Two years into a five-year, $64 million contract, Adrian Beltre has produced a .262 average, 44 home runs, and 176 RBIs. However, after the All Star break in 2006, Beltre slugged .552 with a whopping 18 home runs. Does this strong second half bode well for a turn-around in 2007, or will Mariners fans have to deal with 'A-Drain' once again? This blog intends to follow the 2007 season for Adrian Beltre, and the Seattle Mariners, and promises to hold no punches.
And the Tigers series doesn't look that great either.
Hope everyone had a good Fourth of July weekend. Mine was made even better as my exposure to the putrid play provided by the Mariners against the Angels was reduced to some late-night highlights during Sportscenter. (Watching Meche and Mateo getting singled to death in the sixth inning of Tuesday's blow-out 14-6 loss was ugly to watch condensed on TV- it would've been maddening to have listened to it happen in real-time. Seriously, two of three outs in the inning knocked in runs as they were sacrifice flies? Weak.)
The Mariners had owned the Angels all year before getting knocked around the last three games to go from two games over .500 at 42-40 to two games below at 42-44.
I knew it was too good to be true, but I find it hard to believe that the Mariners' hot bats could cool off with such a simple turn of a page in the calendar. However, there's the truth in the numbers, plain as black-and-white: in the six game home series so far, the Mariners have hit .207 (.178 in the three versus the Angels), scoring 18 runs while leaving 28 men on base, and were shut-out twice.
That, my friends, is having your ass firmly handed to you and being forced to wear it as a hat. And it doesn't look like it will get any easier in the next three games.
Let's look at the pitching match-ups versus the Tigers: tonight, Joel Pineiro, last seen getting the final out of Monday's ballgame in relief, versus Jeremy Bonderman. Though Joel's had success against the Tigers in his career- 5-0 record, 2.37 ERA- he has been inconsistent this year to say the least, while Bonderman- who only has a 1-2 record and a 4.12 ERA versus Seattle- has firmly established himself as an ace-caliber pitcher, with a 7-4 record and 107 strikeouts in 111 innings this season.
Tomorrow, Jarrod Washburn- 4-4, 4.45 ERA in his career versus the Tigers- takes on yet another Tiger rookie sensation in Zach Miner, who has a five-game winning streak, and has given up 8 earned runs over his last 33 innings. Washburn had a pretty good start versus the Tigers last April 21, giving up just two runs on five hits while coming one out away from a complete game but the only offense the Mariners could muster was a ninth-inning sacrifice fly in a 2-1 loss to Mike Maroth.
Sunday pits Felix Hernandez, who has lost his only two career decisions versus the Tigers despite just giving up two earned runs in 12 innings pitched, against Nate Robertson, who enjoys pitching against the M's, owning a 3-1 record and a cool lifetime 2.30 ERA versus Seattle. Felix was done in by his catcher Rene Rivera when he pitched against the Tigers on April 23. In that game, Rivera allowed two passed balls and committed an error, allowing two unearned runs to score as the Mariners' were being stifled by Justin Verlander's (who Seattle will luckily miss this time around) overpowering heat in a 6-4 loss.
The series versus the Tigers last April consisted of three very tight games with wondeful pitching performances on both sides. Indeed, only 15 runs were scored by both teams combined over the whole series, which was an eventual sweep by the Tigers. It's hard to see a different outcome this time around- unless the Mariners are able to get to young Miner early in Saturday night's game- as I see another series of pitching duels with the Mariners getting swept, yet again, their sixth series' sweep this year at the hands of their opponents.
There has been some recent Mariner news lately, and none of it has been involving Adrian Beltre (who, by the way, batted .250 with a run, RBI, and a double in the Angels series and now sits at .259 for the year).
On Wedensday, less than 24 hours after a heated shouting match with manager Mike Hargrove, Carl Everett was speaking to a group of young players from the Boys & Girls Clubs of King County and was asked how he felt about playing for the Mariners. "I have mixed emotions about it," was Everett's reply. Later that evening, Everett was ejected from the game for getting into an argument with first base umpire Brian Kinght after clearly getting thrown out at first on a play. Ostensibly, the "mixed emotions" Everett is having has to do with playing time, as his contract vests for 2007 if he reaches 450 plate appearances, and he is on pace for well over a hundred of, about 550 plate appearances is his current pace.
