New General Manager and the Report for the Year on the Mariners

Those who are Seattle Mariner fans know they signed Jerry Dipoto as their new general manger. Most recently he was the general manager of the Angels. Right he looks to be a good hire as the general manger because he knows the American League West division and the Mariners pretty good since the Angels play them nineteen games a season.

The reason he is no longer with the Angels he resigned because of conflict with the owner and the manager of the Angels though he spoke ill well against them on his press conference on Tuesday Sept. 29. Of course, we would expect anyone being hired speak badly of his previous employer.

At this point it seems to be a pretty good hire because he knows the Mariners pretty well already. We will have to see if he will keep Lloyd McClendon as manager or not. Lloyd only has one year remaining on his contract so that part of it is no big deal one way or another. I don’t have opinion whether Lloyd should stay or not. His first season as manager was successful with the Mariners missing the playoffs by one game; however, this season the Mariners will end being under .500. Really hard to know whether he will return or not; however, I am sure we will know only a few days after the season ends this coming Sunday.

What I really liked that Jerry Dipoto said is that he will build the Mariners to match Safeco Field. Though the Mariners were swept over the last weekend by the Angels of all teams they had a better record on the road than at home. What I would like to see the Mariners add to the starting pitching rotation along with the bullpen. Also, more speed in the outfield which I will say more in the report card; which I begin with now.

First of all I start off with manager Lloyd McClendon giving him a D. Though the problem with the Mariners has not totally been his fault he is responsible for how the season ends and give the team a D as well. Since I don’t sit in the clubhouse I can only see what I see. What I see is a team that did not have a lot of enthusiasm except on a few occasions. It did not help the team started off slow in April because of the starting pitching, and then May came where the hitting had a bad month. They only recovered on the hitting in August when the season turned out to be over. The relief pitching turned out much worse than any of us expected. In fact, the bullpen gave us optimism when the season began because of last season.

First position I report on is the catching. I give them D because of the hitting, and the demotion of Mike Zunino at the end of August. Most likely I would give a D minus if it was not for both Zunino and Sucre’s defense. We can hope that Zunino can return next season doing a much better job hitting; however, the Mariners will need to go out and get another catcher especially since Sucre was not much better hitter though did improve with Zunino’s demotion. I am not sure who is on the market; however, I would like the Mariners to go for a left handed hitting catcher who could play some first base or DH as well. Even if Zunino can hit .230 and hit with some power again I would like him to catch three or four times a week. He could DH once a week if needed.

First base I would give a D plus primarily because of Mark Trumbo playing there some of the last month or so. We all know that started off slowly when he was traded to the Mariners in late May but improved quite a bit after the all-star break. Logan Morrison has played some really good defense at first base; however, the Mariners got him for hitting and power which he has not performed well in the two years with the team. His performance to me has been like Justin Smoak. So I would like them to trade him for some prospects and or a pitcher. I am still up in the air on Jesus Montero though he has improved over the last season, and has worked very hard. I would like to see him play some first base and DH especially against left handed pitching. Though neither fit the mold of playing in Safeco Field at least first base and DH are two positions that the Mariners can go with guys with power only.

Speaking of DH I would give a B plus mainly because of the time Nelson Cruz has hit in that position. If he played there full time which he may do more so next season the report card would be an easy A. Other players who DH when Cruz was not did no more an adequate job though better than the last few seasons. I would like to see Cruz play some in right field next season primarily when the Mariners are on the road depending on the park, and they are facing left hitting pitching if both Trumbo and Montero are still on the team. In Safeco Field I prefer Cruz to be DH most of the time because of playing to the park.

Second base I grade a C plus primarily because of the first half the season where Robinson Cano was missing. Most likely it was because of injury; however, he still was missing. He improved and played Cano like after the all-star break or his grade would have been lower. We can only hope he will return close to his regular self next season. Also, his defense was not the same as we are accustomed to as well.

At third base I also give a grade of C plus for the same reason as second base where Kyle Seager was missing first half of the season and recovered after the all-star break. We can only hope it was just an off first half for Seager this one time. If it wasn’t for Nelson Cruz it would have been a big bust for the mighty three.

Left field I would give a C. The primary reason was the second half season of the resurgence of Franklin Gutierrez, and Seth Smith. The first half of the season having Rickie Weeks playing there sometimes or DH before his release; I don’t completely blame him because he was not used to be a part time player, and my belief is that he should have been in the lineup more often sometimes against right handed hitters. Both he and Ruggiano went days without playing.

Center field I give a report of a C for average as well. I thought that Austin Jackson did a good job especially after his return of injury, and before the Mariners traded him to the Chicago Cubs in August. I did not understand why Lloyd decided to play Dustin Ackley a lot in center field during the time Jackson was injured instead of Ruggiano who in my mind was the better choice before he was dfa and then sent to Tacoma. In September he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. For some reason either Lloyd or Jack Z did not like the play of Ruggiano. The Mariners finally gave up on Ackley at the end of the trading deadline trading to the Yankees. After Jackson was traded the Mariners have played Brad Miller primarily with a Shawn O’Malley against left handed pitching. We will have to see what Dipoto decides to do with centerfield whether Brad Miller will play the position or go out and get a centerfielder.

