If I ran Major League Baseball.....

By Kshell

The Major League baseball playoffs are currently going on and just like they have in the past are getting killed in the ratings by the NFL. Baseball recently announced that the Houston Astros are moving from the National League Central to the American League west. Now every division has five teams but the problem is the leagues now each have 15 teams. The problem with this is that interleague play will be going all season long. Two teams will start the year off with interleague play while two other teams will end the season with interleague play which will piss off every old school baseball fan. Baseball is also expanding the playoffs to five teams. I think these are good ideas and in this following post I'll explain how I can solve the baseball season.

To solve the interleague problem I would expand the league to 32 teams. The two cities I would hand pick assuming they could get a stadium would be Las Vegas, Nevada and Portland, Oregon. Baseball doesn't have enough western teams as the teams out west constantly rack up the miles in travel. Las Vegas is a great sports city and have supported the 51's for years. The fear with Las Vegas is the gambling aspect. I understand that fear but with cell phones and the internet if you are going to bet on games that is very easy to do so. I also picked Portland even though it is a bad triple A baseball city but I feel has a passionate fan base. The city of Portland has shown great love for their Portland Trail Blazers and now Portland Timbers who are both leagues that is below Major League Baseball. I also added them to create more rivalries going forward. With these two teams I would be like the NFL where I'd have eight divisions of four teams. Like the NFL I would also have each league have six playoff teams with the top two seeds receiving a bye week. The first round would be a best of three, second round best of five then LCS and World Series play would be best of seven. I would also make sure both leagues are on the same page so either both have the DH or neither has the DH.

New Divisions:

AL Northwest:
Seattle Mariners
San Francisco Giants
Oakland A's
Portland Beavers

NL Pacific Division:
Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles of Anaheim Angels
San Diego Padres
Las Vegas Snake Eyes

AL Midwest Divison:
Kansas City Royals
St.Louis Cardinals
Chicago Cubs
Chicago Whitesox

NL Mountain Division:
Colorado Rockies
Arizona Diamond Backs
Texas Rangers
Houston Astros

AL Southern Division:
Tampa Bay Rays
Florida Marlins
Atlanta Braves
Washington Nationals

NL Northern Division:
Detroit Tigers
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Minnesota Twins

AL Atlantic Division:
New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox
New York Mets
Toronto Blue Jays

NL Atlantic Division:
Balitmore Orioles
Cleveland Indians
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates

In conclusion, take a time to digest that and look at all the natural rivalries in the divisions. There wasn't enough southern teams so I had to split up the Orioles and Nationals same with Indians and Reds. Just as a Mariners fan look at our division you would have Seattle-Portland then the Bay Area teams. In the NL west you would have the LA teams with the Padres and Las Vegas all within four hours of each other. I think the attendance would increase as there would be more rivalries plus with having six playoff teams that is 37.5% of the league makes the playoffs so more playoff races will be involved. I know this is probably a long ways from happening but I think baseball should embrace the NFL model. I know a Seattle-Portland game at Safeco Field or down in Portland would be a packed house and the thought of that has me excited. Not to mention going on a road trip to Las Vegas to watch the Mariners play. Hopefully someday this dream of mine can finally become a reality.

My interview on "steady as she goes" with Jeffs Mariners and Insider Steve

By Kshell

This past Wednesday I was on "steady as she goes" with Jeffs Mariners discussing Mariners baseball. What made this show particularly special was Insider Steve called in. This was a fun half hour segment where we discussed the Mariners young kids, how Safeco Field has had more fans of the other team than the Mariners, and other things that were on our mind. The first 15 minutes Jeff and myself discussed the prospects. We talked about the hot hitting of Casper Wells, Trayvon Robinson and of course Mike Carp who is currently having an 18 game hitting streak.

The other topics we discussesd was how embarassing it was this past weekend that the Red Sox outnumbered us or the Blue Jays did as well. All three of us agreed that it was a joke. We proceeded to bash ownership as they have spit on the diehard fans. Jeff goes to 10-15 games a year, Insider Steve goes to over 40 games a year and they are tired of the gimmicks. We discussed at length how pathetic ownership is with all these stupid ass bobbleheads. Like I said in the interview I won't go to a game with stupid giveaways. I'll keep my dignity and not do it. We also discussed "Brown Paper Sack" day which is where we go to the game and wear a brown paper sack over our heads to show the team we aren't taking this losing crap anymore!

