division the extra inning record would be pointed at and used as evidence of our veteran leadership.

It was nice to see both Ole and Edgar come through with big hits tonight.

2004-05-24T11:34:00.000-07:00

The M's PR department (Bob Finnigan) floats the trial balloon on the M's impending rebuilding. As always Bob fails to apply any independent analysis to the text he's been asked to reprint in the Times, therefore I'll do it for him.

Here's a list of the things the M's should start doing immediately.

1) Shop all middle relievers currently on the 24 man roster not named Soriano. Villone, Myers, Shiggy, Mateo all should be offered up for trade. Cut bait on Myers and Villone if no offers come in. Bring up a few of the young arms most ready for the bigs. Break them in as long relief until July.

2) Target contending clubs short on pitching and offer up Franklin and Garcia. You aren't going to keep Freddy past this year and Franklin's value will never get any higher. Wait until early July before engaging in discussion. Strike the final deal days before the trading deadline. Don't get caught up in an EBay frenzy trying to get the ultimate deal for Freddy. You (M's management) aren't smart enough to pull it off. Take a good deal and be happy with it.

3) Approach the deconstruction of the team with some intelligence and realization of who on the team has value. Players with value include Boone and Boone. Bret is the only player on the team signed to a reasonable contract with a history of production. All other moves will be salary dumps.

4) Approach all teams with salary dump ideas. All trades should be thought of as reducing cost, not value for value. Bavasi's off season deals eliminated any potential to play the veteran for prospect game. Our veterans are overpriced and not valued enough to take the high road. The objective is to free up cash for next year, not take on equivalent bad contracts that run for several more years (ie Jason Kendall).

5) The following players should be offered up in any salary dump deals. Ben Davis, Randy Winn, Rich Aurilia, Scott Spezio, John Olerud, Raul Ibanez, Quinton, Cabrera, Dan Wilson, Willie Bloomquist.

6) Do not negotiate or leak any deals involving Moyer or Edgar to the press until you have everything signed, sealed and delivered. If Jamie or Edgar is willing to take up a trade to a contender, negotiate the 10-5 waivers in private.

7) Don't release a player that has a short term contract that plays a position where you don't have anyone in the minor leagues ready to make the jump. Starting the service time clock on players several years away from contributing at the big league level is stupid. If Jose Lopez isn't close to being ready to play in the show don't release Aurilla just because he isn't the ultimate SS solution for the M's or even in the picture beyond next year. However, do take the opportunity to reward the AAAA player if you can. If you get an offer on Aurilla that will save some $$$ take it and use the opportunity to bring a guy like Mickey Lopez into the big leagues for his one experience in the show.

2004-05-24T11:23:00.000-07:00

I went to yesterdays game (at least the 7 innings my 6 year old could eat her way through).

Several positive points are to be made...

1) Melvin brings in Eddie with the game on the line in the 8th inning.
2) Olerud actually hit an opposite field home run.
3) Randy Winn makes an actual good defensive play in center field.
4) Freddy Garcia continues to improve his trade value with 7 innings of 1 run ball.
5) Ichiro! racks up another few hits.
6) Dave Hansen actually drives a runner in from 3rd with less than 2 outs with a sac fly.
7) Pizza outside the park was really cheap (2 for $6) and it was really easy to scalp an additional cheap ticket for daughter #2.

Neagtive points

1) Lack of power continues to haunt the team as they hit into DP after DP.
2) Freddy still has control issues. 114 pitches in 7 innings with close to as many balls as strikes.
3) M's offense still revolves around the requirement to have an amazing set of circumstances collide in a single inning to generate more than 1 run. It requires 5 singles, a hit batter, a walk and an error to put a crooked number on the board.

2004-05-20T09:02:00.000-07:00

I just took a stroll through my Win Share report. Here are some fun figures:

Mariners	Should be Mariners
Freddy Garcia 6 E. Guardado 5 Bret Boone 5 Ichiro Suzuki 4 Dan Wilson 4 Raul Ibanez 4 E. Martinez 2 J.J. Putz 2 Scott Spiezio 2 Ryan Franklin 1 Rich Aurilia 1 John Olerud 1 Ron Villone 1 J. Cabrera 1	C. Guillen 8 V. Guerrero 10 I. Rodriguez 9 Miguel Tejada 8

Mariners

Should be Mariners

Freddy Garcia  6

E. Guardado    5

Bret Boone     5

Ichiro Suzuki  4

Dan Wilson     4

Raul Ibanez    4

E. Martinez    2

J.J. Putz      2

Scott Spiezio  2

Ryan Franklin  1

Rich Aurilia   1

John Olerud    1

Ron Villone    1

J. Cabrera     1

C. Guillen     8

V. Guerrero   10

I. Rodriguez   9

Miguel Tejada  8

2004-05-19T15:20:00.000-07:00

How many different ways can we say the M's suck? Even the great writers at USS Mariner have slipped into repetitive mode. I was hoping that we would be able to dissect games and discuss individual performance during the course of the season. Instead I'm left shaking my head at this train wreck of a team. There's no point in picking on Aurilia when Dan Wilson is the best hitter on the team. No point in dissing Shiggy when the whole pen blows. You know your team bites when comments like Eddie's "I wish I didn't leave the Twins" or Freddie's "I'd love to be a Yankee" don't even rate a curse.

The pill becomes increasingly bitter when you watch the engineer of the train step out, walk over a set of tracks, and hop into another engine. You look at your ticket and realize he's scheduled to continue driving you to your destination.

