Prospect Insider - Premium Chat!

Premium Chat!

By Jason A. Churchill

By 05-07-2009

Chat time!

Click here!

premium-chat!

Comments
The following 8 comment(s) for this article are shown below:

1. By: rocketdawg31 on 05-07-2009 16:34:54

Jason-
Great chat. Thanks for having it. I wasn't kidding when I said I ruefully missed two or three a little while back- I think it's a great idea.

I had a question I was typing that abruptly disappeared, you had to go. It's a hypothetical one:

"July 29th, 2009. Jason A. Churchill is the Mariners GM. Through myriad good fortunes, timely hits and hard work, the Mariners are on top of the AL West. By only three games. But the offense has stagnated, and the Angels and Rangers are surging. Churchill's getting phone calls that are loaded with other GMs in contention wanting to make a deal for important pieces of his team- Beltre, Bedard, Washburn et al.

The names bandied about on the other side DO make long-term sense for the team to get in return. Nothing earth-shattering or five-for-one bonanzas, but good long-term players you could build a winner with.

But, it's clear the Mariner fan base smell blood, and want to win this year.

Does Jason hop on the phone and gingerly trade 'spects for offensive upgrades? Or does he cash in 2009?

The Angels have just won, the lead's down to 2 1/2 games..."

2. By: rocketdawg31 on 05-07-2009 16:36:28

Of course, what I was typing in the chat was the SHORTER version...

3. By: Jason A. Churchill on 05-07-2009 16:57:28
In no scenario do I trade Beltre and Bedard and Washburn simply to just trade them and get younger. The quality has to be there, and I give more value to an average player that is already average in the big leagues, to give you an idea of what I'd look for.

Having said that, if I could get significant upgrades at DH, C even, 2B, SS, LF, SP, RP... I'd darned near sell the farm.

4. By: Marlin Man on 05-07-2009 18:28:13
Starting to wonder the "value" of Beltre to other teams- one homarun during spring ball and ZERO during first 28 gamees this season- and THIS is his contract year- Hell adrian EVERYONE knows that a player usually has a pretty good year during his contract year- YOU, sir- have gone to powerless hell-- yeah yeah yeah, ya got a glove- but you sure as hell don't worry to many of the the opposing throwers in the league

I was amazed by Adrian's great contract year at LA- then falling back to his hisorical numbers/averages while with us- BUT this is incredible- now he is screwing himself- hell he won't even be a typa A will he Jason????

I would dump him as soon as I could find the sucker GM that would think a "change of scenery" would help rreturn him to a power hitter- LOL

I puke when I watch Beltre hit, Puke when I watch Silva and puke again when I see Yuni swinging the bat

We have some serious rebuilding to do with our offense- sure as hell hope this surprise start doesn't keep the GM thinking we are a decent team that cold win this division, but am sure he HAS to be smarter than that- right?

MM

5. By: rocketdawg31 on 05-07-2009 23:51:48

Nah, Marlin Man...what'll turn him into a power hitter again is when he's traded back to the NL to find a bunch of pitchers that don't have such a thorough book on him- and feed him inside fastballs he can reach and jack.

As it is, every hurler in the AL probably knows he has a tough time laying off sliders away, and won't hit a fastball outside, either... if he's looking for the off-speed stuff.

But, this current edition of Adrian Beltre isn't scaring too many pitchers, I'd say you're right. He's gotten to the point now where he's trying to get six HR in one shot.

In short, an easy out getting easier all the time.

6. By: Marlin Man on 05-08-2009 08:07:15
Rocket

Maybe we DO have some hope then, that some "smart" GM in NL will give us a couple nice young prospects for him- God , let us hope so!!!

MM

7. By: Marlin Man on 05-10-2009 12:25:23
Don't ya just love having your "ACE" coming up for his start- yo grab th eball and run out to the mound and take caharge, and sasy (through his actions) "THe losing streak stops with ME"!! All the great ones did that a lot- Felix has a long long way to go to be an "ace" IMHO, reminds me more of Freddy every day. All the tools in the world and nothing in the head or guts (you call it?), he'll be a good #2 or 3 once they get the staff built the next couple years, but he sure as hell ain't gonna be no "ACE" of the staff- IMHO

MM

8. By: Stuntman on 05-11-2009 17:09:29
hi Jason,would you be ''shock'' if the Mariners pick Slade Heathcott instead of Dustin Ackley in the upcoming june draft? Thanks Jason.

You are not currently logged in. If you'd like to comment on this report, please log in.
Haven't created a Prospect Insider account yet? Sign up!