In conclusion, the interview I felt went pretty well. It was really fun talking baseball with two educated bloggers. I hope I held my own with those two and it was fun. Here is a direct link to the podcast which is on seamheads then on blogtalkradio.com/seaheads. It was a blast and I'll be on every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.. Hope you click on the link and if you want to call in call (347)-945-7172 if you want join us on the show. It was a fun show and don't forget to listen every Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Safeco Field gimmicks aren't pleasing the fans anymore

By Kshell

This homestand has been hard to watch at times. The Seattle Mariners have found yet another way to piss me off when watching their games during this homestand. The play on the field hasn't been bad at all in fact the Mariners are 3-2 on this homestand, instead I'm tired of the visiting crowd drowning out the Mariners crowd. First the Boston Red Sox came to town to make Safeco Field into Fenway Park on the west coast. Now the fans from Canada are driving down to cheer on their Blue Jays(Glad Boston Bruins won the cup! Gotta have "country" pride right?) despite being extremely closer to the Mariners. It has been annoying seeing all those empty seats this season and whenever a real team comes to town like the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies their fans invade Safeco Field. Then our fans feel like they are attending a road game which isn't right.

It wasn't always that way for this franchise who had some of the best crowds in baseball from 1996-2007 where they averaged over 30,000 fans a game. Now for the fourth straight year the Mariners are drawing under 30,000. This year is the third worst season since 1991(1992 and 1995 were only worst) far as per game attendance. The Mariners fans are finally tired of all the gimmicks that Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong insist the fans like. The fans have spoken which is give us a good product and we'll turn out. The Mariners used to have great attendance in the past and sell out a Wednesday night game against the Kansas City Royals when John Halama was pitching. Now Felix Hernandez can be throwing on a Friday night and you'll be lucky to get 20,000 fans. This isn't 2001 anymore and the Mariners need to realize that good ole fashion winning baseball is what the fans really want.

The Mariners from 1977-1995 never ranked higher than eighth in attendance or averaged more than 27,000 a game. Then everything changed in 1995 when the Mariners made their great playoff run which sucked the fans in. Despite playing in a crappy building in 1996 the Mariners averaged 33,628 fans a night ranking them fourth in the American League. Then in 1997 the Mariners won the division title and averaged 39,410 fans ranking third in the AL. The next three years the Mariners attendance dropped a little bit but still ranked fifth in 1998, fourth in 1999 and fourth in 2000. Then in 2001 the Mariners won 116 games and ranked first in attendance. They averaged 43,300 fans a night. With excitement from 2001 heading into 2002 the Mariners set a franchise record and again ranked first in attendance averaging 43,740 fans a night. In 2003 which was the Mariners last great year was also the last year they would crack three million fans. They would average 40,352 ranking second in the American League. In 2004 and 2005 attendance would drop but the Mariners still ranked fourth and then fifth. Then in 2008 first time since 1995 they didn't average 30,000 fans a night. Currently the team is averaging 24,012 fans a night which is 19,728 fans fewer than 2002. The Mariners have chose family friendly over the real fans.

The downfall of Safeco Field was in one April weekend of 2002. That weekend the Mariners were playing the New York Yankees the same Yankees who had eliminated the Mariners from the ALCS in back to back years. It was a playoff like atmosphere. The Yankees took the first game then the Mariners defeated Ted Lilly who threw a one-hitter and had a no-hitter for 7 2/3 innings. Freddy Garcia pitched a complete game to get the win 1-0 on Saturday night. So Sunday was the rubber match of the series that despite being in April had a great playoff atmosphere. I remember going up to the game with my dad and we paid more than face value to watch the game. During that game more than 50 Mariners fans were kicked out just for wearing T-Shirts that read "Yankees Suck". In the North East they break out in Yankees suck chants during New England Patriots games. The soft Mariners had their home fans kicked out of a big game despite not throwing anything or causing any problems. That is when the Mariners basically told the true fans to piss off as they bow down to the visiting fans, bandwagon fans, the hydro racing fans and currently the rally fries fans. The Mariners are so concerned with family friendly atmosphere they turned away the fans who would actually pay during down times.

Going to Seattle Seahawks games and Mariners games is night and day. At Seahawks game there is energy at the game as the Seahawks "get it". They don't have stupid promotions they just put a good product on the field and let fans be fans. While the Mariners are so worried about being PG the games lack buzz, 80% of the fans are on their cell phones or reading a damn book. Then when our own fans act like fans they get kicked out. At games I'm constantly getting yelled at for standing up with two strikes. While last month the Mariners were playing the Texas Rangers this fan pulled a Steve Bartman and denied Ichiro the chance to make the catch. That hitter would get on base then score a crucial run against Felix Hernandez. Nothing happened to that fan at all. He sat there smiling like the douchebag that he is. No fans got on him and most importantly the Safeco Field ushers didn't kick him out. He was allowed to stay there even though he cost the Mariners a crucial run and potentially the game. While fans in 2002 who were there to support the Mariners were kicked out. That type of atmosphere allows all those annoying bandwagon Red Sox fans to invade Safeco Field. That type of atmosphere has alienated the true Mariners fans from going to games.

