Ryon Healy: The Newest Seattle Mariner

I meant to post earlier this week but I had a job interview the day the trade was finalized.

Well... the Mariners General Manager Jerry DiPoto didn't wait long...he's doing his job. I really love this move of acquiring first baseman Ryon Healy. He is a younger version of Logan Morrison, who incidentally is a free agent and looking for @ $10-20 mil long term deal. Some experts thought that the Mariners might try to bring him back, as he was with the Mariners in 2014 & 2015. But with this young man from Oakland, they get a 25 year old with a $500,000 contract who had a good season last year (25 Home Runs, .270 batting average), his first full year in the majors. It looks like he is Danny Valencia (who Healy replaced in Oakland, ironically) at the very least, and Healy is a possible budding star for years to come. He also played 3rd base and 1st base, so it gives the Mariners some flexibility and a possible rest day for regular third baseman Kyle Seager against a tough Left handed pitcher. But the best part? For once in my lifetime the Mariners aren't paying millions for someone on the downswing portion of their career. The team upgrades without spending free agent dollars, and frees up payroll to spend in other areas (pitching and outfield help).

Having said that, I really liked Emilio Pagan as well, and I'm sure Seattle hated to give him up in the deal. He really did well last year and was arguably the Mariners best reliever the last two months of the season with a lot of upside left in the tank. But you are NOT going to get a player with the talent that Healy possesses for nothing, The only reason he was even available, was that the Oakland Athletics has a log-jam at 1B-3B-DH with their new top prospects needing to play there who they consider ready to go and future stars themselves.
There of course is risk in any move, and we all know Seattle's god awful track record (Please don't make me mention Jason Varitek again...), but I LOVE THIS MOVE and sure didn't see it coming.... NO ONE expected this. By the way, Oakland fans are quite angry, trading away arguably their best full-time player for a part-time pitcher.
THE 3 BASIC POSITIVES:
1) The Seattle Mariners got way younger at a position of need with a legitimately good young player, with MLB experience (unlike Daniel Vogelbach, who has been disappointing to put it mildly)
2) They didn't constrict themselves with another long term over-pay contract (examples: Robby Cano & Felix Hernandez)
3) The Mariners traded away from their one area of depth, if not strength, which albeit has some inconsistency. But, they still have Edwin Diaz, Nick Vincent, Dan Altavilla, Tony Zych, David Phelps and Shae Simmons (the last 3 here all battled injury last year, but when healthy have been fairly effective). They also have young talent in that area that is trending upward. A prime example would be Art Warren, who is pitching well in the Arizona Fall League at the time of this blog entry.
THE LONE NEGATIVE [for my stepdad]:

He went to College at the University of Oregon. That's it.

The San Diego Padres: A Dynasty in the Making

Padres GM A.J. Preller

If you haven't noticed, San Diego Padres General Manager A.J. Preller is building a dynasty from the ground up in San Diego. I have the utmost respect for this man, as he is a genius. He has been a busy man ever since he took over the Padres GM job in late 2014. For starters, in 2015, he got rid of the majority of his predecessor's [the rather ignorant Josh Byrnes] top minor league players [i.e. Trea Turner & Mallex Smith], which is usually a big no-no. Preller, most notably, acquired Matt Kemp [whose career has been in steep decline since he was traded from San Diego to Atlanta in 2016], Justin Upton [who eventually signed with the Detroit Tigers after the 2015 season concluded] & Wil Myers, who is still with the Padres & is one of the team's star players. But the most incredible part of this is, A.J. Preller kept the most talented young players he had inherited from Josh Byrnes's rather forgettable time in America's Finest City. Those players are catcher Austin Hedges, right fielder Hunter Renfroe & infielder/outfielder Cory Spangenberg. Also, in two separate trades just 7 months apart, A.J. Preller swindled the Boston Red Sox out of center fielder Manny Margot [who projects to be worth 1.7 more victories than what the Atlanta Braves got out of Kemp in 2017], infielder Carlos Asuaje [who looks like a very excellent utility player], shortstop Javier Guerra [who is an outstanding defensive player], starting pitcher Anderson Espinoza [who, according to a vast majority of baseball scouts, is the second coming of Hall-of-Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez] in exchange for closing pitcher Craig Kimbrel & starting pitcher Drew Pomeranz. Not only that, but Preller also tricked the Chicago White Sox into giving up Fernando Tatis Jr., the son of former MLB player Fernando Tatis, in exchange for declining, overpriced starting pitcher James Shields.

