Archive for August, 2011

September Callups Preview

by ~ Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

Rosters are about to expand. Let’s run down what might happen instead of waiting patiently for what actually does happen.  Blogs! The Mariners have five players who figure to join the squad after recovering from injury: reliever Shawn Kelley, catcher Chris Gimenez, first baseman Justin Smoak, reliver Dan Cortes and utilityman Chone Figgins.  All of [...]

Jack Zduriencik celebrates extension by trading Jack Wilson

by ~ Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

Two completely unsurprising but very notable things happened today in Marinerland. Jack Zduriencik extended Seattle Mariners President & Chief Operating Officer Chuck Armstrong announced today that Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jack Zduriencik has agreed on a multi-year extension of his existing contract. Per club policy, no terms will be announced. [...]

Why Is Adam Kennedy Still Playing?

by ~ Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

It occurs to me that Adam Kennedy is still playing semi-regularly for the Seattle Mariners.  This raises two questions: Were you aware that the letters in Adam Kennedy’s name can be rearranged to form Dank Meany Ed? Why is this happening? 2011 is a lost season.  The Mariners will not make the playoffs.  However, they [...]

Pineda To Make 3 More Starts; AFL Representatives Announced

by ~ Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

According to Dave Mahler of KJR 950, Carl Willis said that Michael Pineda will make only three more starts in 2011: September 3rd at Oakland, September 10th against Kansas City, and September 21st at Minnesota. The M’s had planned to limit his innings all along, and I kind of like the approach they’re taking here. [...]

Two For the Bullpen

by ~ Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

It might seem a little early to be talking about 2012 already, but the reality is that the second half of the 2011 season has been one long audition for most of the guys on the roster. At no position is that more true than in the bullpen. Bullpen depth has been a target of [...]

Bizarre Quote of the Day

by ~ Sunday, August 28th, 2011

As someone whose emotional investment in this season is paper-thin, I surprised myself this weekend; despite the fact that it is now August 28th and the Mariners are 18.5 games out of first place, I was viscerally angry each night as the Mariners continually posed no threat whatsoever to the White Sox. August baseball can [...]

Luck and Sustainability

by ~ Friday, August 26th, 2011

There was a good discussion in the comment thread of my post yesterday about luck and batting average on balls in play. The impetus for the initial comment was my calling Trayvon Robinson’s .432 BABIP to date unsustainable. In the comments, Scott insightfully pointed out that Robinson’s BABIP is tied to an impressive line drive [...]

Sample Size, Kyle Seager, and Trayvon Robinson

by ~ Thursday, August 25th, 2011

For passionate baseball fans, the ability to know and characterize a player is of tremendous importance. Most of you are probably the most baseball-centric member of your personal friend group, and are consequently the go-to-guy (or gal) for all things baseball amongst your associates. With such an important responsibility at hand, it’s natural to try [...]