Cliff Lee
MARINERS BREAKING: Cliff Lee deal to Yankees “just about done”
Tags: Cliff Lee
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Mariners bats provide fireworks in 8-1 win
The Seattle Mariners offense exploded for 8 runs against the Detroit Tigers today allowing the Mariners to salvage one game of this series with the 8-1 win. Cliff Lee pitched another great game, going 8 innings and fanning 11 Tigers to tie his personal career high. Lee, who along with Ichiro were named to the AL All-star team today, had this one in control all day allowing just one run in the first. At this point it is getting hard to watch Cliff Lee pitch knowing each outing may be his last, sort of like the uneasy feeling I had as a young sailor prior to heading off to sea and trying to shut down my affection for my woman in order to carry-on without her once I left my home port. Lee is scheduled to make a start next Friday against the Yankees prior to the All-star break where he hopefully will still be wearing a Mariners uniform.
It was nice to see the Mariners give their starter some backing today led by Russell Branyon and Casey Kotchman who each launched 3-run cherry bombs into the stands at Comerica Park. Branyon got the start as DH today and came up with Ichiro and Chone Figgins on base in the third, connecting for his second home run as a Mariner off of Tigers starter Jeremy Bonderman. Casey Kotchman who apparently had a talk with Don Wakamatsu a few days ago pleading his case for playing time, launched his first home run since April 18th with two aboard in the fifth inning. Kotchman along with Figgins each collected three hits apiece today as part of a 15-hit barrage by the light hitting Mariners. Today’s game coupled with the 7-run outbursts against the Yankees earlier in the week feel almost like teases for a fan base that has been fed a steady diet of low-scoring affairs by the Mariners for most of the year. Today’s win sends the club home with a respectable 4-5 record from this road trip against three tough teams following a great home stand.
Today marked the 81st game of the season and the official midway point of a year that as many of you fans know has been difficult to watch despite the relatively good ball we have been playing for the last three weeks. The Kansas City Royals are in town this week followed by another series with the Yankees where all the ex-pats from New York will be out in full force. Somehow I thought we would be in the thick of a pennant race at this point in the year rather than the usual routine of fading away into oblivion just as the sun comes out in Seattle.
Either way I am going to hang in there and continue to write these posts till October as I grind my way through my rookie year as a Mariners blogger. I want to thank all of you who have hung with me through this voyage thus far despite all the spelling errors and sometimes odd threads of thought. If all goes according to plans I will continue to improve and upgrade this site including adding podcasts so you can hear the voice behind the curtain after the All-star break. We still have a lot of baseball left to play as the barometer starts to rise in the Seattle area with calm weather and sunshine ahead. http://jeffsmariners.com
Happy 4th of July!
Tagged: Casey Kotchman, Cliff Lee, Detroit Tigers, Mariners, Russell Branyon
Tags: Barometer Rising?, Casey Kotchman, Cliff Lee, Detroit Tigers, Russell Branyon
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Detroit motors over Mariners 6-1
The Detroit Tigers led by pitching Ace Justin Verlander beat the visiting Seattle Mariners at Comerica Park by a score of 6-1 tonight. Verlander who had struggled in his two previous outings against the Mariners had his good stuff tonight striking out 10 and walking only 1 batter. The Tigers are in the thick of the AL central race along with the Twins and the resurgent White Sox. The Mariners had another poor outing by their starting pitcher, this time it was Jason Vargas who followed a weak performance by Doug Fister the night before. Vargas was no match for the powerful Tigers lineup and was charged with 6 earned runs tonight before handing the ball to Brian Sweeney.
As you may remember coming into spring training both Vargas and Fister were considered question marks as far as making the starting rotation. Both pitchers had great starts in the early part of the season with several great outings apiece. The big question now is whether the burst of brilliance by these two was just a fluke and that they are indeed just average vs. good pitchers? In baseball a game of statistics it is hard to escape reality over a significant period of time as the numbers don’t lie, especially in today’s world of advanced analytics.
Are Vargas and Fister indeed just reverting to the sort of pitchers that they actually are? Only time will tell but if indeed these two were pitching over their heads early on, then the second half of this season could be really ugly indeed. As we all know this year’s offense is not much to brag about and tonight was no exception as the Mariners only managed the 1 run and went down on strikes a total of 12 times tonight. There were a few innings where we had a chance to rally such as the 4th and the 7th , but once again no one stepped up to deliver a clutch-hit. After a nice two-week period where we went 9-5 the lads seem to be lost at sea again.
I was thinking about all the players I have watched and read about over the years and I have come up with a little rating system that I thought I would share with the readers. Now this is by no means a quantifiable saber metrics system, but it works for me in general to classify players.
