Mariners embark on the biggest off-season in franchise history

By Insider Steve


Is it me or does anyone else feel like the Mariners are on the verge of something exciting?

Alright, so maybe it's just me. So please allow me the time and try to convince the masses out there in Marinersville on what the Mariners are about to embark on. For three years now, Mariners GM Jack Zdureincik has had the dubious honor of fixing an organization so broken that most industry figure heads thought it would take at least five years before the Mariners would be even able to financially compete, let alone see results on the field. Only three years after taking over as GM, Jack Zduriencik is sitting on the cusp of the biggest off-season in Mariners history. I do know one thing is certain, win or lose, there will be some major fireworks going off over the Sodo this winter. In order to see those fireworks we need to discuss some truths about the Jack Zduriencik era.


Truth;

Jack Zduriencik just hasn't had the financial luxury up to this point in his tenure as Mariners GM to radically improve the ball club. It wasn't Zduriencik's fault that ownership slashed the payroll by 18 million dollars in his first season. In the three years Zduriencik has been in charge, he has had an average payroll of 94,890,230 million dollars. Compared to the 96,271,463 average per season in five seasons that former GM Bill Bavasi had. That's a difference of 1,381,233 million dollars extra that Bill Bavasi had at his disposal. In the 2006-2007 off-season, Bill Bavasi's payroll shot up from 87,959,833 to 106,460,833. A difference of 18,501,000. Which is precisely the figure Zduriencik stand to inherit this off-season. If you add that figure to this seasons payroll, this is what the team payroll would look like in 2012; 113,124,194. Which is still 4,542,291 million dollars shy of Bill Bavasi's all-time high payroll of 117,666,482 in 2008. The bottom line is payroll will be increasing. Ownership needs to realize they have a financially responsible GM in place, and that is okay to add more to the pot.


The Future;

The Mariners have put together a nucleus of young talent with tremendous staying power. On the offensive side, Dustin Ackley, Justin Smoak, Mike Carp, Kyle Seager, Trayvon Robinson, and Casper wells are hitting a combined .252/.319/.415/.735, 42 HR, 140 RBI, 348 Hits, 144 Runs, and all play positions that were/are in desperate need of improvement; 2B, 1B, DH, 3B, and OF. On the pitching side Felix Hernandez, Michael Pineda, Jason Vargas, Brandon League, and Tom Wilhelmsen have quietly form a solid base in which to build upon. Those five have combined to go 35-41, 3.53 ERA, 586 K's, 1.178 WHIP, and a K's/BB ratio of 3.01. Three of the five have been selected to the All-Star game, and Hernandez has already has a Cy Young on his resume. Those are just 11 of the active 25 man roster. Not even including the likes of Blake Beaven, Charlie Furbush, Shawn Kelley, Josh Lueke, Chance Ruffin, Dan Cortes, Taijuan Walker, James Paxton, Danny Hultzen, and Alex Liddi. Who could all very well make an impact in 2012.


What will the Mariners have coming available;

1. Milton Bradley = 12,000,000



2. Carlos Silva = 5,500,000



3. Yuniesky Betancourt = 1,000,000



4. Jack Wilson = 5,000,000



5. Josh Wilson = 179,000



6. Jack Cust = 2,000,000



7. Jamey Wright = 900,000



8. Adam Kennedy = 750,000



9. Luis Rodriguez = 600,000

• Total = 27,929,000
  

Isn't that a fantastic number to see? Even if you factor in arbitration, the number is still going to remain in the 18-20 million dollar range. That number allows flexibility in spades. Which is more then enough to add a power bat in the OF and at 3B, upgrade the catching position, and add a solid starter to the rotation mix.

Lets' forecast shall we. Let's say the Mariners make one trade and sign two free agents to open up the off-season. we will say the Mariners sign 3B Wilson Betemit (.268/.335/.445/.779, 62 HR, 242 RBI, 466 Hits, 221 Runs), who has never made over 4 million dollars in one season, to a 2-year 8 million dollar deal. Then let's say Zduriencik make a trade for Kansas City Royals LF Alex Gordon. Who still has two years of club control, but is still arbitration eligible. Because Gordon posted career highs in every statistical catagory, .303/.376/.502/.879, 23 HR, 87 RBI, both parties figure out a way to agree on a mutual figure of 5 million dollars for the 2012 season. The Mariners then sign a starter like a Paul Maholm, Jason Marguis, or a Javier Vazquez. Who would all come at a reduced price. Something to the tune of 1-year at 1.5 million. Just in those three deals the Mariners have used up only 10.5 million dollars. That would still leave Zduriencik nearly 8 million dollars left to improve the bullpen and the catching position.

I'm being 100% honest when I tell you guys that next years team will have the look and feel of a winning ball club. It's just a matter of putting your eggs into that basket. I know it's a hard thing to do when you have seen the team go from bad to worse in a span of less then two seasons. But it is going to get better. That you can bank on. It's just a matter waiting it out for another six months...

Seattle Mariners weekly recap: September 5th-11th edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners just finished up a 3-4 week which saw them lose two out of three down there in Anaheim while splitting up here in Seattle with the Kansas City Royals. The Mariners kind of went back to the first half Mariners where the pitching staff was terrific but the offense was horrible. During the week the Mariners averaged just 2.8 runs per game. The Mariners did see Justin Smoak return from the DL last week and this week he started to hit the ball. This was Smoak's best week in a few months which was nice for the Mariners as he factors into the future plans. The Mariners pitching staff was terrific this week led by once again Felix Hernandez who has been a dominant ace for the month of August and September. The Mariners also saw pitchers Jason Vargas, Blake Beavan, and Charlie Furbush have nice bounce back performances which they all desperately needed. The Mariners only have 16 games remaining on their schedule as they are just playing out the season. This week I'll go over the good(the pitching staff), the bad(the hitting) and the ugly(all the losses). The Mariners have just three weeks left in the season if anyone is still paying attention to this club.

The Good:

The Mariners had some good things this week despite going 3-4. One of those good things was the recent hitting of Ichiro who has been on fire now for about five weeks. Ichiro this week displayed some power and also showed that he still has some speed left in his game. For having a "bad" year Ichiro is still having a productive season he simply isn't having an Ichiro season is all. The Mariners also saw their pitching staff pitch extremely well this week anchored by Felix Hernandez. Hernandez is now 6-2 in his last eight starts. The Mariners starting pitching this week went 3-4 but in seven starts managed to throw 47.1 innings with a 2.85 ERA and 29 strikeouts. The Mariners pitching staff who had been struggling lately was nice to see them turn it around this week. The Mariners bullpen pitched pretty well too. Overall the Mariners pitching didn't have a single pitcher appear on the bad list. The Mariners hitters only had three regular players which was Ichiro, Justin Smoak and Miguel Olivo. The Mariners hitting which had been improving hit another disasterous slump this week. At least the pitching staff came to play to salvage the week by going 3-4. The Mariners pitching which has been terrific all seaosn long was terrific this week as well.

