Jennifer R. Richmond's Boston Red Sox friend's fan blogs

Well, someone in the front office has been reading my blog (as well as those of other Mariners fans), since Seattle's housecleaning continues with the long-awaited designation of Jose Vidro for assignment. This gives the Ms 10 days to trade, release, or assign Vidro to the minors. Since they have no plans to bring him back up, it's doubtful they'd put him in Tacoma (and even more doubtful that he'd accept the assignment). It's even more doubtful that any team would take him on, at least at his current salary, anyway.

In his place, Seattle recalled Wladimir Balentien, giving us another look at the future makeup of the team. He continued to rip up AAA pitching since his demotion on June 17, putting up a .294/.382/.606 July and a .375/.412/1.287 August (in 4 games). More importantly, he showed better plate discipline, with 17 walks against 29 strikeouts. That's not beautiful, but it's better than he'd been doing, and hopefully he can carry that over into the majors.

Continue reading "Jose Vidro, No Mas"

In last night's game, we got to see why Raul Ibanez is a valuable commodity, even to a flailing team like the Mariners, and beyond even the good-but-not-great numbers he puts up. During the seventh inning, when Ibanez had a chance to take a swipe at history, with his team already ahead three runs in a game amid season that's lost virtually any meaning, he put his team first.

Let's set the stage. With the Mariners trailing 6-1 and one out in the bottom of the seventh, Ibanez stepped to the plate with the sacks jacked, and promptly emptied them with a moon shot Grand Salami to right. This ignited a Mariners rally--to put it mildly--and Seattle began to plle on the runs. They burned through four Minnesota pitchers and put up ten runs before the third out was tallied, setting a season record for most runs in an inning, and putting the first-place Twins out of commission.

Continue reading "Raul and the Blowout"

For the first time since May 13, the Minnesota Twins--the team that stood pat during the recent Trade Deadline Sweepstakes--assume first place in the NL Central today.

Chicago had been waiting for its bats to heat up all season, and both Swisher and Konerko have had a few streaks of hot hitting, but they couldn't get the whole team hitting at the same time. So they grabbed Ken Griffey, Jr., a move that was part consummation of a long-time love affair with Junior by GM Kenny Williams and part best-choice trade.

Williams didn't give up much to get Griff, but it's hard to say where the aging outfielder fits in best. They've got him slotted in at center, where he's still adequate and no worse than Nick Swisher, but Junior's most valuable as a DH, and Jim Thome has been one of the few players to start cold and then get hot again. With both being lefties, it doesn't make sense to platoon them, either. And so there will be a rotation of sorts among Griff, Thome, Konerko and Swisher at first, DH and outfield.

Continue reading "Twins in First"

A few trades of note for Mariners fans--the ones made, the ones not made, and the ones made by other teams. Here are the Top 3 Seattle Deadline Stories:

1. Rhodes is now a Marlin. This was the guy everyone figured the Mariners would deal, and it came through. It makes complete sense, as the Mariners don't need Rhodes down the stretch, for a handful of lefty specialist innings, while the Marlins do. In return, Seattle gets Gaby Hernandez, a once-well-regarded starter who's scuffled at Albuquerque (where every pitcher scuffles), and he'll get a fresh start with Tacoma and the Mariners. He's nobody special, but Rhodes is an aging lefty in a one-year deal, so Lee Pelekoudas got who he could. Nice job, Lee.

2.  Ibanez is still a Mariner. This was the other guy everyone figured the Mariners would deal, but it didn't come through. In spite of last-minute interest from the Blue Jays, as well as talks with the D-backs, Mets, and Cubs. Nothing materialized, and it's too early to know exactly who we turned down for this. But Ibanez is a guy we don't mind keeping, as he'll be a veteran presence for the rest of the season. He's a free agent next year, so Seattle's probably going to lose him regardless, but for a team that's rebuilding. losing him then won't be awful, either. I can't judge this until I know what Seattle refused, but I'm at least glad Lee didn't make a move just to make a move. 

Continue reading "Mariners Deadline Analysis"

There's two reasons for making a deal at the deadline, or around it:

1. You're in contention, and you need to add a player.

2. You're out of contention, and you need to add prospects.

The reasoning is simple: Are you looking for short-term or long-term gain? That is, do you need one more piece to put together a contending team (and hence are willing to sacrifice the future to get it), or are you looking to build for the future? You might take a few chances on some marginal guys if you're in contention, the way the Yanks did on signing Sidney Ponson or Richie Sexson. Otherwise you either stand pat or collect prospects from the guys who are itching for that last piece.

Mariners fans who read my blog have heard me carp about how the Ms seem to be making short-term choices, like platooning a young guy like Jeremy Reed, or holding onto valueless guys like Jose Vidro. 

Continue reading "What is Ed Wade Thinking?"

