Mariners--3/9/03

Current Record: 8-4

SPRING TRAINING--HITTERS
Who’s Hot:
John Olerud: 9 for 17, .529 avg, .824 slg, 1 hr, 8 rbi
Edgar Martinez: 13 for 25, .520 avg, .920 slg, 4 2b’s, 2 hr, 7 r, 8 rbi,
Ichiro: 9 for 24, .360, 5 r

Who’s Not:
Bret Boone: 1 for 21, .048
Carlos Guillen: 4 for 19, .211

SPRING TRAINING--PITCHERS
Who’s Hot:
Ken Cloude: 7 inn, 5 h, 1 er, 1.29 era
Rafael Soriano: 4 inn, 3 h, 1 er, 2.25 era
Jamey Wright: 7 inn, 5 h, 2 er, 2.57 era

Who’s Not:
Freddy Garcia: 5 inn, 7 h, 4 er, 7.20 era
Joel Pineiro: 2 inn, 5 h, 3 er, 13.50 era
Ryan Franklin: 7.1 inn, 12 h, 7 er, 8.59 era

Who’s Gone (most recent Spring Training Cuts):
10 players were cut Saturday, March 8:
LHP Ryan Anderson (Former top prospect who hasn’t pitched in a game since 2000. He pitched off a mound early in camp, had a setback, and hasn’t been on a mound since.)
LHP Steve Kent (4 earned runs in 3 innings for a 12.00 spring ERA)
LHP Matt Thornton
RHP Jeff Heaverlo
RHP Rett Johnson
RHP Aaron Looper
OF Kenny Kelly
OF Jamal Strong (torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder, will be out at least 4 months)
C Ryan Christianson

LATEST NEWS:
The biggest news out of Arizona for the M’s is the battle for the 4th and 5th spots in the pitching rotation. The front of the rotation is set with Freddy Garcia, Jamie Moyer, and Joel Pineiro, but spots 4 and 5 are up for grabs. Ryan Franklin is a hold-over from last season, during which he made 12 starts in 41 appearances. He’ll likely get some starts, if not exactly a rotation regular. The M’s like his ability to swing between starting and relieving so he could end up the fifth starter so that manager Bob Melvin could use him in relief when the fifth starter’s spot is skipped in the rotation. Also vying for rotation spots are Ken Cloude, Gil Meche, Jamey Wright, and Rafael Soriano.

Ken Cloude started 30 games for the Mariners in 1998 (8-10, 4.66 ERA, 1.72 WHIP) then threw up (pun intended) a disastrous 7.96 ERA in 72 1/3 innings in 1999 and hasn’t been seen in the majors since. He’s continued to log innings in AAA, though, and has looked good this spring. Since it was so long ago that M’s fans actually saw Cloude pitch in a major league game, it’s easy to forget that he’s only 28 years old and still has a chance at a major league career. The latest news out of Arizona on Cloude is that Melvin is looking at him more in relief now. The M’s may start the season without a second lefty in the pen to compliment Arthur Rhodes, which would give Cloude a better chance to make the team as a middle reliever. He’s not fantasy worthy at this point anyway.

Gil Meche has also spent time in the bigs. In 1999, he was 8-4 with a 4.73 ERA. In 2000, he went 4-4, 3.78 in 15 starts. Then he missed all of 2001 and half of 2002 due to injury. Last season, he logged 65 innings with the M’s AA affiliate, San Antonio, and did not look good: 6.51 ERA, 1.54 WHIP. So far this spring, he’s looked fine and seems to be throwing pain-free. M’s manager Bob Melvin has said that if Meche makes the team, he will be put in the 4 slot because he needs to be on a regular rotation and the fifth starter will miss several turns in the rotation early in the season because of days off. Most-recently, Melvin has said that Meche and Jamey Wright are “basically in a dead heat right now” for the final rotation spot. Meche is a guy to keep your eye on. If he makes the team and gets comfortable as the M’s fourth starter, he could be a good fantasy pick up later in the season.

This is the first time in his career that Jamey Wright is having to compete for a job. He’s been mediocre throughout his career, coming into this season with 50-67 lifetime mark and a 5.17 career ERA. He’s had a good start to spring training (7 innings, 5 hits, 2 earned runs) and will get a couple more starts before the M’s have to make a decision on him. As part of the agreement when Wright signed with the M’s, he requested the M’s notify him by March 18 whether he’d made the team or not. The M’s leave for Japan on the 19th so if Wright doesn’t make the team, he can still try to catch on with another major league team. He’s been a starter throughout his career but could be put in a swingman role, depending on how the rotation shakes out. If he and Meche both make the team, Meche will get be the fourth starter with Wright being the long man out of the pen and fifth starter, when needed. Fantasy baseball fans should be rooting for Meche to get the fourth spot, he has much great upside than Wright, who wouldn’t be of much interest fantasy-wise until he proves he’s better than mediocre.

Rafael Soriano has put up good numbers in the minors so far and had a 4.57 ERA in 47.1 innings with the M’s in 2002. He’s also battled shoulder soreness in each of the last 2 seasons which could lead to bigger problems, a la Meche, Ryan Anderson, and Jeff Heaverlo, three prized M’s pitching prospects who have missed significant time with shoulder injuries. The torn labrum seems to be the injury du jour for M’s pitching prospects. Soriano will get his first spring training start next Friday (March 14) at which time we’ll know more.

