Ichiro Traded to the Yankees

By Patrick

Bye Bye Buddy

Holy shit. Ichiro has been traded to the New York Yankees for right handed pitchers DJ Mitchell and Danny Farquhar, according to almost every baseball source there is, including the Mariners. The Mariners have given the Yankees significant cash, per Ken Rosenthal.

My immediate reaction is "WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW THIS IS AWESOME." But that being said, I don't know anything about Mitchell or Farquhar, or the details of the cash the M's paid the Yankees.

DJ Mitchell is 6-4 with a 5.04 ERA so far this season in 14 AAA starts. He has 72 strikeouts against 29 walks and has a .261 batting average against. He's 6 feet, 160 pounds, went to Clemson, and is 25.

Danny Farquhar has pitched in three major league games and really sucked, so he's been in the minors mostly. In 208 minor league appearances he's 14-17 with a 3.06 ERA. This season, he's 2-3 with a 3.33 ERA in 32 games. He's a reliever, with zero career starts, and apparently he's a sidearm guy. Should be interesting.

Regardless, Ichiro is gone. The Mariners have his contract off the books for good, and nobody can re-sign him or anything stupid like that. The organization has moved on like we all knew they should, but thought they wouldn't. Good for Jack Z, but even better for Chuck Armstrong and Howard Lincoln. Maybe we don't have to trade them after all. More to come later.

Our First Podcast!

By Patrick and Anthony

We decided to do a podcast. It went pretty well, and we talked about general Mariners stuff, including trade deadline and optimal lineups. We also talked about our favorite Mariners and burgers. Enjoy! http://podcastmachine.com/podcasts/13832/episodes/71155

Trade Deadline Speculaton Part 2: Slightly More Insight

By Anthony

So this is a continuation of the series on the Mariners and the trade deadline. If it seems like this is all we are talking about here, it’s because that is the only interesting thing about the team right now. That may be an exaggeration, but do we really want to talk about how Blake Beavan is back or that Jonathan Sanchez is terrible? I do not. So we continue with the rampant speculation and guessing. As opposed to the last version, there are actually some rumors swirling versus sheer speculation.

On the Jason Vargas front, Patrick already kind of covered it. I don’t think Vargas will garner the same returns as Doug Fister because of his home run problem and the insane impact Safeco has had on fly balls this year. The Orioles are rumored to be kicking the tires on Jason, and since Jason Hammel is out for a bit, this would make sense. The back of the Orioles rotation is also terrible so that also lends itself to the rumor. The Tigers have also been linked to Vargas who could reunite with Doug Fister in Motown. From what I have seen, it seems like Vargas wouldn’t garner much by himself but as Patrick mentioned hopefully we could package in some relief help like Brandon League or Shawn Kelley and get some prospects.

Going with the reliever trend, Tom Wilhelmsen should be getting some attention from teams. I have heard the Mets, Marlins and White Sox are looking for some bullpen help. The Heath Bell disaster in Miami needs fixing so that would make some sense. The Mets have been linked to Royals closer Jonathan Broxton so it is not too much of a stretch to see them also looking at Wilhelmsen. The White Sox need some help as well and these three clubs could get desperate and end up giving away some top of the line talent for the cheap and dominant Bartender.

Brendan Ryan was linked to the Atlanta Braves, once their shortstops, including Jack Wilson, both were injured, but then they went out and signed and even more light hitting shortstop. What I am hoping for with Ryan is that some team looks at his awesome defense and thinks that they need that for the last innings of a playoff game and we can flip him for something of value. Of course, this then raises the issue of who plays shortstop next year. I am telling you right now, Muenori Kawasaki, despite being a super awesome guy, is not a major league hitter. Maybe Nick Franklin gets the nod, even though I don’t think he sticks at short in the future. Maybe we get a guy in free agency like Stephen Drew, which I would like.

Of course, all of these are rumors and the situation is more fluid than superfluid liquid helium, the least viscous liquid in the world. So keep paying attention to the wild and crazy speculative tweets and articles and rumors. If nothing else, it is fun to imagine Brendan Ryan winning a World Series with an average under the Mendoza line. 

Deal or No Deal: Jason Vargas

By Patrick

Wow. I haven't written for my own blog in like three weeks. I guess I just needed a little break. The frequency of those previews was killing me. But I'm back now, and I'd like to talk about a subject near and dear to my heart, and that's Jason Vargas.

