Zach Lee: The Newest Seattle Mariner

This past Sunday, the Seattle Mariners traded shortstop Chris Taylor to the Los Angeles Dodgers for pitcher Zach Lee, who was assigned to Triple-A Tacoma, the Mariners' Highest-Ranked Minor League Affiliate. Here are 3 things you should know about the newest member of the Seattle Mariners...

1. He is a freakishly talented athlete who throws, consistently, 90 to 93 Miles Per Hour & has a lot of potential.

 Zach Lee

2. He was the Los Angeles Dodgers' 1st round pick in the 2010 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft out of McKinney High School in McKinney, Texas, where he starred in both baseball [as a pitcher] & football [as a quarterback]. He was considered a difficult signing by many baseball draft experts due to his football commitment to Louisiana State University and dropped in the MLB draft as a result of this. But he signed with the Dodgers, anyway.

3. His 1st start in Triple-A [while with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization] was against the Tacoma Rainiers, where, as I previously stated, he was assigned to when he was traded to the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.

Could Major League Baseball expand in the future?

It won't happen anytime soon, but expanding to 32 teams is in Major League Baseball's not-too-distant future, according to Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred. At a meeting with the Associated Press Sports Editors in New York back in late April of this year, Manfred acknowledged that such a gaudy move makes sense both for the league's long-term growth strategy and to the nuts and bolts of scheduling. Based on Manfred's statements on Thursday and in the recent past, it's not out of the question that one, or both, of the new teams could be from outside the United States.

A movement to bring MLB back to Montreal has been in the works for awhile thanks to the efforts of former Montreal Expos star outfielder Warren Cromartie and his Montreal Baseball Project [a subject I have written about in previous posts within this blog] In each of the past three years, Olympic Stadium has played host to two-game exhibition series involving the Blue Jays and various opponents, with many former Expos legends, including Pedro Martinez and Tim Raines, showing up for the festivities; paid attendance at those games averaged more than 48,000 per night [100,000 attendees combined]. But, the biggest issue facing expansion here—just as it was when it came to trying to retain the Expos back in 2003—is securing the funding to build a replacement for Olympic Stadium, which needs more than $200 million worth of repairs & is clearly not a MLB-Caliber park. Beyond that, while Manfred stopped short of calling Montreal MLB's top target for expansion, he did say, "I think, even if I didn’t want to say this, the mayor of Montreal would probably tell you if you walked past him on the street, that I have met with him on a number of occasions. They have expressed a strong desire to have Major League Baseball back in Montreal."

BUT, Montreal isn't Canada's only alternative for expansion. Vancouver, British Columbia ranks #1 as the most livable city in North America, according to Mercer's Quality of Living Rankings. Its well-regarded multipurpose stadium, BC Place—the current home of Vancouver’s entries in the Canadian Football League and Major League Soccer—has played host to Minor League Baseball games & spring training practice games in the past, though a 2011 renovation that included a cable-supported retractable roof also added a central scoreboard whose placement generates concerns with regards to future baseball compatibility. Another strike against this city may be its short-lived history in the National Basketball Association. The Vancouver Grizzlies lasted just six seasons, from 1995–96 to 2000–01, before relocating to Memphis, with bad luck in the draft and poor attendance contributing their demise; the league's '98 lockout, like the 1994 Major League Baseball strike for the Montreal Expos, was the crippling final blow.
Another snag for putting a team here is the proximity of the Mariners, who are roughly 140 miles away in Seattle and have asserted their territorial rights in the Pacific Northwest; they would likely require some major concessions to allow a neighbor. Having another team in this area could benefit the Mariners, however, in that they’re currently isolated enough relative to the rest of the majors that they will log the most air miles of any team in 2016, at 47,704 total. A regional rivalry could lessen the blow to both the Mariners and the new club, since some of their games against more far-off located opponents [like the Yankees] would be replaced by those against their new rivals.

 

Vancouver, B.C. Place

Player Profile: Dae-Ho Lee, 1st Baseman, Seattle Mariners

This relatively quiet offseason signee is paying huge dividends for the 2016 Seattle Mariners right now.
First off, I want to compare him to the other Korean 1B signing by the Minnesota Twins: Byung Ho Park. Park was the more publicized signing by the Minnesota Twins this offseason. He got lots of coverage and Dae Ho Lee was thought of as just a longshot to make the Mariners' roster and nothing more than a backup first baseman who could hit homeruns if needed late in the game:
...