But, in my opinion, the Padres do not have enough pitching. Wait, scratch that, they do but those pitchers aren't ready to pitch in the Major Leagues...yet. But there is one pitcher who is possibly ready...Anderson Espinoza.

So, expect the San Diego Padres to reach, at best, 75-81 wins in 2018, but DON'T expect them to reach the playoffs, as they do not have enough reliable pitching... yet. But instead look ahead to 2019, where the Padres will be a legitimate playoff contender for the 1st time in years and, after 2019, they will be contenders for years afterwards. It will be worth the wait for San Diego fans, as their baseball franchise hasn't made the playoffs since the 2006 season.

Of course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

A Quick Thought on the Late, Great Roy Halladay

Rest in Peace Roy Halladay

4-7, 10.64 ERA
That as much as anything defined Roy Halladay to me. The worst ERA by a 10-start pitcher in 105 years. Should have ended his career. Instead, he didn't take his talent for granted and worked his way to a Cy Young Award a couple of years later.
I remember seeing highlights of his second major league start on YouTube recently: 9 innings, 1 hit, no walks, 8 Stirkeoutss against the Detroit Tigers. He looked like a Hall of Famer then. Pure talent. Untouchable. Who knew it would be the same pitcher who was getting slaughtered two years later?

As I said, he could have disappeared, another bust, another could-have-been. Instead he stopped throwing and learned how to pitch. Back in the Majors the next year, all-star the following, and then his first Cy Young after that.
It's hard to accept that he won't work his way back from the plane crash with the same vengeance.

The thing that stuck with me the most about Roy Halladay was his incredible work ethic: In 2011, an earthquake struck the city of Philadelphia. But this didn't stop him from doing his morning exercise routine around the ballpark, where he was scheduled to pitch that night.

Players of the Past: Rickey Henderson [Revised Edition]

For the people who follow this blog, I am sorry I may have kept you guys waiting longer than Jay Buhner's barber appointment, but a new blog entry is finally here! Well... sort of... it's a revised edition of my August 2016 entry about Rickey Henderson from my Players of the Past featurette that I do occasionally on this blog.

"Lou, this is Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball." -
Rickey Henderson, on a voicemail left for Mariners Manager Lou Piniella after Rickey signed with the Seattle Mariners in 2000

The 1st time I saw Rickey Henderson was when he played for the Seattle Mariners [in 2000]. At that point in his career [at age 41], he was already the All-Time Leader in Stolen Bases with over 1,000, he had 79 career Leadoff Homeruns [the 2nd closest is Brady Anderson, with 43 & he retired the year BEFORE Rickey did!]. Those credentials cannot be denied. Nobody in the history of Major League Baseball could drive a pitcher more crazy than Rickey Henderson could. For instance if Rickey reached 1st base via a base hit or getting hit by a pitch, he'd steal 2nd base on the next pitch & steal 3rd on the next one! I think he stole 3rd base more often than anybody in the history of Major League Baseball! He was just an incredible athlete.  He played not only with the Mariners, but for the A's, the Yankees, the Padres, Angels, the Blue Jays, the Dodgers, the Red Sox & the Mets. But ,of course, Rickey's best years came in the 1980's with Oakland Athletics & the New York Yankees. He was, in my opinion, the BEST all-around player to play baseball in the 1980's. He won outstanding fielding awards, he won Most Valuable Player awards, he stole at least 100 bases from 1982-1984, he was an All-Star. He also won the 1989 & 1993 World Series with the A's & Blue Jays respectively. But the reason why Rickey played for so many teams was because of his personality. For example, when he played for the A's, the owner was Charlie Finley, a man famous for not paying baseball players, traded Rickey to the Yankees even though Rickey had said he wanted to remain in Oakland long-term [because he was a local product from the Bay Area] in exchange for a little bit more cash to put into his savings account, his proposed contract was for "only" $3,000,000 per season for seven years which, per season was $2,438,000 more than what he made in his first 6 years in Oakland combined! The A's had plenty of money but they traded him to the Yankees anyway, who also had an idiotic owner in George Steinbrenner. But, in the middle of the 1989 season, Rickey was traded BACK TO OAKLAND because of guess what? A contract dispute with the Yankees ownership! But in 1993, the A's couldn't meet Rickey's contract request so traded him to Toronto where he won the World Series with the Blue Jays!