2004-05-14T15:55:00.000-07:00

Back on December 15th I made this post (before Sodo Oh No) about the disastrous M's off-season. I thought I'd update my VORP chart from that post:


          2003 Player 2003 VORP 2004 Player  2003 VORP  2004 Player  2004 VORP Proj

C         Wilson           -4   Wilson            -4    Wilson          21     

1B        Olerud         20.2   Olerud          20.2    Olerud          10

2B        Boone          75.8   Boone           75.8    Boone           24.8

3B        Bloomquist      1.1   Spezio          14.6    Spezio          17.2

SS        Guillen        24.2   Guillen         24.2    Aurilia        -12.9 

LF        Winn           25.2   Ibanez          16.3    Ibanez          13.3

CF        Cameron        28.4   Winn            25.2    Winn            -1

RF        Ichiro         35.8   Ichiro          35.8    Ichiro           9.1

DH        Edgar          58.3   Edgar           58.3    Edgar           29.5

Bench     Colbrunn        2.8   McCraken       -12.5    Hansen          10

                        267.8                  253.9                   121.0

Wow. This is a total collapse that certainly matches well with what we are seeing on the field. To me the most egregious error is the swap of Guillen for Aurilia. At the time the best anyone could argue is that we would get the same level of performace (but for $1 million more). It hasn't quite turned out that way as Guillen's current projected VORP is 87.7. The GM is paid to get moves like this right. This is a major screw up - where is the accountability?

2004-05-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

I'm watching/listening to the Angels - Yanquis game. I'm sort of thankful that the M's are blacked out on mlb.tv. The announcers just mentioned that the Angels have at least 1 extra base hit in every game this season. Empirically that sounds impressive. I wonder if it is?

One thing I do know is that the Angels are better than the pundits expected them to be this year. Neyer and the others pointed to their record last year and said that, while improved, the team had too much ground to make up to win the division. The "casual" fan remembered a world series winning team in 2002 and noted the additions of Vlad, Colon and Guillen and predicted the Angels contend in the AL West. Well, despite a slew of injuries the Angels have the best record in the AL after 20% of the season has been completed.

Oh yeah, Anaheim is 4th in the league in home attendance, averaging 39,358 fans per game, filling their park to 87.4% of capacity. Curious to know how the M's are drawing? 8th in the league at 35,630 per game but even more telling filling the park at only 74.6% of capacity. The team also draws for crap on the road as expected for a team with only 1 "superstar". Bold prediction of the day, Angels numbers continue to go up this year while the M's attendance continues to slide. Man I'm really going out a limb there, eh? My second bold prediction of the day, it will take the M's management at least two seasons of sliding attendance before they figure out the correlation between having a good team and drawing fans to the park.

2004-05-12T15:53:00.000-07:00

Congrats to...well, us. Sodo Oh No wins the inaugural MBSBL league by defeating 116ers in a game 7 of the blogsphere world series. Sodo comes through with a 10 run bottom of the 8th inning highlighted by a Jim Edmonds grand slam and a Greg Myers 3 run HR. Brenden Donnely was the sacrificial lamb.

The league was a lot of fun. I always learn a few things playing in these leagues. This season I really realized how important luck is. San Shin went 13 - 27 in 1 run games while Sodo went 34 - 22. On base percentage and slugging percentage are much more important numbers than batting average. Sodo was 8th in the league in team AVG but 3rd in runs scored. How? We were 3rd in OBP and 2nd in SLG. The exact opposite of your 2004 Mariners.

Get pitchers with the highest K/9 and best BB/K ratio you can find. If you walk less batters and strike out more batters than the other staffs you will allow less runs.

I had fun. We'll definitely do it again.

2004-05-11T21:04:00.000-07:00

How do you have 18 base hits and score only 6 runs? Easy, spread 17 singles around 11 innings.

Did ever a team cry out for the addition of a power hitter than the M's of 2003? Did we get a power bat in the off season? No, we got a bunch of singles hitters without even gap power on their resumes.

Some times you need to over pay to get what you need. When I plan a trip on short notice I "overpay" for my airline ticket. When you want that hot new car that's in high demand you pay over list price. When you need a power bat and you have the cash on hand you might pay more than the team without the desperate need. The M's needed power this offseason. Instead we got middle relief, aged nice guy veterans and an over priced Ichiro.

I went to Saturday's debacle. It was bad enough to watch Mussina expectedly mow down the M's but then to watch Meche get hung out to dry in the 6th by Melvin was the stomach punch of the day. The 6th inning started out with Gil having thrown 90 pitches. A-rod at the plate, He crushed a long barely foul ball down the left field line. Then he rips a shot down the line for a double. Meche is at 95 pitches, no one is warming in the pen. Giambi then rips a double to center field that almost went out. Q-man attempting to play center field tries to pull a Cameron and run to a spot and turn around for the ball, Unfortunately Q forgets the whole turn around part and the ball nearly hits him in the back. I'm pretty sure it would have put a 6 inch round hole in his chest if it did. No one gets up in the pen. Meche now at 100 pitches. Sheffield hits a screaming rope about 5 steps to Ibanez left. Raul inexplicably decides to dive over the top of the ball instead of just sticking his glove down to his side and catching the ball. Finally Villone now gets up and begins to warm up. Let's let Gil face one more batter though. Posada isn't tough is he? Gil throws a couple of breaking balls then chucks a heater down the middle and Jorge sticks it in between Ichiro and Q-man for the 4th run of the inning. Gil is now at 105 pitches and his day is over. Melvin is a bonehead. As soon as A-rod teed off someone should have been up throwing in the pen.

Oh yeah...last thing. On Sheffield's subsequent double in the 7th inning, Ichiro approached the ball like it was an explosive mortar. He couldn't have gone after it with less effort if he was in the 7th inning of a beer league game.

2004-05-11T13:59:00.000-07:00

Cool. Some evidence has been found that not only was baseball played in 1791 - there was an ordinance passed against it!

2004-05-07T09:45:00.000-07:00

You know the offense on your team is horrible when you're thankful that Dan Wilson hit into a double play instead of the myriad of other bad things that could have happened in that at bat. Ya fraking hoo, a game winning double play ground ball. I'm so excited. Despite Freddy's good numbers last night he really didn't pitch that well. The Twins hack at anything in the dirt and inexplicably let several hanging breaking balls go by. They looked like the M's did against Chan Ho Park. How the heck are those guys in the hunt in the AL Central?