1: Poor players: Major League talent, inconsistent, low desire level. Ex: Rob Johnson
2: Average players: Major League talent, desire to win but inconsistent: Ex: Jose Lopez
3: Good players: Major league talent, desire to win, consistent: Ex: Franklin Gutierrez
4: Great players: Major league talent, strong desire to win, consistent in the clutch: Ex: Cliff Lee
Of course there are variations of this but in my mind there are these 4 distinct categories of players, with the majority over the years leaning towards average or good. The poor players usually don’t stick around to long with the Mariners and coincidently the great ones seem to move on from the Mariners after awhile……hmmm
So it does look like we will get to see Cliff Lee pitch at least one more game in a Mariner uniform as we try to salvage a game out of this series before returning home to play the Royals. I have heard conflicting reports of whether or not Eric Bedard is going to make his first start of the year on Tuesday or not. At this point it is almost anti-climatic considering he is coming back to a last place team rather than returning to help the Mariners down the stretch and into the play-offs like we all were anticipating a few months ago. Anyway happy Fourth of July everyone! http://jeffsmariners.com
Tagged: Cliff Lee, Detroit Tigers, Jason Vargas, Justin Verlander, seattle mariners
Tags: Cliff Lee, Detroit Tigers, Floundering at Sea, Jason Vargas, Justin Verlander, seattle mariners
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Randy Johnson trade of 1998… Cliff Lee 2010…
The Mariners lost 7-1 tonight at the hands of the Detroit Tigers 7-1. This game was not very exciting for a Mariners fan with the exception of a lone home run by Franklin Gutierrez. The win puts the Tigers a game back in the AL Central, while the Mariners are stuck 14 back in the AL West. As many of you know there are really two Mariners games going on these days, one on the field and one surrounding the whole Cliff Lee situation.
Tonight while I was watching the game I was reminded by the presence of Carlos Guillen in the Tigers lineup, of the infamous Randy Johnson trade in 1998 that Guillen was part of. While I realize this was a different situation and era there are still some parallels to the current Cliff Lee situation. I clearly remember being at the Kingdome on July 31st 1998 watching the home dugout all night to keep an eye on Johnson in the hopes we would not trade him. Sadly I remember in about the 6th inning Johnson leaving the dugout, then hearing on the radio that he had been traded to Houston. I am not sure the fans ever got an accurate story about why we traded him though there was talk about concerns over his back issues. There were also some derogatory comments floating around that Johnson was not giving 100% towards the trade deadline, which knowing Randy Johnson I never believed. It was definitely a difficult time for most of the fans I know and I still think it was a huge mistake which even Chuck Armstrong and Howard Lincoln would probably admit today in private.
When it was announced that the Houston Astros were giving us a young pitcher named Freddie Garcia and an infielder named Carlos Guillen along with a player to be named later, most fans were even more stunned. I recall Ken Griffey Jr. saying in an interview: “I wonder what they would get for me, a bucket of baseballs?” Of course at the time the Houston Astros were making a run for the playoffs and gave up these two top prospects along with John Halama in order to try to get a World Championship. As it turns out the Astros did go on to win 102 games that year only to be knocked out by San Diego in the first round of the playoffs. Randy Johnson went 10-1 for the Astros after being traded though if I recall he wasn’t spectacular in the playoffs. The Astros took a gamble and lost, for even though Johnson pitched well they didn’t make it to the World Series or re-sign him the next year.
The Mariners however did get a great year out of Freddie Garcia in 1999 as he went 17-8. Garcia would go on to be a big part of the Mariners success in subsequent years before being traded in 2004 to the White Sox with catcher Ben Davis for Mike Morse, Miguel Oliva, and Jeremy Reed. Garcia has been up and down since leaving the Mariners but is now back with the White Sox and having a good year at age 35 with a 8-3 record last I checked. Carlos Guillen was also a valuable asset to the Mariners at shortstop from 1998-2003 though it appears his trade in 2004 to the Tigers was another poor decision. Guillen has played well in Detroit being named to 3 All-Star teams and was rated at 6.7 WAR in 2006 along with accumulating a career .287 average. The third player John Halama, stayed with the Mariners until he was traded to Oakland in 2003. Halama was 36-27 as a Mariner and was 14-9 in 2000 and appears to be trying to make one more shot as the 38 year-old actually pitched a game against Tacoma in AAA this year.
So to bring this all together it appears that the 1998 deadline trade as difficult and unpopular as it, turned out to be a decent deal for the Mariners in the long run. And with a little luck and cunning Jack Z. should be able to replicate with the Cliff Lee situation. Houston did make the play-offs though not the World Series in 1998, and the Mariners picked up some great talent in exchange for a player that only pitched part of a season. There are several teams out there that like Houston in 1998, may get just giddy enough with the thought of a World Series that they will mortgage the future for a shot at the glory of winning it all. Of course this was all in the pre-economic crash days when Americans loved to buy now and pay later hoping later would never come, and we all know where that sort of thinking got us….