Right field I give a B. I thought about a B plus but decided to settle on a B. Of course, the main reason even a B was that Nelson Cruz played more games at the position than we all expected though Seth Smith and Ruggiano started there in April along with Mark Trumbo when he was traded over in late May. I figure the Mariners will have either a regular left fielder or right fielder next season depending on whether they go out and get a center fielder. I would like to see them go out and get two outfielders one playing either left or right, and center field.

Starting pitching I give a record of a B because of Felix. TaiJuan Walker had an up and down season though more up in the second half that gives the Mariners a lot of hope for next season. J.A. Happ had an OK season helping out Felix especially when Iwakuma was hurt. We had some up and downs to with other starting pitching especially with Mike Montgomery. The Mariners do have hope but need to add more dept.

Relief pitching is a d minus no question. In fact, if it wasn’t for Carson Smith and Tom Wihelmsen it would have been a big F. It was the biggest problem the Mariners have had this season. It is hard to say who will be in the bullpen next season besides Smith and Wihelmsen. I am sure they may keep a couple of the other pitchers but only a guessing game. We can only hope the bullpen can return to 2014 status.

So this is my report card for the season. We can hope that Dipoto can fill in the holes the Mariners have. It will be an interesting off season so right now I end here with Go Mariners!  

  

    

The Angels Sweep the Mariners

I thought the Seattle Mariners had a good shot at sweeping the Angels on the road especially since the Mariners have played the Angels so well, and the series meant so much to the Angels the Mariners had something to play for. I guess I was wrong though the Mariners were in each of the games.

The Mariners found out again over the weekend that their hitting again has some work to do though in recent times they had been doing much better. The pitching was outstanding in the series though it did have some problems late in each game; however, the hitting even it was average they would have at least won two out of three games. On Saturday night you have to give Mike Trout credit for making an outstanding catch to rob Jesus Montero of a game winning three run homerun. We do know those things happen sometimes during the season. Of course, they still had a chance but Freeze hit a walk off home run to win the game on Saturday.

The Mariners seem to lose a lot of games in the walk off fashion. You can say that happens when your team is in so many close games throughout the season. I actually commented on twitter to one of the Mariner beat writers that the team always seems to lose so many games in the walk off way, and if any other teams were even close to the Mariners for losing walk offs. He said that the Mariners were tied with the Tampa Bay Rays. It sort of surprised me though maybe it should not since the Rays have a losing record like the Mariners. Both teams show with a little bit more offense or relief pitching whatever the case maybe they could have winning seasons. The Mariners it has sort of both the offense and relief pitching generally not at the same time. I have to say this has to be one of the most frustrating parts of this season for the Mariners that all the parts of the team have not worked together very often. Most likely if we go over the history of baseball we would find the case where most losing teams have a lot of games where they lose by two runs or less.

 I am not sure what is worse to lose many games by two runs or less or be blown out in a lot of games. In either case it is not fun to watch; however, changes can happen to a team that loses by a two runs or less easier than a team that gets blown out. All the same changes will need to happen in both circumstances. In the case of the Mariners they need to add another bat or two along with a pitcher in both starting and relieving. Actually in the bullpen they may look to make several changes while a team that is blown out a lot needs to blow up their team; however, I don’t see that happens very often. A team that loses over a hundred games in a season needs to be blown up regardless why they lost that many games. At least we are lucky the Mariners are not in that category. The management of the Mariners are tired of being a mediocre team at least that is what they say anyway and I believe it otherwise why would they have fired Jack Z.

Soon the Mariners will be hiring a new general manager. It is possible the new general manger could be in place as early as this week. It will be interesting to hear and write about the new general manager. I will be coming out soon about my season ending report card. I believe it wouldn’t be much different than what I said at the all-star break though the Mariners did have some improvements in the second half. My grade for the team won’t change but maybe some things to say may have changed. I guess we will have to see. All we know for sure the off-season will be interesting to say the least. We can only hope so anyway. Go Mariners!

Last Series on the Road for the Mariners

The Mariners are now coming down to the end with nine games remaining on the schedule for this season. The team’s final three with the Angels on the road; so the Mariners will have six remaining games at home ending next Sunday October 4.

The Mariners, the media, and the fans all know that this season has been a disappointment all the way around. The Mariners would have to win seven out of the nine games to make it 81-81 which we all know will be hard to do. We can only hope they win maybe five out of the nine games making it 79-83. Even if the Mariners won all nine games the only satisfaction we would get out of this season is they went out on a big bang.

We can look again for another October watching other teams in the playing in the playoffs instead of the Mariners. We can hope next season the Mariners will have a better one and can finally make the playoffs. There was news today that the Mariners are down to two candidates for the General Manager position former Angel’s general manager Jerry Dipoto and assistant general manager of the New York Yankees Billy Eppler. In both cases they sound like pretty good choices with Dipoto he knows the American League West Division very well and I am sure knows the Mariners roster pretty good. If they pick Eppler we can say the Mariners stuck to the Yankees again. Whoever they pick seem to me to be a very good choice. I expect the Mariners will announce the choice of the General Manager during the playoffs and before the World Series if he they do not announce before the season ends.

What would be really nice is to stick it to the Angels this weekend in Anaheim. The Mariners have done well against the Angels this season. The players certainly have the incentive to do so since many of them excluding the four chore players are fighting for a position on next season’s roster. I am sure the bullpen is where the biggest change will happen next season since it was the area the Mariners had the most difficulty during the season. I would not be surprised to see the Mariners make several trades during the off-season. Some of those trades could include top prospects to get a few veteran players in. I could see coming the way of the Mariners a new outfielder possibly in center field, a first baseman, catcher, veteran starting pitcher, and finally a veteran reliever who could be a closer.