Good Hitting:

Ichiro: 8-29(.276), 2 HR's, 4 RBI's, 3 runs,  5 SB's
Willy Mo Pena: 2-7(.286), RBI
Miguel Olivo: 6-20(.300), HR, 2 RBI's, 3 runs
Justin Smoak: 9-27(.333), 2 HR's, 6 RBI's, 4 runs

Good Pitching:

Felix Hernandez: 1-0, 8 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 7 K's
Jason Vargas: 1-0, 6 IP, 1.50 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 3 K's
Blake Beavan: 1-0, 6.1 IP, 4.26 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 3 K's
Charlie Furbush: 0-1, 7.1 IP, 3.68 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 3 K's
Anthony Vasquez: 0-2, 11.2 IP, 3.86 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 5 K's
Michael Pineda: 0-1, 8 IP, 3.37 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 8 K's
Jamey Wright: 5 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.40 WHIP, 6 K's
Shaun Kelley: 4 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 2 K's
Tom Wilhemsen: 2.2 IP, 3.37 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 2 K's
Brandon League : 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, 2 saves

Felix Hernandez last 8 starts: 6-2, 59.1 IP(7.2 IP a start), 2.27 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 63 K's(9.55 K's per 9).
Michael Pineda last four starts: 0-3, 26 IP(6.2 IP a start), 3.46 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 28 K's(9.69 K's per 9).

As you can see Hernandez has been dominating lately and is finally racking up the much deserved wins. Meanwhile you may read that Michael Pineda hasn't won since July 30th and see he went from 6-2 to 9-10. Pineda simply isn't getting the run suppor but he is still pitching extremely well down the stretch while setting a career high in innings pitched with 167(previous high was 141).

Bad:

The Mariners this week went 3-4 despite the pitching staff just carrying them. The offense scored just 2.8 runs this week as the Mariners lost two out of three in Anaheim. After winning the first two games against the Royals the Mariners dropped the next two games. The Mariners are going with some youthful pieces who are all slumping at the same time which is hurting the offense. The Mariners also for whatever reason keep on insisting to play Adam Kennedy even though he doesn't factor into their future plans at all. The Mariners pitching was great this week so they'll have no pitchers on the bad list which is rare for a 3-4 week. The Mariners have gone 5-12 in their last 17 games and are headed towards another 90 plus loss season. The Mariners rank towards the bottom in just about every offensive category for the second straight season. This year was supposed to be a rebuilding season for the Mariners but after the hot start the first three months nobody expected to see this team headed towards another 90 plus loss season. The Mariners will most likely finish in last place for the sixth time in eight seasons. During that stretch the Mariners will have lost over 90 games five times in the past eight seasons. The hitting needs to be worked on this offseason or expect another long season next year.

Bad Hitting:

Dustin Ackley: 5-24(.208), 2 runs, SB, 6 K's, .321 OB%
Mike Carp: 3-21(.143), HR, RBI, run, 8 K's
Kyle Seager: 3-18(.167), run, SB, 5 K's
Trayvon Robinson: 4-18(.222), HR, 2 RBI's, run, SB, 9 K's
Brendan Ryan: 5-30(.167), HR, RBI, 2 runs, 3 SB's, 7 K's
Adam Kennedy: 2-11(.182), run, 4 K's
Casper Wells: 1-6(.167), 3 K's
Michael Saunders: 0-5(.000), RBI, run, 2 K's
Alex Liddi: 1-8(.125), run, 5 K's

Adam Kennedy 2nd half: Hitting .172/.193/.284 in 116 AB's with 25 K's to just 2 walks.
Casper Wells last 3 weeks: 3-39(.076), run, 17 K's

The Ugly:

The  Mariners are headed towards another crappy finish to a crappy season. The Mariners since the all-star break are now 18-36(.333) which is just terrible. The Mariners are now the fourth worst team in the major leagues. This would be the third time in the last four seasons the Mariners are in the bottom five in all of major league baseball. The Mariners offense currently ranks dead last in batting average, on base percentage, slugging, hits and are second to last in runs scored. The Mariners are going with the youth experiment which is okay but in the process it sure is hard to watch on a daily basis. The Mariners are in danger of losing their fan base with all this losing and lack of hitting. The Mariners are one of the worst teams in all of baseball since 2004. Only the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates have been worse during that stretch.

Ugly Baseball:

2004 Seattle Mariners: 63-99(.389), last place, runs scored: 698, runs against: 823
2005 Seattle Mariners: 69-93(.426), last place, runs scored: 699, runs against: 751
2006 Seattle Mariners: 78-84(.481), last place, runs scored: 756, runs against: 792
2007 Seattle Mariners: 88-74(.543), 2nd place, runs scored: 794, runs against: 813
2008 Seattle Mariners: 61-101(.377), last place, runs scored:671, runs against: 811
2009 Seattle Mariners: 85-77(.525), 3rd place, runs scored: 640, runs against: 692
2010 Seattle Mariners: 61-101(.377), last place, runs scored: 513, runs against: 698
2011 Seattle Mariners: 61-85(.418), last place, runs scored: 500, runs against 600

As you can see the Mariners have been horrible during this eight year stretch and even in their two winning seasons they were still outscored on the year. The Mariners are a franchise who are headed nowhere with no direction. The Mariners claim to be rebuilding yet Adam Kennedy still is finding two to three starts a week. The Mariners have reverted back to the 1980's where winning seems to be an after thought. The Mariners franchise just isn't scoring enough runs and not winning enough games. Where is the public  out cry from our fan base? Why do I feel as if I'm in the minority when I should be in the majority on the Mariners.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 83-64, first place
L.A. Angels: 80-66, 2.5 GB
Oakland A's: 66-80, 16.5 GB
Seattle Mariners: 61-85, 21.5 GB

In conclusion, the Mariners are grinding out their season for the eighth straight year. For the eighth straight year nobody in Seattle including myself can give a crap about baseball as football has taken over. The Mariners have wasted the career of Ichiro and appear determine to do the same for Felix Hernandez who is having another terrific season. The Mariners are simply playing out their season and wonder why the fans can care less. This weekend there was so many empty seats and with football going on I can't blame them. Like I showed earlier the Mariners have been one of the worst franchises in all of major league baseball. The Mariners are one of two franchises to never reach the World Series and I don't expect that streak to end anytime soon. The Mariners are just 16 games away from their season ending in disappointment which has been the theme since 2004.

