«§ea‡‡£e®Mariner§» 09/22 - 09/29

CORRESPONDENT REPORT

Game   Date Team Decision   Record    Win      Loss     Save 


156   09/22 ANA  W 3-2       90-66  Franklin  Washburn  Nelson

157   09/24 OAK  W 8-7       91-66  Hasegawa  Tam       Rhodes

158   09/25 OAK  W 3-2       92-66  Rhodes    Mecir     Sasaki

159   09/26 OAK  L 3-5{10}   92-67  Koch      Hasegawa

160   09/27 ANA  W 7-6{12}   93-67  Halama    Pote

161   09/28 @ANA  L 4-8      93-68  Callaway  Franklin

162   09/29 @ANA  L 6-7      93-69  Lukasiewicz Valdes  Donnelly

£ºCA£ PER§PEC‡IVE

• Ben Davis, Dan Wilson, Jeff Cirillo, John Olerud, Paul Abbott, Luis Ugueto, Ruben Sierra, Doug Creek, Jamie Moyer, Joel Pineiro, Ismael Valdes, Freddy Garcia, Carlos Guillen, Chris Snelling, Desi Relaford, Charles Gipson, Jose Offerman, James Baldwin, Ryan Franklin, Kazuhiro Sasaki, and Edgar Martinez are All Signed Through the 2002 Season with the Mariner Organization Holding a 2003 Option for the Soon to Be 40 Year Old 'Mr. Mariner' Edgar Martinez. Look for Seattle to Try and Find a Way to Keep Martinez at a Reduced Rate, as His Value to the Team and the Community Mske It Impossible to Sever Ties Until the Day Of Retirement. Jeff Cirillo's Contract Status Prevents the Team From Doing Much of Anything with 3b In the Immediate Future. Cirillo is Signed through 2005, With a Team Option for 2006, So The Mariners and J.C. Hope He Can Solve the Coors Field Conundrum Before the 2002 Season Commences. Cirillo Could Hold the Mariner Future in his Hands, as His Overall Offensive Out-Put Is Far Below the 312, 17 HR, 83 RBI Season He Fashioned in 2001 For Colorado and Obviously Not Any Where Near Merit for the $6,375,000 Salary He Will Command Until the Expiration of His Contract in 2005. Mariner Followers Should Pray That the 32 Year-Old Cirillo Is Able to Find a few More Quality Seasons In His Hard Wood Before the Hand Of Time Strips Him of His Talents Considerable Talents, as J.C. Has Been a .300 Hitter His Entire BaseBall Career. Also Look For Dan Wilson to Take a Pay Cut From the 4.5 Million He Earned in 2002, With the Bargain BaseMent Ben Davis Receiving an Increase In Playing Time In 2003.

2003®P£A¥ER®PREVIEW®§£eePer®£i§‡

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• Cliff Lee

• Joe Mays

• Eric Milton

• Brad Radke

• Kris Benson

• Jeff Weaver

• Sun-Woo Kim

• Kurt Ainsworth

• Johan Santana Is Another Young Pitcher – 23 Years-Old – With a 90+ MPH Cutter That Bores In On Right Handed Hitter and a Curve That Slides Over the Out-Side Corner With Late Breaking Precision. The 6’ 195 LB Left Hander has, “…Improved his off speed pitches and Location. An improved Changeup to Spot with his Fastball and Slider are the major reasons Santana has gone from 6.38 Strikeouts Per Nine Innings in his first two Major League Seasons to 11.41 Strikeouts Per 9 Innings this Season,” Says Sporting News Expert Dennis Brackin. Santana Should Find a Spot In the Minnesota Rotation in 2003, as the Twins Struggle to Maintain a Competitive Edge on a Shoe-String Budget.

• Dennis Tankersley Seemed to be the Premier Pitching Prospect in the San Diego System. However, As Jake Peavy Settled Into the Padre Rotation, His Velocity Seemed to Have Developed Beyond His Minor League Reputation. Whether the Major League Pitching Coaches have Been Able to Improve His Mechanics, Or Whether He’s Simply Using the Additional Adrenaline Supplied By Numerous Thousand Fans Is Unknown. The One Known Is that Peavy Looks Nasty. The San Diego String-Bean Mirrors The Cubs Matt Clement in Body, Three Quarter Delivery, and To Some Extent Possible End Results. Look for Peavy In 12+ Team Leagues In 2003 In the Middle Rounds and Look for a Healthy and Improved Padre Offense to Help the Young Hurler to Double Digit Wins with Quality Strike Out Numbers.

