Comments on: The Mariners think they’re getting better, but probably aren’t

By: harpdog

harpdog — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 01:07:06 +0000

Jack is an idiot and so is the Mariners scouting staff as far as verterns go. Getting rid of a stud like Vargas for Morse is idiocracy(movie title about how the world is dummying down) at its best. We lost outfield speed, and he has traded away so many good players and received doodoo back. 5 dh/1st baseman are now on the team and we got what, 5 catchers and we traded away a catch, Jaso, who was improving day by day.
For some reason Jack has kept Seattle’s reputation of being a team that veteran players go to earn big bucks before they retire and they don’t have to give 100% effort.
Jeez, it frustrates me so much and I know he relies of the opinion of the least creative coach in the MLB who seems to want loser veterans and then plays them over young talent until the season is hopeless.
I bet there are 20 people who relied here that could out GM this guy. HeyJack, Ichiro for who?
And by the way Jack, as fans, we do not appreciate you giving away our top draft picks for bad veterans after we as fans suffer through another bad season to get them
I would trade Jack for a dozen used balls. Any takers please

By: IdahoMariner

IdahoMariner — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 18:47:37 +0000

i have always been at a loss for why this matters to people so much. the people who are actually running the team do step into safeco all the time…and i can’t say i am a huge fan of their management. similarly, jeffrey loria is always at the marlins new park….and that’s not just irrelevantto whether he’s a good owner,it’s actively aggravating to see him there.

By: rwsh

rwsh — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 15:51:13 +0000

Z is good. But, they will be no better under current ownership. Owner has never even stepped into Safeco!

By: paperlions

paperlions — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 15:25:43 +0000

…and it makes even less sense when the short-term value guys they have acquired will be taking playing time away from many of the younger guys that could possibly improve.

By: sabathiawouldbegoodattheeighthtoo

sabathiawouldbegoodattheeighthtoo — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 15:21:48 +0000

What is the over/under on Felix’s ERA this year? Given the new fences, terrible defense and adding Minute Maid park to his division (albeit with Houston batters), I’m saying 4.50…

By: realgone2

realgone2 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 14:53:28 +0000

Jason Bay looks like Mike Nelson from Mystery Science Theater 3000.

By: icanspeel

icanspeel — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 14:33:42 +0000

hmm Move in fences and sacrifice defense to employ more offense first guys. Sounds like the Mariners are sick of low scoring games.

By: manifunk

manifunk — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 14:19:21 +0000

You blame Matthew for idiotic analysis of the M’s….and in the next paragraph you call for them to let Smoak play more. Amazing.

By: Ari Collins

Ari Collins — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 14:07:44 +0000

It’s not that the young regulars can’t improve, it’s that that’s not a part of the analysis. Those weren’t moves by Seattle, those guys were likely to improve regardless of what Seattle did.

The point is, it doesn’t make sense for Seattle to be trading long-term value for short-term value, especially when the short-term guys aren’t very good.

By: phillyphreak

phillyphreak — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 14:05:02 +0000

I really don’t get this from the Mariners end either.

But I’m not sure how much Jaso played over his head last year. Did he have a better year, no doubt but how much is luck vs more development? He’s a good platoon bat against RHP and has shown good OBP skills in 2 out of 3 years in the ML

(year, OBP, wOBA, wRC+)
2010: 0.372, 0.340, 117
2011: 0.298, 0.252, 85 (BABIP related in part? walk rate plummeted)
2012: 0.394, 0.372, 143 (BABIP and walk rate reestablished)

By: paperlions

paperlions — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 13:20:38 +0000

Smoak hit well for 1 month last year. He’s been horrible for the majority of 3 years. Every scouting report on the guy says his bat is too slow to catch up to a FB so he cheats and gets burned by breaking balls. He’s 26 now. The likelihood that he suddenly develops the necessary bat speed to hit ML pitching is approximately zero.

The changes in the park dimensions are irrelevant because they will help every hitter. The point is that the Mariners have a bunch of slightly above average hitters who struggle to get on base (which is more important than power) and are horribly limited in the field.

There is no comparison to the Astros, the previous regime let their talent slip so badly that they may as well be an expansion franchise…so they are building to a point in the future. In contrast, the Mariners are making deals that will only affect the short term, none of the guys they are acquiring will be around in a couple of years (at least, Mariner fans should hope they aren’t).

By: jarathen

jarathen — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 12:43:28 +0000

Stockpiling guys who are marginally good at DH but generally pretty poor fielders is not a great strategy. The Angels dumped Morales for this very reason.