I look forward to the closing of the season along with the playoffs, the naming of the new general manager, and new players. Of course, we do not know whether manager Lloyd or the coaching staff will be back. I am sure that Edgar Martinez will return as hitting coach regardless of who the manager will be. So we will see an exciting off season and we hope a really great 2016. A season we expected this year. Go Mariners.

The Head Man Arrives For Seahawks

Right out of the blue Chancellor arrives in Seattle to participate in the Seahawks practices for the first home game of the season.

I have a weird sense of humor and a warp mind so I figure Kam showed up in time because of the Chinese President’s visit. I hope you understand my meaning and humor. If you haven’t I will lay it on forward for you. Chancellor and President! OK! Also if you want to add the Pope being in Washington D.C. you can do for your imagination.

Moving on it is obvious Kam needs the Seahawks and a paycheck in the same manner the Seahawks need him.  I am not sure the Seahawks would have won the first two games with him; however, I am sure the chances would have been greater. The first game against the Rams I am sure the Seahawks would not have lost the game at the end of the fourth quarter with the long pass that went for the touchdown against Bailey who tripped over himself. It is hard to know the difference in the second game either though when one of your top players is missing regardless of circumstances in a close game it can be the difference.

What I like about Kam most of all is his attitude. When you know your good, and can make a great play anytime makes you an automatic winner. When I played competitive tennis I knew most of the time I was better than my opponent, and it was the attitude I played with. If I lost the reason was that I was not sure if I was better than my opponent, and I am sure Kam Chancellor feels that way all the time. He is an imitator whom his opponent knows right up front that he is one so they have little chance to succeed. As long as he has that edge and feels that way he will succeed. The Seahawks have that with Sherman and Thomas as well in the defensive backfield. I see that with the defensive line as well to some extent and the linebackers though they have not played up to the level in the first two games.

I am sure the Seahawk players are really glad to see him on the playing field once again being the soul of the team. I can hope the 12^th man will feel the same way to. Other words forgive and forget; we can hope that Kam and the Seahawks can move on together.

I have heard on sports talk radio on several occasions that Kam wants his money now because he wants security and doesn’t really know how long he can be around because of possible injuries. What I like a lot about Kam Chancellor is his versatility where he could play several different positions. In fact I believe he could play every position on the defense. If the Seahawks need him to he could move into one of the linebacker positions as well as the defensive line.

I will say here now welcome back Kam. It is really good to see you, and let’s go to another Super Bowl. I am sure I will be writing more about him in the future; hopefully, it will be all good news. Go Seahawks!

Mariners Going to Kansas City

I got inspired for the title by the song by Fats Domino. In fact, I am listening to it right now. Someday I hope to go there and meet a pretty woman.

Ok let’s get onto the topic of the Mariners. They are on last road trip of the season, and on the second leg playing the Royals, and then finish off with the Angels in Anaheim. The Royals already have made the playoffs; however, the Angels who likely won’t make it the Mariners can put a soar note on their season.  If the Mariners can win two of three against both the Royals and Angels they will then be two games below five hundred.

All of Mariner fans can agree it has been a disappointing season to say the least; however, if they win the remaining series and go 81-81 at the very least we can have a little satisfaction. At the end of the season we could have something to look forward to next season.

The Mariners have had a pretty good season playing on the road being over five hundred; it would be really nice if they could have duplicated the same at home. In fact, they may have made the playoffs if they had. On another positive note since there is not many of them the Washington Nationals who many thought the Mariners might face in the World Series won’t make it either. Right now they are 78-71 so they will have a winning record it looks like; however, the Pittsburgh Pirates have 90 wins right now and the Chicago Cubs at 88 wins so they look to be the two wild cards in the National League.

The positive side of the Mariners is the success of Felix Hernandez, Nelson Cruz, and the resurgence of Franklin Gutierrez. Also, the second half season of Robinson Cano, and Kyle Seager. If the Mariners could have had a first half season for both Cano and Seager close to their second halves the Mariners have been the race. Of course, we can’t go with what it may have been. I am sure both of them will have better first halves next season. The Mariners will need to have some good productions out of both Cano and Seager. We can’t expect Cruz to have another season like 2015; however, if other players can make up for it the better.

Although he had his ups and downs the future of TaiJuan Walker looks very good. He could be the second starter to Felix. I would like the Mariners to go and get another starter whether Iwakuma resigns or not. The team needs depth since they can’t count on James Paxton. If he can come back next season, and have a good productive season the Mariners will be blessed with his presence but they can’t hope on him pitching enough innings.

I have mentioned it a few times and I am sure the Mariners brass including the new general manager look into getting another outfielder. I like the platoon on Seth Smith, and Franklin Gutierrez in either left or right field. The Mariners will need to go after either a centerfielder or a corner outfielder. Actually both would be nice; however, it would be difficult to get both. I like Brad Miller and Shawn O’Malley as utility players both infield and outfield. They would both be adequate in centerfield if they can’t trade or sign a free agent; however, they both would be better sharing the other outfield position opposite of Smith and Gutierrez. I like Marte playing shortstop and leading off with Miller giving him a day off once in a while. Having Marte, Miller or O’Malley in the lineup each game gives the Mariners the needed speed especially in Safeco Field.