Seattle Mariners weekly review: August 29th-September 4th edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners appear to have given up on the season as they finished the week losing four games in a row to go 2-5 on the week. After splitting at home with the rival Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim the Mariners were swept down in Oakland to the Oakland Athletics. The Mariners have lost 7 of their last 10 games and appear headed towards another last place finish with 90 plus losses. The Mariners once strong pitching staff has fallen apart with the exception of Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda. The Mariners hitting just isn't hitting anymore besides a few youngsters. The Mariners are playing like a team who is just playing out their season as they were swept by a team they had dominated all season long. The Mariners fall to 58-81 on the season which just won't get the job done at all. This week I'll talk about the good(Felix Hernandez), the bad(the slumping Casper Wells) and the ugly(Jason Vargas disasterous second half once again). The Mariners need to go 15-8 to avoid 90 losses which I don't see the team doing as it appears the team has packed it in.

The Good:

The Mariners just completed a 2-5 week but there was some positives to draw on. The Mariners saw ace pitcher Felix Hernandez defeat the Angels star pitcher Dan Haren 2-1 in which Hernandez threw a complete game to earn the win. The Mariners also saw youngsters Dustin Ackley and Mike Carp who were slumping break out of their slumps. The Mariners also saw the face of their franchise Ichiro continue his red hot hitting as he is trying to record 200 hits. Ichiro currently needs 40 hits in his last 23 games to have 200 hits this year something he has done the last 10 seasons. The Mariners bullpen saw some guys pitch lights out once again which was nice to see. The Mariners had some guys produce this week like Justin Smoak returned from the DL to produce this week. Unfortunately the Mariners just didn't receive much help from anyone else besides these guys. Lately the only good pitching performances have been by just Hernandez and Michael Pineda even though Pineda can't seem to buy a win lately. Even though the Mariners are slumping they still have plenty of guys who are doing well. Just need to have a week where more than a handful of guys are doing their jobs.

Good Hitting:

Ichiro: 9-30(.300), 4 RBI's, 4 runs, SB
Mike Carp: 7-27(.259), HR, 5 RBI's, 2 runs
Justin Smoak: 4-12(.333), run
Dustin Ackley: 11-25(.444), HR, 6 RBI's, 5 Runs, SB. .500 OB%, 8-game hitting streak

Good Pitching:

Felix Hernandez: 1-0, 9 IP, 1.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 9 K's
Michael Pineda: 0-1, 6 IP, 4.50 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 7 K's
Brandon League: 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 2 K's, save
Jamey Wright: 3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 3 K's
Tom Wilhelmsen: 1-0, 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 3 K's

Felix Hernandez last 7 starts: 5-2, 51.1 IP, 2.63 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 56 K's, 9.81 K's per 9, 6 Quality Starts
Felix Hernandez season: 29 starts, 13-11, 209.1 IP(7.1 IP a start), 3.27 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 204 K's, 8.77 K's per 9, .237 BAA. 5 CG's, 20 quality starts.

Felix Hernandez is having another terrific season which is being wasted. I discussed this topic a few weeks ago when I wrote a post about Felix being wasted which you can read by clicking this link Wasted Talent . It has been a shame seeing the Mariners waste such a terrific arm in Felix Hernandez. I do think fans should appreciate Hernandez more and I'm not talking about the Kings Court chanting "Larry". I'm talking about feel fortunate to see one of the games best pitchers who hasn't even entered his prime for 33-36 starts a season since 2005.

The Bad:

The Seattle Mariners after splitting with the Angels were swept by the Oakland A's in three games. Whenever your record is 2-5 for the week there is plenty of bad. The fact that I have four starting pitchers on my bad list is a sign this franchise is in trouble. The Mariners did have pitching but no hitting and now they have neither. The "good" news is general manager Jack Zduriencik was told he will return next season. The Mariners hitting has been awful all season long and was pretty bad this week. After starting his brief Mariners career on fire Casper Wells has been in a horrible slump which dating back to last week has him hitting 2-33(.060) in the last two weeks. The Mariners young hitters are slumping badly now and the pitching in particular the three left handers keep getting bombed which has been a horrible trend to pay attention to.

Bad Hitting:

Kyle Seager: 4-23(.174), 2 RBI's, run, 2 K's
Trayvon Robinson: 1-10(.100), 3 runs, 7 K's
Brendan Ryan: 1-16(.062), RBI, run, K, Caught Stealing
Franklin Gutierrez: 5-27(.185), RBI, 3 runs, SB, 4 K's
Casper Wells: 1-18(.055), 5 K's
Miguel Olivo: 5-24(.208), 2 RBI's, 2 runs, SB, 6 K's

Bad Pitching:

Blake Beavan: 0-1, 12 IP, 5.25 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 3 K's
Charlie Furbush: 0-1, 6 IP, 6.00 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 5 K's
Jeff Gray: 2.2 IP, 16.87 ERA, 3.37 WHIP, K
Josh Lueke: 5 IP, 7.20 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, K
Cesar Jimenez: 0.1 IP, 81.00 ERA, 9.00 WHIP, K
Anthony Vasquez: 0-1, 4 IP, 15.75 ERA, 2.50 WHIP, K
Jason Vargas: 0-1, 5 IP, 7.20 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, 4 K's

Three left handed starting pitchers: 0-3, 15 IP, 9.00 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, 10 K's.

The Mariners can't seem to find a quailty starting pitching from the south side which is a good thing they took Danny Hultzen with the #2 overall pick in the draft. At Safeco Field if you have a quality left handed starting pitcher he can be dominant since Safeco is tough on right handed hitters.

The Ugly:

There has been plenty of ugly for the Mariners this season and for this week. The Mariners lost centerfielder Franklin Guiterrez for the rest of the season with a strained Oblique muscle. This has been a very disappointing season for Gutierrez who began the season on the disabled list and will end the season on the disabled list. Gutierrez was the crown jewel in Jack Zduriencik's big J.J. Putz trade(meanwhile he's kicking ass for first place Arizona Diamondbacks). In fact another player in that trade who has been struggling lately has been Jason Vargas. For the third straight second half Vargas has been down right terrible. There can be plenty of excuses made but when this happens three years in a row that is called a bad trend. In fact Insider Steve explored the problems of Jason Vargas with this post you can read by clicking the link Does Jason Vargas have a future in Seattle? . Which is a curious case and one that needs to be explored this offseason. Zduriencik traded away Bill Bavasi's guy Doug Fister(who is kicking ass for first place Detroit Tigers) meanwhile he kept the guy he acquired Jason Vargas. Vargas is looking horrible and the guys acquired in the Fister trade aren't looking very good either. You have to wonder what Mariners management was thinking in bringing back Zduriencik who other than the draft hasn't show much.