In conclusion, I'm not going to a game this year unless there is a special circumstance. That circumstance will be if some others and myself can properly organize a brown paper sack day where we show up and wear brown paper sacks over our heads. We'll each write a unique saying on our sack and I guarantee we'll be ejected but it's worth it. I'm tired of the real baseball fans at the game getting the shaft from Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong. I'm tired of these fools thinking that rally fries, Kings Court, Bobble heads and hydro boat races is what fans want. Yes the stupid fans want that but who cares about those morons? What about the true fans who actually spend money on the crappy product they have put on the field the last four seasons. I hope the Mariners realize how embarassing it looks that the opposing team who doesn't really have a fan base like the Toronto Blue Jays for the second series this year have taken over Safeco Field. I'm glad the people of Seattle are starting to speak loud and clear. Pretty simple produce some wins and the fans will show up. Just stop relying on gimmicks as the fans are tired of gimmicks and simply want wins.

Seattle Mariners weekly review: August 8th-14th edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners just completed an impressive 3-3 week as they took the Boston Red Sox two out of three at Safeco Field. The Mariners began the week losing the first two to the Texas Rangers before winning the series finale to avoid the sweep. The Mariners won't confuse you for a team full of world beaters but since the trade deadline the Mariners are 7-5. The Mariners got better for the future with their trades but also brought in some key pieces that are contributing right now to the team. The Mariners are also riding the hot stick of Mike Carp who has been killing the ball since being called back up in the second half of the season. The Mariners starting pitching didn't do great this week or bad but the hitters carried the team. The Mariners also saw two hitters who had been slumping all season long have big weeks. One guy in particular is key to the Mariners future success which was nice to see. So this week we'll talk about the good(return of Franklin Gutierrez), the bad(two young kids who have been rushed) and the awesome(Mike Carp's second half). It has been fun seeing the team playing good baseball lately.

The Good:

The Mariners started the week off losing three of their first four games but battled back to beat the Boston Red Sox back to back games to go 3-3. The highlights of the week was the hot hitting of Mike Carp and Franklin Gutierrez. Those two have been killing the ball for about two weeks now which has really helped this slumping offense. The Mariners are getting good hitting from Ichiro and Dustin Ackley as well so the top of the order has been hitting the ball well. The Mariners closer Brandon League this week was lights out as he saved three games while allowing just one base runner. The newly acquired Casper Wells has been hitting the ball extremely well with two home runs the last two games in the series win over the Red Sox. Little used Jack Wilson is taking advantage of his playing time with four doubles this week. This was indeed a good week for the Mariners hitters who scored five runs in the first inning off of all-star pitcher Josh Beckett.

Good Hitting:

Mike Carp: 9-25(.360), HR, 9 RBI's, 4 runs
Casper Wells: 5-13(.384), 2 HR's, 4 RBI's, 3 runs, SB, .500 OB%
Dustin Ackley: 6-22(.272), 2 RBI's, 3 runs, .407 OB%
Ichiro: 7-26(.269), HR, RBI, 4 runs, SB
Jack Wilson: 7-15(.467), 3 RBI's, 3 runs, 4 doubles
Franklin Gutierrez: 11-23(.478), RBI, 5 runs, 3 SB's

Good Pitching:

Jason Vargas: 1-0, 7 IP, 3.86 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 3 K's
Michael Pineda: 6 IP, 4.50 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 4 K's
Jamey Wright: 3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2.33 WHIP, K
Brandon League: 3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.33 WHIP, 4 K's, 3 saves

Later on in this post I'll talk more in depth on Gutierrez, Ichiro and Carp. All three are enjoying hitting streaks and are hitting the ball well this month. In the case of Carp he has been killing the ball since being called up.