Everett still finds himself in the line-up on an everday basis as the team's DH, besides the games played in NL parks during inter-league play. The problem, however, is that Everett simply isn't wielding a hot enough bat to merit such a spot in the line-up. His OPS is .680 which is atrocious for a player who's only job is to hit. He's batting .161 versus left-handers, and only .228 at Safeco, where the team plays half their games. The time has come for the M's brain-trust to recognize the obvious- that Everett hinders moe than he helps as the every-day DH. If there is a role to play, it should be coming off the bench to face right-handers late in the game. Yeah, yeah, people may point to the two games he won with walk-off home-runs this year, but it hasn't been determined how many games Everett has lost with his lack of production, and how many games the Mariners might have won with a replacement-level DH.
There's no space for Everett on next year's roster, and Eduardo Perez, who hits lefties to the tune of .326, can split the DH duties with Carl until Mike Morse recovers from arthroscopic surgery, or until the Mariners consider bringing up Chris "Doyle" Snelling, who hit .276 in 15 games with the M's last year. But playing Carl to make sure his contract vests for next season is not a very high priority. And if that means trading Everett is an option, perhaps the Mariners should consider moving him to an out-of-divison contending team that could use some DH help. Such as the Twins, who have recieved a horrendous .425 OPS from the now injured DH Rondell White, in exchange for a pitching cast-off, such as Carlos Silva or Jessie Crain.
Hey, we're talking Carl Everett here, what else could you expect in return?
In other news, the M's traded "Everyday" Eddie Guardado to the Red for pitching "prospect" Travis Chick. Though it was tough to see Eddie G. go, it was obvious his usefulness as a pitcher for the Mariners had vanished. For clubhouse morale, of course, Eddie could always be counted on for a hot-foot at a moment's notice, but that has little relevance on the outcome of baseball games compared to giving up game-winning home-runs and blowing three saves.
GM Bill Bavasi said he is "happy" with this trade, saying that in Chick, the Mariners picked up someone who is at a comparable level with Asdrubal Cabrera, the shortstop the Mariners traded to the Indians for Perez. Now, I have no problem with the trade of Cabrera, as he was being held at AAA with the solid play by Betancourt, and (hopefully) it'll make it easier for the M's to sign Nomar in the off-season and put him back in his original position. But to compare Asdrubal to Chick doesn't quite cut it. Sure, Asdrubal was only hitting .236 for Tacoma, but he was leading the PCL in fielding percentage. And he proved he could wield a hot bat last year, hitting .295 in a combined two stops at A ball. Cabrera probably needs another year at AAA for some seasoning before being promoted, and when he does, the Indians may have gotten another Omar Vizqul-type shortstop from us.
Chick, on the other hand, seems mediocre-to-average in every sense of the word. Besides posting an 11-4 record as a 20-year old in A ball, thus cementing himself as a "prospect", Chick got roughed up in San Diego's AA Mobile team to begin 2005, posting a 2-9 record with a 5.27 ERA before being traded to the Reds. At Chattanooga to finish off the year, Chick was marginally better, going 2-2 with a 4.86 ERA. And so far this year, Chick had posted a 4-5 record and a 4.61 for Chattoonaga prior to being traded to the Mariners.
In comparing the peripherals, per nine innings Chick gives up lots more hits (9.7 to 7.6) and lots more walks (4.5 to 2.5) than Guardado, plus Guardado strikes out a ton more (8.2 to 5.3). Of course, the caveat of comparing an All-Star closer with a minor-league starter needs to apply. In short, the Mariners dumped their problem one-time closer to the Reds in exchange for their problem (and cheaper) one-time prospect. Guardado fits the Reds' needs, as he'll take his turn attempting to close ballgames for Cincy, and after he blows a few the Reds can go back to Wagner, Coffey, Weathers, or throw Milton into the mix.