• Oliver Perez Is one of the Premiere Pitching Prospects In All Of BaseBall. Perez Demonstrated an Impressive Array Of Pitches with a 93 MPH FastBall, a Quality if SomeWhat Eratic Curve, and a Left Handed Randy Johnson Type 3/4 Delivery That Should Gaurentee an Amazing Average Against Versus Left Handed Batters and a Possible Advantage Against Right Handed Batters On the OutSide Part of the Plate. Perez is Slight of Build at 6'3" and 160 LBS, and He Did Hit the DL Once In His Brief 70 Innings of Major League Work, and at 22 Years-of-Age He Could Prove to Be Too Streaky to Help a Fantasy Roster on a Weekly Basis. However, Given his Tremendous Upside, I would Recommend Perez for a Bench Spot in Keeper Leagues, a Spot Starter In Head to Head Leagues, and a Possible Middle to Late Round Selection in 14-18 Team Leagues.

• Francisco Rodriguez Could Be a Nice Sleeper for 2003. Rodriguez is An Angel Right Hander With an Electric FastBall, a Power Slider, and a Nasty Cutter That Darts Away From Right Handed Hitters. The 20 Year-Old Rodriguez Stands 6’ Tall and Weighs 175 LBS. The Right Hander Was Born in Caracas, Venezuela and Struggled to a 2.76 to 1 Strikeout to Walk Ratio Over 3 Seasons Of Eratic Work as a Starter. However, Rodriguez Flourished in Relief in 2002, Accumulating a 4-3 Record, a 1.52 ERA, 87 StrikeOuts, and a 4.83 Strike Out to Walk Ratio. The Angels Have Troy Percival Signed Through 2004, So Rodriguez will Have to Pitch in Middle Relief for the Immediate Future. However, Given Percy’s Injury History, Rodriguez Could Scavenge Some Extra Saves During the Course of a 162 Game Season. Rodriguez Does Not Throw As Hard as the 21st Century Prototypical SetUp Man Octavio Dotel, But Rodriguez Has the Same Late Breaking Slider that Freezes Right Handed Hitters and Lefties Alike..

• Alan Embree Has Found His Place as One of the Premiere SetUp Men in the Game Since Finding His Way to Boston In ?. Almost Unhittable to Start the Season, Embree Accumulated a Through .75 WHIP, A 1.03 ERA, and 48 StrikeOuts In 36 Innings Over 44 Games Through the All-Star Break. The One Caveat; Embree Managed to Pile Up a Lot of Meaningless Numbers For an Under-Achieving Padre Team. Between the Padres and the Red Sox Embree Has Compiled 81 StirkOuts In 62 Innings for an Impressive 11.75 Strikeouts Per Nine Inning Of Work. Embree Could Be In Line for 30 Holds In 2003 and Is a Nice Addition in H2H Leagues and Leagues that Count Holds. Pass On Dotel, Rhodes, and Remlinger In 2003, and Save Those Early to Middle Round Picks for Closers That Have Good Upside { Cruz?, Julio, Looper, German, Cordero, Escobar, Williamson }. 2003 Could be the Year of the Middle Man With Politte, Romero, Embree, Vizcaíno, and Rodriguez & Rodríguez Closing In on the 30 Hold Plateau with a Full Season of Healthy Work.

• Danny Graves Is Not a Sleeper Entering 2003. His 2002 Relief Numbers Will Have Him Ranked Near the Top 100. However, Given Graves Insertion Into the Starting Rotation, and Given the Reds Offensive Potential, 15 Wins Could Be Attainable in 2003. I would Expect Early 2003 to Be SomeWhat of an On the Job Learning Process Which Could Lead to Inflated Numbers to Start the Season. Try and Draft Graves In Round 10 In a 10 Team League, Round 8 in a 12 Team League, or Round 8 In a 14 Team League and Definitely Try and Fight the High Ranking Pull that Would Suggest Drafting Graves Earlier { Unless You Happen to Need to Feed Your Big Red Machine }. If Another Manager Drafts Graves Based on His 2002 Ranking, Those Early Season Runs, Hits, and Red Errors Could Turn that Princess into an Early Season Pumpkin Ripe for the Picking. Also Look for a Huge Season From Scott Williamson , as He Could Recieve the Majority of the Reds Closing Work for 2003. Williamson Has an Unussual Delivery and a Mid 90's Fastball that allows the 6' 0" Right Hander to Pile Up Outs Via the StrikeOut. Williamson Ended the Season with 10.21 StrikeOuts Per Nine Innings Of Work.