According to several blogs, including Baseball Digest Daily, Mark Teixeira is headed to the Angels, in exchange for middling 1B Casey Kotchman and minor-league pitcher Stephen Marek, with perhaps others thrown into the mix.

On the face of it, this looks like Atlanta's not following its usual tendency to hold out for full value, and not dump too much for too little. Of course, with Chipper and Tim Hudson on the DL--to say nothing of the three-way NL East race that doesn't include them--they're done for the season. But Schuerholz usually holds his cards for a bit more, rather than pulling the trigger on a lesser deal.

Plenty of people were salivating for the power-hitting, switch-hitting first baseman, and it's hard to imagine that this was the best deal Atlanta could get. Schuerholz was surely entertaining a slew of deals, but there's not a ton of value here. Kotchman is a 25-year-old with good contact skills, very good defense, and almost no power. He's not as good a contact hitter as Lyle Overbay, but that's about the ceiling I'd put on Kotch. 

Continue reading "Tex is an Angel"

In what is largely perceived as his final start in a Mariners' uniform, Jarrod Washburn threw his longest and best start of the year, logging 8 innings of one-run ball, giving up just four hits and walking two against two strikeouts. His only blemish was a solo homer to John McDonald, the Toronto shortstop's first of the year.

Had Washburn pitched like this all year long--his record moves to a pedestrian 5-9, with a 4.50 ERA--perhaps the Mariners wouldn't be wallowing in last place with a shocking 38-65 record. On the other hand, if he hadn't pitched so well (or, worse, got injured) his trade value might have plummeted.

As it is, Washburn should be headed to the Yanks at some point soon, probably in exchange for salary relief against his absurd Bavasi-esque $9.85M. To put that figure in perspective, Brandon Webb makes $5.5M, Daisuke Matsuzaka (the $50M Man) makes $8.33M, John Lackey makes $7.33M, Jake Peavy $6.5M.

Continue reading "Washburn's Farewell"

As reported in the stalwart Sports Xchange, the Braves are making moves to their roster that may suggest a possible trade is imminent. First baseman Mark Teixeira is the big name that's been bandied about in baseball, and (except for Brian Fuentes and Matt Holliday, who will either go close to the deadline or not at all) is the Last Man Standing as far as frontline trade candidates go.

What are the Braves doing? They sold reliever Mike Hesop to the J-Ball Hanshin Tigers, and moved Anthony Lerew from the DL to AAA Richmond. This may not mean anything, but it also might mean they're just tidying things up to make a space for any acquisitions, the way you might clear out your in-box before that big project hits your desk.

One of the potential destinations of Teixeira has been the Arizona Diamondbacks, in return for Conor Jackson or Chad Tracy, both fan favorites, but this seems unlikely, unless Arizona thinks it can sign Tex to a long-term deal. They could certainly use another bat, but why make a move for Tex, so soon after snatching up the venerable Tony Clark from San Diego? 

Continue reading "Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop"

As the July 31 deadline approaches, one of the most likely trade candidates mentioned in Seattle-New York trade rumors has been Jarrod Washburn. The Ms would love to shed his massively overpaid salary, while the Yanks need a starter who can eat innings, even if he does it in mediocre, Jarrod-esque fashion. That Wishy-Washburn has been good of late (since a May 21 2IP, 9ER meltdown, he's only given up more than 2 ER in two of his ten starts) makes him seem all the more attractive to the pinstripes.

And today, Peter Abraham reports in his LoHud blog that the Yanks are thinking of a swap that would not only rid the Ms of Washburn, they'd also get to dump anti-DH Jose Vidro, too. In return, the Ms would get Kei Igawa and a "B-level prospect," along with a salary swap that means the Yanks would eat a $7M difference in contracts. Kei Igawa has been a disappointment thus far, though some speculate that he's been suffering from the Bright Lights, Big City effect of pitching in the Big Apple. A move to a smaller market team, especially an Asian-friendly one like Seattle, with fellow J-ball players Ichiro and Kenji Johjima, might be just the thing for Igawa.

Continue reading "Washburn to the Yanks?"

Offensively and defensively, the Yankees have been missing the services of Hideki Matsui since June 27, and Jorge Posada on and off for even longer. Matsui is an integral RBI guy to give ARod and Giambi protection in the five or six hole, and is needed more than ever in left with Johnny Damon's shoulder issues. Posada can hit pretty well, but can't throw, so even when he was in the game, other teams ran rampant--Jose Molina and Chad Moeller are decent defensive replacements, but can't match Jorge's bat.

Both Posada and Matsui have opted out of season-ending surgery, in an effort to return this season and help out their team. With Tampa Bay in free-fall, both Boston and New York have closed the gap significantly. Right now the BoSox are one game back of first, while the Yanks are 3.5 games behind, and certainly in contention for the Wild Card. 

Continue reading "Two Yankees, Toughing it Out"