The News Tribune’s Larry LaRue has been taking little shots at the Seattle Times’ Geoff Baker for a while now.  Here’s his latest:
A few of the Seattle Mariners were irritated, a few others amused this week that one of the beat writers not on this trip blogged that the six games to be played were [...]

Three run homer and some sloppy defensive play aside, that was one of the more enjoyable Felix Hernandez starts I’ve ever witnessed.  His fastball was electric, his curveball was straight out of Looney Tunes and his power changeup was as good as it’s ever been.  He even threw a couple “mistake” sliders that looked like [...]

*Don’t look now, but Ichiro is having one of his best offensive seasons at age 35. Highest career SLG, 2nd highest BA, wOBA, OPS and OPS+.
*Since joining the Mariners, Bill Hall has struck out swinging 28.2% and looking 9.7% of the time, both career highs.
*It would appear that Michael Saunders has returned from his lineup [...]

Offense by wOBA:
C – .275, 29th between the Rays and Astros. (Twins lead at .402)
1B – .358, 15th between the Rockies and Marlins. (Cardinals lead at .432)
2B – .319, 21st between the White Sox and Indians. (Phillies lead at .407)
3B – .287, 29th between the Reds and the Marlins. (Rays lead at .383)
SS – .255, [...]

When I noticed how deep the designated hitter market for the upcoming offseason was, my initial thought was that the Seattle Mariners could wind up with a solid DH by process of elimination.  But after looking through team depth charts it looks like there will be more ballclubs looking for DHs this year than normal.
The [...]

At the trade deadline the Boston Red Sox reportedly inquired on Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez.  GM Jack Zduriencik wasn’t inclined to move him, and by some accounts the talks never went anywhere.  However, there was a report about a blockbuster deal that would have sent Felix to Boston, San Diego Padres slugger Adrian Gonzalez [...]

Players don’t tend to understand why big league GMs make the moves they make.  When Jarrod Washburn was shipped off to Detroit the players thought Jack Zduriencik was throwing in the towel, even though Ryan Rowland-Smith and Luke French figured to step in without missing a beat.  When Jack Wilson and Ian Snell were brought [...]

Jamie Burke has been traded to the Washington Nationals for cash, according to Kirby Arnold.  Burke’s primary role in 2009 was tutor for Adam Moore, so it’s nice for the Mariners to find a big league job for Burke now that Moore is up with the big club and the AAA season is over.  Good [...]

Manager Don Wakamatsu on Matt Tuiasosopo, regarding Tui’s spot on next year’s roster:
“We have to see him play a little bit,” Wakamatsu said. “He’s going to have to prove to us he can hit at this level. That’s going to be first and foremost. I know he’s athletic enough to make adjustments at different positions. [...]

Last year Matt Tuiasosopo was known as a butcher at third base.  He’d have to take big strides to make it as a big league third baseman.
Then came Spring Training 2009, and the reports on his defense were that it was much improved, but still needed some work.  But towards the end of camp he [...]