You know as bad as the M's defense has been this year, the offense has been ten times worse. Only Tampa Bay in the American league has scored fewer runs. Remember it was just a few short years ago that the M's lead the major leagues in runs scored. That grand offseason idea of trading defense for offense only works if the players produce offensively.

I'm attending Saturday nights game. Meche vs. Mussina. Moose has traditionally been a M's killer. Not on Pedro level but darn close. The Yankees lead the M's in just about every statistical category except average and stolen bases, but then again who doesn't?

2004-05-02T16:38:00.000-07:00

Mike:

7-15. 7-15.

I found myself rooting for the A's against the Yankees last night. Has my hatred of the Yankees now surpassed my love of the Mariners? I don't like being pessimistic. It upsets me that I've already given up, but I have. I just don't see how they will pass all three of the teams ahead of them. To get back to the 93 win mark they achieved the last two years, and that has a chance of winning the division, will require them to play at a .615 clip for the rest of the season. I just don't see it happening. The starting pitching is far to inconsistent, and with the Mariners offense there can be no off days for the pitching.

So I want to talk about the ultimate pessimist topic, becoming a seller at the trade deadline. What will the Mariners do if they are 15 out come July? They have several mediocre players signed to multi-year contracts (Ibanez, Spezio, and, yes, Ichiro). Will they be on the market?

John:

Out of all the players on the M's I can only think of 2 position players that would be potential trade deadline acquisition targets by other teams. Boone and Spezio. Everyone in baseball learned from previous off seasons that players like Ibanez are available much cheaper and for shorter contract lengths than what the M's have left to pay Raul. He may be waved around but I'd be stunned if anyone bit.

Ichiro is impossible to get rid of. To the casual fan he is the "superstar" on the M's. They would take a huge PR hit if they even dangled him. Yamamuchi won't even let the M's explore the market for him. You saw how quickly one mention of potential loss of face regarding the subject of arbitration turned into a multi year deal. All this being said, the real stumbling block around Ichiro is that the league finally figured out that he provides very little value for $11 million a year. Singles hitting, non walking, non base stealing right fielders (even if they play ungodly defense) are simply not worth 1/2 of what the M's pay Ichiro. I've said it since 2001. He is a valuable player only if he hits .350 and steals 50 bases a year at the standard 75% success rate. He would be valuable if he hit .300 and had an obp of .400 but that's not his game. In his (travesty of all star voting, Boone should have won) year 2001 he had an amazing number of infield singles that he doesn't get any more. He never drives in runners from any base other than 3rd. The league adjusted to him and he's never adjusted back.

For pitching, Freddy will be dangled and every other pitcher other than Soriano and Mateo and Moyer should be offered up. If teams are willing to make value for value position player offers for Meche or Piniero I say take the deals. I expect a few teams to go hard after Boone, he's valuable, fairly paid and doesn't have much left on his current deal. I expect some team to need a player like Spezio and he may get dealt.

Too be frank there isn't a player on this team other than Soriano that I wouldn't trade away. Yes, that includes Edgar and Jamie. If a contender offers something for either of them and he's interested I make the deal. They deserve another shot at a ring.

The only players I want to keep are Boone, Edgar, Moyer, Soriano and Mateo. I only want 5 out of the current 26 man roster. That's a surprisingly small number for a team that was supposed to be a contender. It shows how poorly this team was assembled for $88 million (Don't believe the $95 million dollar lie).

2004-04-29T17:01:00.000-07:00

This team is horrible. I am a proud member of the pessimist blogging nation. I thought they would be bad this year. I never thought that the 2004 Mariners would be as bad as this. This team is colossally bad. Pitching, hitting, defense...all bad. Bang your head against a brick wall bad. Even before the O's series Mike calculated the team would have to play over .650 ball in order to win 90 games. That just isn't going to happen. Twenty two games into the season and I'm ready to throw in the towel. It's been over 10 years since I felt that way about this team.

2004-04-23T12:48:00.000-07:00

For those of you fortunate to have both Comcast, digital cable and HDTV sets. Here is the lineup for this years HDTV Mariner games broadcast on Comcast channel 100. It's an interesting mix of getting the HDTV feed from a station broadcasting back to Japan and the local audio from guys looking at the standard def feed on their monitors. Hence the audio commentary will often not reflect what the viewer is seeing. The high def picture is fantastic. Frankly I anxiously await the day when all feeds are in high def, particularly for sporting events. It's truly a shame that Cox and Comcast haven't been able to reach an agreement in carrying the KIRO HDTV feed over cable in the Seattle area.

It's amazing that the schedule only shows 2 games against teams in our division.

Friday, May 7: New York Yankees at Mariners 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 8: New York Yankees at Mariners 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 9: New York Yankees at Mariners 1:00 p.m.
Friday, June 11: Montreal Expos at Mariners 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 12: Montreal Expos at Mariners 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, June 13: Montreal Expos at Mariners 1:00 p.m.
Friday, June 25: San Diego Padres at Mariners 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 26: San Diego Padres at Mariners 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, June 27: San Diego Padres at Mariners 1:00 p.m.
Friday, July 16: Cleveland Indians at Mariners 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, July 17: Cleveland Indians at Mariners 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, July 18: Cleveland Indians at Mariners 1:00 p.m.
Monday, July 19: Boston Red Sox at Mariners 7:00 p.m.
Friday, July 23: Anaheim Angels at Mariners 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, July 24: Anaheim Angels at Mariners 7:00 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 13: New York Yankees at Mariners 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 15: New York Yankees at Mariners 1:00 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 10: Boston Red Sox at Mariners 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 12: Boston Red Sox at Mariners 1:00 p.m.