1) Byung Ho Park -
.253 avg / .326 obp / .921 ops / 7 HR / .283 BABIP ( in 79 at bats)
2) Dae Ho Lee -
.281 avg / .342 obp / .999 ops / 4 HR / .217 BABIP (in 32 at bats)
If you increase Lee's numbers to 79 at bats, then his numbers would best Park's. Now you may say, "but Joey, Lee is only hitting against left-handed pitchers because that is what Jerry Dipoto signed him to do and if he had more at-bats against right-handed pitchers his numbers would suffer." To that I would say this:
1) Lee vs. LHP -
.250 avg / .550 slug % / 2 HR (in 20 at bats)
2) Lee vs RHP -
.333 avg / .833 slug % / 2HR ( in 12 at bats)
I realize these are both small sample sizes. But Lee is a good hitter who has been a starter against both handed pitchers in Korea and Japan for many years. He is a pro.
I also realize that we need to get Adam Lind going, but I really think Dae Ho should be getting more at bats against right-handed pitchers. I would be a proponent of just starting Lee 75% of the games for a while to see what happens. We could also possibly get both Lind and Lee in the lineup at the same time by giving Nelson Cruz a day off or putting him [Cruz] in right field and giving someone else a day off.
In closing, basically I am just saying we may have found a diamond in the rough here with Dae-Ho Lee and I want to see what he can do. In Dipoto & Servais [& Edgar] we trust.
GO MARINERS!

A Message to Mariners General Manager Jerry Dipoto

Could this happen in real life???

Dear Mr. Dipoto,

According to advanced analytics site fivethirtyeight.com, the 2016 Mariners as of May 17th have a 49 percent chance of making the playoffs, a 35 percent chance of winning the AL West and a 4 percent chance of winning the World Series. You need to win it this year because... I've got $$$ riding on this in Vegas! So Mr. Dipoto, for the love of GOD, DO NOT screw this up!!
 

Joey's Soapbox

As of yesterday, CEO & Chairman Howard Lincoln resigned from his post with the Mariners & Nintendo sold it's majority ownership in the Mariners to 1st Avenue Entertainment, who has control in ROOT Sports [the Seattle Mariners TV Network]. The team's new owner is John Stanton, who had minority ownership of the team since 2000 & had a stake in the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics until they left for Oklahoma City. The recent creation of the Seattle Mariners TV Network, ROOT Sports, became a huge money maker [woo-hoo!] for the franchise. The millions & millions the team will make over the next decade could help pay for good players in the off-season or at the July 31st Trading Deadline if we are in contention for the playoffs, something we haven't done since 2001. So this means that money, especially now with new ownership [T-Mobile], will not be an excuse, by anyone, not the front office, not the fans, ANYONE!

The Seattle Mariners are changing things up from a front office & an ownership standpoint.

Change has finally arrived. Go Mariners!!!!!

Player Profile: John Ryan Murphy

John Ryan Murphy is a young, promising catcher who played for the New York Yankees last year. The problem is, under the personal section on his Wikipedia page, it says he grew up a fan of the Yankees' ancient rival, the Boston Red Sox. Which means that he was a fraud in the Yankee pinstripes. But luckily for Murphy, he was traded to the Minnesota Twins, who play in a state where Murphy's childhood love for the Red Sox is only a misdemeanor & not a felony...

Fraud!

My 3 MLB Predictions for 2016

1. The Seattle Mariners will get to the Playoffs for the 1st time since 2001

Why? Because I have faith in Seattle Mariners General Manager Jerry Dipoto. He's a more statistically minded individual than previous Mariners GM's Jack Zduriencik & Bill Bavasi put together.

2. Tyson Ross of the San Diego Padres will pitch the 1st no-hitter in Franchise History

Why? Because it's been long overdue, as the Padres are the only MLB team to never have a no-hitter in their franchise history & Tyson Ross is the best candidate to pull it off. Andrew Cashner will not because he gets injured every time he gets out of bed.

3. The Chicago Cubs will win the World Series

Why? Because if anyone can make the Chicago Cubs World Champions, it's their Vice President, Theo Epstein. In my opinion, if the Cubs do win it all this year, Theo Epstein will be in the VIP Suite of Baseball Immortality, because the Chicago Cubs won the World Series for the first time in 108 years under his watch.