Ugly Hitting:

Franklin Gutierrez: Hit .224/.261/.273 in 322 AB's. Has just one HR, 19 RBI's, 26 runs scored and 13 SB's. This year has been a disaster for Gutierrez and his Mariners future has to be in question heading into the offseason. His bat came around late but two weeks worth of good hitting doesn't make up for the months of terrible baseball.

Miguel Olivo: Hitting .220/.254/.371 in 410 AB's. Has 16 HR's, 55 RBI's, and 45 runs scored. He also has 122 strikeouts to 20 walks. I know plenty of fans are high on him but he simply isn't getting the job done this year. His defense has been below average as well. Time for the Mariners to get serious and go acquire a catcher who has some respect for the strike zone instead of swinging at everything.

Ugly Pitching:

Jason Vargas 2011 second half: 10 GS, 1-7,  53 IP, 7.13 ERA, 1.89 WHIP, 27 K's,  .336 BAA
Jason Vargas 2010 second half: 14 GS, 3-8, 85 IP, 4.66 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 48 K's, .265 BAA
Jason Vargas 2009 second half: 3 GS, 0-3, 28 IP, 7.39 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 13 K's, .292 BAA

Do the names Dave Flemming, John Halama, Ryan Rowland-Smith mean anything to you? Well they should because they were all fly ball pitchers for the Mariners who enjoyed success at first. Then the league rocked them in the second half of the season. Then the league featured them out and kept rocking them where they spent the rest of their baseball careers in the minor leagues. It appears that is Jason Vargas destiny because as you can see three straight bad second halfs shows he isn't cut out for the long haul.

Charlie Furbush: 2-4, 31 IP, 6.39 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 20 K's, .277 BAA

He was acquired in the Doug Fister trade along with the slumping Casper Wells who is currently doing his best Chone Figgins impression. Another lefty who can't seem to keep the ball down which means he is getting pounded all over.

Anthony Vasquez: 1-1, 9.1 IP, 11.57 ERA, 2.25 WHIP, 3 K's, .372 BAA

He simply isn't a major league pitcher and might not ever be one. It's actually an insult to the major league players on the roster that he is starting games for the Mariners. The Mariners have to have someone in Triple A who is better than Vasquez who you can't tell the difference between his fastball or his changeup. He is to pitching what Carlos Peguero was to hitting which is to say he is overmatched.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 80-61, first place
L.A. Angels: 76-64, 3.5 GB
Oakland A's: 64-76, 15.5 GB
Seattle Mariners: 58-81, 21.0 GB

In conclusion, the Mariners appear to have mailed it in this month. They aren't putting out a major league starting pitcher four of the six starts. Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda who will be shut down after two more starts are the only pitchers in the rotation currently who belong on a major league rotation. When you check out the hitters only Ichiro going into the season was a major league hitter. The team is rebuilding yet young guys like Trayvon Robinson can't seem to find AB's. The Mariners for the eighth straight season are just playing out their season in the month of September. For the eighth straight September the city of Seattle is tuning out the Mariners and focusing on football. The Mariners are in serious danger of losing their fan base because despite all those gimmicks the best gimmick of them all is simply winning. The Mariners aren't winning and until they do the fans will keep decreasing by the season.

Seattle Mariners weekly review: August 15th-21st edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners just completed their week losing five games in a row. The Mariners began the week with a thrilling come back victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Then after that win the Mariners lost the next two to the Blue Jays where Safeco Field was cheering louder for the Blue Jays than hometown Mariners. The Mariners took the road to Tampa Bay to take on the Rays where the Mariners were swept. The Mariners this week saw Mike Carp extend his hitting streak up to 20 games with Casper Wells hitting a home run in four straight games dating back to last week. The Mariners also saw their pitching particularly the bullpen just get lit up this week. The Mariners had just two out of a possible six starts that were quality starts. The Mariners finished the week 1-5 so we'll talk about the good(Carp and Wells), the bad(pitching) and the ugly(young guys getting lit up). Like I usually do I'll start off with the positives first.

The Good:

When a team goes 1-5 it's hard to find some positives. The Mariners did see Mike Carp extend his hitting streak to 20 games showing the Mariners that he deserved playing time this entire time. Another positive was the play of Casper Wells who had homered in fourt straight games while hitting three home runs for the week. Another player the Mariners acquired in the trade then called up was Trayvon Robinson who hit pretty well this week which was nice to see. The Mariners wasted another masterful game by Felix Hernandez who threw his second complete game in his last three starts but was left the loss. The Mariners did see rookie Tom Wilhelmsen record his first ever major league win in relief.

Good Hitting:

Casper Wells: 6-18(.333), 3 HR's, 5 RBI's, 5 runs
Mike Carp: 8-23(.347), 2 HR, 3 RBI's, 4 runs
Willy Mo Pena: 3-8(.375), HR, 2 RBI's, 2 runs
Jack Wilson: 3-9(.333), RBI
Kyle Seager: 7-21(.333), HR, 3 RBI's, 3 runs
Trayvon Robinson: 7-19(.368), 3 RBI's, 3 runs

Good Pitching:

Felix Hernandez: 0-1, 8 IP, 3.38 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 9 K's
Dan Cortes: 0-1, 5.2 IP, 1.59 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 2 K's
Tom Wilhemsen: 1-0, 4.2 IP, 3.86 ERA, 0.64 WHIP, 3 K's

This week saw Tom Wilhemson win his first ever game as well as Kyle Seager hit his first career home run. This week also saw Willy Mo Pena hit his first home run as a Mariner. For a week that went as bad as it did the Mariners did see some firsts.

The Bad:

This week saw plenty of bad for the Mariners as they lost five in a row. The starting pitching was a total disaster as was the bullpen. The Mariners saw three different relievers post extremely high ERA's and WHIP. The Mariners released the recently ineffective Aaron Laffey. This week also saw some key hitters slump in Dustin Ackley(first of his career) and Ichiro. They also saw Franklin Gutierrez go back to not hitting and Miguel Olivo despite praise from his manager continues to be terrible. The Mariners young pitching duo of Blake Beavan and Charlie Furbush were once again rocked. The Mariners also saw Michael Pineda pitch well against the Rays which was nice after he was shelled against the Blue Jays. Jason Vargas was also shelled against the Blue Jays allowing six runs in the first inning.