2004-04-23T09:38:00.001-07:00

[ Thu Apr 22, 05:07:21 PM | John Metzger | edit ]
Melvin holds Guardado out of last night's tie ball game in the 9th inning only to use him today in an 8-2 blowout? That's an amazing display of baseball intellect. After watching the past 2 games I truly recognize how important the winning the first two games of this series were. The M's could have easily been swept by Oakland and could currently be sitting at 4-12 after today. How important do those Ibanez blasts look now in retrospect?

I'm getting really close to pushing the panic button on the M's offense (or lack thereof). I see Boone got a day off to think about settling down and not trying to win every game in every at bat. Edgar's OPS is .780, Ichiro's OBP is .324, Aurilia's is .305, Olerud hasn't rebounded and the bench (save Hansen) is as bad as predicted. Starting Cabrera and Bloomquist in a single game is horrible but when you combine them with Aurilia and Wilson the team gives up 4 outs for 9 players. We've only scored 63 runs while giving up 79. That's as telling an indicator as a 6-10 record.

If I was the GM I'd be pounding the phones now. Strike during the post spring training lull and before the mid summer trade action starts. The M's continue to do nothing with their backlog of AAA pitching talent. Time to start playing with the cards you have in your deck. Take on salary or start rebuilding but stop trotting out this team of mediocrity each night.

2004-04-23T09:38:00.000-07:00

Leftover post from Sunday's game that both Mike and I went to with respective family groups. He, being a much braver soul than I, brought his daughter, a friend and his 15 month old over on the ferry. I brought my soon to be 12 year old daughter.

Mike:

It’s 12:20 and we’re on the ferry! We won't make first pitch but I'm happy I'm here at all. I really started to have second thoughts last night about taking the baby. It's a good thing I started this topic or I might have chickened out.

We made it to the stadium and we’re standing to watch Ichiro hit. Looks like a great day - and Ichiro punches up the middle for a single!

Well, we're supposed to be in the first row in the left field bleachers but the folks up there are spread out pretty good and I don't feel like fighting wedge us in. We'll just walk for now. The kids are starting their sugar frenzy the Dippin’ Dots. Tough second for Joel. So what's the problem this year? I haven't watching closely enough to see if there anything obvious wrong with his mechanics. He's just having a hard time getting outs. Ah, Enter Sandman for Sand Frog...very clever.

Third inning. Are you kidding me? My first game and it's a Willie start! Hey, I thought this was a MAJOR League baseball game...OK, I guess I'll take the single :-)

Oh my, Ichiro's OPS must be about 650. .315 OBP with 2 doubles...ack look at Winn's .300 OBP with 5 doubles. Is his OPS even .600? What a top of the order!

Whoa, look at Nix. .400 OBP with power – and batting seventh. It's not looking to good for Joel with another walk. We took a seat in the top row of 147 down the first base line. I like these seats since there's usually not many people around. I'm getting more and more like my Dad as I get older. He just could not handle full stadiums. The worst thing was that he started planning our exit strategy pretty much as soon as we got there. We would drive two hours to see a game in Baltimore (Memorial Stadium) and he'd want to leave in the seventh to "beat the traffic." I've already told my daughter to just start making fun of me if I ever do that to her. Wow, three quick outs for Joel and now the M's have some real hitters coming up. Uh, so much for that with a Boone first pitch double-play.

John:

Yesterday I parked farther away from the stadium than I ever did, brought in my own food, bought no souvenirs and 1 drink.

Do you think the M's even bother to see if lowering prices would bring in more revenue? I don't think they are smart enough to try it. The North Seahawks stadium lot used to charge $10 to park for M's games and the lot was always around 3/4 full about 10 minutes before game time on Sundays. Last year they went up to $15. Walking through the lot yesterday (no, we didn't park there) my 12 year old daughter, who attends with me 2 or 3 times a year noticed that the lot was barely 1/4 full. We then had a nice discussion on microeconomics and the laws of supply and demand. She quickly understood that there is no way this lot makes the money it used to make and the business wasn't running at anything close to maximizing it's revenue.

I also took some perverse pleasure in seeing the most sparsely attended 35,000 person crowd (announced) that I've ever seen. My guess was around 27 - 28k in actual attendance.

I did enjoy the pop up Ben & Jerry's segment on the score board. I also enjoyed Spezio contributing more offense in 2 days than Cirillo did in 2 years.

Other things I noticed...

Randy Winn has a limp noodle that rivals Bernie Williams attached to his shoulder.
John Olerud will earn his keep just scooping up wayward throws from SS and 3rd this year.
Spezio will field 3rd just fine. He'll make all the plays he should make. He won't be Greg Nettles.
Bloomquist is not adequate for a backup SS. Even to spell Aurilla occasionally.
Ben Davis now has at least an OBP, even if his average is still .000
Texas has a lot of hitters that can rake, and they are patient.
Joel needs to find the plate if he's going to take it to the next level. 110 pitches in 6&2/3rd, only 68 strikes. At the end of the 3rd he had as many balls as strikes thrown.
Ryan Drese has a nice compact wind up and delivery.
Winn should not be batting 2nd.
Boone is still a joy to watch in the field.
Michael Young is a heck of a SS, especially and a second baseman playing out of position.
Alphonso Soriano still swings at any breaking ball in the dirt once you get ahead in the count.

Mike:
It was good seeing you at the game...and good seeing two homeruns in an inning!

And Sand Frog provides an insurance run with another homer. Wow, we have to go to games more often! They just about doubled their season homer output in one inning!

And we made it to the end of the game! My kids were good and we had a good time.

John:
Katie was very happy that the M's won. She and her sisters have running commentary over the course of the season as to who is a good luck charm and who is a bad luck one. Life is much easier on Dad when all the kids are good luck charms. After watching the first 2 weeks of the season I don't think life is going to be easy for Dad this year :-)

Even after a win the walk back to the car is a lot longer than the walk to the stadium.