While I would love to keep Cliff Lee, I think it would be even sweeter to wait it out for the Mets, Reds, Dodgers, Twins or some other club to break down at the last-minute and give us some players like we got for Randy Johnson. So tomorrow is another day with a game against the Tigers on the field, as well as the Cliff Lee guessing game that will just get more interesting as the days go by. http://jeffsmariners.com
Tagged: carlos Guillen, Cliff Lee, Freddie Garcia, John Halama, Mariners, Randy Johnson
Tags: carlos Guillen, Cliff Lee, Freddie Garcia, John Halama, Randy Johnson
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MARINERS COLUMN: The Cliff Lee Debacle
Tags: Cliff Lee
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Mariners crush Yankees again 7-0!
Lee and Hernandez a pair of Aces
The Seattle Mariners shutout the New York Yankees 7-0 in front of 46,309 stunned fans in the Bronx. Felix Hernandez used his wicked slider mixed in with his lively fastball to blank the Yankees giving up only 2 hits en route to his third complete-game of the year. Hernandez kept the AL East leading Yankees big bats silent for the second night in a row, following Cliff Lee’s similar performance in the first game of the three game series. Hernandez who had some rough outings earlier in the year is definitely hitting his stride in the month of June delivering perhaps his best showing of the 2010 campaign.
The Mariners offense was back on track for the second night in a row as well giving King Felix a seven run cushion to work with. In a role reversal of sorts the Mariners came up with 4 long-balls tonight, including 2 from young Michael Saunders and one each from Milton Bradley and Russell Branyon. Bradley delivered the first bomb in the top of the second inning to set the tone for the surging Mariners who moved to 33-44 on the year with tonight’s sweet victory. In the next inning Michael Saunders came up with his first homer followed by an RBI single off the bat of Jose Lopez who is quietly finding his stroke, making it 3-0. Hernandez cruised through the middle innings toying with the powerful Bronx Bombers continuing to add to his strikeout total which would eventually reach 11.
In the top of the 7th after Chone Figgins singled and stole second, Russell “The Muscle” Branyon blasted his first home run since returning to the Mariners and suddenly the Mariners were up 5-0. It was nice to see the burly Branyon hit his 11th homer of the year in only his second game back to help silence the critics who second guessed this move. But the night was not yet quite over for the Mariners offense as Michael Saunders went on to add another two-run blast in the eighth inning. Hitting two homers in one night at Yankee stadium will go a long way in boosting the confidence level for youngster from B.C.
This past few weeks have felt like a new season for the Mariners, and for the last two nights the Mariners bats have given the run support to their Aces that hasn’t been there for most of the season. We still have eleven games to go before the All-Star break and it’s entirely feasible that our boys could pass-up the Oakland A’s in the standings before the second-half of the season starts. But for now it is one game at a time, starting with tomorrow mornings final of this series with C.C. Sabathia going against Ryan Rowland-Smith. You can bet the Yankees have had enough of losing to the upstarts from Seattle, Ryan Rowland-Smith will need to continue to pitch as well as he has done lately to give the Mariners a sweep in the Bronx.
Meanwhile the Cliff Lee saga drags on one more day with the contenders posturing in the press with rumors, in an effort to try to see if they can get the Mariners to settle for prospects. The Mariners have let it be known through channels that we are looking for a Major League- ready middle of the order bat. I applaud Jack Zduriencik for playing his cards close to his chest, holding out for what we need. In reality if we can keep playing winning ball a good case can be made for keeping Cliff Lee. More will be revealed as the summer sun grows warmer……..http://jeffsmariners.com
Tagged: Cliff Lee, Felix Hernandez, Mariners, Michael Saunders, Yankees
Tags: Cliff Lee, Felix Hernandez, Michael Saunders, The Comeback Trail, Yankees
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This team has been so boring.
I know I haven’t written in awhile. And the biggest reason for me has been…what is there to write about? Yeah, Josh Wilson has still hit all right. Yay, my hunch was semi-right there. Thus far, anyway. What else has happened?
Bradley has continued to struggle, trading a few good games for a three or four game stretch of hopelessness.
Figgins has continued to slowly move his average and OPS up, and then have the occassional 0-4 that drives the casual fan crazy, making them think he hasn’t been improving.
Guti’s managed to put a few multi-hit games together to keep his overall season numbers looking average or slightly above, but his slide has gone largely unnoticed, mostly because this team is so boring, no one wants to watch.
I mean, I’ve been going to the home games and catching the road games when I can, but holy crap, there is just nothing exciting going on on the field except when Cliff Lee or Felix pitch. On those days, you know you may have a shot of seeing a complete game win, or a high strikeout performance, or no walks. On the other days you know you’re going to get decent pitching, good defense, and most likely no offense. Though, as Jeff Sullivan over at Lookout Landing points out, they’ve been playing .500 baseball since their big losing streak in May, they’re just generally a snooze fest. I mean, tomorrow is July and your team home run leader is Franklin Gutierrez with 7. Yeah, Branyan has 10, but none as a Mariner.