I am sure all of us diehard Mariner fans will enjoy the rest of the season , and look forward to the changes during the off-season going to spring training. Go Mariners!

Mariners Core Group

We all pretty know who the four key players are for the Seattle Mariners this season. They are King Felix Hernandez, Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, and Kyle Seager. Also, they are the four highest paid players as well.

King Felix and Nelson Cruz both have had really great seasons. Felix has a real chance to win twenty games although he may have to win the remaining games he pitches in. Even if he doesn’t it will be still a really good season for him. We have sort of expected it out of Felix every year. Right now he is into his prime; however, the amount of innings he has pitched we could see a season he falls back. It would be nice if it happened in a season where the Mariners could make the playoffs. I know that sounds funny or weird but for Felix a down year could be better than most pitchers good years. The most important thing would be that he was ready to pitch in the playoffs. Nelson Cruz on the other hand had another great season. I don’t think any of us expected him to play as well as he did last year. He has done better than we could have imagined hitting over forty home runs for second straight season. I don’t think we could expect that again next season; however, if other players step up the Mariners could be better than this year. What I like most about Cruz though he looks like such a good teammate and he always smiles.

Robinson Cano we all know that he had a very poor first half of the season; however, he has bounced back the second half. Most likely it was because of injuries that he performed so poorly. We can hope next season he can have a good full season. It doesn’t have to be up to par for what his career has been but if he hit around .280 and drove in about 80 runs I think it would be good enough if other players pick up their performance.

Kyle Seager who I now nicknamed Kyle has style Seager also had a poor first half season as well. Not as bad as Cano’s but we all know he could have done better. The second half of the season he has stepped up to make the season we always expect out of him. Like Felix we starting to expect that he will have a good year every year, and at his age he could get better. He isn’t yet to his prime either.

What I really like is the change of the order in which Lloyd changed the three guys now putting Seager batting second followed by Cruz and Cano. The team has been hitting more productive since the change happened. Now we can only hope other players will step up as well.

Going into next season I hope that Mark Trumbo can become part of the core group as well. The Mariners should look to play him mostly at first base with some time at designated him and only a little time in the outfield. I would only like to see him play the outfield when Cruz is designated hitter.

Of course, the bullpen would be the group of guys that could take could step up and be much better than they have been most of this season. Losing Charlie Furbush made things really tough for the Mariners. When he went out for the season was the time the bullpen started struggling. It will be hard to know when he will return but likely won’t be at the beginning of the season. I would not be surprised if he does not return until after the all-star break.

The starting pitching I expect would be the same or better next year. TaiJuan Walker after a full season in the majors should be even better next season. He was inconsistent especially in the first half however he has done a really good job after the all-star break. I would think the start of April he should be in same form. Iwakuma should be back though he is eligible to be a free agent. We can hope that Elias will have a better season and that James Paxton would rebound that he could be healthy when the season starts. It sounds like a very solid starting five; however, the Mariners should go out and get another veteran pitcher who at the very least spot start. Also, they have Numo who could spot start; however, he would be better to come out of the bullpen as one of the left handed relievers.

With a view changes in the lineup I think the Mariners should have a better season next year. I can’t see some of the players having down seasons again. The catching position could be one that the Mariners could upgrade at. The Mariners should bring in a veteran to compete with Zunino. Currently all three possible back up catchers all hit right handed and none of them seem ready to hit in the major leagues. The Mariners should look at getting a left handed hitting catcher who could relieve Zunino or play ahead of him. Both could spend some time at designated hitter as well. Also, it would be nice to have the left handed catcher who could play occasional first base. It will be interesting off season indeed beginning with the hiring of the new general manager. Go Mariners!

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Baseball in September

While I was out this morning I was thinking what difference baseball in September makes for the next season. If you are out of the race like the Seattle Mariners will the current players fighting for a spot on next year roster really help make the team better or worse. I am not sure there is any statistics anyone has taken to know if it works that way or not.

I am thinking that maybe the way the Mariners played last September affected them this year. They were in the race up to the last day missing out on the playoffs. I wonder if the players going into spring training thought sub- consciously that they were not as good as they thought since they played poorly in September, or they may have been overconfident with the signing of Nelson Cruz. It is likely hard to say one way or another.  The team did make other changes to the roster or it could be the players played better last year than they are doing this year. Most likely there is a combination of reasons why the Mariners are playing worse than last season.

If you look at the bullpen of the Mariners you know for sure they had a better season last year than this year.  A lot of people thought the bullpen did real well last year because of Fernando Rodney being the catalyst which maybe really true since this season he had a very poor season and the bullpen was completely different. The bullpen primarily was the same group of guys when the season started; however, pitchers like Danny Farquhar were sent to Triple –A. Other pitchers were traded as well after having poor starts. The Mariners had to go with Carson Smith for a while as closer though he was not ready for the position full time. Most likely you will see him more successful next season or the year after that. This was his first full season in the Major Leagues; he did not come up to pitch until last September.

The starting pitching started poorly in April while the hitting was doing well, and then in May the hitting went badly except Nelson Cruz. After the all-star break the hitting recovered; however, the pitching suffered especially the relief pitching. In August manager Lloyd said at some point the bullpen blew eighteen saves in twenty-one games; it is no wonder the Mariners fell out of contention.