The Bad:

The Mariners lost two out of three to the Texas Rangers this week. Since 2008 the Mariners record against the Rangers hasn't been very good. The Mariners are now 3-10 this year against the Rangers. The Mariners are just 26-44(.371) against their divisional rivals since 2008 which is flat out terrible. The Mariners also saw two early veteran pieces who were successful who have been in a long slump. The Mariners have two rookies who appear to be overmatched at the major league level but have shown some flashes that eventually they can be quality. The Mariners had two young pitchers get rocked this week although one bounced back against a very good lineup. The Mariners are playing a ton of young guys now so inconsistent results are expected. One thing that has to make manager Eric Wedge happy is the fact his team is competing and not getting blown out like they were during the 17 game losing streak.

Bad Hitting:

Adam Kennedy: 2-12(.167), 3 RBI's, run, K
Miguel Olivo: 3-20(.150), RBI, run, SB, 5 K's
Travyon Robinson: 2-14(.143), 6 K's
Kyle Seager: 3-16(.188), run, 4 K's
Willy Mo Pena: 1-8(.125), 2 K's

Bad Pitching:

Blake Beavan: 0-1, 6.1 IP, 8.53 ERA, 1.89 WHIP, K
Charlie Furbush: 1-1, 11 IP, 5.72 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 6 K's
Jeff Gray: 0-1, Blown Save, 4.1 IP, 8.31 ERA, 1.85 WHIP, 2 K's
Josh Lueke: 0.1 IP, 54.00 ERA, 6.00 WHIP, K

Charlie Furbush is a young pitcher the Mariners are trying to see if he will be part of their future plans in the starting rotation. I'd say this week was a good test for Furbush. Against Texas he was lit up only lasting four innings while allowing six earned runs, eight hits, walked four and struck out zero batter. Then he bounced back against the Red Sox going seven innings, allowing just one earned run, just four hits, two walks while striking out six hitters. It was nce seeing Furbush bounce back the way he did.

The Awesome:

The awesome this week has been the terrific hitting of Mike Carp, Ichiro and Franklin Gutierrez. The Mariners just a month ago had so many holes in their lineup. Now with Carp hitting at the DH spot, Gutierrez hitting at the center field spot, Ichiro in the right field spot and Casper Wells in left field the hitting doesn't look as terrible. The won't confuse anyone of the Mariners from 1995-2003 but they are much better than the triple A crap we've had to witness the last two and a half years. I've complained how nobody is taking advantage of their opportunity well I can't say that anymore as Mike Carp is doing just that.

The Mariners have had three hitters who are red hot right now. The slumping Gutierrez right now is riding a seven game hitting streak which had a five game multi game hitting streak as well. In the month of August Gutierrez is hitting .357/.378/.429 in 93 AB's with 4 RBI's and 10 runs scored. He also has seven stolen bases during that stretch.

The other hitter is Ichiro who is riding a 10 game hitting streak right now. For the month Ichiro is hitting .288/.302/.365 in 52 AB's with a home run, two RBI's and eight runs scored. He also has two stolen bases during that stretch. Nice to see Ichiro showing signs that he still has it.

Lastly, Mike Carp is just killing the ball right now. Carp is enjoying the longest active hitting streak which is at 14 games. In the second half of the season Carp is hitting .366/.398/.581 in 93 AB's. He has hit four home runs, drove in 24 runs while scoring 13 runs. For the month of August he is hitting .380/.415/.580 in 50 AB's with two home runs, 15 RBI's and 8 runs scored.

It has been nice seeing some guys hit the ball. Carp if he continues to hit this way has earned the right to enter spring training next year as the starter. He will be beyond having to compete if he can keep up this hot hitting. It has been great seeing a player step up and take advantage of his playing time which Carp has done so far. He has been red hot just like he was all year long in Tacoma. He is finally getting consistent at bats and doing the most with it.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 69-52, First Place
L.A. Angels: 65-56, 4.0 GB
Oakland A's: 53-67, 15.5 GB
Seattle Mariners: 52-67, 16.0 GB

In conclusion, the trades made by Jack Zduriencik has made life easier on Eric Wedge. Now some of the problems earlier in the year was on Wedge as he chose to play Carlos Peguero over Mike Carp which Carp is proving was a huge mistake. It is nice seeing the Mariners offense finally score some runs and resemble a major league offense for once. This month the Mariners are averaging 4.3 runs per game which is a huge upgrade over their average prior to this month which was 3.3 runs per game. That one run in baseball is huge especially when talking per game average. The Mariners for the second straight week have played pretty good baseball against the same schedule that burried them. Thanks to the red hot hitting of Mike Carp and Franklin Gutierrez the Mariners fans have enjoyed some fine baseball this month. It was great seeing the Mariners take two out of three against all those bandwagon Red Sox fans. Hopefully the Mariners can finish out the season strong and avoid finishing last place for the sixth time in eight years.