But that makes a fan have to grasp onto things that get that passion burning again. I don’t know how anyone else felt, but for those first two games against the Cubs, when all those bandwagon losers came in cheering for the Cubs and left the stadium feeling sad and dejected, that was an emotional high for me as a fan. Being able to yell to the masses of people in Theriot shirts “HA HA! Your team lost to the MARINERS!” is a good feeling. Also, being able to see sad Yankee fans walking out of the stadium after Cliff Lee yet again made them their bitch on a night without anything close to his best stuff is another small emotional high for a fan of a bad team.
The thing is, that’s really it. We haven’t had a team to watch that provides us with exciting, dramatic moments. Sure, there have been some dramatic situations, but it’s hard to feel the drama when you see Rob Johnson stepping into the batters box and psychologically it feels like there’s a 100% chance he’s going to bounce into an inning ending double play, and probably on one of the first two pitched of the plate appearance.
I think there’s hope for enjoyment the rest of the season, however. I really don’t believe Lopez, Bradley, and Figgins will end the year with OPSes in thelow .600s. I also think Branyan is going to provide some excitement, with long, towering home runs. We also get to watch Michael Saunders’ continued improvement. Finally, while one piece of excitement will be going away in Cliff Lee, he’s not going away for nothing. Whatever the return for Lee is, we will be able to watch that player try and develop into a star, getting his first real chance to succeed at the Major League level.
So while the first half has been boring enough to make me want to shoot myself between the legs and then in the head, I think the second half should provide M’s fans with a little bit more excitement.
Tags: Chone Figgins, Cliff Lee, cubs fans, franklin gutierrez, Jose Lopez, Josh Wilson, Mariners General, Michael Saunders, Milton Bradley, russell branyan
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Mariners beat Yankees 7-4
The Seattle Mariners won the first game of a three game series against the New York Yankees 7-4 tonight. The Mariners who are currently in last place in the AL West came into the Bronx as definite underdogs to the storied Yankees who currently sit on top of the competitive AL East. Cliff Lee got the start tonight against young Phil Hughes in front of 45,780 fans who produced a dull roar in the background tonight as the Mariners managed to have one of their best nights offensively of the season. Lee did not have his best stuff tonight as was evident early in the game where Cliff Lee started out several Yankees batters with a ball instead of his normal 0-1 count. Cliff Lee who is on everyone’s mind with the trade deadline approaching proved he was human tonight giving up a walk for the first time in 38 innings, as well as allowing 3 earned runs including two homers to Nick Swisher. Lee who was interviewed after the game tipped his hand regarding his desire to play for a winning team when he said “It is fun playing in front of a knowledgeable fan base that doesn’t need a tele-prompter to know when to cheer”. Well Cliff try sitting in the stands with them for 25 years! You do deserve to play on a winning team in the limelight and the Mets apparently want you. But hey can you just stick around for a few more starts to make things more interesting for those of us who do love the game and the way you do your job?
Offensively the Mariners looked aggressive most of the night with the exception of a couple of base running gaffes early in the game that didn’t cost us anything but looked a bit bush-league. Russel Branyon was in the lineup tonight and though he didn’t do anything spectacular he did get a hit along with everyone else on the team tonight which is the first time I remember that happening all season. Franklin Gutierrez provided the only home run for the Mariners in the top of the fourth; otherwise it was a team effort in getting runs scored. Rob Johnson had a pair of doubles tonight and narrowly missed a third in his last at-bat, nice to see him produce. Another guy who produced was Jack Wilson who knocked in a couple of runs with a two-out single in the 6th inning. Wilson has come back from his injury playing good defense and has boosted his average up to .273 which is third on the club.
The Mariners managed to keep the crowd subdued for most of this game until the bottom of the ninth when the Yankees put a little rally together. After Posada doubled in Robinson Cano making it 7-4 with one-out the energy in Yankee stadium changed as the fans smelled blood. However after a quick visit to the mound by Rick Adair, Lee settled down and got the final two outs sending the fans home shaking their heads wondering who those guys from Seattle were. Well to be honest it felt like a different team to me tonight as well and I believe the addition of a genuine power-hitter batting third made a difference. We shall see as this season moves along as the pressure is not only off the other hitters to be who they are not, but in all reality the pressure is off the whole team when you are in last place at the moment. Hopefully our team can play looser, have fun and win some more games like they did tonight. http://jeffsmariners.com
Tagged: Cliff Lee, Jack Wilson, New York Yankees, seattle mariners
Tags: Cliff Lee, Jack Wilson, New York Yankees, seattle mariners, The Comeback Trail
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Out of the Beer Vat into the Big Apple
The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Seattle Mariners 3-0 today, winning the series 2-1. This was another game with a familiar 2010 Mariners story-line. Good starting pitching, in this case Jason Vargas, and no offense. Throw in the usual odd ways to kill rallies such as the 8th inning where Ichiro attempted a bunt with 2 on and 1 out, and then went on to line into a double play to end the threat, and you know how the story turns out. The whole Milwaukee experience was quaint with the sausage races and all but now our club is heading into the Lion’s den known as Yankee stadium.
