Major League Baseball Trades

Going into another year with new rosters on so many teams including our beloved Mariners I had to laugh over an article that I believe was written by a New York sports writer that the trade the New York Yankees made with the Cincinnati acquiring reliever Aroldis Chapman. The writer said that the Yankees are going to have the best bullpen in baseball this coming season. Here in Seattle we all know what it means to have the best bullpen in baseball going into a season. This is why I laughed because we all thought the Mariners would have the best bullpen again in 2015 after having the best in 2014 and we all know what happened.

Though a bullpen looks good going into a season injuries or pitchers losing their stuff could mean disaster. The Yankees don’t have a closer like they did in Riviera for so many years so anything can happen just ask the Mariners. This coming season the Mariners are coming in with a new bullpen replacing almost the entire group and we do not really know what will happen until the season is underway or maybe into July.

The Mariners during the off-season have been the busiest team in baseball when it comes to making trades. Those who are returning may have to wear name tags to know the new players or at the very least introduce themselves to their new teammates. At this point I like the turnover of the roster. It looks like the new players in the field have a good on base ratio over their careers; however, if it really happens in Seattle we won’t know until we are into the season. What I do know or maybe think is the team can’t be much worse than last season. Of course, we all had high expectations thinking the team would make the playoffs at the very least for the first time in a decade or more and they did not even come close. We can hope the 2016 version will be better.

I have never seen so many teams make so many trades during the off-season and there are still a couple months before spring training comes so who knows more may happen. There are still several high priced free agents like Justin Upton that are still out there to pick. We can still only guess who will come out good on those trades or free agent acquisitions. There are the teams like the Chicago Cubs who made the playoffs last season with a talented group of young players along with adding more high priced players to the mix. So likely they will be there; however, we know their team history so they could still sink. The St. Louis Cardinals will likely be there because they usually are. The San Francisco Giants are due for a comeback and the World Series champions Kansas City Royals will be there we think anyway along with a few other teams. We may be surprised by some other teams as well which we can hope includes the Seattle Mariners. What I like about the chances of the Mariners is that no one expects them to be there like last season. No pressure so we can hope for a change. They are in the American League West Division where there is no sure team to win the division. The Texas teams the Rangers and Astros could go back to be just in the middle. The Angels could be so so or be good we do not really know and there is the Oakland A’s who do not look much better than last year. So the division is up for the taking on any of the teams including the Mariners. Right now we can have all the optimism going into spring training. General Jerry Dipoto could come through with a couple more trades or acquisitions. Most likely they would be in the bullpen or adding a player to compete at first base or utility role. I would like to see another outfielder added to the mix as well. One thing for sure a new general manager and manager along with coaches besides Edgar Martinez means we will be curious for a while. Like I always say “Go Mariners!”   

Hendu Remembered

I was very surprised Sunday morning Dec 27 to read about the loss of former player and broadcaster Dave “Hendu” Henderson of the Seattle Mariners. He lost his life that day after having a massive heart attack he was 57 years of age.

He was not only a popular former Mariner he was the very first player the Mariners drafted in the amateur draft in 1977. He was not a player I had ever heard of at the time which is understandable because he was just coming out of high school. He took only four years to make it to the major leagues. He is in a long line of very good centerfielders having had over the time of the franchise. It started out with Rupert Jones and of course Henderson was traded to the Boston Red Sox after six seasons with the Mariners. Hendu career actually flourished more with the Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics; however, the Seattle Mariner fans considered him one of our own when he retired and returned as a broadcaster. What made him really special was that he always had a smile on his face. The last game I saw the Mariners play against the Tampa Bay Rays in Safeco Field I was on my way to get two jerseys at the Mariner team store I saw Hendu talking with a young boy. I knew it was him because of his smile. No one had a smile like Hendu.  

When Jamie Moyer was inducted into the Mariner’s Hall of Fame this last summer I wondered who would be the next inductee and how long it would take to take place. Now after his death I figure there should be no one else ahead of Hendu to be put into the Mariners Hall Of Fame this coming September. I am sure the next player to make the Mariners Hall of Fame after Hendu would likely be Ichiro when he retires. The only other player I can even think the Mariners would induct into their HOF would be Bret Boone. I am sure if I think harder I will likely find some other names.

Anyway Dave “Hendu” Henderson we will be thinking of you and rest in peace. I am sure the Mariners will memorialize you on the opening of the 2016 season and the players likely will wear a patch with “Hendu” on it. I am sure the Mariners will have another day to give you honor as well, however, I think the best tribute would be to add you to the Mariners HOF and see a flag with your name  on it outside the outfield in Safeco Field. I know I won’t forget the catches you made in centerfield in the old Kingdome.

Seattle Seahawks Move On

The Seattle Seahawks as expected beat the Cleveland Browns last Sunday 30-13. Russell Wilson continued his hot passing and included a few nice planned runs as well.

