Seattle Mariners

Somehow, the Mariners always find a way to lose. With their 4-3 win over Oakland Sunday, the Mariners finished the season with only the 2nd worst record, losing the rights to the first overall pick

Continue reading "Mariners Win Game, Still Manage to Lose"

As of Wednesday night, there is a new club in baseball. Problem is, no one wants to join. With their 100th loss of the season, the Mariners became the founding members of the 100-100 club. The 100-100 club is one in which the team has 100 losses with a payroll at or above 100 million dollars. Basically, the 08 Mariners are the worst team in baseball history. Sure, others have lost more games in a season, but I am willing to bet that none of those teams were the disappointment the Mariners were this season.

Continue reading "Mariners Found 100-100 Club"

Hello Everyone!

If we haven't talked yet, my name is Zach "Z.V." Sanders and I have been writing here since May.

This past January I set up another sports site called 24/7 Sports Stop as a side project of mine. My current writing staff has gotten lazy and stopped posting, and I am looking to add new writers.

Continue reading "To All Bloggers"

Mariano Rivera is all kinds of clutch. In non-save situations, his ERA is 3.00. In save situations, it is an outstanding .30. No, that was not a typo, .30. If you need a win, call The Sandman.

The Houston Chronicle thinks that the Astros should pursue Barry Bonds. I think he should just retire and ride off into the jailhouse.

Continue reading "MLB Notebook: The Sandman, Bonds, Livan and Willy"

Ryan Rowland-Smith's debut as a starter was unspectacular. His line:

5.2 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 103 pitches

To elaborate farther, Rowland-Smith did not have a great overall outing. He only had 8 ground balls compared to 7 flyballs and 4 line drives. 

Continue reading "Rowland-Smith falters in return"

Recently, I also did a rundown of a few of the teams that could be the busiest come deadline day. Now, a look at the specific players that could be moving:

Catcher

Bengie Molina, Giants: Both the Yankees and Marlins have been said to approached the Giants about the catcher. Both of those teams have had injuries to the position lately, and could be looking for an immediate replacement. The price has been said to be turning some off of the idea. You have to remember, you are not just getting a replacement catcher, you are getting one that can hit and knows what it takes to win a title. I'm secretly rooting for the Yanks to acquire him, because who doesn't want an all Molina catching squad? Now if only Yadier was for sale.....

Continue reading "The Trading Post: Player Edition"

NOT expect Manny to be dealt, but his option is sure as hell not getting picked up for next year.

Seattle Mariners:
The whole team is for sale, come and get 'em! Although that is a slight exaggeration, it is not that far off. Jarrod Washburn looks to be moving to the Yanks within the next 2 days, and Ibanez has been rumored to go to the Mets if they are not happy with Ryan Church's evaluation. Bedard seems to no longer be in the running for a deal, and Beltre seems farther from being dealt after the Mariners offended the Twins by asking for too much. Arthur Rhodes is almost a stone cold lock to get moved to either the Brewers or Phillies. The M's are probably looking for outfield prospects or first baseman, but could use anyone with potential at this point.

Continue reading "Whats a GM to do? : Trade Deadline Talks"

Good news Mariners' fans, Putz is back! Although the Saves he may acquire are completely worthless this season, they could be good for next year. Every good outing that Putz completes will only help his possible trade value. Putz will not be around for long, but will most likely complete the season in Seattle. With the M's drafting Closer Josh Fields in the first-round of this years draft, Putz is not the future (especially because of his age).

Continue reading "Putz is back, Rowland-Smith is down"

Even though Jim Riggleman has said Bedard could now be back before August, the chances of him being traded are low. Originally, it was almost a lock that the Canadian would be traded before the deadline in order to help refresh the minor league system. Now, it seems he is a lock not too.

Continue reading "Mariners poised to keep Bedard"

I am glad it was July 11th. Having that free 7.11 oz slurpee was a blessing in the summer heat. Lets go over what has happened on 7/11.

Football: Brett Favre wants his release. This is an interesting story. I never put pen to paper on this, but I always maintained (as did Tony from PTI) that Favre would be back for the season. Favre wants to play, but the Packers want to move on. What to do, what to do? If I am Favre, the first teams I look at are Minnesota and Baltimore.

Continue reading "A Day In Review: 7/11"

The Mariners lost a good one. The M's lost 4-3 at the expense of the Oakland Athletics.

On the night after the Mariners lost in 15 innings, they needed a solid start from Jarrod Washburn. The bullpen was so tired, that Jamie Burke had to pitch an inning last night. Washburn knew this going in. He made sure he got it done. Washburn went 8 innings, and threw 102 pitches. He gave up 4 earned on 7 hits, no walks and 5 Ks. Sure, it's not perfect, but it usually should be good enough to win a game.

Continue reading "Washburn Solid, but A's still provail"

For some of you who don't know, I am a fantasy sports fanatic. I enjoy the crunching of number, and the drafting of players. This is an example from one of my leagues (my team is SPeff Starz, having an unusually bad season for my standards.)

Continue reading "All Stars and Winning Fantasy Baseball: Relation?"

Jamie Burke is a team player. He proved that yesterday. Not only does he never complain that he is the #3 Catcher on the active roster, he is willing to play wherever needed to help the team. Even Pitcher.

Continue reading "Jamie Burke: Man Of The Hour...Bedard: ..."