If you thought the Cubs fans were a bit pushy last week, try going to New York the center of the baseball universe. While Jeter, Rodriguez, Posada and Riviera may be aging they still have a great team. Many of you may remember when we had a sort of rivalry with the Yankees in the 95-01 stretch that was quite intense. Ken Griffey Jr. once even stated “I’ll never be a Yankee” and “Yankees Suck” t-shirts had to be banned at Safeco field. Of course the difference then was that we had teams who could and did regularly beat the Bronx Bombers. Now it has become almost an odd ritual for the Yankees fans to come to Safeco and practically take over as Mariners fans are trying to watch the hydro races or the hat trick.
I would venture to guess that there won’t be more than a few hundred Mariners fans at the game when the first pitch is thrown Tuesday night. Those that do attend will be treated more like an oddity than any real threat unlike the dreaded Red Sox fans. Guys like Michael Saunders, Rob Johnson and Josh Wilson do not even show-up on the radar for the knowledgeable Yankees fans and their overzealous media. But the guy throwing that first pitch for the Mariners Tuesday night is well-known in the Big Apple. Cliff Lee was able to shut down the Yankees twice last year pitching for the Phillies in the World Series. The media will be out in force as the speculation about Lee’s future grows stronger every day.
Meanwhile Jack Zduriencik has just brought back Russell “The Muscle” Branyon leading some people to speculate that the Mariners may not be receiving any offers for Lee that make him worth trading at all, thus Jack Z. went to get a power bat and now we will stand pat. Ok it is a stretch, but just maybe all this talk about Lee being a good influence on the Mariners and worth keeping around to teach the young pitchers a few things is indeed true. Perhaps Jack Z. is playing a chess game of sorts and he is setting up some later move. I hope so; we deserve something out of this season even if we just thumb our noses at the rest of the country by keeping Lee for the rest of the year. Jack Z. has stated that in order to develop players they need to do it by winning. Well what better way than to keep Cliff Lee around, hope Branyon produces and try to have a good second half to build on. If we somehow manage to re-sign Cliff Lee that would be a bonus, otherwise we get to win some games and help teach our younger players how to compete like true professionals, plus get some draft picks
So as it turns out there is a lot of subtext going on that may allow our team to once again represent the independent nature of the people who live in the Northwest. Maybe not as direct as when Griffey made his declaration but it could turn out to be just as sweet. Http://jeffsmariners.com
Tagged: Cliff Lee, Jack Zduriencik, Mariners, Yankees
Tags: Cliff Lee, Jack Zduriencik, Yankees
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Russell “the muscle” Branyon is back!
Welcome back Russell 'the muscle" Branyon
Just got it confirmed from multiple sources that Russell Branyon is coming back to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for two minor leaguers. The mariners sent outfielder Ezequiel Carrera and shortstop Juan Diaz to the Cleveland Indians for Branyon. Branyon is hitting 263 with 10 homers and 24 RBI’s since coming off the DL on April 24th. This move comes as a surprise and will take care of the first base issue leaving Kotchman, and Carp expendable. As interesting as it was to watch Mike Sweeney and Josh Wilson playing first I for one will be happy to see Russell “the muscle” back at first.
It is hard to say how this fits into the plans for further trades as this will answer some of our power shortage in the lineup. Perhaps it means we will not trade Cliff Lee and Jack Z. is going to try to win this year. Very interesting development. I saw Jack Z. and Chuck Armstrong in the stands at the game today and had a hunch something was up. We shall see what else transpires in the next couple of weeks, should be interesting…..http://jeffsmariners.com
Official press release:
CLEVELAND, OH — Today, the Cleveland Indians announced they have acquired OF EZEQUIEL CARRERA and SS JUAN DIAZ from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for INF RUSSELL BRANYAN and cash or a player to be named later.
Carrera, 22, has spent the entire 2010 season to date at AAA Tacoma as he has hit .268 (57-213) with 24 runs scored, 6 doubles, 2 triples and 18RBI in 64 games. He has stolen 9 bases in 14 attempts this season but is currently on the AAA disabled list with a left hip pointer. Before being injured, Carrera was hitting .311 (19-61) with 6 runs scored, 3 doubles and 6 RBI in 18 games during the month of June. Prior to the start of the 2010 season, Carrera was ranked as the 15th best prospect in the Mariners organization by Baseball America.