Now in September the Mariners are doing much better than they were doing prior to that during the season; I wonder if it is with the dismissal and finally trade of Rodney plus the fact they are using some younger players who are trying to serve a point that they belong in the major leagues. Another thought is that Mariners fired Jack Z as general manager as well, and how has that affected the team to.

 I heard story that Jack Z had told Lloyd who to play and who not to play, and I wonder now with the Z man around Lloyd is able to play who he wants and how to setup the lineup. Last season I thought the lineups in September were not right in my mind for a team that was fighting for the playoffs. I sometimes wondered why they started Justin Smoak at first base after he was recalled spending most of the second half at Tacoma. I am sure there are moves that I can’t remember at this time that I questioned as well. I wondered what Lloyd was thinking about, and I really wonder if he was following Jack Z instructions.

Whatever happened last September it is hard to really know if it put things in the wrong gears? Of course, the first half of the season the Mariners had a very poor bench that was much improved when Franklin Gutierrez was recalled from Tacoma. Rickie Weeks and Willie Bloomquist neither of them worked out at all and both were released eventually. The bottom of the batting order seven through nine had to be the worst in baseball. The platooning and pinch hitting I didn’t think worked to well for the most part either. It did improve quite a bit when Gutierrez was recalled.

During the off-season the Mariners roster will change some because of the hiring of a new general manager. It is hard to know right now whether Lloyd will be back next season or not. It would be nice if Lloyd would be given a chance because how did he go from a good manager one year to a bad manager the next. I guess it is possible though I think it had to do with the style and decision making which may lead right back to Jack Z.

Back to my original thought will this September make a difference in the Mariners next season like last September may have I guess we will never know. Most likely with the turn-over of the roster things will change we can only hope for the good. I like to really see Brad Miller as that super utility player how it works, and I think Sean O’Malley can be good coming off the bench with his speed to go along with Marte. All we can do as Mariner fans do is waiting and see hoping for the best. Go M’s.  

This Weekend September 13 Seattle Sports in Review

Who would have thought the Seahawks and the Mariners would both lose and the Huskies and Cougars both win on the same weekend.

The Huskies were playing a lower level team in Sacramento State however since they lost to Boise State last week not sure how the Huskies would perform. It was nice to see they were able to play well against a lesser team; especially with the passing game. The thing is we still don’t know the Huskies passing game will be good or not the rest of the season. In my opinion Jake Browning passing game should improve over the season. He had over three hundred years in this game but I think part of it had to do with a poor passing defense on the part of Sacramento State. Next week against Utah State should give us more indication one way or another.

The Cougars on the other hand looks like their offense will have another good year and the defense so far is not going good. I am not sure if the coaching staff has figured out it is important to have good defense as well or they just not have the personal to be better. I am not a cougar fan so I am seeing from a different view.

The Seahawk game against the Rams was weird like we all expected. I was sure the Seahawks come back in the fourth quarter to go ahead by seven with the turn overs would seal the victory; however, the long pass with Dion Bailey falling down and leaving the receiver wide open did the Seahawks in.

I thought the Seahawks offense and defense both played a poor game; however, it has been common for them to start off the season not playing well. It would have been nice if the Seahawks could have played a team outside the division in the first game whether at home or on the road. Playing the Packers in the first game instead of waiting until the second game would have been much better. The Seahawks rushing defense for sure needs to improve next week; the passing defense was OK and we know it will improve as the season goes ahead.

On the offensive side of the ball the offensive line will need to improve next week. They did improve over the course of the game; however, they do need better passing protection. Also, they need to improve on rushing downs in key situations like the last play of the game that cost them the victory as well. Some may say it was bad play calling but I call it bad execution. Up until then the Seahawks had done well in short yardage situations where they needed a first down. I put that on the offensive line once again. Of course, this was the first game of the season so I expect a lot better against the Packers next week. Whether the Seahawks will win or not I still expect better play out of them on both sides of the ball.

The Seattle Mariners on the other hand continue what they have all season especially at home not able to get good pitching and hitting at the same time. Their best game was on Saturday when they hit four home runs and won the game 7-2. Like so often over the season to they were not able to execute with runs on base. What I have liken this month is that the bullpen has improved especially with Tom Wihelmsen as closer. The offense has improved especially on the road with the addition of Sean O’Malley. He has improved the speed on the base bath along with Marte. The bottom of the batting order has improved to with the exception of the catching position. It will be interesting to see who will come out as the regular catcher next season or whether they will trade for an experience catcher. We all know they still want Mike Zunino to be the regular catcher, and I am rooting for him but his hitting does need to improve. We can hope the hitting for him will help in instructional league. What I hope the Mariners can do is get another catcher who can play some first base and designated hitter next season. I am sure the designated hitter will likely be done most by Cruz along with Trumbo and Montero although they could use a left handed bat to be in the position sometimes which I prefer is a catcher. I am sure Seth Smith and Brad Miller both could DH when they are not in the field. Most of all I hope the Mariners will stop all this right and left handed platooning next year. I can understand against some pitchers but not all of them. Also, I don’t like the entire pinch hitting either. In many cases it has not worked this year. Like I have said a few times Seth Smith and Franklin Gutierrez would be the only ones I would use as pinch hitters since they have been the most successful doing so.

Let’s see how all these teams do this coming week.

My Look at Sports

Hello there everyone I want to continue for this blog to evolve when it comes to sports.