Mariners trade Bedard in three team deal to Red Sox

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners officially ended the Erik Bedard era in Seattle by trading him to the Boston Red Sox in a three team deal that brought back two outfield prospects. The Mariners have traded away two starting pitchers and a bullpen arm the last two days for three outfielders, a third baseman and a bullpen/starting pitcher. The Mariners under Jack Zduriencik are once again rebuilding trying to get younger. The Mariners offense this season has been horrible so the Mariners are hoping some of these prospects can pan out. With the Mariners traded Bedard this ends a frustrating three and a half year marriage that started off with so much promise. For those who remember previous GM Bill Bavasi traded away Adam Jones, George Sherrill and Chris Tillman for Bedard. Bedard was brought in to be the ace of the staff as the hope was he'd anchor the rotation in the playoffs. Instead the Mariners got only 46 starts from Bedard. Bedard in his years with the Mariners never pitched a single inning in August or September. In fact he hasn't pitched in September since 2006 and has never pitched in a playoff race.

What the Red Sox are acquiring is a pretty good starting pitcher when he is healthy. In his career with the Mariners Bedard made 46 starts with a 15-14 record throwing 255.1 innings with a 3.31 ERA. He posted a 1.22 WHIP with 249 strikeouts to 101 walks. This season Bedard who hadn't pitched in 2010 started the year off rough and has pitched great since then. He recently was on the DL and came back to make his final start for the Mariners lasting just 1.1 innings allowing five earned runs. For the season Bedard went 4-7 in 16 starts with a 3.45 ERA in 91.1 innings pitched. He posted 1.17 WHIP with 87 strikeouts to 30 walks. Bedard when he is on can be an ace as he showed in May posting a 1.39 ERA in 32.1 innings pitched. He had a 0.95 WHIP with 32 strikeouts to 9 walks. In June he posted a 2.25 ERA in 32 innings pitched. He had a 0.84 WHIP with 33 strikeouts to 6 walks. The Red Sox are acquiring a pretty good pitcher when healthy. The Red Sox also gained 2008 first round draft pick reliever Josh Fields from the Mariners. Fields this year in the minors in 29 games has pitched 39 innings posting a 3.92 ERA. He has a 1.53 WHIP with 39 strikeouts to 32 walks with three saves. In his brief career he has appeared in 81 games pitching 101 innings posting an ERA of 4.54. He has a WHIP of 1.51 with 103 strikeouts to 72 walks. The Red Sox didn't make this deal because of Fields it was for the chance to land a potential key playoff starter in Bedard.

The Mariners acquired Trayvon Robinson from the Dodgers organization and Chih-Hsien Chiang of the Red Sox. Both are in the minor leagues and both guys are putting up good seasons. First I'll start with the 23 year old Robinson who is in triple A. For his career he is hitting .283/.358/.436 in 2,441 career AB's. He has hit 64 home runs(HR every 38.1 AB's) with 697 strikeouts(28.5%) to 267 walks(10.9%) which isn't great. He also has 149 stolen bases in his career. For this season he is breaking out hitting .293/.375/.563 in 368 AB's. He has hit 26 home runs(HR every 14.1 AB's) with 122 strikeouts(33.1%) while walking 45 times(12.2%) with 8 stolen bases. Robinson like Casper Wells will be competing for a spot on next years roster. If Robinson doesn't crack the roster he'll provide depth for Tacoma.

The other player the Mariners got was Chih-Hsien Chiang who is also an outfielder. Chiang is a 23 year old in double A who has a career line of .284/.333/.460 in 1,887 career minor league at bats. He has hit 51 home runs(HR every 37 AB's) with 326 strikeouts(17.2%) to 126 walks(6.6%).This year in double A Portland(Maine) Chiang is hitting .338/.399/.647 in 317 AB's. He has hit 18 home runs(HR every 17.6 AB's) with 61 strikeouts(19.2%) to 25 walks(7.8%). When you look at Chiang's numbers you see improvement in his career and a guy who is a slugger. His strikeouts are about right while I'd like to see his walks increase. Chiang hopefully in a year or two can make the Mariners roster. For now he'll add organizational depth in the outfield as the Mariners are hurting in the outfield position. Zduriencik is hoping that one of these three outfielders he acquired in the past 48 hours can someday produce for the Mariners.