Last year, the left-handed hitting outfielder, won the Southern League Batting title as he hit .337 (111-329) with 68 runs scored, 12 doubles, 4 triples, 2HR and 38RBI in 91 games at AA West Tennessee while being named to both the Southern League All-Star and also the Topps Double-A All-Star team. Carrera also posted a .441 on-base percentage which aled the Southern League and was 3rd best in all of minor league baseball. The Venezuelan native was named the best defensive outfielder in the Florida State League in 2008 by Baseball America. Carrera was originally signed by the Mets as a non-drafted free agent in 2005 and will report to AAA Columbus in the coming days.
Diaz, 21, a 6-4, 170-pound switch hitting shortstop, has spent the entire 2010 season to date at High Desert of the California League batting .295 (75-254) with 39 runs scored, 8 doubles, 3 triples, 7HR and 41RBI in 70 games. He has also stolen 8 bases in 10 attempts and has an OPS of .779 (.345 on-base % & .433 slg. %).
Last year, Diaz batted .311 (101-325) with 55 runs scored, 22 doubles, 5 triples, 4HR and 29RBI in 84 games at High Desert as he was named to the California League All-Star Team. The Dominican Republic native was on the disabled list from June 25-August 4th with a fractured hamate in the left hand however came back to finish the season and played for Peoria in the Arizona Fall League. He was originally signed as a non-drafted free agent by Seattle in 2006 and will report to Kinston in the coming days.
Branyan was signed by the Indians on February 24th and hit .263 (45-171) with 24 runs scored, 9 doubles, 10HR and 24RBI in 52 games for Cleveland this year.
The Indians will make a roster move prior to tomorrow’s game with the Cincinnati Reds to fill Branyan’s spot on the Major League 25-man roster.
Tagged: Cleveland Indians, Cliff Lee, Russell Branyon, Seattle Mariner
Tags: Cleveland Indians, Cliff Lee, Russell Branyon, Seattle Mariner, Special News Flash
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F*** It: We’re Keeping Cliff Lee
I’d like to start by dedicating this post to the guy who keeps commenting on articles, demanding that I stop writing about the Mariners. Enjoy this, beyotch.
Now let’s address what really matters. Cliff Lee. What a pimp. The dude is insane. He’s arguably the best pitcher in baseball right now and it’s effortless. He’s pitching at a level that no Mariner has pitched at since Randy Johnson was in town. He’s that amazing.
Watching Lee pitch is like watching porn. You realize you’re immersed in fantasy, you sense this is too good to be true, and yet you can’t take your eyes off the action. He’s a freakin’ pornstar. We have a pornstar on the mound.
Just a few hours ago, I was under the impression that the Mariners should swap Lee for prospects as the trade deadline nears. It makes sense. The team is in last place, Lee will be a free agent at season’s end. Why not, right?
But after the left-hander’s most recent complete game, my opinion has changed entirely.
We need Cliff Lee. We need to try to keep Cliff Lee. If we trade Cliff Lee, the only time we’ll see him again is when he’s dominating our hitters. Personally, I don’t think I can handle that.
Think of it this way. If we were to swap Lee for prospects at this point, it would be like trading your incredibly hot supermodel fiancee for a pair of 16-year-olds and a junior high schooler to be named later. Yeah, you end up with a handful of potential wives, but you’ve got a lot of question marks, too. Two of these chicks need to get their braces off, one’s been texting the captain of the football team, another is really into Justin Bieber, all three haven’t even experienced the freshman fifteen yet. This is drama you don’t even need. Especially when you’ve already got an ace in your back pocket.
Let’s face it. Prospects are prospects. They might amount to something and they might not. Look at the haul we got for Freddy Garcia a few years ago: Mike Morse, Jeremy Reed, and Miguel Olivo. None of the three turned out as planned. Garcia was one of the premier trade targets at the time, and we got nothing for him. Who’s to say we wouldn’t do this again with Lee?
Look, I get it. Every other in team in baseball is going to be seeking Lee’s services this offseason. Locking Lee up would require ridiculous amounts of money. The hitting will still suck. The guy is 31 years old.
I know all that, and yet I don’t care. That’s how much I love Cliff Lee. Worst case scenario, we ride out this season with the dude taking the hill every fifth day, he goes and signs with another ballclub for 2011, we end up with two first round draft picks as compensation. That’s not as bad as it sounds. And the reward (signing Lee to a longterm deal), seriously outweighs the risk (losing him and getting the two first-rounders), at least in my mind.
No one has said it, so I’ll be the first. We need to keep Cliff Lee. The campaign starts here. Lee in ’11. And ’12. And ’13. And ’14. And for however long he wants to pitch for.