Bad Hitting:

Dustin Ackley: 4-20(.200), 2 runs, 7 K's
Ichiro: 5-25(.200), RBI, run, K
Adam Kennedy: 1-12(.083), 3 K's
Miguel Olivo: 3-14(.214), HR, RBI, 2 runs, CS, 5 K's
Franklin Gutierrez: 4-26(.153), 2 RBI's, run, 5 K's

Bad Pitching:

Jason Vargas: 0-1, 4 IP, 18.00 ERA, 2.75 WHIP, 2 K's
Michael Pineda: 11 IP, 5.72 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 11 K's
Blake Beavan: 0-1, 5 IP, 9.00 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, 3 K's
Aaron Laffey: 1.1 IP, 20.30 ERA, 3.76 WHIP, ZERO K's
Jamey Wright: 1.1 IP, 27.00 ERA, 3.76 WHIP, ZERO K's
Josh Lueke: 3.2 IP, 7.36 ERA, 2.18 WHIP, ZERO K's
Charlie Furbush: 0-1, 3 IP, 15.00 ERA, 3.00 WHIP, 2 K's

This week the Mariners got rid of Aaron Laffey who was 1-1 with a 4.01 ERA, 1.64 WHIP in 42.2 innings pitched in 36 games. He struck out only 24 batters while walking 16 while allowing a .305 opponents batting average. In the second half he was even worse as he had a 12.00 ERA and a 2.77 WHIP in only nine innings pitched. He only struck out six batters while walking four batters. Laffey doesn't have great stuff and has been rocked lately as his WHIP was always pretty high for a reliever.

The Ugly:

Seeing crowds cheer louder for an opposing team was pretty annoying this past week. In fact this was a subject that I tackled last wednesday and again later that night on my radio interview. You can view that post by clicking here. It has been sad to see Safeco Field be so incredibly empty this year. Now I'll talk about some reasons why as of late.

Ugly Hitting:

Franklin Gutierrez: Hitting on the year .216/.251/.264 with only one home run and 14 RBI's in 269 AB's.
Miguel Olivo: Hitting on the year .215/.247/.367 with 111 strikeouts to just 18 walks in 368 AB's. He takes the term impatient hitter to a whole new meaning.

Ugly Pitching:

Blake Beavan last two starts: 0-2, 11.1 IP, 8.73 ERA, 1.77 WHIP, 6 HR's, 4 K's. Never a good thing when your HR to strikeout ratio is 1.5/1.0
Charlie Furbush: 2-2, 20 IP, 6.30 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 11 K's, .299 BAA which is pretty awful numbers.
Josh Lueke: 1-1, 16.2 IP, 9.72 ERA, 2.04 WHIP, 15 K's, .338 BAA.

I brought up these three young guys as they are acquisitions by Jack Zduriencik who the local media loves to brag up. Whenever a young guy does anything you hear non stop "In Jack Z we trust" slogans from all the care bear fans. Whenever his players struggles(which often is the case) you hear non stop excuse making on why he can't build a major league team.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 73-55, first place
L.A. Angels: 69-59, 4.0 GB
Oakland A's: 57-70, 15.5 GB
Seattle Mariners: 53-72, 18.5 GB

In conclusion, the Mariners are a struggling team who is simply playing out their season. It is frustrating to see them lose but at this point there is no reason to be worked up over losses. This is a learning stage for a lot of these players. For so many guys on this roster this is extended spring training for next year. What you do going forward could determine your status on this roster. I would like to see manager Eric Wedge pull Hernandez after seven innings under all circumstances excluding a no-hitter. There is absolutely no reason for Hernandez to be throwing this many innings/pitches in a wasted season. The Mariners offense is slowly coming around but with Zduriencik trading away some key pitching pieces the pitching has struggled lately. Hopefully the Mariners this offseason can acquire some much needed batters and some pitching as well. For now I say go the fact that football season is here.

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.

Seattle Mariners weekly review: August 1st-7th edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners just completed a successful week that saw them go 4-2. The Mariners swept the Oakland Athletics in a three game sweep then dropped two out of three to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Mariners saw much improved hitting this week as well as the pitching was fantastic. The Mariners starting pitchers were great in all six starts this week which was nice to see. The Mariners once again are entering a tough stretch on their schedule so it was nice to see them having a winning week. The Mariners played great in sweeping the A's then allowed just four runs in the series loss to the Angels. The Mariners won four out of six games and their two losses were by a single run. It was nice to see the team playing competitive unlike that disasterous 17 game losing streak. So this week I'll talk about the good(tons of players), the bad(not many players) and the awesome(the guys the Mariners have called up or traded for).

The Good:

The Mariners had plenty of good this week as they went 4-2. The hitting finally stepped up in the series sweep of the Oakland A's. The pitching was terrific all week as all six games saw the Mariners starting pitchers earn a quality start. This week also saw all-star pitcher Felix Hernandez dominate his opponents striking out 21 batters in just 14.1 innings. The Mariners have received great pitching from Blake Beavan this year as well as he broke Michael Pineda's record for starting his Mariners career with six straight quality starts. The Mariners already have seen great return on their trades with Charlie Furbush, Casper Wells and Trayvon Robinson. It was nice seeing the Mariners playing good baseball with the young kids from Tacoma doing most of the damage.

Good Hitting:

Mike Carp: 10-25(.400), HR, 6 RBI's, 4 runs
Casper Wells: 6-19(.315), HR, 4 RBI's, 3 runs, SB
Brendan Ryan: 6-12(.500), RBI, 3 runs, .571 OB%
Ichiro: 8-26(.307), RBI, 4 runs, SB
Justin Smoak: 2-5(.400), 2 runs, .571 OB%
Miguel Olivo: 5-17(.294), 2 RBI's
Dustin Ackley: 6-22(.272), 3 RBI's, 4 runs, .384 OB%

Good Pitching:

Blake Beavan: 2-0, 14.2 IP, 2.45 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 5 K's
Charlie Furbush: 1-0, 5 IP, 1.80 ERA, 0.40 WHIP, 3 K's
Brandon League: 3.2 IP, 2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 2 K's, 2 saves
Josh Lueke: 2.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 3 K's
Jamey Wright: 4.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 4 K's
Jason Vargas: 6 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 3 K's
Felix Hernandez: 1-1, 14.1 IP, 2.51 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 21 K's

As you can see the starting pitching this week was terrific. The starting pitching this week went 4-1 with an ERA of 1.57 while throwing 40 innings(6.2 innings a start) for the week. The starters had a WHIP of 0.97 with 32 strikeouts. The starting pitching despite trading away two guys this past week was terrific. The hitting was pretty good as well with the Mariners having five guys hit over .300 on the week. This was the best week the Mariners have had in a few months.

The Bad:

The Mariners didn't have much bad this week which was refreshing. The bad did take place against the Angels where the Mariners saw their starting pitching go 22 innings allowing just 3 runs(1.22 ERA) with just one win to show for it. The hitting was once again silent down in Anaheim and there is one hitter in particular who could be in jeopardy of losing his job. The Mariners this past trade deadline traded for three outfielders and two are already up. THe Mariners have already shipped out one slumping outfielder and another could be next. The Mariners with these trades have put Franklin Gutierrez on notice. The pitching this week was terrific minus two bullpen blow ups which happens during a long season. The Mariners were also reminded this week why Jack Wilson never plays because he showed he is a terrible hitter. The roster is changing and some of the dead weight will be shipped out of town before opening day next year.