I primarily am writing about the Seattle Mariners, the Seahawks, and the University of Washington Huskies football and basketball teams.

I want this to be different than other blogs or the writers that follow teams locally and nationally. I am not how exactly it will work all together especially that I see there are those who are reading this in other countries as well.

I want to write primarily as a fan of the teams but in my own perspective. It is easy to write about each game that is being played but you can get that anywhere you want. I will write some about the game that will be played. I can give an example where the Seahawks will be playing against the Rams in St.Louis in just a few minutes. If you have been a longtime fan you likely know the Seahawks have had some difficulty playing the Rams since they have been in the same division so they could have some trouble in this game and could lose it. I believe what makes this game interesting is how Jimmy Graham will play and how the offense will work him in along with Tyler Lockett at both receiver and return man. On the defense it will be how the Seahawks play without Kam Chancellor. Of course these coming days I will give you my look at it however I am sure it won’t be much different than some others opinions. I just hope you will read it here because I will write it from a fan perspective. I hope though to add more things into it as well. How that works we will see.

The Seattle Mariners will be finishing their season up very soon and we all know it has not been the season we all expected. I hope to write about certain players that may come back next season and who may leave as well. The off-season will be interesting to see the hiring of a new general manager, and what he may do to shake up the roster to make it a better team in 2016. It would be nice to have good surprises going into spring training. I am sure we will all speculate as fans.

In college football the Huskies won their first game of the season routing Sacramento State 49-0. It could be the only victory they have this season bring in a freshmen quarterback Jake Browning. What I found interesting this week is that he wears the same number as Russell Wilson. Of course, he is not the same type of quarterback that Wilson is. The Huskies had more of a passing attack against them than they did against Boise State. I expect that has something to do with Sacramento State’s passing defense than the Huskies passing offense; however we will see in the weeks ahead. In men’s basketball the Huskies had a poor season last year after staring off good. It is hard to see right now if they will improve this season since they lost a few players to not only graduation but transferring out. We get to that when we get into October. Maybe!

Anyway, I hope you continue to read while I evolve this blog. I would like to write primarily about individual players along with positions; for example, the bullpen for the Mariners, and the receivers for the Seahawks. Another would be any key new players or not so key players to the teams. So enjoy your sports, and look forward to you reading this. I hope to make it enjoyable for sure.

This Weekend in Sports

The Seattle Seahawks start the regular season playing against the Rams in St.Louis while the Mariners take on the Colorado Rockies at Safeco Field in Seattle.

The Seattle Seahawks will still be without one of the legions of boom in Kam Chancellor who is still holding out. Also, we will see how Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman will do coming back from injuries. Knowing them it will be no problem at all. I am sure the Rams will start off testing the Seahawks secondary to see how good shape they are actually in. It would be nice to get a turnover early since it likely will be a close game.

The Seahawks running game will be different this season behind Marshawn Lynch since both backs are gone.  Christian Michael was traded to the Dallas Cowboys while Robert Turbin was released because of injury; however, he was signed by the Cleveland Browns. Beast mode’s primary back up will be Fred Jackson who will come in on third downs in the same manner as Turbin has done in the years he was with the Seahawks. Obviously the Seahawks felt that neither Michael’s or Turbin were the heir apparent to  Lynch. Jackson is older than Lynch so he is a stop game to help out the running game this year. Depending on Lynch the Seahawks most likely draft a running back early in next year’s draft, sign or trade for a veteran running back like in the same manner getting Lynch. I figure they most likely do both sign a veteran and draft a running back. Also, this may depend on how third running back Thomas Rawls does as well. He could be a real find like the Seahawks have found since Pete Carroll has been coach.

Continue on the offense is how the Seahawks will use Jimmy Graham at tight end, and outside as a receiver along with Tyler Lockett as the return man and receiver. Those two will play a big part of the Seahawks improved offense. The Seahawks should be better on third downs and the red zone. All we can hope for is that the offensive line can protect Wilson much better. This being Wilson’s fourth season I believe we should see even more improvement from him since he is maturing as a quarterback, and has more weapons as well.

I expect the Seahawks defense will stay about the same but if it does not the offense should help out enough to compensate for the defense. Most likely the offense will be at top speed in the middle of the season while starting off slowly. I see the Seahawks going back to the Super Bowl.

The Mariners should be looking at sweeping the Rockies at home this weekend since they are one of the worst teams in baseball. I know funny thing to say when the Mariners have been struggling most of the season; however, they have been doing much better in September as far as the offense goes. The starting pitching has continued it’s up and downs but generally been good. The Mariners primarily split the series against the Rangers because they could not score enough runs.  The bullpen seems to be doing better since the designated for assignment and then the trade of Fernando Rodney to the Chicago Cubs, and Tom Wihelmsen made close again.

The season is coming to a close pretty soon with about three weeks remaining. It will be an interesting off season with the hiring of a new general manager. I guess we will see if the Mariners will hire the new general manager in these last weeks of September or in October. In either case I am sure we will see some changes happening to the roster before spring training. Could be in the same manner as when the Seahawks brought in Pete Carroll and John Schneider. At this point we have no idea whether Lloyd will return as manager or not. It will depend a lot in the general manager and who he may know and like to bring in. He may decide to keep Lloyd for one more season depending on the results. One thing for sure the Mariners management expects a quick turnaround from this season. So we say now Go Seahawks! Go Mariners!