Jason has logged four seasons as a Mariner starting pitcher since coming over from the Mets in December 2008. In those four years, the lefty has a 31-38 record with a 4.17 ERA and 387 strikeouts. He posted a low ERA of 3.78 in 2010, and he won ten games for the first time in his career last year, a number he should well surpass this season. 

Speaking of which, let's look at Jason so far in 2012, which is what counts when we're talking trades. Jason has a career best (if he keeps it up) 9-7 record with a pretty solid 4.09 ERA. His numbers really show off the consistency he has put forth in 2012. Jason has zero shutouts in 2012, having allowed an earned run in everyone of his 20 starts. He's only had one truly awful start, which game on June 20 at Arizona (10 runs, nine hits, all bad). Throwing out that start, Jason had allowed between one and five runs in every single start. That level of consistency is a new element to Jason's game that he has really brought along in 2012. 

Comparatively, he had six scoreless starts in 2011. But at the same time, he had five starts where he allowed more than five runs. So far in 2012, to review, those number are zero and one. So consistency has been the key to transforming Vargas into a passable number two starter. It has also contributed in teams like the Tigers (who went fishing for Doug Fister last year at the deadline and succeeded) and the Cardinals reportedly taking interest in acquiring Vargas for late season help. 

Another reason teams want Vargas is for his propensity to eat innings. In 20 starts this year, Jason has gone six innings in 17 of them. By comparison, Adam Wainwright, one of the Cards' top starters, lasted six innings just 11 times in 18 starts. Moreover, Max Scherzer, a mid-rotation arm for the Tigers, has a similar 11 six plus innings starts over his 18 starts. So Jason Vargas throws more innings per start than a typical above average major league pitcher. 

So what kind of haul could Jason Vargas bring? The trade that jumps out at me as precedent is the Doug Fister trade of 2011, especially if the M's are once again dealing with Detroit. Packaging Vargas with a decent reliever like Shawn Kelley could draw a similar haul to the Casper Wells, Francisco Martinez, Charlie Furbush, and Chance Ruffin that the Fister deal drew. Package Vargas with Brandon League or Tom Wilhelmsen, and the return should be even greater. 

Overall, Jason Vargas is a consistent left-handed pitcher that teams looking to make a late standings charge in August and September could definitely use. The Mariners should trade him for young players that can continue to fill the system with talent. I'll miss Jason, since he has been probably my favorite Mariner over the last two years, but sometimes it's just time, and his time is in the next two weeks. Go M's.

What I would do if I was the GM

By Anthony

Anthony, for purposes of this article

These are the moves that I would make right now if I was in the Mariners front office. I will only be doing some internal moves, since there are roughly a billion trade possibilities and since I am not the actual GM with hundreds of scouts, I do not know who the M’s are and are not looking at. 

Move Number One:

Option Justin Smoak to AAA Tacoma and recall 1B/DH Luis Jimenez. I want to be clear, this is not a punishment for Smoak. This is a chance for him to figure out his swing in a lower stress environment. Smoak needs to relax at the plate, he has the talent, but he needs to get his head in the right spot and be relaxed in the box. Hopefully some time down I-5 will give him that and allow him to find his stroke. Luis Jimenez is Tacoma’s best hitter but he has never been successful in the MLB. We might as well give him shot its not like the offense can get much worse. He will split time at first  and DH with Jesus Montero and Mike Carp.

Move Number 1.5

This is something I hinted at earlier. Give Jesus Montero some time at first base. Everyone says he is not a full time catcher and with Mike Zunino in the system, it appears the M’s agree. This will give him some practice at first while allowing both his and Jimenez’s bat in the order.

Move Number 2

Cut Chone Figgins and recall Mike Carp: This move is obvious. I think we would have to pay teams to take him off our hands right now and I would much rather just get rid of him. He is a waste of a roster spot and the worst player on the team right now. This has been a long time coming. Carp has been hitting the ball hard in his rehab stint and he will get more time in the field with Smoak in Tacoma. Carp will also fill in left field when Ichiro gets less playing time, like he should.

Move Number 3

Assuming and praying that either Millwood or Vargas gets moved at the deadline. Move to a six-man rotation that includes Felix, Iwakuma, Ramirez, Millwood/Vargas, Beavan and Andrew Carraway, if both those two get moved, then it will be a five man. But Andrew Carraway has earned this spot. He was the number one starter at the start of the year in Jackson, ahead of the big three, and he has continued to find success in Tacoma. Lets see what the kid can do in the Majors.