Bad Hitting:

Franklin Gutierrez: 4-19(.210), 2 RBI's, run, 4 K's
Adam Kennedy: 2-15(.133), 2 RBI's, run, sb, 6 K's
Greg Halman: 0-4(.000), 3 K's
Jack Wilson: 3-16(.187), run, 7 K's, CS

Bad Pitching:

Dan Cortes: 0-1, 0.1 IP, 27.00 ERA, 9.09 WHIP
Jeff Gray: 1.2 IP, 16.19 ERA, 2.99 WHIP, 2 K's

Greg Halman was sent down after hitting 2-28(.071) with 13 strikeouts and no walks. His second half line was .071/.103/.179 which won't cut it at the big league level.

The other player who is put on notice is Gutierrez. Guiterrez for the season is hitting .195/.237/.236 on the season with just one home run and 11 RBI's in 220 at bats on the season. He is slowly hitting better but that isn't enough to make up for this piss poor season he is having. I predict if Gutierrez finishes the season under .200 he won't be back next year.

The Awesome:

The awesome this week is all the Mariners who weren't part of the opening day roster who are contributing. The Mariners two best hitters right now are Dustin Ackley and Mike Carp. The Mariners also saw Casper Wells and Trayvon Robinson do well this week. The pitching of Blake Beavan and Charlie Furbush makes fans say Doug Fister and Erik Bedard who? The Mariners are getting some good seasons out of Tacoma players. If you include Michael Pineda who is a rookie the Mariners future appears to be bright. Now the Mariners will ultimately have to add to this nucleaus but at least a foundation appears set in place.

Awesome Hitting:

Dustin Ackley: Hitting .301/.368/.529 in 153 AB's. Has 5 HR's, 23 RBI's, 21 runs. Ackley has been a huge lift this season and his glove has been great. He's been consistent all year and his slumps when they happen will be very few and far between.

Mike Carp: Hitting .311/.372/.476 in 103 AB's. Has 3 HR's, 15 RBI's, and 9 runs. Carp since his second call up where he is getting consistent playing time is hitting .368/.394/.588 in 68 AB's. He has 3 HR's and 15 RBI's during that stretch. I don't know why Eric Wedge decided to play Carlos Peguero over Carp when the Mariners were still in a playoff chase.

Casper Wells: Hitting .304/.360/.435 in 23 AB's with the Mariners. This is small sample size but with Detroit he also hit .257/.323/.451 in 113 AB's. For his career he is hitting .288/.343/.485 in 229 AB's which isn't much to judge but it sure is better than what the Mariners have been getting all year long.

Awesome Pitching:

Blake Beavan: 3-2, 41.1 IP, 2.83 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 17 K's, .245 BAA . Beavan is looking like the best player in the Cliff Lee trade. He has pitched a quality start in all six starts and is averaging almost seven innings a start. As you can see Beavan is a pitch to contact type of pitcher(Fister jr). When Bedard went down Beavan took advantage which showed the organization Fister was expendable as they are similar pitchers. Beavan a former first round pick in the 2007 draft has pitched pretty well.

Charlie Furbush: 1-0, 6 IP, 3.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 3 K's, .150 BAA. Furbush looked great in his first start with the Mariners. Granted it was a day game with the shadows against the Oakland A's but still he looked pretty good out there. Furbush is a fourth round pick in the 2007 draft and will be given a chance to start the rest of the season to earn a spot in next years starting rotation.

Josh Lueke: 1-1, 12.2 IP, 9.24 ERA, 1.89 WHIP, 14 K's, .327 BAA. I'm sure your wondering why I included Lueke on here. Well he wasn't ready in April that is for sure but he went to Tacoma and made the PCL all-star team. Since he has been called up he has been lights out as well. In the second half Lueke has pitched 6.1 innings, 1.42 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 6 K's, .208 BAA. Lueke has been terrific so far since his call up.

I've been and will continue to be critical of Jack Zduriencik. I also wouldn't be doing a good job if I didn't point what he has appeared to have done right. Ackley was his draft pick which anyone could have made but the other players I listed he has traded for in the past calender year. Now if Zduriencik can just use his eye for young talent on major league talent and acquire some major league hitters in free agency the Mariners could finally have a team.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 64-51, First Place
L.A. Angels: 63-52, 1.0 GB
Oakland A's: 51-63, 12.5 GB
Seattle Mariners: 49-64, 14.0 GB

In conclusion, the Mariners got better for the future with their trades and for now. Manager Eric Wedge actually has some options to work with which he didn't before. The Mariners have some decent hitters in the outfield which has been nice to see. The Mariners face a tough schedule for the rest of the month. I remember at the start of July thinking the next 60 games is going to be tough on this team. I'm glad the Mariners still have some fight in them but they need to be more consistent to avoid another long losing streak. It has been nice seeing guys who weren't on the opening day roster contributing.

Seattle Mariners weekly review: July 25th-July 31st edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners just completed the week losing two of three to the New York Yankees then two of three to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Mariners did snap their franchise record 17 game losing streak this week with a 9-2 win over the Yankees. The Mariners went 2-4 and also traded three players from their team and designated Jack Cust for assignment. The Mariners have gone through some major changes from their roster compared to the roster they had on opening day. The Mariners find themselves in last place for the third time in four seasons and they still aren't hitting. The Mariners also received some bad pitching this week as well from two left handed starters. The Mariners did see both of their all-star pitchers rise to the occasion this week which was nice to see. So the Mariners went 2-4 which means I'll be doing a good(all-star pitchers), the bad(tons of hitters and three left handed pitchers) and the ugly(second half woes plus Jack Cust).

The Good:

The Mariners just completed a 2-4 week but there was some bright spots this past week. One of the bright spots was the Mariners finally won a game after losing 17 straight. Another positive was seeing all-star pitchers Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda bounce back from poor outings to have strong outings this week each picking up the win. The Mariners also saw Dustin Ackley continue to hit while Mike Carp is taking advantage of playing every single day in left field. The Mariners also saw their bullpen arms pitch pretty well. The Mariners still aren't scoring enough runs but it is nice to see two guys who began the year in Tacoma really hitting the ball well. It was especially nice to see the Mariners two aces rebound from a tough week with dominating performances each earning a hard earned win for the Mariners who desperatly need as many victories as possible.