• Mark Hendrickson Pitched Well In the Starting Rotation, Accumulating 29 2/3 Innings, Giving Up 16 Hits, Striking Out 17, While Allowing 3 Earned Runs Over 4 Starts, Garnering 3 Wins for the Surging Toronto Blue Jays. Hendrickson Was a 2nd Round Pick of the Phillidelphia Seventy Sixers In 1996. The 6’9” Forward Went on to Play for the Kings, Nets, and Cavaliers Before Spurning the Association to Focus Full Time On BaseBall Following the 2000 NBA Season. The 6’9” Left Hander Should Be In Line for a Starting Job In 2003, Although Richard Griffin of The Sporting News Reports Hendrickson Needs to Add an Effective Curve-Ball to Make the Jump From One Month Wonder to Full Season Stopper and will go to Instructional League to Refine His Off-Speed Delivery. If Hendrickson is Successful In His Winter Efforts, His Size, Arm Angle, and an Improved Repetoire Could Lead to a 14 Win Season for an Improving Blue Jay Team. With Those Kind of Numbers a Possibility for 2003, We Can all Forgive Him for Listing Hoosiers as His Favorite Movie and Kevin Costner as His Favorite Actor.

• Joaquín Benoit Should Step Into the 2003 Texas Rotation and Perform at a Level that Would Allow Fantasy Managers to Spot Start Him Against a Good Deal of American League Opponents. Benoit Has Started and Relieved In 2002, and Has Allowed 37 Runs In 70 Innings Of Starting Work for a 4.75 ERA. Throw Out His Worst Starts – 5 Runs July 15 VS K.C. , 6 Runs August 13th VS Chicago , 6 Runs August 30th VS Tampa , and a 5 Run Outing VS Tampa September 8th , Benoit Would Have a Very Respectable 1.92 ERA. Most Young Starters Find It Difficult to Limit Damage Once Base Runners Reach Scoring Position, and the 5+ Run Blow-Up is a Sign of that Inexperience. However, Benoit Also Exhibited a Very Encouraging Sign: 4 Of His Best Start Came in the Final Month of the Season After a Good Deal of the Early Damage Had Ballooned His ERA and Deflated His Confidence. Benoit Is not a 15 Game Lock for 2003, and He Could Struggle and Hit the Pen at Some Point in Time. However, I Would Venture Double digit Wins Is a Real Possibility Given the Ranger Offense, Current Closer Situation, and Benoit’s Late Season Effort.

• Ted Lilly Has Had a Difficult 2002 Starting the Season in the Yankee BullPen Before Moving Into the Starting Rotation in Late April. Soon After in Early May Lilly Allowed 21 Runs in 41 Inning Over a 7 Game Stretch. When Lilly is right, Working a Deceptive 90-92 MPH FastBall In-Side Against Right Handers { Much Like Joe Kennedy of Tampa }, a Quality Curve, and an Efficient On Mound Demeanor, Lilly Can Baffle American Leaguer Hitters much His National League Clone Tom Glavine. 68 StrikeOuts 29 Walks 71 Hits in 90 Innings. As With New York, Oakland is an Ideal Situation for a Reasonably Young Starting Pitcher, as the Majority of the Oakland Staff Resides Around the 25 Year-Old Plateau, and the Oakland Offense Should Provide Enough Runs to Garner Competent starters 12-15 Wins with an Improving Defense and an Improving Stopper In Billy Koch. One Oakland Weakness in 2002 Has Been the Middle Relief, which Could Cost A’s Starters Wins At some Point in Time. The A’s Added Ricardo Rincon From Cleveland to Help Venafro from the Left Side, But the A’s Right Handers Still Need Help.

