Sometimes less is more

The M’s appear poised to make another post season appearance and may in fact win the AL West! The big factor behind this was managements lack of movement and allowing the team to get healthier and just play. The only real change the team has made is going to a strict 6 man rotation to try to avoid injuries to the starting staff. SInce doing so the team has responded well and it seems to have eased the early season stress on the bullpen also. The team came close to blowing things up after the slow start but in the end the talent on hand was enough to climb back into contention.

A more detailed post to come as time permits

mg

The Future, Conan?

Yes, indeed the Future and by all accounts the M’s have quietly put together one of the best farm systems in MLBD. In fact, the latest Baseball America ratings have the team rated as the number 1 overall farm system. It is a mix of not only quality, but also quantity.

Pitching

According to BA the Top Ten Prospects are dominate by hitters with only two Pitchers making the list and one of them is a mainstay on the MLB roster already in Johnny Cueto. The other pitcher is Lefty Starter Wilfreddy Van Slyjk , a Braziallian who was impressive last year in the minors, although the transition to AAA was a bit rough. Wilfredd got progressively better throughout the season and will start the season as the 5th starter for the M’s although he may return to AAA for more seasoning. He demonstates Plus stuff and slightly above average movement and control, but is a inning eating ground ball specialist who appears to have a solid future in Seattle. The only other pitcher who is making a push for the Major League Roster is MR John Johnson , another lefty with just above average stuff, control, and movement. JJ has had a solid spring and made the Opening Day roster.

Other Pitching Spects:

The team has a bunch of guys who have legit chances to eventually contribute at the big league level. This includes one MR the team is going to convert to a SP (Damian Gordy), a and a bunch of guys who projects as bullpen arms long term (Mickey Hat Sandoval, Sean M Salazar, Curt Sparrow, Bill Derryberry, Bill McNeice, Tadamasa Kobayashi, Carlom Aseccano, and Miguel Metter. All of these guys have a long ways to go developmentally, but Aseccano and Metter look like they could really become quailty big leaguers if all things go well in their development. Look for the M’s to making Starting Pitching a focal point in future drafts and in trades. The team did recently trade for a young starter who will play in AAA to start the year in Joaq Esponoza, but will need to make a concerted effort to build organizational depth in the rotation the next few years.

Positional Spects

Here is where the organization really shines. The team has an abundance of quality positional spects.

Two players considered spects by Baseball America will make the major league roster for the Mariners this year. They are Catcher Darby Mallory and RF Abera Espinol. The team also recently traded two spects that were MLB ready or close in Sean Ma Cepin and Ryan Adams. The team still has plenty of players in the pipeline including players who may be big league ready in the next year in 2B Luis Valbena, 1B Joe Guillein, 1B Erniee Quartez, and Utility Infielder Ricky Nolasc Mieva. While these players have the chance to be nice MLBers, the true future of the organization lies in the lower levels of the organization where potential plus players C Al Libby, IF Yasser Oracho, OF Caleb Shaw, OF Joe Cole, OF Bobby Dowe, C Win Easterwood, and OF Matt Watso.

Quite frankly, the team is loaded with hitting spects, including numerous other quality guys who did not make the cut for this article but have big league futures as bench players. What all this means is the organization has the positional depth to use some of them as trade bait to fill other needs, either at the big league level or to get spects in areas of weakness such as the aforementioned Starting Pitching. The team has a good present and an extremely bright future due to the diligence of it’s front office in scouring the trade market and waiver wire for potential talent. At the same time the team is not afraid to trade a guy at a position they have too many players at for a big need. The tean showed this when they traded a very nice infield spect, and a nice 2b spect in a deal that added OF Brent Johnson a former M’s spect to the team.

The Core of the Mariners. 10 Players the team is building around and what that means now and in the future for the team.

The Mariners have traditionally built through their farm system and trades, seldom relying on Free Agency for anything more than 40 man roster depth or role players. The result with this is a pretty big core. In this case 10 players that this blog cannot see the team moving anytime soon. Without further ado, here is the Mariners core in a top 10 list.

drum roll………………

#10 SP Billy Traber

Acuirred from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim back in 2006, Traber is one of the veterans of a young Mariners franchise at age 31. The lefty has been a steady if unspectacular starter for the M’s with a career 70-67 record and an ERA of 4.30. What makes Traber so valuable and a part of the core despite his league average stats? It is the 868.2 IP in the last 4 years, which translates out to 6.7 IP per start. The man takes the ball and keeps the team in the game for 6-7 innings almost every time out. As one rival scout put it, “Traber isn’t an elite pitcher he is just a grinder. He is great in the middle of the rotation in the 3rd or 4th spot, saving the bullpen and keeping the team in games. ”

#9 1B Bryan LaHair

BL isn’t flashy, he just is a solid big league player who does a few things very well that the Mariners love. The team has an irrational love of 1B who hit left-handed. Call it the infatuation of Olerud, but the team just likes 1B who hit from the left side. In two plus season LaHair has been a steady contributor to the team posting .278/.371./.441 stats while cranking out 106 EBH’s (35.9% of hits). A rival scout says: “LaHair isn’t spectacular but he is a gamer, he works the count, makes consistent contact, is an above average defensive player, and his knack for finding gaps works well in SafeCo Field, especially as a lefty pull hitter.”