In conclusion, the Mariners we all knew were going to be sellers this trade deadline. The Mariners were pretty thin at the outfield position which is why Zduriencik traded for three outfielders hoping to help that weakness. The Mariners traded from a position of strength to help out a position of weakness. I know fans are tired of prospects as am I because rebuilding simply sucks. The Mariners are hoping with these deals they can have some major league depth down the road. While the Red Sox are preparing for the playoffs with a pitcher who proved this season he can be an ace. With Bedard he is such a wild card because he can give you a great outing or he can break down once again. The Mariners made some moves for more prospects so now as fans we have no choice but to wait and see. From all the reports I've read Zduriencik did well once again. Nobody has questioned Zduriencik eye for young talent. Now if Zduriencik can just apply that same strength to free agency we have ourselves a great general manager.

Seattle Mariners weekly review: July 14th-24th edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners are currently going through their worst stretch in franchise history. The Mariners went into the all-star break on a five game losing streak which appeared to eliminate them from the race. Now the Mariners in the second half have lost all 10 games to the Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox. The Mariners have lost a franchise record 15 straight games which is shocking considering as of July 6th this team was just 2.5 games back of first place. Now the Mariners trail the Oakland A's as they sit in last place in their division. The losing streak started off with the Mariners not hitting which has been a problem all year long and has been a problem in the entire Jack Zduriencik regime. What has surprised most fans is that this week especially on the road trip to Toronto and Boston the Mariners offense woke up while the pitching staff has been lit up. For the first time all year I'll have several pitchers make the "bad" list. Like I do whenever the team has a losing week I'll be going over the good(not much), the bad(over half the roster) and the ugly(the mastermind behind this team).

The Good:

When a team is going through a 15 game losing streak I'm sure you are thinking good?!1 Well a few hitters have stepped up this past week and so have some pitchers. This week saw the return of Mike Carp from Tacoma and now that he is getting regular at bats he took advantage this week. If Carp can show life that would be nice since the offense is still broken. The Mariners also saw short stop Brendan Ryan hit his first home run of the season and then he followed that up with a grand slam. This week also saw rookie pitcher Blake Beavan who was acquired in the Cliff Lee deal pitch pretty well in his two starts despite picking up the loss. Beavan this year has pitched a quality start in all four of his starts which is a good way to start your career. The Mariners finally had some hitting this road trip but the pitching has been terrible. The Mariners offense this road trip has averaged 4.8 runs per game which is pretty good for this offense.

Good Hitting:

Dustin Ackley: 12-42(.286), HR, 6 RBI's, run
Brendan Ryan: 14-40(.350), 2 HR's, 6 RBI's, 7 runs, 2 SB's
Mike Carp: 8-22(.363), 2 HR's, 4 RBI's, 3 runs

Good Pitching:

Blake Beavan: 0-2, 13.1 IP, 4.05 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 7 K's
Jeff Gray: 6.1 IP, 1.42 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 5 K's, Blown Save
David Pauley: 0-1, 5.1 IP, 3.38 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 4 K's
Chris Ray: 3.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.60 WHIP, 3 K's
Brandon League: 2.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 2 K's

The team hasn't performed very well as you can see by the limited work that closer Brandon League has received. It was nice seeing the youngsters like Dustin Ackley, Mike Carp and Blake Beavan perform well during this losing streak that was the lone bright spot.

The Bad:

The Mariners have set a franchise record with their 15th straight loss when they were swept by the Boston Red Sox sunday losing 12-8. The Mariners go on the road to the New York Yankees then return home to face the Tampa Bay Rays so this losing streak could very well stretch to 20 games. The Mariners pitching in particular their bullpen overachieved in the first half and law of averages have caught up to them. The Mariners still have several hitters who are slumping as the offense scored just two runs in their four game sweep at home to the Texas Rangers to begin the second half. Watching this losing streak I think we all feel crazy that just two weeks ago there was actual playoff talk surrounding this team. Now the Mariners are headed towards another top five pick in the major league baseball draft. First year manager Eric Wedge you can tell is fed up with this team as he blasted his veterans in a loss against the Toronto Blue Jays. He even shaved his famous mustache in an attempt to avoid the losing streak. The team is hitting slightly better now but that was all negated due to the pitching being so terrible.