And the Mariners can let Chick squander at AA for a few years, or however long it takes for Chick to get batters to hit less than .300 against him.
As I finish this, its in the fourth and the Tigers have taken a 1-0 lead on a RBI single by Magglio Ordonez in the first. Ho-hummmmmmmmmmmmm.
Hope everyone had a good Fourth of July weekend. Mine was made even better as my exposure to the putrid play provided by the Mariners against the Angels was reduced to some late-night highlights during Sportscenter. (Watching Meche and Mateo getting singled to death in the sixth inning of Tuesday's blow-out 14-6 loss was ugly to watch condensed on TV- it would've been maddening to have listened to it happen in real-time. Seriously, two of three outs in the inning knocked in runs as they were sacrifice flies? Weak.)
The Mariners had owned the Angels all year before getting knocked around the last three games to go from two games over .500 at 42-40 to two games below at 42-44.
I knew it was too good to be true, but I find it hard to believe that the Mariners' hot bats could cool off with such a simple turn of a page in the calendar. However, there's the truth in the numbers, plain as black-and-white: in the six game home series so far, the Mariners have hit .207 (.178 in the three versus the Angels), scoring 18 runs while leaving 28 men on base, and were shut-out twice.
That, my friends, is having your ass firmly handed to you and being forced to wear it as a hat. And it doesn't look like it will get any easier in the next three games.
Let's look at the pitching match-ups versus the Tigers: tonight, Joel Pineiro, last seen getting the final out of Monday's ballgame in relief, versus Jeremy Bonderman. Though Joel's had success against the Tigers in his career- 5-0 record, 2.37 ERA- he has been inconsistent this year to say the least, while Bonderman- who only has a 1-2 record and a 4.12 ERA versus Seattle- has firmly established himself as an ace-caliber pitcher, with a 7-4 record and 107 strikeouts in 111 innings this season.
Tomorrow, Jarrod Washburn- 4-4, 4.45 ERA in his career versus the Tigers- takes on yet another Tiger rookie sensation in Zach Miner, who has a five-game winning streak, and has given up 8 earned runs over his last 33 innings. Washburn had a pretty good start versus the Tigers last April 21, giving up just two runs on five hits while coming one out away from a complete game but the only offense the Mariners could muster was a ninth-inning sacrifice fly in a 2-1 loss to Mike Maroth.
Sunday pits Felix Hernandez, who has lost his only two career decisions versus the Tigers despite just giving up two earned runs in 12 innings pitched, against Nate Robertson, who enjoys pitching against the M's, owning a 3-1 record and a cool lifetime 2.30 ERA versus Seattle. Felix was done in by his catcher Rene Rivera when he pitched against the Tigers on April 23. In that game, Rivera allowed two passed balls and committed an error, allowing two unearned runs to score as the Mariners' were being stifled by Justin Verlander's (who Seattle will luckily miss this time around) overpowering heat in a 6-4 loss.
The series versus the Tigers last April consisted of three very tight games with wondeful pitching performances on both sides. Indeed, only 15 runs were scored by both teams combined over the whole series, which was an eventual sweep by the Tigers. It's hard to see a different outcome this time around- unless the Mariners are able to get to young Miner early in Saturday night's game- as I see another series of pitching duels with the Mariners getting swept, yet again, their sixth series' sweep this year at the hands of their opponents.
There has been some recent Mariner news lately, and none of it has been involving Adrian Beltre (who, by the way, batted .250 with a run, RBI, and a double in the Angels series and now sits at .259 for the year).
On Wedensday, less than 24 hours after a heated shouting match with manager Mike Hargrove, Carl Everett was speaking to a group of young players from the Boys & Girls Clubs of King County and was asked how he felt about playing for the Mariners. "I have mixed emotions about it," was Everett's reply. Later that evening, Everett was ejected from the game for getting into an argument with first base umpire Brian Kinght after clearly getting thrown out at first on a play. Ostensibly, the "mixed emotions" Everett is having has to do with playing time, as his contract vests for 2007 if he reaches 450 plate appearances, and he is on pace for well over a hundred of, about 550 plate appearances is his current pace.