Move Number 4

Bench Dustin Ackley for a series. He looks overmatched, that much is clear. The solution to that problem is not continuing to let him struggle. I like the move of him into the leadoff spot, it changes things up and maybe will get him going. Assuming that fails, giving him some days off will hopefully allow him to refocus and rediscover his stroke. This offense needs Dustin hitting the way he did last year and we may need to get desperate. 

Trade Deadline Predictions

By Anthony

Well the time of year has come again, time for teams to decide whether to be contenders or wave the flag of surrender and build for the future, time for teams to become buyers and sellers. For those of you who have been living underneath a mountain with their eyes closed humming to themselves all year, the Mariners will be sellers. This article is going to explore who we have to trade, to whom we can trade to and whom we can expect in return. 

The Options to Trade

Jason Vargas

This is going to break Patrick’s heart but he is probably our best option to move and get some legitimate prospects in return. He may have been an inconsistent lefty in past years but now he has gained some sort of consistency and performances like the other night against Oakland can only boost his stock. He does have a home run problem, his HR/9 is at 1.64, and his pitching in the wilds of Safeco has definitely helped him. However his K% is up, his BB% is down and his GB% is up. All good factors that have led to Vargas having his best year as a Mariner and in a relatively shallow pitching market that is always a good thing. 

Kevin Millwood

Yes, Kevin Millwood is super old and has had injury problems this year that could scare many teams away. He will have to prove his durability throughout the month of July but his first start back was impressive and he has shown that he can still dominate teams like he did a decade ago. He doesn’t give up any home runs and is keeping the ball on the ground at a near career high. He could be a dirt-cheap veteran that some teams want coming into the playoff stretch. I also do not like him so I may inflate his value to talk myself into getting rid of him. 

Ichiro Suzuki

Now for a second ignore the fact that Nintendo owns the Mariners, that Ichiro is one of the major attractions to the club for Japanese fans and that he has spent the past 11 years on the team as a fan favorite. He is blocking Casper Wells from getting the consistent playing time he needs; Ichiro is hitting .260 and is only slugging .351. But tell me that some GM wouldn’t jump at the chance to land one of the best hitters in the last decade. He may be aging but Ichiro still plays above average defense and can steal bases. Of course, Nintendo does own the Mariners and I find it hard that they would allow Jack Z to trade away the fan favorite. 

Tom Wilhelmsen

Geoff Baker wrote an article arguing why Tom Wilhelmsen is our most valuable trade chip right now. In short, he is a really good closer and is really cheap. I cannot argue either of those points but as a fan I don’t want to see Wilhelmsen leave. He is one of my favorites and seems like a guy we can build a bullpen around. But closers are very valuable around the deadline and for one as cheap as Wilhelmsen, we could get a very handsome return.

Charlie Furbush

For many of the same reasons that Wilhelmsen is here, cheap and effective, Furbush is also potentially valuable. I doubt he will be a headliner in any deal but he could be a second guy, like David Pauley, that makes a trade happen. 

Brandon League

This was supposed to our major trade chip at the deadline, but Brandon decided to choke away this year and was replaced as closer. At this rate he has lost almost all value he had after continuing to struggle in the seventh and eighth innings. Could be a throw in to a deal.

Brendan Ryan

Umm… I guess defensive replacement in late innings. Its not often that a guy hitting under .200 gets moved but Ryan does play an incredible shortstop. 

Teams Who Could Want to Make a Deal

The Mariners have pitching and lots of it, so ideally most teams we trade with will want pitching.

Boston Red Sox

• Seem to always be involved in some deals around the deadline
• Could use some bullpen and starting pitching help
• Have to keep up with ridiculously good AL East

Toronto Blue Jays

• Are finally putting together a competitive team
• Need to play catch up in AL East
• Fifth starter is Aaron Laffey.
• I will reiterate, their fifth starter is Aaron Laffey…

Cleveland Indians

• Need to try and catch up to White Sox
• Have some of the worst pitching in the league
• Their 4^th starter, Josh Tomlin, has an ERA of above 5

Arizona Diamondbacks

• Really need pitching
• Have resorted to 3^rd overall pick Trevor Bauer as fifth starter
• Josh Collmenter is 4^th starter
• Bullpen features one Mike Zagurski who has an ERA above 5

St. Louis Cardinals

• Need bullpen help
• Former Mariner Maikel Cleto is their long guy
• Has an ERA of 7

Atlanta Braves

• After Tommy Hanson and Tim Hudson, their rotation is Jurrjens, Minor and Delgado
• Need depth and lots of it

Players Who We Could Acquire Through Trades or Magic

The Mariners need hitting and lots of it so that will ideally be what they are shopping for. These guys may not necessarily be traded but could be in the discussion plus some lower tier prospects. The Mariners need a shortstop, outfielders and potentially a first baseman. 