Good Hitting:

Dustin Ackley: 7-20(.350), HR, 5 RBI's, 4 runs, .458 OB%
Mike Carp: 7-21(.333) 5 RBI's, 2 runs, .391 OB%
Ichiro: 6-24(.250), RBI, 4 runs, 2 SB's

Good Pitching:

Felix Hernandez: 1-0, 7 IP, 1.28 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 5 K's
Michael Pineda: 1-0, 6.1 IP, 1.42 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 10 K's
Josh Lueke: 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 2 K's
Chris Ray: 4 IP, 2.25 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 2 K's
Jamey Wright: 4 IP, 2.25 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, 3 K's
Brandon League: 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, K, Save
Doug Fister: 0-1, 7 IP, 3.86 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 5 K's

For Doug Fister, Erik Bedard and David Pauley they were traded away and all had good seasons.

Erik Bedard: 4-7, 91.1 IP, 3.45 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 87 K's
David Pauley: 5-4, 54.1 IP, 2.15 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 34 K's, 7 holds
Doug Fister: 3-12, 146.0 IP, 3.33 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 89 K's

These Mariners pitchers will be missed and replacing their value won't be as easy as some Mariners fans may think.

The Bad:

When you go 2-4 for the week there has been plenty of bad. When twice this week a pitcher has flirted with a no-hitter against you there is plenty of bad. The Mariners hitters are in a season long slump and this isn't just Chone Figgins who is slumping. Since May Miguel Olivo and Justin Smoak have been just as awful as Figgins not to mention Franklin Gutierrez who has been terrible as well. The Mariners also saw two left handed pitchers get rocked as well. In the case of Bedard his Mariners career is over so no sense stressing over that. In the case of Jason Vargas who I'll talk about later in this post in more depth he has had a horrible second half which is exactly what happened last season. The Mariners are showing some red flags that is concerning for the future mainly in Vargas and Smoak. It apears Smoak still hasn't adjusted to teams adjusting to him. The same could be said towards Vargas who is once again struggling in the second half of the season.

Bad Hitting:

Justin Smoak: 2-17(.117), RBI, 3 runs, 8 K's
Jack Cust: 1-5(.200), run, 3 K's
Miguel Olivo: 1-16(.062), 9 K's
Adam Kennedy: 4-18(.222), RBI, 2 runs, 4 K's
Brendan Ryan: 3-24(.125), RBI, run, 8 K's
Greg Halman: 0-5(.000), 2 K's
Franklin Gutierrez: 4-19(.210), RBI, 5 K's

Bad Pitching:

Jason Vargas: 0-2, 9.1 IP, 7.71 ERA, 1.92 WHIP, 8 K's
Aaron Laffey: 1.2 IP, 16.16 ERA, 3.59 WHIP, 2 K's
Erik Bedard: 0-1, 1.1 IP, 33.75 ERA, 5.25 WHIP, 2 K's

Justin Smoak has been awful in the month of July hitting just .141/.211/.188 in 85 AB's this month. He has zero home runs and just four RBI's while striking out 24 times(28.2%) to just 8 walks(9.4%) which isn't good. He's hit under .230 for three straight months now which suggests maybe this is a trend and not a slump.

Miguel Olivo has been terrible since May. In June he hit just .189/.196/.489 in 90 AB's. He had belted eight home runs while driving in 19 guys. He also struck out 26 times(28.8%) to just one walk(1.1%) which is awful. Then in July he managed to hit even worse by hitting .188/.188/.304 in 69 AB's. He has belted just two home runs while driving in eight guys. He has struck out 22 times(31.8%) to zero walks(0.0%) in the month of July. Olivo was terrible his first stint with the Mariners and he is just another Jack Zduriencik failed free agent signing.

The Ugly:

There has been plenty of ugly going around with this Mariners franchise. Last season the Mariners saw their #3 hitter Casey Kotchman flop, #4 hitter Milton Bradley flop and #5 hitter Ken Griffey Jr suddenly retire. Well this year has seen their #3 hitter Bradley get released less than a month into the season, their #4 hitter Jack Cust was recently DFA'd while their #5 hitter Justin Smoak has been awful other than April. I don't care how many speedsters you have if your 3-4-5 guys are terrible chances are your offense will be terrible as well.

Ugly Hitting:

Jack Cust: For the season hit .213/.344/.329 in 225 AB's. He had just 3 HR's while driving in 23 runs. He struck out 87 times(38.6%) while walking 44 times(19.5%). Now his walking was good but he was also brought in for some power. He had a home run every 75 AB's was just awful considering he was striking out two out of every five at bats. This is the second straight season the Mariners have received nothing from DH or left field. Not to mention the nothing from third base this year, almost nothing from catcher and nothing from center field. When you receive that much nothing no wonder your offense is going to the shitter quick.

Ugly Pitching:

Jason Vargas 2011 second half: 0-4, 18.1 IP, 8.84 ERA, 2.29 WHIP, 11 K's.
Jason Vargas 2011 first half: 6-6, 121.1 IP, 3.49 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 81 K's

Jason Vargas 2010 second half: 3-8, 85.0 IP, 4.66 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 48 K's.
Jason Vargas 2010 first half: 6-4, 107.2 IP, 3.09 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 68 K's

Jason Vargas 2009 second half: 0-3, 28.0 IP, 7.39 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 13 K's
Jason Vargas 2009 first half: 3-3, 63.2 IP, 3.82 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 41 K's

As you can see Vargas in the second half has been downright terrible. In all three first halves he had ERA's in the low 3's while in the second half he fell apart. Hard to blame arm fatigue when this is becoming a pattern. The fact that Vargas is showing he might not be a second half pitcher should worry some fans about trading away Doug Fister.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 61-48, First Place
L.A. Angels: 59-50, 2.0 GB
Oakland A's: 49-59, 11.5 GB
Seattle Mariners: 45-62, 15.0 GB

In conclusion the Mariners end July on a terrible note going just 6-20 after starting off 4-1 too it has been just a disaster. The Mariners began the month only two games back of first place with the hope of being buyers. Instead the Mariners will most likely finish last place for sixth time since 2004. The Mariners despite having a future hall of famer in Ichiro will have finished last place six times with him on their team in his 11 seasons which is sad considering they didn't finish last his first three seasons. The Mariners appear to be a team just going through the motions and the pitching staff is finally breaking down. If Zduriencik does anything at all this offseason he needs to bring in some power bats. Like I explained the last two years the Mariners 3-4-5 which was questionable going into the season has proven to blow up in their faces during both years. The Mariners completed a tough stretch where they bombed terribly losing 19 of 21 games. Now the Mariners like they have done too many times recently are simply playing out the season.