2004-04-21T21:40:00.000-07:00

Wow, did I need that half inning! I just came in from umpiring a Minors softball game. I'm a coach of my daughter's Majors team the Storm and I got volunteered to work a Minors game as they are short on umpires. There's just nothing like to feeling of striking out an eight-year-old girl and having her look back at me in disbelief. So, I could use some cheering up and Dave Hansen provided that joy with an amazing pinch-hit three run homer off Hudson. Let's go for five in a row!

2004-04-20T09:21:00.000-07:00

I'm tired. A 14 inning game does that to you. The funniest thing was when my wife came into the family room at around 9:30, took a look at the time and the inning and said "This is a fast game". Two and a half hours later I groggily switched off the set in the bedroom (having moved there after inning 10).

Eighteen baserunners and only 2 runs last night and there is only 2 at bats that I was upset about. At bat #1 was Dan "red hot" Wilson coming to the plate in the bottom of the 9th against Jim Mecir. Mecir had previously hit Spezio with a pitch, gave up a single to Aurilia and then walked Ibanez. He had thrown 31 pitches and only 9 strikes to 3 batters. What does Wilson do? First pitch hacking at a ball way too low and away. It was out of the strike zone and it had wicked downward movement. The only thing Wilson could do with that pitch is hit a lazy ground ball. Even before he came to bat I said to TLMM (the lovely Mrs. Metzger) "I'll be really upset if Dan swings at the first pitch".

The second upsetting at bat was in the 12th inning. Ichiro leads off with a single and then Winn sacrifices. I understand Melvin's managing to the book but I would have preferred to give Ichiro a few pitches to see if he could steal 2nd. Duchscherer is a righty with a slow move to the plate and not a good pickoff move (as seen later). Melhuse was behind the plate and his preliminary stats don't show a great caught stealing %. At that point in the game I'd risk Ichiro stealing 2nd, having Winn sacrifice him to 3rd then and then see what happens.

Hey, a win is a win and I'll gladly take 3 in a row. The good news is that everyone other than Dan had really good at bats in extra innings. There were several shots that were either ripped foul or right at people. Most of the batters showed very good patience, laying off balls they could not hit and anything out of the zone. Freddy pitched well, the bullpen did well getting out of jams and even Jarvis found a nut. Why did Bob bring Jarvis into a tie game in extra innings ahead of Villone?

2004-04-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

I'm really getting tired of listening to Rizzzzzzs, Valle and Hendu apologize for the M's on air. Last night I listened to several innings of Rizzs and Valle wax poetically on Chan Ho Park. Some great quotes for the evening....

"This isn't the same pitcher who started the first two games of the season"
(ed: Yes it is, he's exactly the same pitcher, the only difference is that the A's and Angels can actually hit)

"Park has gained 4 to 5 miles an hour on his fastball from last season"
(ed: This was presented with exactly zero evidence, of course this is because it isn't true)

"Park really has that back door slider working tonight"
(ed: The truth is that Park was throwing a series of breaking balls that never broke. They were hangers that the M's never pulled the trigger on. The M's hitting is much worse than I thought entering the season)

I understand the announcers are employed by the team but it doesn't mean I have to like listening to them fall all over themselves praising a 2-8 team lose to a pitcher with a 6+ ERA that can barely find the plate.

2004-04-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

I've got my MLB Estimated Win Shares report back up and going. I'm using the simple formulas from the first chapter of James' Win Shares and they are certainly not perfect. I like the report though because I can get a quick thumbnail of all the players on one page. Let me know what you think.

By the way, I'm curious, did anyone out there read the Seattle Mariners Fact and Stats page I used to have going. I started this page in 1995, continued in 1996 and 1997 and then brought it back for 2001. At the time there was not nearly the statistical resources available today. Note my invention of "Loss Shares" on the 2001 page, before James came out with Win Shares.

2004-04-14T18:03:00.000-07:00

Latest John & Mike discussion......

John:

Let's assume that this years Mariners finish the same as last year with 90 some odd wins and out of the playoffs. Which team would you enjoy watching more, the 2003 or 2004 M's?

Myself, I prefer to watch the crisper defensive version of the M's. I'll live through the momentary pain of a Cirillo at bat or a frustrating Cameron strikeout when all he needed to do was make contact or a FrankenFreddy start in order to watch every ball hit into the outfield tracked down or an infield defense that committed hardly any errors (physical or mental). I guess I'd rather see the highest highs and live with the lower lows than watch a team that is totally mediocre across the board.

I felt the same way watching the M's in the early 90's. I would stop what I was doing to make sure I caught every Griffey at bat because he was something extraordinary. I looked forward to days when The Big Unit pitched because something amazing could happen. The team as a whole was good, not great, but they held my attention a heck of a lot better than the current M's do. Even the "gold standard" team of 2001 with 116 wins had a lot of really good on it and a couple of really greats (Boone & Ichiro).

Several pundits are predicting the M's and Angels will end up with around the same record. Which team would you rather watch? A team with Vlad, Guillen and Colon balanced out with Eckstein and Erstad or a team of Winn, Aurilla, Ibanez?

Is the joy of watching Barrry Bonds play worth it if he's surrounded by Neifi Perez, Michael Tucker and Edguardo Alphonzo?

Mike:

Well, this team has been quite ugly to watch in the opening going. I'm having a hard time getting excited about it - it really is bland. We talked about how the starting lineup would be improved, but my goodness, there is just no power and I don't see where it's ever going to come from. Spezio is certainly not going to solve that problem.

I want a winning team and I don't really care how they do that, but if the team is going to lose, I'd certainly want there to be a special player or two to watch. Am I the only one that has lost the fascination with Ichiro? I mean running out those singles and staying out of double plays is nice, but he's our franchise player and it doesn't look like the 2001 Ichiro is going to be showing up again.