#8 SP Ryan Rodriquez

A young lefty in the Billy Traber mold, Rodriquez has excellent movement on his array of pitches which include a low 90s tailing fastball, a biting curve, a changeup, and an improving splitter. Entering his 3rd big league season he has posted a record of 16-19 and an era of 4.66 while learning on the job. A Mariner’s scout filed this report this offseason on the 26 year old lefty: “great movement, definitely Plus movement, both vertically and horizontally on all 4 pitches. Doesn’t have great pure stuff/velocity, but the junk moves all over the place and he has adequate control. Needs to improve velocity and endurance to become a consistent top half of the rotation SP, but the ability is there if he can overcome some durability issues.”

#7 RP Cesar Jimenez

For years the Mariners have relied on a strong back of the bullpen to maintain leads. CJ has been an integral part of that equation posting a 24-11 record and 3.34 era in 207 appearances the last 4 years. Jimenez did struggle last year posting a career worst era of 5.01. A divisional foes Assistant GM didn’t read much into last years results saying, “Look it that guy could close for most teams in the league and be an All Star Closer, that is how good of an arm and makeup he has. So the Mariners have a real luxury in using him a setup guy, and even more-so when you factor in that he is left-handed. I would expect him to have an era around 3 and be a bridge to their closer who is also an elite guy.”

#6 2b Howie Kendrick

It is unbelievable that Kendrick doesn’t crack the top 5 as he is one of the premier offensive 2B in the game. A career .283/.327.445 hitter with plus power (111 HR’s in 5 seasons). At one point Kendrick looked like the next big thing in baseball posting consecutive 30+ HR, 100+ RBI, 100+ R campaigns but has fallen back a little bit the last couple of years. An NL scout who’s team plays in the Cactus league with the M’s has the following to say on Howie: “The guy is an excellent offensive player, but that park up in Seattle doesn’t really help him out a lot. If he was in a hitter’s park we would be talking about him as one of the true offensive stars in the game. He isn’t a great defender and has a mediocre at best approach at the plate, but he can flat out rake and is always dangerous at the plate.” The scout continues, “He is real similar to the other hitters the M’s are building around, guys who make a lot of contact, hit a lot of balls into the gap and generally have average or better eyes.”

#5 OF Michael Wilson

Wilson has been a steady and perhaps nationally under-appreciated player the last several seasons for the Mariners averaging .282/.384/.481/.865 23 HR 29 2B 93 RBI and 91 R per season. A Mariner’s scout gave this assessment: ” Michael is just a worker for us. THe kid is plus across the board, except he tends to strikeout a lot, which we can live with and he is only an average defensive RF, which we are hopefull he can improve. What we love is that he is a Switch hitter we can hit 2-7 in the lineup and he will produce for us.”

#4 CL Miquel Gonzalez

Miggy has been the consummate closer for the Mariners for the last 4+ seasons recording 165 saves in that time and a 2.55 ERA. His career WHIP is 1.07 and he averages 10.96 K/9 for his career. A rival scout in the AL West summed up Gonzo: “The guy just thrives under pressure. Their setup guy actually has better stuff, but this kid just dominates people with his mound presence and moxie. Every team would love to have a closer like this for the end of games, we are just glad the M’s didn’t make him a starter when he first came up like they thought about doing, talk about a beast.”

#3 C Darby Mallory

This kid is quickly become a fan favorite in Seattle. Darby is coming off a rookie year in which he hit .291/.376/.389 with 4 HR and 39 RBI’s in 75 games for the M’s and helped lead the team to the Wild Card. An AL Scout said the following: This kid is the real deal at 23. First off, he is a great defensive C, who calls a smart game and has a plus arm. On top of that he has a chance to be an excellent hitter and fits the mold the Mariners like for their hitters, could contact, gap power and eye. He works counts like a 10 year veteran and has only played half a season!

#2 OF Brian Pettway

It took Pettway a little longer to make the Majors than many though but he has really come of age in Seattle. Last year, in just his 2nd full season in the Majors, BP hit .315/.398/.516 with 23 HR 38 2B, 8 3B, 120 RBI, and 111 R. A divisional manager said: “This guy is one of the most complete hitters in the game and he is just starting to figure it all out. A couple years ago the M’s thought about giving this guy away and we wished we had jumped on him when we had the chance, because he is untouchable now.”