Mariners Come Home Fall Flat

It is quite something the Mariners win seven out of ten on the road and first game home they fall flat. They not only don’t score any runs they get picked off the bases.

Whatever chances the Mariners had to make at least .500 or back in the playoffs will be more difficult if they don’t win at least two of these games in the series again the Texas Rangers. Actually the remaining three would be ideal. It is sort of interesting to think after averaging over five runs a game in the ten games on the road they can’t score one at home. They didn’t have either Nelson Cruz or Frankie Gutierrez available though you would have thought they may have used Cruz in the ninth inning as a pinch hitter. I don’t understand the idea of what Lloyd is doing with pinch hitting; he pinch hits when someone is needed from the other side of the bat. I believe he has pinched hit way to much this season; however, when he could use Cruz he doesn’t. Makes me really scratch my head; we can hope the players can rebound things despite Lloyd.

I am really glad that Elias was able to rebound in this game and pitch a really good game. The Mariners will need him to pitch in the rotation next season especially if James Paxton continues to have arm issues. Besides resigning Iwakuma the Mariners need to go out and get another starter. The bullpen will need to be done all over again. I won’t rehash about it though.

It looks like Sean O’Malley will be a good player for the Mariners coming into next season. It seems he could play the role the Mariners had planned for Brad Miller. In the off-season the Mariners could either trade Miller in a package deal or start him in the outfield. O’Malley like Miller will be able to play either infield or outfield. Along with Marte he gives added speed in the lineup they can use. Playing in Safeco Field speed can help out quite a bit for the Mariners along with hitting a lot of doubles. Home runs still come as a premium in Safeco Field though it can happen because I see the other teams having little problem  hitting home runs there.

With the new general manager coming in soon we will see what kind of changes will happen with the Mariners. We need the pitching and the hitting working together instead of one or the other. Go Mariners!

Seahawks Have Their 53 Man Roster Set

We see the Seahawks have set the roster right now; however the word set is a misnomer because it could change some more before they go to St.Louis to play the Rams on Sunday.

Though he made the initial 53 man roster Christian Michael was traded to the Dallas Cowboys for a conditional pick in 2016. This couldn’t have been a big surprise since Michael has not lived up to his draft status of being picked first by the Seahawks in 2013. So this means right now the Thomas Rawls has made the team as the third running back. Depending what happens he could at some point be put on practice squad. We haven’t heard an official signing of Freddie Jackson as the backup to Marshawn Lynch. There is a possibility that the Seahawks could go out and get another running back who has experience to be the third running back to cover any injuries that might occur to Lynch or Jackson.

The Seahawks have their first practice this week on Wednesday so it would not surprise me if more changes to the roster are made before or on Wednesday. It wouldn’t make any sense to do any after Wednesday unless you take someone off the practice squad.

Another question we have is will Kam Chancellor report to the Seahawks by Wednesday or will he continue his holdout. Of course, if he does report there will be another change to the roster. If he does continue his holdout it certainly puts more of a work load on free safety Earl Thomas. The Seahawks did trade for a veteran strong safety with the Kansas City acquiring Kelcie McCray. If Chancellor doesn’t report how long his holdout will depend a lot on McCray, and the defensive backfield does against the Rams. If they poorly the Seahawks could strike a deal with Chancellor soon, or if they do real well the holdout might last longer unless Chancellor sees the writing on the wall, and losing pay checks as well.

 Continue on the defense side of the ball top Frank Clark looks like the real thing. Pre-season he showed that he could be the solution to the problems that Seahawks had last year with the rush. He can be a good duel to go along with Bruce Irvin. If he has an outstanding rookie season it mean the end of Irvin with the Seahawks as well since it will be the end of his contract, and the Seahawks may not resign him because of how much more money they would have to sign him to and affect the salary cap. The Seahawks already spend a lot of money on the defensive side of the ball. It will be interesting to see how Clark can do against the run as well though the primary reason they drafted him was for his pass rushing ability.

On the offense side of the ball kept two quarterbacks though BJ Daniels made it as a receiver he can be added insurance to the quarterback position in case of injury. Also, he can be the backup to Tyler Lockett as kickoff and punt receiver as well. Depending on how much Lockett will be used as receiver it would not surprise me if we see Daniels receiving punts at least once or twice in the game. Lockett and Daniels both will likely be used on end around plays as well. Daniels could also throw the ball down field on the end around plays too. It would not surprise me if we see a few where Daniels will throw down field to Lockett. Another one we could see on those type of plays is Ricardo Lockette who has great speed and has a big body as well.

At the tight end position I am sure that there will be more plays with two tight ends in the game or all three in some downs. Likely we will see Jimmy Graham out a lot as a wide receiver as well. This could happen often on third downs with Doug Baldwin playing the slot position or better known as the third receiver. This year the Seahawks have so many more options at the receiver position.

 When the Seahawks run the ball we will see beast mode, Jackson, beast mode, Jackson, Rawls, beast mode, Jackson, and more beast mode. Whether Lynch starts the game will depend on his health, and how Jackson and Rawls both are doing. We could see Jackson starting and Lynch come in the second or third series depending on how the offense is rolling.

Coming Sunday we will know how the Seahawks will do. Often they have trouble playing in St.Louis, however, whatever the results are we don’t have a lot to worry about except that they do play at Green Bay in the second week of the season. Go Hawks!

