Prospect Insider - Six days

Six days

By Chris Crawford

By 02-07-2011

There are six days between now and the day pitchers and catchers report for spring training on February 13 -- the rest of the squad will report no later than February 18 with the first full-squad workout slated for the day after.

The M's first spring game is the annual charity game versus the San Diego on the 27th with their first Cactus League matchup the following day against the same Padres.

Minor leaguers won't report until the second week of March, though these dates are more of a deadline than the day most players show up for camp.

In any case, we'll be here daily to round up the thoughts and ideas as the club heads closer to the 2011 season; lending you all anything you might need to get yourself ready.

The lineup
Opening day is still close to two months away, but speculation is the baseball fans ultimate tool, so taking a look at how the lineup could play out is always fun. I'm not gonna do a full lineup rundown, because that's saved for bad commentators (I know, that was a cheap shot, I apologize). But we can break it down objectively.

Obviously, Ichiro is going to lead off, and since Chone Figgins still is probably the best option to hit next, he probably will. After that, the lineup gets interesting -- or sad, depending on if you're an optimist or not. While it's reasonable to expect Justin Smoak to hit in the middle of the order as the year progresses, I would expect Smoak to hit fifth or sixth, at least to start.

Franklin Gutierrez is much better suited for something near the bottom of the lineup, but the team probably doesn't have a choice but to bat him in the middle, maybe even third. Outside of Ichiro-Figgins at the top, and some combination of the middle infielders batting at the bottom, this lineup is very much unset. One of the things to watch for in Arizona, particularly late in the year.

Hotel update
Assuming you were coming the same dates I am -- March 16-21st -- there's still some hotels available, but they're getting pretty expensive. All of the hotels within five miles are at least $100 dollars a day, and the hotels that are available for cheaper aren't exactly of the highest quality. With games starting in three weeks, now is the time to book -- unless money isn't a concern for you (and if that's the case, email me at Crawford@prospectinsider.com, I have some lovely investment options to discuss).

It's baseball season
Everyone has a different idea of when the starting point of baseball season is. Some think it's spring training, some think it's Opening Day, some say it's when pitchers and catchers report. To me, baseball season never really ends, but if I had to pick a beginning, it'd be the day after the Super Bowl.

Yes, the NBA is still going on and college basketball is a wonderful sport to watch, but once the NFL goes away -- and it sounds like it might be going away for a long time -- that's when I know it's time to buy the peanuts and crackerjacks. Get excited folks, baseball is about to be in the fore front of the country again.

six-days

Comments
The following 2 comment(s) for this article are shown below:

1. By: sexymarinersfan on 02-07-2011 02:35:45
It's America's past time.

2. By: Jerry on 02-08-2011 11:20:08
I'll bite.

Here is what I could see the M's running out opening day:

Ichiro RF (L)
Figgins 3B (S)
Smoak 1B (S)
Cust DH (L)
Gutierrez CF (R)
Olivo C (R)
Saunders LF (L)
Wilson SS (R)
Ryan 2B (R)

That provides pretty good L/R balance, and puts the best hitters in position to get the most ABs.

I think Milton will get a significant amount of ABs too, split between LF and DH.

Since I'm already speculating, why not take it a step further. I see a few things falling well for the M's this year, but they won't contend. Figgins and Bradley will be traded. And Wilson will also be gone (via trade, injury, or benching). By late in the year, I could see this:

Ichiro RF (L)
Gutierrez CF (R)
Ackley 2B (L)
Smoak 1B (S)
Cust DH (L)
Olivo C (R)
Saunders LF (L)
Mangini/Liddi 3B (L/R)
Ryan 2B (R)

Yeah, I know. Its dumb to speculate that far in advance.

But since I'm already out on a limb, why not keep going. After the Pirates shock everyone by taking Bubba Starling #1 overall and Anthony Rendon falls to the M's, they would be looking at this long term:

Olivo/Moore C
Smoak 1B
Ackley 2B
Rendon 3B
Franklin SS
Saunders LF
Gutierrez CF
Ichiro RF
??? DH

I could see Ryan, Nate Tenbrink, and Kyle Seager turning into quality bench guys.

Yeah, I know I'm a dork. But this time of the year is boring.

OK, I know I'm dumb.

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