Jim Riggleman: The Key to the Mariners Success? Since Jim Riggleman took over, the Mariners are 9-5 and have won 6 out of their last 8. Here is some analysis on why the team is having more success.

Continue reading "Mariners Learning How To Riggle Out Some Wins"

Here are my thoughts about the city of Seattle letting the Sonics leave

1. Seattle/Washington legislature are all idiots
If you are a Washington resident, I implore you to not re-elect our Governor (Christine Gregoire). If you live in Seattle, we need a new city council and Mayor. These people had a chance to keep the team here, twice! Yet, nothing was done. We need change if we are to ever get basketball back here again.

Continue reading "It finally sets in, and I am pissed"

Note: All statistics are through Monday's (6/30) games

All season, people can debate about how the Mariners should have been a better team. I, personally, hate speculating when something can be proved. Because I am such a geek, I know the sabermetrics that can determine if this season is a fluke, or was bound to happen.

Continue reading "Mariners: Bad or Unlucky?"

I know, I know, Junior actually hit No. 600 yesterday, but by my calculations, if Ken Griffey Jr. would have been able to avoid the injury bug as soon as he arrived in Cincy that would be the headline across many sports pages in the morning’s paper.

Continue reading "Griffey Jr. blasts No. 741 in first inning"

After Ken Griffey Jr. joined the 600 club yesterday afternoon, it got me thinking about where he stands with the other members of this 6 man club. I could not honestly say that he deserves to be behind guys like Sosa and Bonds, so I did a bit of research (as usual) to determine where he stands. Lets look at the numbers.

Continue reading "Ken Griffey Junior: Ranking the 600 club"

In case you did not hear, Seattle Mariners hitting coach Jeff Pentland has been fired. The team replaced him with special assistant Lee Elia, the teams hitting coach from 1993-97. McLaren spoke to the media about Elia after the announcement.

Continue reading "With Pentland gone, Mariners look to start fresh"

Here I take time to answer questions sent to me, or questions posted in public forums worldwide.

Q: What does it mean when you see on the scoreboard at the park there will be a P then numbers below for each team like example 35 23 whatever

Continue reading "Q&A and Random Thoughts"

In case you haven't been closely following the box score, you may not have noticed that Richie Sexson has not seen action in 3 straight games. Miguel Cairo has instead been taking the duties at 1B. Could it be that Sexson has seen his last action in Seattle? I believe so.

Continue reading "Believe It: Sexson is Gone"

Big Fat Bartolo Colon. Masterful. Two words you do not usually hear in the same sentence as of late. But alas, Big Fat Bartolo pitched 7 strong innings of 5 hit, 4 strikeout baseball on only 84 pitches to ultimately send Mariners fans home with a 7th straight loss. Colon had his best stuff against the Ms. His fastball was always around 93-95 MPH, and occasionally hit 97. His change-up was moving well and located with pristine accuracy. His slider was left up in the zone at times, but ultimately did not get punished like it should have. If you are a fantasy baseball player, take a chance on Colon. His velocity is higher than it has been since 2004.

Continue reading "Colon, Pedroia hand Mariners 7th straight loss"

For those of you in the Seattle area who read the Times, you probably know who Larry Stone is. For those of you who don't, he is a baseball writer for the Seattle Times.

This morning, I was reading through the section, and came across an article of his titled " The Mariners could learn from the Boston Red Sox". In a way, this outraged me. I was upset enough to write him a response. Below is my e-mail to him.

Continue reading "Mariners should emulate Athletics"

Here are some stories I've dug up. Always nice to get another perspective on things 

MLB

Mariners woes continue as Putz blows lead vs Yanks
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/mariners/2004438030_webmari25.html

Continue reading "Link Day: 5/26"

In this morning's Seattle Times, Mariners beat writer Geoff Baker talked to Carlos Silva about clubhouse accountability. As I have expected, no one in the clubhouse feels accountable or at fault for this losing season. And face it, if people don't feel bad about their play as well as their team's, nothing will ever be fixed. This team needs a leader. I don't see anyone on this team that can fill that role. The one player that could change things is J.J. Putz. He is somewhat of a leader in the locker room, but is seen as more as a prankster than a leader. Without someone in the locker room to light a fire under the players (McLaren sure can't do it), this team will never be able to succeed.

Continue reading "Dear Mariners: Feel Embarrassed"

Sean Burroughs, the son of former MVP Jeff Burroughs, seemed to be destined for Major League greatness. After all, how many current Major Leaguers grew up in Major League locker rooms (Griffey Jr., Tony Gwynn Jr., Barry Bonds, Prince Fielder).

Continue reading "Is Jeff Clement the Ms version of ..."

If you have been watching the Mariners lately, you know that there is something wrong with this team. Many people say that they just need to shake up the roster in order to be successful. In my eyes, if you are wanting to shake up the roster, shake up the Front Office first. That way, the new players you bring in will be evaluated and acquired by new management, one who hopefully knows what they are doing.

Continue reading "Shaking Up the Mariners Front-Office"

The Mariners won a great game today. The pitching kept the team in it, and
the hitting came through in the clutch. Overall, this is just what the
Mariners needed.

I attended the game today, and was surprised at many things. Mainly, I sat

Continue reading "Mariners Game Thoughts: 5/18/08 (vs SD)"