This off season has just killed me. Last year was the "let's sign our own players" off season - it is was kind of OK. Yes they had a fade, but they almost made it and with the pitching and amazing defense we seemed to be always in the game. Now, with two years of fades, they made changes - but it looks like for change sake. The simply had to get one of Tejada or Guerrero and should have gone for both - how about at the expense of Ichiro. And I don't want to hear about mortgaging the future. Does any team have more of a sweetheart deal with it's stadium and revenue?

If my initial sabermetric education (thanks Rob Neyer, BP and USS Mariner) led me astray anywhere it was in undervaluing defense. The Mariners historic defense has collapsed and there is no sign that the offensive changes will come close to making up for it. I guess the Mariner Optimist is right - I am a pessimist. Of course I'm rooting for the team to win, but I'm going to have a hard time hanging in with the bad times when they were so clearly of the teams own making.

John:

So to summarize....On a good playoff bound team, we don't care what they look like, if you're going to field mediocrity at least give us something extraordinary to watch over the course of the game.

2004-04-14T05:37:00.000-07:00

I just came across this "baseblog" article on Slate:

Like the political blogosphere, the same sites—Redbird Nation (St. Louis Cardinals), the Big Red C (Chicago Cubs), and U.S.S. Mariner (Seattle Mariners)—show up in blog roll after blog roll. But no matter which team you root for, even if it's the Milwaukee Brewers or the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, there's a beat blogger working hard to keep you up to date.

It's great to see U.S.S.M mentioned in a national article. I've been doing a lot more reading than writing lately and I'm trying to change it, but the M's bloggers are doing a great job of keeping me up to date.

2004-04-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

Interesting article here on franchise value and revenue. The M's are now worth an estimated $396 million dollars as a franchise (5th) and bring in $169 million a year in revenue (3rd). Not a bad ROI for the initial investors is it?

What I find particularly interesting is the Yankee revenue ($238 million / year) compared to their $183 million dollar payroll. George really has it figured out. Continue to invest in the product and your franchise value will continue to increase ( $832 million ). You don't try and run a baseball team as a positive cash flow. M's ownership has chosen to pull cash out of the team to repay their "losses" during the Kingdome years. The minority partners in the M's purchase put up $20 million of the initial $120 million purchase cost, roughly 17% of the initial cost. That 17% is now worth over $67 million, an increase of 336% in 12 years giving a yearly ROI of 12%. Not too bad given the stock market performance over the same time frame.

Of course it really helps if you run the franchise intelligently as the M's did from 1994 - 2002 as opposed to how they appear to be running it now.

After the opening series I'd rather talk finances then on field performance. Every weakness noted in the off season of blogging was exposed in the opening series. The good thing is that baseball is a marathon instead of a sprint and the M's have the resources to correct their weaknesses in transit. The bad news is that we have is Captain Sawyer of the HMS Renown at the helm.

2004-04-07T17:00:00.000-07:00

Color me confused on the blackout strategy imposed by MLB.com today. According to the schedule every game today is blacked out due to national broadcast restrictions. According to the schedule there are 7 simultaneous games going on and I can't see any of them unless I'm sitting in front of a TV. I don't get it. The MLB.tv feed is exactly what the network shows including commercials. What revenue are they possibly losing if they chose not to black out games across the country?

I guess being a techie I simply don't understand the mind of marketing. For example take a look at this interview in Hardball Times with the brilliant head of Victory Network which owns Twins games. This business decision by the Twins amazes me. It appears to equal the "negotiations" between Cox and Comcast on allowing our local cable company to carry the CBS HDTV feed in its stupidity. The inability to reach mutually acceptable negotiations between giant corporations continues to hurt the consumer. Any marketing experts out there want to enlighten me on what I'm missing?

I'll get off the soapbox now. At least I can listen to the audio feed of the Red Sox vs. Orioles.

As far as the M's opening day debacle....ugh...

The Angels scare me. Despite the pundits pointing to Erstad playing 1st base as the reason why the Angels won't win the West, I'll point out that a lineup that contains Guillen, Anderson, Salmon, Glaus and Guerrero is pretty damn imposing compared to what the M's have to offer. I've always believed in Earl Weavers philosophy in GP + 3 R HR = Win. ( Good Pitching and a 3 run home run equals a win). I'd expand on it even more with GP + 4 BB + 2 HR = Win for baseball in the new century. I stated it through most of last year that the M's lack of power will continue to hurt them. They just have to string together too many positive events to score runs ( Punch and Judy ). I expect their runs scored to drop this year as their power continues to diminish and their team OBP continues to drop.

Spezio's injury is now being listed as "soft tissue with some disc activity" and he's expected back in 3 weeks. Don't count on it. I have a partially herniated disc that made my life hell for 6 months until I got a cortisone shot. Then I embarked on a lengthy rehabilitation phase before I could play soccer again. It's always there, although it only impacts my life when I let myself get inactive. Most back injuries eventually go away without surgery but it takes time and proper care. I fully expect Sand Frog to suffer several recurrences over the course of the season as he tries to play through the injury. I hope I'm wrong. The M's need his bat to have any hope.

2004-04-06T18:21:00.000-07:00

We said we wanted to get away from it all - and we did. I'm coming to you from a 10 min/$1 internet terminal in Fairmont Hot Springs, British Columbia. I just sat down in front of the TV to find out the Mariners score and while spinning the channels I saw the following: Mike Cameron single, steal second and score; Carlos Guillen single driving in a run; and back to Cameron who walked and scored on a double. Then I saw the Mariners score - a 10-5 loss to Anaheim. What a start to the season. I just can't help rooting for the Mets and Tigers. It's not that big a reach for the Tigers to contend. As for the Mets, aside from Edgar, Cameron was my favorite Mariner (he was certainly all the pitcher's favorite) and I just like rooting for him. Better luck tomorrow for the M's.