But one of my favorite stories of Rickey was when he signed with the Mariners in May of 2000, he had this conversation with John Olerud and I swear to you this is true:

Rickey: Rickey had this teammate in Toronto seven years ago, he always wore a helmet when he was on the field and...

Olerud: Uh, Rickey? That was me...

Let's Play a Game!

There is a party game called "The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon". If you don't know what that is, the game rests on the assumption that anyone involved in the Hollywood film industry can be linked through their film roles to legendary Hollywood film actor Kevin Bacon within six steps. The game requires a group of players to try to connect any such individual to Kevin Bacon as quickly as possible and in as few links as possible. I was wondering if there was a baseball equivalent to this and this being the internet, there is! But there are more than six steps in mine. Why is that? It's because I like being different!


Anyway, for the purposes of this entry, I will use former MLB pitcher Jamie Moyer in place of Kevin Bacon.


In Jamie Moyer’s first game as a Major Leaguer, he beat Steve Carlton.
In Steve Carlton’s first game as a Major Leaguer, he relieved Bob Gibson (well, Gibson started the game).
In Bob Gibson’s first game as a Major leaguer, Stan Musial got two hits.
In Stan Musial’s first game as a Major Leaguer, he got two hits off Jimmy Tobin.
In Jimmy Tobin’s first game as a Major Leaguer, Paul Waner got two hits.
In Paul Waner’s first game as a Major Leaguer, he walked against Flint Rhem.
In 1924 Flint Rhem — who had thrown a no-hitter in the Western League — was brought to the big leagues by Branch Rickey.
Branch Rickey’s first big signing was George Sisler.
In George Sisler’s first season, he was teammates with Bobby Wallace.
Bobby Wallace played his early years for the Cleveland Spiders. His most prominent teammate was Cy Young.

But, wait! There's more!

Here is another way to link Jamie Moyer with Cy Young...

Jamie Moyer was teammates with Ron Cey
Ron Cey was teammates with Hoyt Wilhelm
Hoyt Wilhelm was teammates with Bob Elliott
Bob Elliott was teammates with Paul Waner
Paul Waner was teammates with Joe Bush
Joe Bush was teammates with Tris Speaker
Tris Speaker was teammates with Cy Young


What do you think?

What a heartless team/franchise!