Bad Hitting:

Justin Smoak: 6-34(.176), run, 7 K's
Adam Kennedy: 6-32(.187), HR, RBI, 3 runs, 6 K's
Miguel Olivo: 8-36(.222), 2 HR's, 6 RBI's, 3 runs, 2 SB's, 10 K's
Carlos Peguero: 0-2(.000), 2 K's
Franklin Gutierrez: 7-32(.218), 3 RBI's, 4 runs, 4 SB's, 7 K's
Chone Figgins: 2-13(.153), 2 runs, SB, 5 K's
Greg Halman: 2-19(.105), HR, 3 RBI's, run, 8 K's

Bad Pitching:

Felix Hernandez: 0-2, 14 IP, 6.43 ERA, 1.79 WHIP, 8 K's
Jason Vargas: 0-2, 9 IP, 10.00 ERA, 2.67 WHIP, 3 K's
Michael Pineda: 0-1, 10.2 IP, 10.13 ERA, 1.69 WHIP, 10 K's
Doug Fister: 0-1, 13.2 IP, 5.27 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 5 K's
Aaron Laffey: 5.1 IP, 10.13 ERA, 2.25 WHIP, 3 K's, hold
Jamey Wright: 0-1, 4.2 IP, 11.57 ERA, 2.36 WHIP, 3 K's

The numbers don't lie right there. The starting pitching which has carried this team all season long has fallen apart in the second half. The Mariners saw two key bullpen guys just fall apart which isn't helping things at all. The hitting has been terrible since 2008 which makes you question how things are being run upstairs. The main player that is a red flag is Justin Smoak who has been slumping pretty bad ever since his hot April. He was a key acquisition in the Cliff Lee trade and if he doesn't pan out that will set the franchise back some years.

The Ugly:

The Mariners right now are looking like a flawed roster that is heading for another disasterous season. The Mariners are on pace to lose 93 games this season which would be their third season in the last four years of losing over 90 games. The Mariners are going for history this season as the worst American League offense in the DH era which is a record you don't want. The Mariners despite a decent sized payroll have put out a minor league batting lineup the past two seasons. Now I've already debated with Insider Steve on whether or not Jack Zduriencik should be retained. I'm not going to open that up instead I'll post some ugly stats.

Jack Zduriencik era

- Has a 189-236(.444%) record in Seattle. That is an average of 71-91 record.
- Has an offense that is scoring 3.28 runs per game in 2011 which ranks last in baseball, scored 3.16 runs per game in 2010 that ranked last in baseball and 3.9 runs per game in 2009 that ranked 28th in baseball.
- In his years his offenses have averaged 3.49 runs per game.
- His teams have hit only 325 HR's in 425 games so they aren't producing the power.
- In 2011 the Mariners are hitting .226/.290/.334 which ranks last place, last place and 29th. In 2010 the Mariners hitting was .236/.298/.339 which ranks last place in all three categories. In 2009 the Mariners hitting was .258/.314/.402 which ranked 21st, 29th and 23rd. The offense has regressed each season under Zduriencik.

Now the pitching has been pretty good but Jason Vargas and recently Blake Beavan only starting pitchers that Zdurienik has his hand on. While the crappy hitting only Ichiro this year and last year Jose Lopez plus our crappy catchers were the only non Zduriencik hitters. The hitting has been historically awful and this losing streak might have sealed Zdurienik's fate. I think firing Zduriencik doesn't solve the Mariners problems but hard to imagine a GM keeping his job with such ugly numbers.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 58-44, first place
L.A. Angels: 55-47, 3.0 GB
Oakland A's: 44-57, 13.5 GB
Seattle Mariners: 43-58, 14.5 GB

The Seattle Mariners as a franchise has been in a decade long drought. The Mariners feel like that snail who takes one slow step forward then falls back quickly two steps. The Mariners since 2003 have had five full-time managers and seven managers overall. The Mariners have had three different GM's in that time and it appears we'll have our fourth next spring. The new "savior" that the fans will drool over every move he makes. This feels like a process that never ends. The names come and go while the same crappy results continue on. This franchise despite having an ace pitcher in his prime and a first ballot hall of fame hitter will lose over 90 games for the third time in four seasons. They will have lost over 90 games five times since 2004. This year we all figured it was going to be a rebuilding year and possibly the team overachieving in the first half may have cost Zduriencik. The fans had accepted 90 plus losses heading into the season but expectations changed during the season. One thing that hasn't changed is the historically awful offense that Zduriencik has assembled. For as much crap as people give Wedge for his lineups you can only do so much with seven turds. The Mariners offense is just one giant turd at the end of the day and this losing streak just magnifies it.