Boston

• Jose Iglesias SS- Excellent glove and a sub par to average bat. Fills in a need at SS since Franklin will move to second and potentially Ackley to the outfield. Think of Brendan Ryan but with a better bat.
• Lars Andersen 1B- Big powerful first baseman who strikes out too often and doesn’t walk a lot. Could challenge Smoak and Carp
• Henry Ramos OF- Young switch hitting outfielder with some power. Could use some time to develop

Toronto Blue Jays

• Moises Sierra OF- Power hitting outfielder who doesn’t walk a lot and strikes out a bunch. Is hitting very well in AAA
• Adeiny Hechavarria SS- Besdies having an awesome name, Adeiny is hitting like an animal in AAA with both power and speed. Would be awesome if we got him. 
• Michael McDade 1B- Defensively McDade is not the best and his power numbers aren’t off the charts but he has good gap power and can actually take a few walks. 

Cleveland Indians

• Tyler Holt OF- Fast, contact hitter who probably doesn’t hit enough to earn a lead off spot. Plays solid defense but is still in AA..
• Jesus Aguilar 1B- Is only in A+ ball but is slugging over .500 and offsets a 20% K rate with a 10% BB rate. Could be a nice snag.
• Ronny Rodriguez SS- Is only 20 years old but is already in A+ ball and is hitting for power as well as flashing some good speed. Is liked a lot by the Indians though.

Diamondbacks

• Mark Krauss OF- In his second year at the AA level, Krauss is cleaning up. His OPS is above.900 and his walk rate is at 15%. Defensively fills in at a corner spot.
• Chris Owings SS- Owings is only 21 and has made it up to AA. However, his approach at the plate is terrible featuring a 2% walk rate and a 24% K rate. Needs to show some improvement but is still young and has room to grow.
• Bobby Borchering 1B/ 3B- Similar to Owings in that he recently made it up to AA but is a year older. Also strikes out too much and doesn’t walk enough. Does have some nice power though

St. Louis Cardinals

• Ryan Jackson SS- The first thing that comes up with Jackson is his fielding skills but his bat is not too shabby either. More like a rich mans Brendan Ryan with equal fielding skills and an improved bat. 
• Charlie Tilson OF- Is really raw and young but is a superb athlete. Needs a lot of seasoning and time to make it to the big leagues but his athleticism is very impressive. Could be a sleeper
• Matt Adams 1B- Is a big reach but Adams is country strong. He is a big boy who still needs some time in AAA but definitely has some impressive power numbers and could be a first baseman of the future

Atlanta Braves

• Joe Terdoslavich 1B- A switch hitting first baseman who started the year in AA and was bumped up only to struggle at AAA. Has shown enough power to allow for a poor approach at the plate.
• Matt Lipka OF- A former infielder who struggled at the plate, Lipka has shown a good approach at the plate but is still young. Has time to develop some power and improve overall at the plate.
• Edward Salcedo SS- Will probably not stick at SS because of his limited range but has shown lots of power. Is still young but has shown speed and power. A very nice combination to find in a prospect

This is only a brief rundown of the thousands of prospects the Mariners could look at and ask for in return for some of our players. This list will probably be updated and changed as we hear more closer to the deadline. So stay tuned and go M’s.

The Three Amigos: Chopped and Screwed Edition

Sorry for the lack of content this week, we have been on vacation, had social lives and been lazy. In the mean time, the Mariners did nothing impressive on the field and made some crazy moves off the field. And by crazy I mean completely logical things that were long awaited by many fans. A brief rundown of what happened, Hisashi Iwakuma got his first start of the year, Kevin Millwood was skipped once in the rotation due to his groin injury, Erasmo Ramirez suffered an arm injury and was put on the 15 day DL, Hector Noesi was sent down to AAA after struggling once again. So this version of the Amigos will be longish since there are now 4 amigos. To the grades!

Hector Noesi

I will be frank; Hector has not pitched well enough to keep his spot in the rotation. He has shown flashes of talent that make some fans excited for the future, but he spreads these flashes around elongated periods of inadequacy. This last start was one of the inadequate efforts from Hector. He went 5 innings, gave up four runs and struck out 4 Orioles. He got the loss, which gave him 11 on the year. I don’t care who you are, 11 losses before the All-Star break is not acceptable. He was sent down to Tacoma to work on his stuff and maybe figure out what a good 0-2 pitch looks like. In my assessment of Hector after watching him in the first half is that he is young. He has the stuff to be an effective starter in the Majors; he just has to work on his mental focus. Baseball and pitching especially demands complete focus on the task at hand. Hector needs to work on keeping focused even when he is ahead 0-2 on batters. He needs to develop a killer instinct to put the batter away when he gets ahead, that is something that can be seen in Felix. He gets an F and is held back this year.