By: motobus

motobus — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 12:34:47 +0000

Depth is bad? They’ve got a lot of options, and given the injury history of most of these guys, that’s not a bad thing.

It’s not like they’re tied to these guys financially. I’m sure the best players will end up playing.

By: seattletony

seattletony — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 09:20:27 +0000

Jaso is 29.

By: seattletony

seattletony — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 09:17:21 +0000

Matthew,
I disagree that Jaso for Morse makes the Mariners worse off. Despite having three more seasons of team control and being 28, Jaso is a pretty lousy defensive catcher coming off an abnormally productive offensive season in which he could only hit right handed pitching. Granted, most pitchers are righties, but these factors mean Jaso would best be used part time as a back-up catcher/platoon DH. If the Mariners are planning on either signing a stop-gap back up to Montero or breaking camp with Mike Zunino as catcher, the M’s trading a limited role, soon to be redundant Jaso for everyday player, non-platooning, better offensive producing Morse would seem to be a pretty good trade for them. At the worst the Mariners have Morales and Morse to trade to contenders mid-season for decent returns. I’m inclined to think this trade makes sense for the Mariners.

By: Reflex

Reflex — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 08:54:59 +0000

Another day, another idiotic analysis of the M’s by Matthew. He makes me feel like a fan of the team if only because of his seeming passionate hatred of Jack Z.

I don’t quite get what they are doing this offseason. I’m still on the “Give Smoak one more year given the fences are moved in and he hit well in the second half” camp. But I’ll wait till the offseason is over before judging it, the Upton move makes it clear that Jack’s not done. I’d be surprised if he isn’t trying the same deal for Giancarlo(but I hate pointing things like that out as I feel bad for a team’s fans when a star is traded like that).

Its just too early, and the analysis ignores the changes in park dimensions and the dramatic improvement the M’s had in the second half last season. I’ll also add that it takes more than four years to rebuild a team gutted as thoroughly as the Bavasi administration gutted it. Astros fans are looking at a similar situation for the same reasons, and I’ll be shocked if they are contenders in only four years.

By: Baseball Beer Burritos In That Order

Baseball Beer Burritos In That Order — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 08:17:45 +0000

I went to a few Safeco games last year against the Padres and A’s, and I’ll tell you, it’s a good thing the pitching got worse, and it’ll be a better thing if the hitting improves at all. I really don’t care if it’s the home team or the away team, someone needs to score some runs in that park. After the 7th inning stretch, we were the only people in our row left in one-run games. I’m not the kind of fan to leave before a game is over, but I can’t blame people for not wanting to watch bad hitters swing ludicrously at bad pitchers.

By: sebaker

sebaker — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 08:16:51 +0000

I’ve been writing a similar article about the A’s in my head … Jaso, who really is too poor a catcher to not play some DH and 1B, plus Norris plus Chris Carter plus Moss plus Smith plus the further plethora of outfielders … how is this shaking out exactly?

Point being not that the A’s are screwed, just that I haven’t figured it out yet there either (but have more faith that there is a plan / logic)

By: shawnuel

shawnuel — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 08:14:18 +0000

This analysis leaves out the likelyhood that anywhere from one to 5 young regulars (Ackley, Smoak, Montero, Seager, Saunders) could easily improve just by being one year older and more experienced. Though, expecting a full season of good health from Gutierrez seems like a pipe dream, with he and Saunders in center and one corner, the horrible D of Morse/Ibanez is somewhat neutralized. If Guti hits like he did in the last two months (assuming natural progression from the young guys) the offense won’t suck.Could also see the team picking up a pitcher like Rick Porcello (For Wells/Pryor?) from the Tigers or Capuano from LA. One makes the rotation respectable. Both make it good. Peronally, I hate the trade today…..but it isn’t a disaster….just an indication that, perhaps, Zduriencik’s process isn’t what we thought it might be.

By: yankeepunk3000

yankeepunk3000 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 06:33:21 +0000

damn it Mathew when you put it like that it makes sense and make the Mariners look like idiots for signing and have basically 5 DH/1st basemen… still I wish the Ms have success and mabye it will all work out. Bay and Ibanez are going to platoon which can work. Morse will probally play 1st, while Morales Dhs. Montero will catch and hey he might improve a bit…still looks like. Very chaky defense. Reminds me of the Tigers but atleast the Tigers offense can score 800 runs these Ms won’t…