Seattle Mariners weekly review: April 25th-May 1st

By Kshell

This week was a different week for the Seattle Mariners. They actually completed their first winning week which took place on a tough road trip. The Mariners had swept the Detroit Tigers then took two out of three against the Boston Red Sox. The Mariners offense erupted in Detroit while the pitching shut down the Tigers and Red Sox this week. Even if this is the highlight of the season this was sure fun to watch. The Mariners were playing like a team this week with good pitching and timely hitting. It was nice to see as a fan watching the pitchers go six for six with great pitching performances. Unlike my previous posts this post will have a bit of a change to it. This post won't feature the good, the bad and the ugly instead it will have the good(plenty of names), the bad(no pitching) and the awesome! So hope you enjoy this weekly review as it was one to watch just hopefully this wasn't the highlight.

The Good:

This was a great week for the Mariners which saw plenty of guys step up. As you'll see in my hitting stars you'll see three names that often sit on my hitting slump. The pitching was incredible this week as the starters went 5-0 on the week with an era of 2.56 on the week with five quality starts as well. The hitting this week averaged 5.5 runs per game this week. Now I'll give you the hitting stars and pitching stars of the week. I'll also mention some of the pitchers season stats who are having all-star type seasons so far.


Hitting stars:

Ichiro: 9-26(.346),3 RBI's, 6 runs, 2 SB's
Miguel Olivo: 9-26(.346), 2 HR's, 4 RBI's, 8 runs
Chone Figgins: 9-26(.346), 4 RBI's, 4 runs, SB
Jack Cust: 5-15(.333), 3 RBI's, run, 6 BB's
Justin Smoak: 5-22(.227), 2 HR's, 10 RBI's, 3 runs

Pitching stars:

Felix Hernandez: 1-0, 13 IP, 2.77 ERA, 1.00 WHP, 14 K's
Michael Pineda: 1-0, 6 IP, 3.00 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 9 K's
Erik Bedard: 1-0, 7 IP, 1.28 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 3 K's
Doug Fister: 1-0, 5.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.76 WHIP, 4 K's
Brandon League: 2 saves, 3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.33 WHIP, 3 K's

Michael Pineda: 4-1, 31.1 IP, 2.01 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 30 K's
Brandon League: 7 saves(7/7 in save chances), 11 IP, 2.45 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 6 K's
Felix Hernandez: 3-2, 47.2 IP, 3.21 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 45 K's

Bad:

Well unlike previous weeks the good will outweigh the bad this week. In fact you won't see a single pitcher make my "bad" list either. I have a few hitters who are slumping pretty badly but the Mariners still went 5-1 on the week. Funny how you can go through slumps when your team is winning people won't be complaining as much. Like I said this will be a short list which will only feature the hitters. Well here are my hitting slumps which features just three hitters.

Hitting Slump:

Milton Bradley: 1-17(.058), RBI, 3 runs, 2 SB's, 8 K's
Brendan Ryan: 1-17(.058), run, 5 K's
Michael Saunders: 4-21(.190), 2 runs, SB, 4 K's

Milton Bradley on the year is hitting .200/.313/.353 and he is the Mariners #3 hitter. He also managed to get ejected by a first base ump despite the play having nothing to do with him and him being on second base.

Awesome:

There is plenty of awesome when you go 5-1 on the road. If not for a few breaks in Boston on Sunday the Mariners could have gone 6-0 on the road trip. Instead the Mariners will gladly take a 5-1 road trip. Eric Wedge changed the batting lineup a bit and I feel as if he is using the bullpen correctly to date. I know a baseball manager isn't the be all end all but I feel as if Wedge is making a difference so I'll give him credit for the week. The Mariners are finally playing well as a team and the pitching staff which has been good all year was lights out this week.

Pitching awesome:

Starting Pitching: 5-0, 38.2 IP, 2.56 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 34 K's, 5 Quality Starts
Bullpen: 0-1, 2 saves, 4 holds, 15 IP, 0.60 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, 9 K's

As you can see the pitching for the week was pretty incredible with the starting pitching and the bullpen. When the pitching is going well Wedge's job becomes easier as the Mariners can play small ball. The Mariners saw three hitters who they were counting on who were slumping all year to finally break out of that slump this week. The Mariners also picked up some ground in the American League West standings.

AL West Standings:

L.A. Angels: 16-12, First Place
Texas Rangers: 16-13, 0.5 GB
Oakland A's: 15-14, 1.5 GB
Seattle Mariners: 13-16: 3.5 GB

The Mariners have a big homestand this series against the Texas Rangers this week. Hopefully the Mariners can take two out of three and get the city of Seattle excited for baseball again. I still think this team lacks plenty of hitting but it is nice to see youngsters like Pineda and Smoak playing well. This was a fun week for the Mariners and hopefully my weekly reviews are more like this one and less like the previous three weeks.