The Mariners need to give it a shot. It’s time we took a risk like this. Come on, Jackie Z. I’m trusting you to work this out. Let’s keep the guy and see if we can’t sign him. I believe in you. This city believes in you. We want Cliff Lee.
Filed under: Mariners
Tags: Cliff Lee
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Mariners crush Cubs 8-1
Oh Canada! Saunders smashes 2-run bomb
The Seattle Mariners offense exploded for 8 runs tonight giving starting pitcher Cliff Lee more than enough run support to beat the Chicago Cubs 8-1. The win gave the surging Mariners their sixth victory in a row against the dejected Cubs who despite spending 140 million dollars on payroll are quickly falling out of contention. Cliff Lee allowed the Cubs 9 hits including a solo home run in the second inning to Tyler Colvin on a night where Lee pitched his way out of several jams. Lee failed once again to allow a walk and fanned 9 Cubs on his way to his fourth complete game of the season. The crafty veteran Lee was a pitch ahead of the hapless Cubs all night mixing in his wicked breaking ball with his fastball in an unpredictable fashion. On a night when you could say he didn’t have his best stuff, Lee used his cunning and experience to keep the Cubs guessing.
The big story tonight was the Mariners bats which came alive allowing the Mariners to score more than 5 runs for the first time since beating the Twins 7-1 nineteen games ago. Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth the M’s loaded the bases for Casey Kotchman who delivered a single to left tying the game up 1-1.Rob Johnson went down on strikes and with 2-outs the young Canadian Michael Saunders picked up the 1st of his 4 RBI’s with a walk. Ichiro then finished of the scoring with a single to score Josh Wilson and the lumbering Kotchman from second, to hand Cliff Lee a 4-1 lead. Lee quickly mowed down the Cubs in the top of the fifth striking out Soriano and Castro. In the top of the sixth the Cubs got the first two batters on and threatened to get back into it, but again Lee closed out the inning with a couple of his 9 k’s and some good defense by Jose Lopez at third. The M’s added a couple more insurance runs in the sixth when Saunders drove in Rob Johnson with a line drive double to right. Ichiro then laid-down a beautiful bunt to advance Saunders to third allowing, Chone Figgins to bring him home on a weak groundball. It was refreshing to see the club move runners around tonight and they were 5-10 with RISP.
The infield had three double plays on the night to help out Lee in key situations. Interesting to note that Josh Wilson got the start at short and played well there as well as picking up a couple of hits. Something special is going on here and I think Wakamatsu doesn’t want to mess with the chemistry too much. Wak even let the struggling Milton Bradley stay in the line-up despite having Mike Sweeney available. True to form the Cubs fans rode Bradley all night so perhaps Wakamatsu is letting Bradley face his demons so to speak.
In the eighth inning Michael Saunders connected for a 2-run blast his 5th of the year and though I have taken a wait and see attitude with the lanky youngster, I think he may just be a good fit for this club. It was once again inspiring to watch Cliff Lee run out to the mound in the late innings just like a kid who loves to play the game and doesn’t want to give his manager a chance to tell him he can’t go back on the field. Lee is definitely a throw-back to a different era and I think his hustle and focus are setting a great example for the young guys like Vargas and Saunders. At this point it seems like it would be a shame to lose Cliff Lee for in addition to his stellar performances on the mound he is setting the tone for the next era of Mariners baseball-Thanks Cliff!
So the bad news on the night is that Texas won again and are now 17-4 in June leaving the Mariners in their familiar spot of 13 back. On a positive note the Oakland A’s lost and are 10 ½ back so we need to keep our nose to the grindstone and make sure we catch them by the All-Star break. Tomorrow we go for back-to-back sweeps with Felix Hernandez on the mound for a 1240 start on what will hopefully be another beautiful NW day. I don’t know about you but I’m heading down to the Safe with a Wisk- broom to help cheer for a sweep! http://jeffsmariners.com
Tagged: Chicago Cubs, Cliff Lee, Ichiro, Mariners, Michael Saunders
Tags: Chicago Cubs, Cliff Lee, ERA heaven, Ichiro, Michael Saunders
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Mariners give Chicago the blues 2-0
Jeff and date at Wrigley Field for Mariners game 2007
The Seattle Mariners won the first game of a three game series at home against the visiting Chicago Cubs 2-0.The Mariners won for their fifth win in a row against former Mariners manager Lou Piniella and the crew from the windy city. Jason Vargas improved his record to 6-2 with his third consecutive win using his change-up to keep the Cubs off-balance in their first trip to Safeco in eight years. As usual the Cubs had a sizeable group of fans at the game tonight and they lived-up to their reputation with cat-calls and boos for Milton Bradley who was a bust with the Cubs. Unfortunately Carlos Silva will not be pitching Thursday as planned so the Mariners fans won’t be able to give him a little welcome back reception of his own. It always amazes how tolerant Seattle fans are when the transplants come out in force for the big East Coast Teams visits to Seattle. As you can see by the picture above I made a trip to Wrigley field three years ago, where I was treated rather poorly by the grumpy Cubs fans. Of course it has been 102 years since the Cubs have won a World Series so I guess they have a right to be a little edgy.
