Tomorrow (Tuesday, May 20th) at 5pm PST, Kevin Durant will have the honor of representing the Sonics at the NBA Draft Lottery. The Supes have a great chance of obtaining the number One overall selection (19.9% to be exact). Here's a look at what they may do if they get the #1 pick.

Option 1: The Sonics select Michael Beasley, PF, Kansas State

This would make the Sonics an interesting team. The Green and Gold would have 3 athletic players at 6'9" or taller. With Jeff Green, Kevin Durant and Michael Beasley, this team could run the floor extremely well and have great length on defense. The team would present match-up problems for their opponents as well. Teams would have to contain Beasley and Durant from the inside out, and Green could play his game as a distributor and spot scorer from the inside. The team would be pretty solid defensively. Durant is able to guard smaller guards, having being forced with the task of guarding Steve Nash. Beasley could guard smaller Centers and all Power Forwards, while Green could take the task of the Small Forwards. Overall, this would be a great team to watch, and could turn into a tough one to play.

Continue reading "NBA Draft Lottery: A Look Ahead For The SuperSonics"

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
next to former University of Washington Quarterback Brock Huard. He was very
knowledge about the game, and had the same opinions as I did.
Including:

*       Jeff Clement needed to be sent to the minors (and was after the
game). He needed to regain confidence and work out whatever problems the
team saw at the Major League level.

*       The team has no plan at the plate. The M's are swinging at 3-1
pitches low and away. I cannot even begin to tell you how often they were

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

Sonics Fans: Even though the NBA is trying to decimate our love for the league by reducing our pick to 4th instead of 2nd, don't fear.

The Sonics will most likely acquire either Jerryd Bayless (PG, Arizona) or Brook Lopez (C, Stanford). The Supes will not have much say in the matter though, as the Minnesota Timberwolves are most likely to take one of these two as well. 

Whoever the pick, I believe the Sonics will take a Point Guard and a Center in the first round. If Bayless is the pick at 4, I would like to see Robin Lopez (Brook's Twin Brother) be taken at #24 (or move up to take him). Robin is extremely active around the basket on both ends of the court, and is an excellent defender. If Robert Swift can stay healthy, then having him and Robin Lopez could anchor the interior defense for years to come.

Continue reading "Never Fear Sonics Fans: #4 Isn't Bad"

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.

Here are some of my nominations for General Manager:

Paul DePodesta (Special Assistant to the GM, SD Padres) - DePodesta is a numbers geek. He would have realized the Richie Sexson was not fit for the Mariners organization or a 15 million dollar per year salary. He has had GM expierience before, as he ran the LA Dodgers orginization (04-05). DePodesta was Billy Beane's Assistant GM during the Moneyball era, and was the one behind evaluating players such as Nick Swisher, Mike Teahen, and Joe Blanton.

Continue reading "Shaking Up the Mariners Front-Office"

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.

On another note, Mariners President Chuck Armstrong told MLB.com that both John McLaren's and Bill Bavasi's jobs are safe. I cannot say I understand this. This team was supposed to win 90+ games, and will not even win close to that at this rate. Someone is the leadership role needs to become accountable for this. The only way this will probably happen is if Armstrong himself is fired, which he needs to be. But we all know this will never come to fruition with the ownership sitting on their asses in Japan. As long as the team turns a profit, ownership will not do anything to change that.

Continue reading "Dear Mariners: Feel Embarrassed"

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

Red Sox swept by Billy Beane's A's
http://news.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view/2008_05_25_Lester_can_t_duplicate_no-hit_magic_/srvc=sports&position=0

Uggla hits 12th HR this month as Marlins devastate Giants
http://www.miamiherald.com/589/story/546877.html

Glavine not himself as Braves fall to D'Backs
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/stories/2008/05/25/braves_0526.html

Quentin continues hot streak as ChiSox eek out Angels

Continue reading "Link Day: 5/26"

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.

Larry,

I finished reading your article about the Boston Red Sox and how the Mariners should be following in their footsteps. There is one problem however, the system from which Boston runs was taken from the Oakland Athletics.

Theo Epstein is not a baseball mind, he never played the game at a competitive level. He is however, a statistical mind. He got most of his ideals from Billy Beane. In fact, that is one of the reasons the Red Sox hired him. Right before Epstein was hired, the Red Sox had a contract all worked out with Billy Beane. In return for letting Beane take the GM job in Boston, the Sox would send 1B Kevin Youkilis, a player the Assistant and replacement GM Paul DePodesta coveted, to the A's. Imagine, Billy Beane could be running the Sox right now, and "Moneyball" would not be as obscure as it is today.

Continue reading "Mariners should emulate Athletics"

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.

Another key player in the Red Sox win was Dustin Pedroia. In the top of the 8th inning, with the game tied at 1-1, Pedroia hit a ground rule double to score Julio Lugo. Pedroia would later come around to score himself after getting the 4 run 8th inning started.

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

Through 6 innings, the Dodgers and Starter Hiroki Kuroda felt pretty good about themselves. After all, its not easy to hold the Cubbies scoreless at historic Wrigley Field. Kuroda must have also felt good after fielding a sacrifice bunt by Theriot and throwing the runner out at second. Then, it all went to hell. Soriano singles to left and Theriot advances all the way to third. Kuroda was distraught at this point, as he was relieved by Broxton. Theriot ended up scoring on an error to tie up the game, and up Lee flew out to right field. Then, up steps Ramirez. He singles to center and scores Soriano to take the lead.

After that, the Cubs never looked back. Marmol pitched a scoreless 8th, and Wood struck out 2 of the 4 batters he faced to close it out.

A great W for the Cubs. Finishing out close games is a characteristic that all great teams have.

Continue reading "Tuesday Night Baseball: Ramirez, Error Key Late Rally as Cubs Pull Away"

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.

Who knows, Sexson may play a game or two this weekend, but his time is up. The Mariners have been extremely aggressive in trying to work out a deal with Scott Hatteberg, who was designated for assignment by the Reds after the call-up of Jay Bruce. I am a fan of Hatteberg. He is a good fielder, and a "Moneyball" player in terms of his approach at the plate. He would be virtually the only hitter besides Ichiro on this team with some kind of plate discipline.

Here's the kicker: Can the Mariners get any value for Sexson? The Answer: Not really. If they are lucky, they can get "a player to be named later" from a team to get them to take a chance on The Big Sexy. Otherwise, they will just outright release him, as he is not likely to accept a minor league assignment.

Continue reading "Believe It: Sexson is Gone"

MLB: 

Chipper Jones: .400 watch
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/stories/2008/05/30/braves_0531.html

Cubs make up deficit to beat Rockies
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/980331,CST-SPT-cub31.article

Clayton Kershaw struggles in MLB debut
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dodgers31-2008may31,0,5434764.story

Joba to make first start on Tuesday
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/31/sports/baseball/31pins.html?_r=1&ref=baseball&oref=slogin

NBA:

Celtics Advance to NBA Finals
http://news.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view/2008_05_31_Big_3_lifts_Celtics_into_NBA_finals/srvc=sports&position=0

Detroit Pistons: Fallout from Game Six loss
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080531/SPORTS03/805310355/1048/sports

Continue reading "Link Day (5/31): From Chipper to Cubbies and Celtics"