Seahawk Rookie Tyler Lockett

Like I have with some of the Mariner players I like to write about what I think about some of the Seahawk players as well. Last year in a bowl game that Kansas State played I saw Lockett. I don’t remember seeing him play before and I don’t watch many bowl games because there are so many of them. I thought it would be interesting to watch Kansas State because I heard they were pretty good. Outside of the Pac-12 I don’t watch many other games except maybe some traditional ones like Michigan vs Notre Dame or Michigan vs Ohio State. When I saw Tyler Lockett in that game I thought it would be nice if the Seahawks could draft him. I figured where the Seahawks were drafting the chances were not great for them to get him. Though I know traditionally wide receivers are not drafted in the first round, and the ones that do usually end up failing.  I thought he was good enough in my mind to be taken in the first round; however, the Seahawks would be drafting at the end of the first round. Of course, it was before they traded the pick to New Orleans for tight end Jimmy Graham. Also, I am not an expert on who will go where in the draft either.

When the Seahawks announced that they were moving up in the third round in the draft it came to my surprise that they drafted Tyler Lockett. In my mind I had figured he would be gone before then especially when the Seahawks drafted defense lineman Frank Clark in the second round. We all know now that General Manager John Schneider and Coach Pete Carroll always like to fine gems in the draft. So far Tyler Lockett is not an exception.

In the four pre-season games he has turned out to be most of the offense the Seahawks had. In the first game he ran back a kick off for a touchdown. In game three he ran back a punt for a touchdown, and in the final pre-season on the second play of the game for the Seahawks he caught a pass for a touchdown. It will be interesting to see how he fares during the season in scoring touchdown; however, one thing we know at this time the Seahawks will be placed in better field position. The Seahawks have not really had a threat when running back punts. I am sure Lockett has made other teams a where already what he can do. I am sure they will try to kick the ball deep enough or away from Lockett. What makes it especially interesting is that in those circumstances other teams could make mistakes like kicking the ball off the sides on punts. Whatever the case the Seahawks will be in much better field position; usually when they win the coin toss at the beginning of the game they like to receive the kickoff at the beginning of the second half, and this year it will be even more important.

I am sure the Seahawks will use Lockett as the third or fourth receiver as well. He will not only be a good deep threat they will use him sometimes doing end a rounds as well. Right now it would not surprise me in the least if Lockett is rookie of the year. He certainly will help the Seahawks hopefully get back to the Super Bowl. Lockett we look forward to see a lot of good excitement from you in the season ahead. Go Hawks!    

September Means Football

Usually I want to enjoy watching baseball through October with some interest in football; however, like a lot of recent years except last year the Seattle Mariners have done so poorly I start looking at football earlier.

I am more than a casual fan I just don’t put in one hundred percent into it like those who love football a lot and stay tuned even during the off season. I know there are those who watch every pre-season game and don’t miss any of the action. I only watch a portion of those games; however, when the season starts I do see all the games. If the Mariners are playing at the same time I will watch them during commercial ads and then switch back to the Seahawks when action starts again unless it is a year like last year when the Mariners were in the running to make the playoffs. In those cases I will watch more of the Mariner game still keeping my eye on the Seahawks.

Besides the Seahawks I am a UW Husky fan as well so opening season again Boise State starts on Friday night Sept. 4. I will watch most of that game switching to the Mariners during commercial breaks. I know some people may find that odd thing to do. When I was a kid I usually listen to a football game on the radio and watch a baseball game on television; this was before the Mariners came into existence. I loved watching Saturday baseball on television each week. At that time the Husky games were not on television very often; of course, if they were on television then I would do the same as I do now switch back and forth during commercial breaks. I call myself a sports freak not just a baseball or football fan.

This season the Huskies have a young team on both offense and defense so at this point it is hard to know how many games they will win over the season. My guess is that they will six games; most likely I am being optimistic but being a fan you have to be. They likely will be starting a freshman quarter- back named Jake Browning though Coach Peterson has not named a quarterback as of yet. We may not know the quarterback starting until before game time.

The Huskies defense will be starting a brand new group of guys on the line so it is real hard to know how they will do. Last year with an experience line it took them at least a couple games to get a rush on the opposing teams quarterback so I expect it will take them even longer this year.  The important thing though for the line is to be able to stop the running game so the defensive backs can use their job when the opposition throws the ball. I would not be surprised if Boise State will try to run the ball against the Huskies a lot before throwing the ball. If they are able to run the ball with success then the passing game will open up as well.

On the offensive side the Huskies will be starting with Dwayne Washington at running back along with a couple of backups. The Huskies success against Boise State will depend on the running game since they also have inexperience as far as their receivers go and of course the quarterback. In the same way if they are able to run the ball with success it will allow Browning to be able to feel comfortable to throw the ball from the pocket. The first game will give us more of an idea what kind of team the Huskies will be.

Besides the Huskies I am sure the Pac-12 season will be another exciting season. I believe the Oregon Ducks have to be favored to win the North again while in the South it will be tougher competition. USC should be expected to be at the top with the Arizona schools along with UCLA to try and knock them off. Do not expect a lot out of Colorado and Utah.

In the NFL the Seahawks have one remaining pre-season game on Thursday against the Oakland Raiders before starting the season on the road at St.Louis on Sunday September 13^th. The Seahawks likely will play a lot of players who are on the bubble to make the season opener roster.

So everyone let football season begin and let your favorite teams win. Go Seahawks and Huskies!