#1 SP Johnny Cueto

The young, talented and oft injured. That in a nutshell describes Johnny Cueto. Since being acquired in a trade from the Reds, Cueto has gone 14-5 with an era of 2.82 in parts of two seasons with the Mariners. He missed almost a full year with back spasms and then had a few minor setbacks upon returning, but the team is optimistic in his future: “Johnny has a chance to be our number 1, our ace” says GM mgcoug2. “The kids abilities and talent are unbelievable and he has wicked stuff and plus control to go with above average movement. If he can stay healthy we feel like that makes us a competitor for the playoffs next year.”

Conclusion:

The team is loaded with talented players and is following a pretty basic blueprint. A large assortment of quality hitters with an emphasis on Contact/Eye/Gap Power, a tough as nails back of the bullpen, and quality SP. The team has been very successful in putting together a lineup and a bullpen, but needs work on the SP. One more mid rotation RHP would really balance out this teams rotation and make the team that much more formidable.

The next blog entry will take a look at the Mariners farm system and what that means for the teams future.

Is mgcoug2 the Anti-Bavasi?

Rumors abound that mgcoug2 is indeed the anti-Bavasi. If so this could explain why the team has steadfastly refused to part with spects, unless the deal is absolutely right this off-season. The team has definitely shopped some of it’s prospects, including a likely future batting champ Abera Espinol , but have not found a deal to their liking. As one GM , who has tried numerous times to get the talented RF states: “The thing is you can make an offer that is a nice starting point, but they don’t go for starting point deals as final deals like Bavasi did. I sure do miss those days…” Another GM lamented: “I offered them some of the thing they needed, like a mid rotation RHP who would slot in nicely behind Cueto and Traber in that rotation and their response was “What else are we going to get?” “It’s pure insanity,” this GM continued, “they want actual value for players, it is totally out of line with what we are looking for in a trade.”

The Mariners are still actively shopping for a RHP for the middle of their rotation, bullpen help, a leadoff hitter and maybe an upgrade at 3B. The problem is they like what they have and they know they have enough to make the playoffs as is, so it is going to be hard to make the team overpay to fill a few holes when they have guys in their system who will fill those holes in the next year or two anyways.

The New GM is accused of not being this man and that aggrevates rival GM’s used to getting 250% percent returns on their investsments in trades.

Winds of Change Blowing through the Pacific Northwest?

As the Mariners have yet to make any major free agent signings it is becoming obvious that the team may in fact have to go to the trade market to change how the team will look last season. The team is pleased with returning to the playoffs, but feels it has some areas it needs to improve in, if it is going to challenge for another division crown and possibly another World Series title.

The team is looking at a number of areas in which it can improve. First and foremost is the Starting Pitching. Last year, young ace Johnny Cueto was limited to 11 starts while dealing with a significant back injury. If Cueto (6-4 3.62 era) can stay healthy the team’s SP will be much improved. Besides Cueto lefties Billy Traber (16-9 3.92) , Ryan Rodriguez (11-8 4.25 era) and Robert Rohrbaugh (15-10 4.66 era) make up a solid if unspectacular front four of the rotation. According to GM, mgcoug2 the team would love to add a frontline right handed SP to better slot the entire rotation and make the team better suited for September and on in the AL.

Additionally their have been rumblings that the team and 3B Willy Aybar may part ways as the team would like to upgrade at 3B. Furthermore, the team is as always looking to continue to build it’s farm system by adding talented prospects that could fit into the team longterm.

Of course in order to get something you have to give something the M’s have plenty of quality names that have been thrown around the rumor mill this off season. Guys who have the chance to be impact everyday players like C Nick Hundley (.262/.319/.424 6HR 35 RBI in 172 ABs), 3B Ryan Adams (.313/.444 at AAA Tacoma), Infielder Asdrubal Cabrera (.256/.355 30 SBs), 1B Brett Bonvechio (.282/.416/.583 30 HR 94 RBIs) and MLB pitchers such as SP Ben Hendrickson, RP Joe Bateman (career 4.43 era), and RP Julio Mateo (2.28 era in AAA Tacoma). The team has also hinted that it would be willing to deal prospects, including highly thought of young talents such as OF Abrera Espinol (100 contact potential!), C Win Easterwood (91 Power potential!), RP Reidier Munro, and C Nelson Guess.

The bottom line is that the team has a solid core and the team is trying to build around it in order to become a more complete baseball team.

The next article will look at the team’s core and a future article on the team’s best prospects is in the works.

The Moose is Loose!!!

The first real post to come soon. The goal with this blog is too promote MLBDreams, a online baseball league that utilizes OOTP2007. As one of the Commishes and the GM of the Seattle Mariners, this blog will hopefully reflect my love of baseball, while facilitating interest in the league.