| By Chris Crawford |  | By 09-23-2010 |
One of the last non-special edition of the GBU. Hopefully you guys are enjoying this. As in the articles, not the Seattle Mariners. If you're taking pleasure in the M's season right right now -- you are one sick son of a....
The Good
When you set records that don't involve futility, you're going to get a mention in the good. Ichiro Suzuki has now had more consecutive 200 hit seasons than any player, surpassing Willie Keeler and of course, himself. This isn't the site to go to if you want to revel in Ichiro's glory, but credit is given when credit is due. It is accomplishments like this that will have Ichiro wearing a Seattle cap into the Hall Of Fame in seven to ten years.
It was brought up in an earlier post, but it doesn't hurt to give more attention to how well the minor-league affiliates played this season. The real bonus of all of the different levels was how they won, not why. These weren't a bunch of quadruple-A players hanging out in Tacoma, nor twenty-four year old non-talents putting up huge numbers in Clinton. These were as close to legitimate minor-league successes as you will find --and in a year where the Seattle Mariners were so unwatchable -- a little added congratulations is a-ok.
The Bad
In spite of the recent success of Joe Mauer and Buster Posey -- and that there seems like a plethora of offensive-minded young catchers on the way -- the position itself is still considered to be very much defensive-oriented where added offense is considered a bonus. With that being said -- it's not supposed to be the same as having a second pitcher bat -- and the M's catchers have been right around that level. Neither Adam Moore or Rob Johnson were able to bring anything to the table, both combining to have slugging and on-base percentages well below league average. Since there's nobody in the system who's within three years of contribution -- and the market is fairly bare in terms of free-agent catchers -- Seattle is more than likely going to rely on these two again. At this point, they're simply not good enough to expect them to help next year, either.
The Ugly
1989 was the year of the World Series earthquake, Pete Rose's banning from baseball and the first and last year of The Pat Sajak Show. It was also the last time that a team had an on-base percentage as low as the 2010 Seattle Mariners. You read that right. It's been twenty-one years since the Atlanta Braves put up an OBP of .298. So in other words, if you aren't old enough to drink, you're not old enough to remember a team that was as inept at getting on base as the one you're currently watching/crying to sleep over. Probably should mention that Braves team went to the World-Series two years later, but it wasn't because of that offense, and there's not three hall of fame pitchers in the Mariner rotation either. Yikes.
gbu----september-21st,-2010
Comments
The following 13 comment(s) for this article are shown below:
| 1. By: shemberry on 09-23-2010 15:34:38 Actually, the Braves didn't win the World Series in 1991, although they did play in it, losing to the Twins in what many consider to be the greatest 7th game of all time. They probably would have won if Lonnie Smith had picked up his base coach instead of falling for Chuck Knoblauch's fake. They did win it in 1995 however. Sad to say they made the series only after they traded away the franchise icon, my favorite player of all time, Dale Murphy. |
| 2. By: Chris Crawford on 09-23-2010 16:03:28 Ooops, ya, went to the World Series, my bad. Typos are a specialty of mine. Thanks. |
| 3. By: Missthosepilots on 09-23-2010 17:02:31 Felix may renegotiate to ban the DH when he pitches. Hey, at least we are getting closer to the number 2 pick. Thanks Chris. Hard to believe it has been over 20 years since the earthquake at Candlestick. Hard to believe a few years ago the M's were thinking they had the catcher position filled for years to come. The unknowns of baseball and potential! Isn't that what makes part of the fun? |
| 4. By: maqman on 09-24-2010 10:40:45 Catcher is a problem for sure. I'd rather keep Bard than Johnson and Moore isn't very impressive yet either. There might be something better available on the free agent market at a price they could afford for a couple of years. That and a better DH are the highest priority needs in my mind. Otherwise play as many of the kids as they can to find out who's for real. The good news has to be that they can't possibly hit any worse next season. Can they? |
| 5. By: Timberwolf on 09-24-2010 14:10:23 If Ichiro took a day off, the 2010 Mariner lineup would closely resemble a bad expansion team. I don't even think Rachel Phelps could assemble a worse offense next year. I'm sure hoping that we don't have to look at both Chone Figgins and Jose Lopez in Mariner uniforms next year.I think both guys could do well in a good lineup, but we don't have a chance to have one of those before 2013. |
| 6. By: Blowgun7 on 09-24-2010 19:25:56 Jason and/or Chris.. Right now, who would you take at #2, Cole or Springer? |
| 7. By: Chris Crawford on 09-24-2010 20:32:57 If the draft was held today, September 24th, 2010, at 9:32 EST -- I would take Cole. If you ask me in nine months, I might say Cole, I might say Springer, I might say Daniel Norris or Dylan Bundy. But today, I take Cole. |
| 8. By: Jason A. Churchill on 09-25-2010 01:42:49 For me, it would depend. We have a full off-season and three months of the regular season between now and the draft. If the club acquires a youngish outfielder who hits for power that is under contract for 3+ years, no doubt I am taking Cole or Barnes. If the M's deal Saunders plus for the same in a starting pitcher (youngish, under club control for 3+ years), I may lean Springer at that point. Yes, that's drafting for need, but right now, that is how close they grade out. |
| 9. By: rjfrik on 09-25-2010 02:00:25 If there even, Im taking the position player. Lord knows we need them. |
| 10. By: Rudolf on 09-25-2010 09:20:39 Jason or Chris, how does Cole rate against recent high draft picks like Price, Matusz, Crow, Bumgarner, Moskos, Lincoln, Reynolds and Morrow. The last four drafts have been heavy on position players in the top five to ten picks of round one. Is that the norm? Thanks! |
| 11. By: dawgncarolina on 09-25-2010 09:27:55 There's always a place for a corner OF (especially with Ichiro getting older) and always a place for another SP, so I can't really see need coming into play. My money would be on the M's taking one of the pitchers, but it's really early. The more info that comes out the more I think the Pirates could end up taking somebody besides Rendon based simply on them liking someone better, and if that happens third base IS a place where it makes sense to draft for need. I actually think we've got a 30-40% shot at Rendon being there when we pick. Another top 3 pick in a loaded draft. I just hope we don't Clement this one up too. |
| 12. By: Blowgun7 on 09-25-2010 10:06:45 I'm just really concerned about the swing and misses from Springer. I know he can be very good, but the high strikeouts in college lend me to believe he could also have major contact rate issues in the minors/ML. Seems like a big risk, although the pitchers all bring a ton of risk, simply because they are pitchers. Glad we have another year to evaluate. I also would lean towards Cole right now.. If we are going to go out and trade for a young cornerstone player, I would think Pineda would be our biggest chip. Having Cole in the system would mitigate that loss somewhat. |
| 13. By: rjfrik on 09-25-2010 19:50:22 I hear you dawg. And to think the M's were this close to drafting Tulo, in fact everyone thought up to the last minute they were going to. Man he would of looked good in Seattle blue. oh well. |
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