2004-04-06T12:36:00.000-07:00

Opening Day is here. I could write a lengthy diatribe or wax poetic but it's been done so many times by writers better than myself. This is the first opening day I've missed in a few years. I could have had tickets but frankly I'm in total wait and see mode on the 2004 Mariners. I feel like the Batman villain Two-Face. On one hand I want them to be really successful because I love following the team and I really want them to win a championship. On the other hand I want them to be truly miserable because it's going to take a radical event to force ownership to evaluate their current situation.

I truly believe that M's ownership feel that they can be "successful" with their current team management strategy.

       1) Invest x% of team revenue back into player payroll.

       2) Field a "competitive" team in a 4 team division.

       3) Continue sucking profits out of the franchise and distributing them to ownership.

       4) Run the franchise the same way baseball franchises have been run for 50 years.

       5) Market the team as "nice guys"

The only action that is going to make them take a second look at their strategy is if attendance and TV revenues begin dropping to a point where the team begins to run in the red. A truly smart group of managers does not need a catastrophic event to inspire change. They look ahead of the curve. Frankly I'm surprised with several minority owners being Microsoft executives that the M's are such a passive management group.

Anyway, a lukewarm "Go M's" from this fan.

2004-04-04T12:23:00.000-07:00

The Diamond Mind simulations for 2004 are in and posted on ESPN.com. The M's are predicted to finish at 87-75, 5 games back of Oakland at 92-70. The simulation predicts that the M's will allow 83 more runs this year than last while the offense remains around the same as last year.

The simulation does have the M's winning the division 25.8% of the time and the wild card 2.5% so there is some hope if everything comes together for the M's and the Angels and A's have some bad luck. If there's anything to be learned in playing in MBSBL it's that luck has a lot to do with final record (Just ask San Shin and his record in 1 run games ).

Frankly, being a pessimist blogger, I noticed that the diamond mind predictions don't really mention injuries and bench strength into the equation. All you have to do is take a look at the latest foolish Bavasi trade because Spezio is on the DL with back spasms and you can draw your own conclusions on what stupidity Bavasi is going to do if Edgar, or god forbid Boone, go down for any length of time.

I can't believe they got rid of 2 serviceable major league pitchers for a cast off utility infielder.

2004-04-01T14:55:00.000-08:00

Heh heh. From Baseball Primer's Mariners Preview

It's not just that Piñeiro is good, it's that he's also young. I don't know what you call someone who's both good and young, but it's usually not "a Seattle Mariner."

2004-04-01T10:55:00.000-08:00

The Indians have announced that Milton Bradley will be traded within 72 hours after his altercation with manager Eric Wedge. Head over to the USS Mariner for their take on acquiring Bradley.

It's put up or shut up time for the M's. Bradley is exactly what they need in a player. A young, power hitting, excellent defensive center fielder. Go get him now. With Bradley you've got an excellent 4 player outfield rotation, you've strengthened the bench by making the Q man the designated pinch runner for the team (Yes, I know the team should just cut him but Bavasi will never admit that the Colbrun trade was a mistake and we're going to live with Q on the roster).

If the team is going to continue signing veteran re-treads to man the bullpen, they should at least use some of the young pitching in trade.

2004-03-31T09:27:00.000-08:00

The blogsphere is in uproar about the Andriesen column in the PI today. It's not that big a deal. I think every sports reporter has a contractual obligation to write at least 1 "suck up" column each week. These suck up columns let them fawn over some part of the organization they cover in a wholly transparent attempt to get a chip in the big game that they can cash in later on in the season. I'm quite sure Andriesen will write several more of these columns in the next 4 months. Then he'll expect some return loving around the trade deadline to "scoop" the rest of the beat writers.

It's classic Finnigan / Gammons school of journalism. It's a way for lazy thinkers to try and get ahead. Instead of applying time working up independent analysis and investing in their craft they choose the easy route. It's a lot easier to parrot a corporation's PR staff then it is to gather independent data, analyze it, derive conclusions and present the information to the public. It's why investigative reporters are held in much higher esteem than the majority of sports writers. It's why I like reading Rob Neyer a lot more than Peter Gammons.

Take the Andriesen article for what it is, pure suck up drivel spewed directly from the M's mouth pieces, brought to you by your local rag, with edititorial control provided by your friendly advertisers.

In you want information stick to the net.

2004-03-29T12:06:00.000-08:00

The M's are going to break camp with 12 pitchers to avoid eating Jarvis contract. Mike and I had a hallway discussion about this.

Mike: You can tell a lot about a team by the decisions they refuse to make. Modifying your roster in order to keep a pitcher on it that has no business being part of a club that is supposed to be in contention is amazing.

John: The M's have the 5th highest revenue in pro sports. Isn't it about time they started acting like it? I'm sure that the only reason he's on the roster is so they can try and make another team take on his salary as part of their next deal. It's going to be a we'll take Griffey if you take Jarvis situation. Even if he only pitches in blowouts (which will amply demonstrate to all clubs what the M's perceive his value to be) he'll be taking up a roster spot that could be used in so many other ways.

Mike: This is a team with an incredibly weak bench, with no backup shortstop, that has a huge number of off days in their early season schedule. Just eat the contract.

John: As long as they don't use the Jarvis money as an excuse later on in the season (we'd have loved to pick up Barry Bonds for the stretch run but we're still paying on that Jarvis contract), it'll be 1 paragraph in the paper for 1 day. There is no PR hit in releasing Jarvis. It's this Scrooge like mentality that seems to be pervasive in the M's.

Mike: I don't care how well he's pitched in his last 3 innings. He's amply demonstrated over the course of his career that he's not a MLB pitcher. Since young pitching is the M's strength it's not like we've got to save him for a disaster situation either. Eat the contract.