• Adam Eaton is Over a Year Removed From Ligament Transplant Surgery That Sacrificed the Final Three Months of the 2001 Season. Eaton Took the Lunch Box on the Dome his First Few Outings of 2002, Allowing 5 Runs September 1st VS Colorado, 7 Runs September 6th @ Colorado, 4 Runs September 11th VS Arizona , Followed by 21 Innings Of Quality Work with a Total of 4 Runs Allowed Over 3 Starts, The Best of the Season Coming September 27th VS L.A. { 7 Innings, 3 Hits, O Earned Runs, and 8 StrikeOuts in an Eventual No Decision }. Eaton Was a Nice Sleeper In 2000 Helping Fantasy Managers with An Abundance of Quality Starts In June, July, and August Before Fading In September with a 10.89 ERA That Inflated a 3.19 ERA to Over 4.13. Eaton Is Again a Quality Sleeper Going into 2003, as His Ability to Throw a Quality Curve to Work Off a Plus Fastball, With a Wild Streak That Keeps Hitters From Diving Over the Plate, Allows Eaton to Stifle Quality National League LineUps. San Diego Should be Improved Offensively Going Into 2003 With A Healthy Phil Nevin Playing one of the Hot Corners, a Motivated Ryan Klesko Who Finished a Disappointing 2002 with a Strong August and September , to go with an Intriguing Offensive Prospect at 2B in Sean Burroughs. Eaton Has a Chance to Reach Double Digit Wins In 2003 if Health and Team Come together to Offer a Quality Blend of Winning BaseBall.

• John Patterson Was the 5th Pick in the June 1996 Free Agent Draft as the Montreal Expos Followed a Trend that Saw 14 of the 1st 22 Selections Toeing the Rubber and 4 First Round Picks Declared Free Agents After Failing to Sign with the Team Of Draft Record. Patterson Did Not Sign and Was Declared a Free Agent Which allowed him to Sign with Arizona November 7th of 1996 for a Hefty $6.075 Million Signing Bonus. Patterson Has Not Seen Much Action for the Arizona DiamondBacks in 2002, However, Bob Brenly Has Intimated that the 6’5” Right Hander Could Be in the Mix for a Starting Job in 2003. The 24 Year-Old Houston Native Possesses an Ideal Pitchers Body with a 6’ 5” 183 LB Frame Which Helps Add an Extra Tilt to His Curve, While Changing the Arm Angle and Height On a Low 90 MPH FastBall, to Go with a ChangeUp That Could Move Him into the Upper Echelon on Young Hurlers. Patterson Has Good Control and Could Advance Rapidly as Quality Control, Teamed With Quality Stuff, and Combined with a Quality Offensive and Defensive Ball Club Spells Success { Derek Lowe, Vicente Padilla }. Throw Out a 7 Run Shelling at the Bats of the New York Mets, Patterson Has Run Off a Very Impressive .75 ERA, With 5 Games of 1 and 0 Runs Allowed. Patterson Threw a 6 Inning, 1 Hit, 8 Strike Out Gem In His Last Start and Could Steal Under-Whelming Brian Anderson’s 5 Spot in the Starting Rotation Going Into The DiamondBacks 2003 Spring Training. Anderson Has Long Been Used out of Necessity, and Should Eventually Find HimSelf As a Left Handed Specialist Working One or Two Batters an Outing.

• Kelvim Escobar is Another Pitcher That Has Continually Found Stuff and End Results Do Not Always Seem to Equal Quality Production. Escobar Has a ForkBall, a 90 MPH Sinker, and a Four Seam FastBall that doesn't have Much Movement and Often Gets Escobar Into Trouble. Even with Escobar’s Impressive Repetoire, And Even Given the Fact that He’s Held Opposing Hitters to a .244 Average Against Over the Past Three Seasons. Escobar Is Still Only 26 Years Old, and Given The Blue Jays Propensity to Destabilize Developing Pitchers With Early Abuse in the Starting Rotation, I Believe Escobar will Eventually Dominate In His Role As Closer If Given the Chance in 2003. Escobar Has Had Some Difficulty with Command, Which Has Led to an Inflated ERA and an Inordinate Number of Home Runs Allowed. Escobar Is Like a Number of Young Pitchers that Have a Tendency to Catch Too Much of the Plate when Ahead In the Count. However, Given His Recent Success – 2.51 ERA Over the Past Month, Totaling 15 Games, 18 StrikeOuts In 14 1/3 Innings, Converting 10 of 11 Save Opportunities with an Improved Strike Out to Walk Ratio of 3.60 { 1.76 Through the All-Star Break }, It’s Quite Likely That Kelvim Escobar Is Learning the Finer Points of Succeeding Against Major League Hitters. However Keep an Eye On Trade Rumors, as a Deal Could Seriously Affect Any Closers Value.