LOCAL NEWS:
The Mariners’ new TV network, KSTW (Channel 11) will show the M’s-A’s opening-season games in Japan live, at 2 AM Seattle time. They’ll re-broadcast the games at 7 AM and the games will also be seen on Fox Sports Net at 7 PM. While I won’t be staying up until 2 AM for the first showing, I wouldn’t be surprised if many people do. The M’s fan base has never been better. They continue to pack the stadium despite ticket and concession stand price increases every off-season and, in fact, have led the AL in attendance the last 2 years. The rotation for the first 4 games of the season will be Garcia, Moyer, Garcia, Moyer thanks to the days off between games 2 and 3. Beware, though, because Garcia and Moyer will be matched up with Zito and Mulder in those games.

INJURIES:
The most-significant injury news on the position player front is the injury to Dan Wilson. The 34-year-old Wilson has a strained left oblique, suffered taking swings in a batting cage. This could be the opening for 26-year-old Ben Davis to capture the starting catcher spot. Davis had similar OBP and SLG numbers to Wilson last year (Davis--.319/.404, Wilson--.332/.396), and being 8 years younger definitely works in his favor. At this point, the team is unsure if Wilson will make the trip to Japan on March 19 for their first two games on the 25th and 26th. When the injury originally occurred, they said he’d be out a month. They’ve now scaled that back to a couple weeks, but I think their first inclination was more correct and Davis will get the early-season playing time. As insurance, the M’s have 39-year-old Pat Borders in camp. With Wilson’s injury, Borders will likely be with the M’s to start the season, then shuttled back to their Triple A affiliate in Tacoma as an insurance policy during the rest of the regular season. The only other catching option is young Julio Mosquera.

Outfield prospect Jamal Strong will undergo surgery early next week after injuring his shoulder sliding headfirst. Originally, they said he’d be out for two weeks with a dislocated shoulder. When they looked at the MRI they found a torn labrum, so the injury is more serious than first thought. Now the word is that he’ll miss four months. Strong’s game is all about speed. His steals totals for the last 3 minor league seasons are 60, 82, and 46. A shoulder injury won’t hurt his speed, so he’s a prospect to keep an eye on for the future. He hasn’t shown any power yet though (just 1 hr in 3 minor league seasons).

Another outfield prospect, Chris Snelling, is returning from a severe knee injury suffered last season. Snelling tore the ACL in his left knee on June 4 last season. He’s put up great numbers in the minor leagues, .300 and better batting averages, around a .400 OBP and around a .500 slugging percentage in each of the last 3 seasons. His future is uncertain. He’s not big, 5’10”, and doesn’t have great power, but he’s a hustling, sparkplug type. His upside is a Lenny Dykstra-type career, downside is Darren Bragg territory. He had a discouraging setback in his most-recent game, leaving the game during an at-bat when he felt pain while backing away from an inside pitch. He’s also someone to keep an eye on but not this season as the M’s outfield of Winn, Cameron, and Ichiro is set.

OFF-SEASON NOTES OF INTEREST
The biggest change for the M’s this off-season was the departure of manager Lou Piniella. Piniella was head-and-shoulders above any manager in Mariners history, finishing his 10 years with the team with a record of 840-711, a .542 winning percentage. He took them to the postseason 4 times, a place no other M’s manager has ever been. In fact, he’s the only manager in M’s history with a winning record and his 10-year tenure was more than double that of the next longest-reigning skipper (Darrell Johnson—4 years). On top of his success, he had a year remaining on his contract. So what happened? Basically, all you need to know about why Piniella left is this quote from Howard Lincoln, M’s CEO:
“The business model we are operating under now is wanting to field competitive teams on a consistent basis, and I think we are doing that. We don’t believe in just going for it in any one particular year, but to try to have the discipline to work throughout the organization, both at the major-league and minor-league levels.”—Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
That attitude sealed it for Piniella. He wants to win, wants to win now, and isn’t interested in the words “business model” being applied to a Major League baseball team. The Mariners had a chance to do something last season. It’s easy to forget that they were leading the AL West in August, only to be overtaken by the surging A’s and Angels. Piniella had been saying since spring training that they needed another bat and another starting pitcher. All he got from management was lefty reliever Doug Creek (1-1, 4.91 ERA with Seattle), benchwarmer Jose Offerman (.234 batting average w/M’s), and pitcher Ismael Valdes (2-3, 4.93 w/M’s). M’s ownership simply refused to open the checkbook and get someone who could actually be helpful in a pennant drive. This, despite the money flowing in at Safeco Field (this season, a box seat will cost $45, a 12-ounce microbrew will go for $6.50). The Mariners have been in the top-5 in attendance in the American League for the last 7 years, including leading the league in attendance in 2001 and 2002, yet ownership wouldn’t spend the money in-season to help the team get to the playoffs. It’s frustrating for real baseball fans and 100 times as frustrating for a passionate baseball lifer like Lou Piniella. Thus, Lou’s exit. He told the team late last season that he wouldn’t be back. When the New York Mets position became available, Piniella was denied permission by the M’s to talk to the Mets (he was still under contract with Seattle). They then allowed Piniella to talk to the lowly Tampa Bay Devil Rays, where Piniella eventually went, and the Mariners took the Devil Rays lone ’02 All-Star, Randy Winn, as compensation. After 10 years of excellent service, and the rise of the Mariners to where they are now, Piniella should have been shown more respect than M’s management showed him. I wish him the best of luck with Tampa Bay.