Everett still finds himself in the line-up on an everday basis as the team's DH, besides the games played in NL parks during inter-league play. The problem, however, is that Everett simply isn't wielding a hot enough bat to merit such a spot in the line-up. His OPS is .680 which is atrocious for a player who's only job is to hit. He's batting .161 versus left-handers, and only .228 at Safeco, where the team plays half their games. The time has come for the M's brain-trust to recognize the obvious- that Everett hinders moe than he helps as the every-day DH. If there is a role to play, it should be coming off the bench to face right-handers late in the game. Yeah, yeah, people may point to the two games he won with walk-off home-runs this year, but it hasn't been determined how many games Everett has lost with his lack of production, and how many games the Mariners might have won with a replacement-level DH.
There's no space for Everett on next year's roster, and Eduardo Perez, who hits lefties to the tune of .326, can split the DH duties with Carl until Mike Morse recovers from arthroscopic surgery, or until the Mariners consider bringing up Chris "Doyle" Snelling, who hit .276 in 15 games with the M's last year. But playing Carl to make sure his contract vests for next season is not a very high priority. And if that means trading Everett is an option, perhaps the Mariners should consider moving him to an out-of-divison contending team that could use some DH help. Such as the Twins, who have recieved a horrendous .425 OPS from the now injured DH Rondell White, in exchange for a pitching cast-off, such as Carlos Silva or Jessie Crain.
Hey, we're talking Carl Everett here, what else could you expect in return?
In other news, the M's traded "Everyday" Eddie Guardado to the Red for pitching "prospect" Travis Chick. Though it was tough to see Eddie G. go, it was obvious his usefulness as a pitcher for the Mariners had vanished. For clubhouse morale, of course, Eddie could always be counted on for a hot-foot at a moment's notice, but that has little relevance on the outcome of baseball games compared to giving up game-winning home-runs and blowing three saves.
GM Bill Bavasi said he is "happy" with this trade, saying that in Chick, the Mariners picked up someone who is at a comparable level with Asdrubal Cabrera, the shortstop the Mariners traded to the Indians for Perez. Now, I have no problem with the trade of Cabrera, as he was being held at AAA with the solid play by Betancourt, and (hopefully) it'll make it easier for the M's to sign Nomar in the off-season and put him back in his original position. But to compare Asdrubal to Chick doesn't quite cut it. Sure, Asdrubal was only hitting .236 for Tacoma, but he was leading the PCL in fielding percentage. And he proved he could wield a hot bat last year, hitting .295 in a combined two stops at A ball. Cabrera probably needs another year at AAA for some seasoning before being promoted, and when he does, the Indians may have gotten another Omar Vizqul-type shortstop from us.
Chick, on the other hand, seems mediocre-to-average in every sense of the word. Besides posting an 11-4 record as a 20-year old in A ball, thus cementing himself as a "prospect", Chick got roughed up in San Diego's AA Mobile team to begin 2005, posting a 2-9 record with a 5.27 ERA before being traded to the Reds. At Chattanooga to finish off the year, Chick was marginally better, going 2-2 with a 4.86 ERA. And so far this year, Chick had posted a 4-5 record and a 4.61 for Chattoonaga prior to being traded to the Mariners.
In comparing the peripherals, per nine innings Chick gives up lots more hits (9.7 to 7.6) and lots more walks (4.5 to 2.5) than Guardado, plus Guardado strikes out a ton more (8.2 to 5.3). Of course, the caveat of comparing an All-Star closer with a minor-league starter needs to apply. In short, the Mariners dumped their problem one-time closer to the Reds in exchange for their problem (and cheaper) one-time prospect. Guardado fits the Reds' needs, as he'll take his turn attempting to close ballgames for Cincy, and after he blows a few the Reds can go back to Wagner, Coffey, Weathers, or throw Milton into the mix.
And the Mariners can let Chick squander at AA for a few years, or however long it takes for Chick to get batters to hit less than .300 against him.
As I finish this, its in the fourth and the Tigers have taken a 1-0 lead on a RBI single by Magglio Ordonez in the first. Ho-hummmmmmmmmmmmm.
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