• Carlos Hernandez Has Had a Disappointing 2002 Season. Due to Managerial Abuse and Subsequent Injury, Hernandez has Failed to Live Up to the Tremendous Promise that Many Fantasy Experts had Prophesized going Into April of 2002. Since Coming Back From the DL, However, Hernandez Has Seen His ERA Drop 6/10 Of a Point and Has Won 2 of His 4 Legitimate Starts. Hernandez is a Stocky Left Hander In the Mike Hampton Mold, and Utilizes much the Same Repetoire with a Quality Curve Ball, Low 90’s FastBall, and an Improving Straight ChangeUp that Could be His Ticket to 20 Wins In the Near Future. Hernandez Has the Ability to Help In Numerous Categories as He Should Be able to Keep His ERA Around 3.00 with Quality WHIP and Strike Out Numbers to Go Along with a Quality Astro Offensive Attack That Could Improve In 2003 with a Healthy Bagwell, and an Improved OutField with a Possible Platoon of Ward & Lane in Left, Berkman In Center, and a Possible Replacement in Right for Hidalgo. Look to Draft Hernandez in the Middle Rounds – 10th-12th Round in a 12 Team League – and Throw Him at the Back of a Solid 5 Man Fantasy Rotation. Hernandez has the Chance to be a Predatorrial Pitching Phenom And a Day-Time Hall of Famer with a 4-1 Record and a 1.54 ERA In Wrigley specials. Keep an Eye On Hernandez and Any Possible Winter Ball Numbers and Follow His Health, Stamina, and Success In Spring Training. Hernandez Has Allowed a Walk for Almost Every 2 Innings Pitched and Has Allowed 13.40 Base Runners Per Nine Innings, a Number that should Improve with Tutelage, Experience, and Proper Managerial Restraint.

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• Locate the FastBall In, Away, North, and South, with Particular Attention to Hitters that Tend to Lunge at Pitches Out of the Zone. Work the Off Speed Pitch Off the FastBall to Keep the Hitter Honest, and Close the Count with Quality Pitches Up Or Down Out of the Strike Zone }. Even At the Highest Level, Major League Hitters are Amazingly Adept at Getting ThemSelves Out. The Truly Great Pitchers Take Advantage of the Hitters Lack of Discipline, Inability to Detect Trends In Approach, and an Inability to Adjust to Location and Type of Pitch. Most Pitchers Learn to ‘Pitch’ In their Late Twenties or Early Thirties When the Physical Attributes and Technical RefineMent Combine with an Increased Awareness of the Nuance Of Strategy which Allow Prolonged Achievement at the Pinnacle of Play. Often the Intellectual Approach to Physical Dominance Comes as a Last Bastion for Improvement Either to Save a Career { John Burkett }, Revitalize a Career That Has Reached a Cross Road { Woody Williams }, or to Enhance a Career { Greg Maddux } that Was Once Considered Much More Promising. The 25-28 Year-Old Class Of Player That Has Since Faded From Prospect Status, Passed By Hall Of Fame Opportunity, and Has Since Entered Into the Forgotten Realm Often Provide the One True Bargain in the Sleeper Class. Bartolo Colón Seemed to Have Passed the Stage in His Career When Dramatic Development Could Lead to a BreakThrough Season. However, Even After Aging 2 Years This Past Winter, Colón Still Managed to Post His First 20 Win Season with a 10-4 Record for the Indians and the Expos to Complete a Suprising 20-8 Campaign to Go with a Career Best 2.93 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. Colón Has Long been One of the Biggest Fantasy UnderAchievers, and Fantasy Managers Drafting the Rotund Righty In the Elite Eight Have Long Been Baffled By the Streaky Results Posted the Past Few Seasons as Colón Posted ERA’s of 3.88 and 4.09 Respectively. Often the 25-28 Year-Old Class Of Sleeper Are Difficult to Find, as Previous Performance May Have Been Dramatically off Expectation. Roy Halladay Finally Found the Magic in his 4th Full Season of Major League Starting Action. At 25 Years-of-Age, Halladay Finally Broke Through with a 19 Win Season and the 5th Best ERA In the American League at 2.93. How Do You Find Those Secondary Sleepers? Often times Secondary Sleepers Break out of the Starting Gate with a Dramatic Flash, Followed by an Early Season Swoon, Followed by a Consistent Stretch of All-Star Level Production. Keep an Eye on Secondary Sleepers Early Season Efforts, Add One of These Shooting Stars Early in the Season, and Ride the Streak Before Deciding if Trade Value Is In Excess of Real World Fantasy Value.

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