Mariners--3/17

Seattle Mariners
Current Record: 9-10
Report Date: Monday, March 17

Spring Training--Hitters
Who’s Hot:
DH Edgar Martinez—19/39, .487 avg, 10 r, 2 hr, 9 rbi
1B John Olerud—12/29, .414 avg, 6 r, 2 hr, 11 rbi
C Pat Borders—12/29, .414 avg, 6 r, 3 hr, 8 rbi
LF Randy Winn—16/41, .390 avg, 9 r, 1 hr, 3 rbi, 3 sb
CF Mike Cameron—13/37, .351 avg, 12 r, 2 hr, 4 rbi

Who’s Not:
2B Bret Boone—4/35, .114 avg
SS Carlos Guillen—8/35, .229 avg
INF Willie Bloomquist—7/37, .189 avg

Spring Training—Pitchers
Who’s Hot:
RHP Ken Cloude—1-0, 2.38 era, 11 innings
LHP Jamie Moyer—2-0, 4.15 era, 13 innings
RHP Julio Mateo—2.35 era, 7.2 innings, 9 strikeouts

Who’s Not:
LHP Tim Hamulack—0-2, 22.85 era, 4.1 innings
LHP Arthur Rhodes—0-1, 12.46 era, 4.1 innings
RHP Freddy Garcia—1-1, 7.20 era, 5 innings
RHP Jamey Wright—0-1, 7.07 era, 14 innings

Most Recent Spring Training Cuts:
LHP Norm Charlton (assigned to minor-league camp)—Charlton was in camp as a non-roster invitee, hoping for another comeback after missing all of last season with an injury. Unfortunately, he’s injured again and will have surgery on his left shoulder. He’s 40 and hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2001. This should be the end of the road but Norm’s a stubborn guy and may try to come back yet again.
RHP Brian Sweeney (assigned to minor-league camp)
C Rene Rivera (assigned to minor-league camp)
RHP Aaron Taylor (optioned to AAA Tacoma)—Taylor was impressive in camp (1.50 ERA in 6 innings) and is being groomed as a future short-reliever. He could be the guy to step in when Sasaki (35 years old) hangs ‘em up.
LHP Bobby Madritsch (optioned to AAA Tacoma)
LHP Tim Hamulack (assigned to minor-league camp)—With Hamulack and Madritsch both sent down, Arthur Rhodes will be the sole lefty reliever with the M’s to start the season.
RHP Brian Falkenborg (assigned to minor-league camp)
INF A.J. Zapp (assigned to minor-league camp)
INF Chad Meyers (assigned to minor-league camp)
OF Shin-Soo Choo (assigned to minor-league camp)—Choo is a solid outfield prospect. He’s a converted former pitcher, only 20 years old, and hits the ball a ton. He tore up the California League last year (.308 avg, .460 obp, .564 slg) and has a bright future.

LATEST NEWS:
The Mariners leave for Japan on Wednesday (the 19th) and have a few spots on the pitching staff still to be decided. Manager Bob Melvin has added a couple names to the possible spots in the M’s bullpen. J.J. Putz has been thrown in the mix because of an impressive spring, as has Julio Mateo. Putz isn’t going to wow anyone, but he’s been solid in the minors for the last 3 years, posting sub 4.00 ERA’s each season. He isn’t a strikeout guy (around 5 per 9 innings) but has gotten the job done so far.

The front four of the rotation is set with Garcia, Moyer, Pineiro, and Ryan Franklin. Spot #5 has come down to a battle between Gil Meche and Jamey Wright. Meche really helped his cause with a great outing on Friday. Wright was supposed to get a start on Sunday to try to match him but the game was rained out. Wright will start Tuesday. Tuesday is also the deadline for the M’s to let Wright know if he made the team or not. If not, he’s free to try to find a job with another team. Even if he doesn’t win a spot in the rotation, Wright is a favorite to get one of the 3 remaining spots in the bullpen. Meche should win this battle for the rotation spot.

The bullpen has closer Kazu Sasaki, set-up guys Arthur Rhodes and Jeff Nelson, and middle reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa. The 3 remaining bullpen spots will come from a growing group: Either Meche or Wright, Ken Cloude, J.J. Putz, Julio Mateo, or Rafael Soriano. Cloude is nearly a lock for one of the spots because of his impressive spring so far.

Freddy Garcia has never been a good Spring Training pitcher, but this year he looks even worse than usual. He finished the 2002 season terribly (5-5, 5.66 ERA in the second half) and hasn’t gotten on track yet this spring. Most recently, rather than make his regularly-scheduled start against the Colorado Rockies, Garcia started on a practice field against a team of Seattle’s Class A minor-leaguers, and was knocked around for 3 runs in the first inning and 3 more runs in the fifth. In the five innings, he hit 2 batters, walked 3, struck out 4, gave up 9 hits (including 3 triples and a double), and 6 runs. A truly ugly outing for the supposed staff Ace, going against Single A players. His comment after the game didn’t show much concern, “It’s just that minor-leaguers swing at everything, he said. “I got a couple curveballs up, and in the majors they wouldn’t swing at those pitches.” Huh? In the majors, those pitches become souvenirs.

Contrast Garcia’s outing with Joel Pineiro on the same day. Pineiro started against the Rockies and went six innings, allowing 3 hits, 2 runs, no walks, and picking up 8 strikeouts. He looked like the Ace this day.

What does it mean Fantasy-wise? Well, spring training stats shouldn’t get anyone too nervous but it’s definitely a good idea to keep an eye on Freddy early, if you’ve already drafted him. Look at the schedule, also. Freddy’s first 2 starts will be against the A’s, his 3rd and 4th starts will likely be against the Texas Rangers, a good-hitting ballclub, then another start against the A’s. That’s a tough start to the season.

LOCAL SPIN:
In Seattle, everyone is wondering what’s wrong with Freddy Garcia. After going 18-6, 3.05 in 2001, when the M’s tied the all-time record with 116 wins, we thought he had become our #1 guy, no question. After last year’s post-All Star Break swoon and a terrible spring training so far, questions are being asked. The local rumors are that he’s quite a partier, spending a lot of late nights on the Eastside. His body language on the mound doesn’t inspire confidence either. The ability is still there, though. He’s got the stuff to be a solid top-of-the-rotation anchor, but it hasn’t happened yet.

INJURIES:
Catcher Dan Wilson will start the season on the 15-day DL, leaving the Mariners with three catchers in camp: Ben Davis, Pat Borders, and Julio Mosquera. Davis will get the bulk of the playing time but Borders has hit the ball a ton in spring training and should get some starts against lefties. Davis is slated to start both games versus the A’s in Japan.

QUICK VIEW:
Add: Consider Ben Davis if you’re in an AL-only league, Dan Wilson’s injury could linger and there’s not much in the way of good-hitting catchers these days. Davis could at least hit double-digits in homers.

Hold: If you have Freddy Garcia, hold onto him. His value is low at the moment because of his bad spring and second-half swoon of last year, so you wouldn’t get enough for him in a trade. Wait until the real games start before you try to trade him too soon.