John: Carrying 12 pitchers means our "bench" is going to be Quinten, Willie, Hansen, Davis. It hurts me to say that.(ed: it hurts more to see it in print )

Mike: That's ugly....

2004-03-16T22:44:00.000-08:00

Mike:
Sports and Bremertonians have set up an M's blogger fantasy league. As the hosts of the M's blogger simulated league you'd think I'd be interested. I love all kinds of games (card, board, video) and baseball is my favorite sport so I've played all kinds of baseball games (tabletop, computer simulation, arcade-type video games). But I have never played in a fantasy league. I just have a really hard time rooting for anyone not on the Mariners! I mean, obviously I can't have anyone from the AL West on my team. But I don't want any American Leaguers at all really. Are there NL only fantasy leagues? But eventually the M's will play someone with a player on my team. Is this a weird attitude that I have? My other problem is that the scoring systems don't translate all that well to real life - stealing is way to over-valued. Have you ever played in a fantasy league? Should I try to get over this problem?

John:
I play fantasy football but I've never played rotisserie baseball. There are several reasons I've played one and not the other. Football takes very little time. Having all the games on 1 weekend day means that I can gather information pretty easily. Fantasy baseball just seems like it takes a large time investment. I spend enough time following the M's I don't think there are enough hours in the day for me to try and follow all of MLB or even just the AL or NL.

From what I know about fantasy baseball I also have a problem with the popular scoring systems that appear to over value steals, saves and RBI. Steals are overvalued because caught stealing doesn't enter into the equation, saves are strictly a factor of when you pitch, not the value of the effort and RBI is very dependent on where you bat in the order and how good your team mates are at getting on base.

Yes, in fantasy football the point gatherers are very dependent on the supporting cast but it just doesn't rub me wrong in the same the way fantasy baseball scoring systems work.

I also would have a tough time rooting for my fantasy pitcher to strike out Edgar. I guess the confrontations are more personal in baseball than football. That's probably the crux of the issue for me. I don't really have a "favorite" football team. Yes I root for the 'Hawks and my old home town team the Patriots but neither team has taken part of my soul like the M's and Red Sox have. Thus the combination of team loyalty and personal challenge in baseball are the two biggest reasons why I've never participated in a fantasy baseball league.

Mike:
The one thing that is the same with sim leagues and fantasy leagues - OTHER PEOPLE DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR TEAM! I feel bad about the nice people I ride with on the shuttle to the ferry after work. There are three owners of teams from the FSBL and every day they are being subjected to the lasted imaginary events from the league. It must be brutal.

Unbeknownst to me when I started this thread, the current ESPN.com Writers' Bloc segment is about the pros and cons of fantasy leagues.

2004-03-14T00:17:00.000-08:00

Today was the first day of practice for my nine-year-old daughter's softball team, the Storm. She made the majors this year and I've coached her every year since she started T-Ball five years ago. Spring is the best time of year with both the Mariners and softball starting up. I love working with these teams - the girls are out there trying their best and always improving. We're very passionate about the Mariners but let's remember, it's a kids game. If you can get out and help with youth baseball or softball I think you'll find it very rewarding.

2004-03-09T15:27:00.000-08:00

Mike:
The lastst steroids news is having a tangeble impact on me - it's more fuel for my Dad's fire when he starts in on his favorite topic - how today's players don't measure up to those from his era. Now he's talking about setting up a different record book since it not fair that the home run records are falling to players that are juiced. This is just the lastest reason to add to his his list which includes: juiced balls, bandbox ballparks, diluted pitching and postage-stamp strike-zones. How do I deal with this guy?

I'd love for this controversy to just go away - but how to solve it?
The current solution in the CBA is not going to accomplish anything except create bad PR for the league (they are experts at this). The NFL "solution" is a joke. The only organization that SEEMS like it has this handled is the Olympics. Do they really, or do they just have good PR?
Would the, until recently, all-powerful MLBPA ever allow Olympic-style anti-doping regulations? It could be the only way out from under a perpetual dark cloud over the game.

John:
I think that the MLBPA would allow Olympic style anti-doping regulations. They would do so because they are secure in the knowledge that whatever tests the anti doping guys dream up, the steroid scientists are 2 leaps ahead. Don't forget that the latest BALCO scandal only exists because an informant sent in a used syringe of the steroid so they could develop a test.

Honestly and realistically I don't think there is any way to "stop" the use of steroids for those that really want to use them. You can catch the stupid users but you're not going to catch the smart ones.

I think the only thing that MLB can do is educate the hell out of the players so they truly know how dangerous these chemicals are. Then put rules in place to really sock it to the stupid users who they manage to catch. First offense, 1 year (paid) suspension, second offense, gone from the league, contract voided.

As far as arguing with your Dad. I can't refute any of his points.

I think that the ball is harder and smaller than it was in the 50's
I think that most modern ballparks are made too small (exceptions, Safeco and Comerica)
I think the strike zone is too small.
There is no argument that there are more MLB pitching positions available now than there were 40 years ago.....

However....

Modern ballplayers are in much better shape than they were even 20 years ago.
Modern travel is easier than it was through the 70's.
Modern ballplayers swing harder and miss more often, when they do hit the ball it goes a ton.
Modern equipment is helping out ball players, forget the gloves and bats, think of how video swing analysis would have helped players in the 30's and 40's
The modern game draws from a much larger talent pool than even 20 years ago.
Careers are becoming longer than they were 20 years ago due to changes in workout, diet and the potential windfalls ($$$$)

Simply spouting that the records are falling because the players are juiced is a simplistic argument. I just hope that I'm not a crusty old curmudgeon and that my mind is still open to new ways of thinking when I hit my later years. There is no way to refute a point when the person making it has closed the book.

2004-03-07T23:28:00.000-08:00

I'm cross-posting my CasdraBlog first impression review of MLB SportsClix.