Erasmo Ramirez

Not much can be said about Erasmo after his last start, he only lasted 2.2 innings against the Red Sox. Seeing a young pitcher go down with an elbow injury is never a good thing, especially one that has shown as much promise as Erasmo. According to Wedge and others the injury is not serious and Erasmo should be back after the All-Star break. That is excellent news; he did have a no hitter going against the Sox and had 4 K’s at that point. Here’s to a better second half from Erasmo. He gets an incomplete.

Hisashi Iwakuma

Well this is something new, the Shaman was called on early to summon the spirit of Hisashi at the start of the game and he did not do a bad job. He at least was about equivalent with Hector Noesi. Iwakuma went 5 innings, gave up three runs on one bad pitch and struck out 4 guys. He also walked three guys. This is somewhat promising since it is Hisashi’s first start of the year and he can get more comfortable in his new role. At worst, Iwakuma is another Hector Noesi but at best, he returns to the form that earned him the Japanese Cy Young award a few years ago. Also, he can start to earn his paycheck, which was monstrous for a long reliever but is now ok for a starter. He gets a B-.

Kevin Millwood

Well well, we meet again Mr. Millwood. Seems like your groin has finally healed. Hopefully it does not act up again because you are becoming somewhat attractive as a trade piece. Millwood did a nice job against the Oakland A’s blah blah blah. Who cares, it’s the Oakland A’s who are somehow a .500 team. Yet still have a pretty bad offense. Anyway, I am hoping other teams start noticing Millwood who is dirt-cheap and can hopefully start to show some durability. For those who don’t realize, Tom Wilhelmsen is our best trade piece right now and I really don’t want to see him moved. So hopefully Vargas can show some more consistency and Millwood some durability so they can turn into prospects. Yay prospects! Millwood gets an A. I am feeling nice this morning.

Tip of the Cap

Casper Wells

Besides breaking up a perfect game, no hitter and shutout at the same time against Wei-Yin Chen, Casper has been doing an awesome job. Both he and Saunders have made huge steps this year, making their cases for regular starting jobs. Unfortunately once Franklin comes back, they will be forced to platoon since Ichiro is not moving from right field. Some people have been calling for Ichiro to be traded or benched before and I have disagreed since the alternative was not much better. Now I would not be opposed to Ichiro seeing more of the pine since Casper and Saunders are two of our better hitters right now. Well done Casper, I tip my cap to you.

Menacing Glare

The Young Phenoms

For those who may not know who I am referring to, it is Dustin Ackley, Justin Smoak and Jesus Montero. These three are supposed to be the building blocks of the Mariners offense in the coming years. They are looking terrible. Ackley is looking completely over matched at the plate and is hitting .238 with an OPS of .653. That is bad, especially from the lead off hitter of the future. Smoak has been talked about many times and his struggles have been chronicled. Anytime a player is flirting with the Mendoza line, it is not good. He also has a slugging percentage of .333, not ideal from a first baseman. Maybe Tacoma can fix his woes once Carp returns from injury. Jesus Montero has one RBI since June 1^st. That is horrible for a clean up hitter and future savior of the offense. I don’t want to even give you his stats because they will further depress me. Just know they are not good. All three of these guys need to step up their play if the Mariners want to contend.

The Word:

Ridiculous and Stupid

This is more than one word, I know, but the issue I am addressing requires more than just one word. I am talking about bringing in the fences at Safeco. That idea is ridiculous and stupid. Just because our offense sucks does not mean we should adjust the park to them. The Mariners have been playing in Safeco for over a decade and never have the fences been an issue. Remember when we won 116 games in 2001? Were the fences too far back then? What about when we lost over 100 games in 2008? Did we debate the fences as being too far back? Nope, we just accepted that our team was bad. Guess what Mariner fans, in no way was this team supposed to be good this year. Everyone including Jack Z knew it. We have a young talented club. The growing pains will be rough and we are going through them now. But we cannot make excuses for this club; it is stupid and ridiculous to try to do so. So suck it up and be patient. Success will come, trust Jack Z and know that he has a plan. 

I will now leave you with a picture I came across the other day. All that must be known is that Hisashi Iwakuma looks like a boss. Go M's