Tonight the Mariners were able to sneak by the Cubs with great starting pitching by Vargas, good support from the pen, and a 2-run homer off the bat of Franklin Gutierrez in the bottom of the second for the games only runs. It appears that the Mariners would fit right into the National League with their strong starting pitching and good defense. Of course at some point the offense will need to produce more than they have in this 5-game streak, but for now it is just nice to watch our starters baffle the hitters on these NL Clubs. Unfortunately the Texas Rangers won again tonight behind the bat of red-hot Josh Hamilton and so the Mariners remain 13 games back in the AL West. We are closing in on the Oakland A’s however who are 9 games out of first. The way we are playing now it is possible that the M’s could overtake the A’s before the All-Star break which would be a huge moral victory for this club and its loyal fans.
I heard Jack Zduriencik on the radio before the game and he sounded a lot less evasive and was actually quite honest about the fact that things have not gone as expected this year. I think Jack Z. like a lot of us, sort of hit an emotional bottom a few weeks ago and is now just taking it day by day. Cliff Lee is pitching tomorrow and as we all know Jack Z. is the man who will ultimately be responsible for the decision on whether to trade him or let him go. I have made my opinions known how I feel on this situation and after hearing our GM’s calm and frank demeanor today I am feeling much better on how the situation will be handled.
If the Cubs felt bad about losing tonight to Jason Vargas, wait till they try to score some runs off our back to back Aces coming their way. Yes indeed tomorrow its Cliff Lee, followed by Felix on Thursday for a day game. Summer comes late in Seattle but when it gets here there is no place in the world this old sailor would rather be, especially with two Aces up your sleeve….http://jeffsmariners.com
*note I have made some modifications to my Blog after hearing from some of the readers. I hope this new format is easier to read and more user-friendly. Let me know what you think.
Tagged: Chicago Cubs, Cliff Lee, Franklin Gutierrez, Jack Zduriencik, Jason Vargas, Lou Piniella, Mariners
Tags: Chicago Cubs, Cliff Lee, ERA heaven, franklin gutierrez, Jack Zduriencik, Jason Vargas, Lou Piniella
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We have Cliff Lee and you don’t
Hello Baseball world today is June 21st 2010 and I am sending this cryptic message from the NorthWest corner of the USA. Though it may come as a surprise to you we actually still have Cliff Lee on our team, the Seattle Mariners. Yes I know many of you are uncomfortable with trying to fathom this fact and thus have begun to speculate who should get Cliff Lee and which prospects you will send up to those odd folks who live next to Canada and usually vote for Democrats. But I want to remind you that we may be mellow but we are not dumb.
Actually many of us are beginning to wonder if we are going to trade him at all. After our last weekend of stellar pitching where we humbled the mighty Cincinnati Reds by holding them to one run for the whole series, we are actually thinking about letting Cliff Lee stay here the rest of the summer (which arrives around July 5th here). Perhaps you think that by bundling up a bunch of young unproven talent and sending them up here on a jet (which we probably built) that we will part with this incredible pitcher so you can go to the World Series and we will go back to reading books or talking about the great run by the 95 Mariners…..
Sure our GM Jack Zduriencik has been polite and taken all your calls like a proper Seattle citizen, but we may just take our chances with the draft picks we get if we can’t resign him. Now if you find yourself a little short on overpowering pitchers and you think you may want to part with a proven Major League Power hitter, feel free to call. But enough already with these stupid articles and rumors about who will get Lee without giving the Mariners a fair trade. You may want to turn your TV on and watch the “Deadliest Catch” if you want to get another perspective on what kind of people you are dealing with. Many of us are actually living in this cold damp place just to get away from the rest of you out there in New York, LA, Texas and other non-skookum places.
Cliff Lee is a one of a kind pitcher who in this dismal first half of the season has given this city someone kind of like us to cheer for. You know hard-working, friendly, decent and productive. If you want to see Cliff Lee pitch you are more than welcome to pack your stuff in your cars and move to Ballard or Wallingford, heck we will even allow you to merge in front of us on the freeway without batting an eye. But just remember we have Cliff Lee and you don’t. http://jeffsmariners.com
Tagged: Cliff Lee, seattle mariners
Tags: Cliff Lee, seattle mariners, Special News Flash
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MARINERS: Sunday’s 1-0 win completes series sweep over Reds
Tags: Cliff Lee, Felix Hernandez, Reds
Posted in: Mariners, Uncategorized | No Comments »