2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, and now this year, 2017. These are all years of which I was confident and hyped up before the season or by at least July 1st of said season. They show potential, play great baseball when they're on, but when they aren't on, every single time they are more than just off. They suck. Every god forsaken year this happens. Here is a timeline from 2004 to 2017.
Bill Bavasi/Mike Hargrove. They were spitting talent out left and right and had everything going for them. Then Ownership sided with this selfish prick named Ichiro instead of Hargrove, our last proven Major League Manager, and Hargrove flipped the bird to this franchise and left. I can't really blame him either, we traded all our talent away and sank. Typical Mariners.
Jack Zduriencik/Don Wakamatsu, Eric Wedge, & Lloyd McClendon. Wak was fine, but Jack Z was a massive Piece of shit. He wanted things his way and only his way, and his way was absolutely terrible all the way around. He fired Wakamatsu, ownership sided with him and his failures and fired Wedge, and then got away with a fluke season in 2014. 2015 brought us all back down to earth, both Lloyd and Jack were fired. 7 years wasted, not a single playoff game to show for it. Typical Mariners.
Jerry Dipoto/Scott Servais. Dipoto is amazing, I will give him that all day, everyday. But, the flip side of that coin, Servais is a Courtney Love-level mess one day, then respectable the next day, then downright craptastic the day after. I'm tired of it. Last year, down seasons for players like Nori Aoki, Adam Lind, Nathan Karns, Wade Miley, and other plagued us. This year, injuries and stupid baseball playing has plagued us. I don't care how great of a scout, director, or assistant GM Servais was in Texas and Anaheim, he is not fit for field managing, and our play is showing just that. Many players will refuse to nut up, as well as coaches and the manager.
We just got swept, at home, to the worst team in all of baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies. They SUCK on the road, yet they came here, kicked our ass, and made an embarrassment out of us. Another year where if we could just get out of our own heads and where if our manager wasn't so damn terrible, we'd most likely be a post season team.
But no, once again something has to be wrong when it doesn't have to be. So many things that have gone wrong this year have been avoidable, like being in our own heads and downright sucking. Slumps happen, but not like this. This team is great for 10 days and can beat anybody in the league, then for 11 days they can't beat the most simplest of teams to beat.
It's sad, it's disappointing. It's annoying, it's frustrating. For far too long I have put up with mediocre play year after year after year after year after year. Frankly, I am goddamn sick of it. Some days I absolutely hate being a baseball fan, today is one of those days.
But don't worry, we'll come out of July at .500 due to some nice winning streak, go through August playing "solid .500 ball", make a run through the end in September and come up just a little bit short. If you like that sort of thing then good for you. I quite frankly am sick of it, and I find it unacceptable that we are not a playoff team. I hope to be wrong and that we go on this miracle run and make the post season, but as of now that does not seem anywhere close to likely happen.
Seattle Mariners, you suck. You really, really suck.

The Jason Varitek/Derek Lowe Trade

On the morning of July 31st 1996, the Seattle Mariners traded outfielder Darren Bragg for left-handed pitcher Jamie Moyer, who, by some unholy alignment of the planets, became one pf the greatest pitchers in Seattle Mariners history. But the following year, the Mariners more than returned the favor...

On the morning of July 31st 1997, the Seattle Mariners had 60 wins and  47 losses. They were also a half game ahead of the Anaheim Angels in the American League Western Division Standings. The Mariners had superstars like Ken Griffey Jr, Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner, Randy Johnson & a young Alex Rodriguez. But there was a problem: the Seattle Mariners bullpen was crap. Yes, that is a pretty simple reason for why the Mariners record at that point wasn't 67 and 40. The bullpen had cost the team [at least] 15 games up to that point. The Mariners were desperate for a good relief pitcher [with the word "good" being used very loosely here]. They had a few options to deal with this problem:

1) They could wait until the bullpen figured something out but will run the risk of missing out on the playoffs

2) They could acquire future Hall of Fame relief pitcher Trevor Hoffman from the San Diego Padres for future star Jose Cruz Jr. & yes this was a possibility because the Padres were way out of contention at that point in the season.

3) They could do something completely stupid & more Mariner-esque. That being trade promising young catcher Jason Varitek,  who they had just called up on the 30th of July but had yet to use him in a game and/or Derek Lowe, a promising young pitcher who impressed Manager Lou Piniella with his knowledge & work ethic.

So what did the Mariners do? They of course chose Option 3! I mean what did you expect? They are the Mariners...

But if you thought this was the only stupid part of this story, you are clearly wrong...

The Boston Red Sox only wanted Derek Lowe because they already had a catcher in the Major Leagues, named Mike Stanley & they had a promising young catcher themselves in Steve Lomasney [whose career was tragically cut short due to an eye injury in 2000]. The Red Sox just wanted to get rid of mediocre [at best!] relief pitcher Heathcliff Slocumb's $9 million salary. But, of course the Mariners went full-on stupid & included Jason Varitek in the deal!


As expected, Jason Varitek & Derek Lowe became stars in Boston, with both being key players for the 2004 World Champion Boston Red Sox. Derek Lowe threw a no-hitter versus Tampa Bay in 2002 & Jason Varitek was named the Captain of the Red Sox in 2005. Slocumb, on the other hand was released by the Mariners after the 1998 season. So, in other words, the Mariners got screwed over...AGAIN!!