My interview on "steady as she goes" with Jeff Mariners

By Kshell

This past Wednesday I had an interview on seamheads with Jeff Engels. For those who don't know Engels is also known as Jeffs Mariners on facebook. The actually interview you listen to right here at the 91 minute mark. That is when Jeff and myself discussed the Seattle Mariners for a half hour. It was pretty fun discussing the Mariners on a national podcast. The format of the podcast is it is two hours long which a half hour is dedicated to the Seattle Mariners which Jeffs Mariners has been doing all by himself this season. Well the Mariners lost 17 games in a row and with Jeff having a cold I came on to help out. I'll be more appearances on his podcast which is every Wednesday at 7 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. throughout the season. In this particular podcast we discussed the state of the franchise which meant some talk about Jack Zduriencik and the job he is doing. We also discussed at lengths about how the Mariners keep "rebuilding" with young guys who to date haven't panned out. I brought up Justin Smoak who Jeff isn't a fan of as he's been struggling. I'm usually quick to write off a player but I'll wait on Smoak although his June and July leave me concerned. We also had some positive news to discuss in this podcast as well.

The positive of course was that day the Mariners ended their franchise record 17 game losing streak with a 9-2 win over the New York Yankees. The Mariners led by Felix Hernandez going seven innings while allowing just one run and Ichiro having four hits helped lead the Mariners to the win. We talked about Ichiro's slump this season and how Jeff(along with Bryan White) would be upset if they resign Ichiro after 2012. We talked about how Dustin Ackley is already the Mariners best hitter despite being a rookie. How Ackley is the only hitter in the lineup who gives you a quality at bat every time up. We also discussed Mike Carp how this appears to be his last chance and he's making the most of it in his second stint of 2011. I ended the podcast saying something crazy talking about a potential winning streak the next time I come on. There was plenty of good baseball talk though for that half hour segment.

In conclusion, I love doing radio interviews as they are very fun. I used to be afraid to listen to my voice but now I enjoy it. If someone asked me to talk about Science on the radio I would have to decline but to talk sports I'll accept every single time. I always laugh when these sports talk radio hosts complain about their work load. They get to discuss sports how hard can it be? I'm thankful for the opportunity Jeff Mariners gave me to co-host the show with him. I'll never turn down a sports radio interview as they are fun. I don't even need to plug my blog either I can talk for hours at a time. I recap my interview but I left plenty out so go listen for yourself. I come on at the 91 minute mark and it was pretty fun. Hopefully next time I come on the Mariners have a winning streak like I said to end the last podcast.

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.

In Jack Z we Trust

By: Insider Steve

.238/.299/.336, 316 HR, 1392 RBI, 1456 Runs (3.4 per game), and 3396 Hits.

There it is Ladies and gentleman, the combined offensive numbers of Jack Zduriencik’s offenses in 2 ½ years as GM. Isn’t she a beauty? One look at those numbers and you can understand why Zduriencik has taken some heat recently. The Mariners are currently riding a 9-game losing streak, and the one common question that is being passed around between Mariners fans is how did Jack Zduriencik let it get this far, and so bad, this quick? Is it even appropriate to ask how much blame we can place on the shoulders of Zduriencik? These are fair questions because under Zduriencik’s watch he was responsible for putting the team together. Has it gotten bad enough that we should be talking about a potential firing? That might be counterproductive, but I will say that any offensive criticism you do throw Zduriencik’s way is beyond fair. I want to discuss the all of the positives because I think that with all of the recent struggles, we may have overlooked the great things Jack Zduriencik has done for this franchise.

I’m going to start with Jack Zduriencik’s successful free agent signings. This seems to be one of the gripes most fans have so why not start here.

• · Russell Branyon - 2009: .251/.347/.520, 31 HR, 76 RBI

• · Ken Griffey Jr. - 2009: .214/.324/.411, 19 HR, 57 RBI

• · Mike Sweeney – 2009: .281/.335/.442, 8 HR, 34 RBI

• · Adam Kennedy – 2011: .259/.305/.388, 6 HR, 30 RBI

• · David Pauley – 2 years: 9-12, 3.30 ERA, 81 K’s/44 BB’s, 54 ER/121 Hits in 139 IP

• · Jamey Wright – 2 years: 3.42 ERA, 42 K’s/30 BB’s in 73.2 IP

Not exactly the big haul most would expect to see, but I want to ask you what all these free agents have in common. All of them were low money free agents either brought in on one year deals or made the club out of spring training on minor league contracts. Signing low money free agents wasn’t the design. It wasn’t like we had money and chose to low ball the higher priced guys. The reality of the situation was Zduriencik had to make do with minimal resources to improve our ball club. If anything this should spot light the financial struggles Zduriencik has had to deal with from day one. The only recourse for Zduriencik to improve the team has been through trades, and Zduriencik has done a brilliant job.

Here is a list of some of Jack Zduriencik’s successful deals.

• · Sean Green, J.J. Putz, Jeremy Reed, and Luis Valbuena for Mike Carp, Endy Chavez, Maikel Cleto, Jason Vargas, and Franklin Gutierrez.

• · Fabien Washington for David Aardsma.

• · Yuniesky Betencourt for Derrick Saito and Dan Cortes.

• · Ronny Cedeno and Jeff Clement for Ian Snell and Jack Wilson

• · Jarrod Washburn for Mauricio Robles and Luke French

• · Brandon Morrow for Johermyn Chavez and Brandon League

• · J.C. Ramirez, Phillipe Aumont, and Tyson Gillies for Cliff Lee

• · Cliff Lee and Mark Lowe for Matt Lawson, Blake Beavan, Josh Lueke, and Justin Smoak.

• · Matt Lawson for Aaron Laffey.

Now granted one look at those deals and one sees the lack of a big name. So how does this team acquire the cornerstone piece it desperately lacks and so desperately needs? One could look at Jack Zduriencik’s last three draft classes for the answer.

• · Dustin Ackley

• · Nick Franklin

• · Rich Poythress

• · Kyle Seager

• · James Jones

• · Taijuan Walker

• · James Paxton

• · Danny Hultzen

It can be very easy to overlook all of these positive things Jack Zduriencik has done for the team because of offensive ineptitude that is currently going on in Seattle. I can understand why some fans have started to visually and verbally show their frustration towards the current downward trend. How can one accept the idea of hope when one week ago we were 2 ½ games behind Texas, only to look up one week later and see us at 11 ½ games behind in the standings. One can’t help but point a finger in a direction looking for someone to blame. It’s the 36 years of frustration that has started to make the most patient Mariners fans start to crack at the seams.

This year hasn’t been easy for Jack Zduriencik. When he took this job he assessed the damage from the five years under Bill Bavasi. One look around and he saw a decimated franchise that had a lack of talent at the big league level, an over bloated payroll, and no depth of talent in the minor league system. It has been a daunting task for Zduriencik just to get his baseball team to where it is today, but he has done exactly what he promised to do in introductory press conference. That was rebuild the organization through the draft, have an abundance of minor league talent, and adds the key free agent pieces along the way that will get this team and city the World Series title it deserves. I understand the frustration, but I also think that it may be a little closed minded. I know the feeling of wanting to see a winner now, and he will deliver the goods. In Jack Z we trust….