I am sorry I would have written this sooner however I came up with a cold that I still have on Sunday so it is hard to remember some of the plays that happened that day.

 I know that quarterback Johnny Manziel of the Browns started out the first drive of the game to score first making it 7-0 however the Seahawks came right back to score a touchdown themselves making it 7-7.

After that the Seahawks defense made adjustments to the Browns offense that help lead the team to victory. The Seahawks stopped the Browns on three downs in their second possession and then they came down and scored to make it 14-7. At that point the Browns were still in the game for a while. Leading 17-7 the Seahawks having the ball ending the first half with no time left the Browns had a defensive penalty where a Seahawk receiving was face masked so the Seahawks were able to make a field goal with no time on the clock making it 20-10.

The Seahawks were able to make a touchdown and a field goal in the second half to put the game away. The Browns did have one series where they may have a chance to score another touchdown however their receivers dropped the ball three times. If they had made those catches they have scored but they still would have lost.

I thought Johnny Manziel played a nice game. In some ways he is like Russell Wilson however he has a way to go in that manner. In the second half he ran more when the opportunity came his way. The major problem is that he really does not have any good receivers and the Seahawks also stopped the Browns running game. Only thing I really did not like about Manziel play is that he throws somewhat side arm so it is hard for him to go down field to complete a pass. This is the first time I saw him play so maybe it was the Seahawks and not him. I guess we will have to see in the future.

Back to the Seahawk and the running game we had no idea how they were going to use the backs. We found out though that Christian Michael was the most effective running back. He was able to use his strength along with his speed. He showed us the reason the Seahawks had drafted him in the second round three years ago before trading him to the Dallas Cowboys just before the season began. I expect that he will be the main featured back this week against the Rams. The only problem that might get into his way if he starts fumbling and at that point things likely will end; regardless of how he does we hope that Marshawn Lynch will be back the following week against the Arizona Cardinals to lead into the playoffs. It is nice to see after these last five games the Seahawks are ready to make a good push into the playoffs. We can only hope they will make it back into the Super Bowl.

My prediction for the Rams game the Seahawks will beat the Rams with the same score against the Browns 30-13. If for some chance the Rams do win the score will be 16-13.

Have yourself a wonderful and merry Christmas going into this Sunday’s game.

Unbelievable Kuma Back With Mariners

Thursday night heading to bed I read on line that the Seattle Mariners had resigned Iwakuma to a 1 yr. contract with an option of two more years after the Los Angeles Dodgers decided not to sign him after he failed a physical.

I am not real surprised that the Mariners would look to go after Iwakuma; however, I did not expect this to happen so fast. The Dodgers wanted to change the making of the contract and keep him; however, he and the Mariners decided that they wanted to come together on a contract.

Though he is new to the Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto knows the injury history of Iwakuma and he consulted the team doctors to be sure that he was still in good hands as far as pitching for the Mariners.

The amount of money the Dodgers were going to pay Iwakuma I can’t blame them to be cautious when he failed the exam. I am sure they were going to change the contract in the same manner the Mariners ended up doing. Other than the money Iwakuma showed us all that he really wants to stay and pitch for the Mariners and the team felt like wise.

What made this whole thing so exciting is that after losing Iwakuma initially to the Dodgers Dipoto went right out and traded with the Red Sox for Wade Miley to continue making the Mariners starting pitching lineup solid. Now with Iwakuma coming back it not only makes the Mariners a better rotation the team has more depth. This is really true with the history of James Paxton who has had injuries himself the last couple years. The Mariners can take their time getting Paxton reading to pitch instead of having him rush it. We can say that for Iwakuma as well. Either one could start the season in the bullpen in long relief. Every year in April it is important to have someone good coming out of the bullpen for long relief. Early on most of the starters may pitch only five or six innings so the bullpen can get tired by pitching too many innings. Also, later on in the season the Mariners can use someone out of the bullpen to start to keep someone like TaiJuan Walker limited in his innings.  

What I have been reading on line certainly the fans are exciting to see Iwakuma coming back. Not only he has won quite a few games in the four years with the Mariners his record being 47-25 with an era of 3.17. Not many pitchers in the major leagues having a better record especially in limited action. This last season he pitched in twenty games with a record of 9-5 along with a 3.54 which included his first no-hitter. With his history with the Mariners it would be nice if he could start twenty-five games with twelve wins. I am sure we would all like that for sure. Anyway Kuma welcome back we are glad to see you. Go Mariners!

Seahawks Who is at Running Back?

Well it is interesting now after a few weeks ago. We were all wondering if the offensive line would get their act together and now that they have we now are wondering who will run behind them.

Last Sunday the Seahawks lost Thomas Rawls to injury in the first quarter and we now know he is out for the season. Also, we know that Marshawn Lynch is not ready to return yet and DuJuan Harris who did most of the carries after Rawls left the game was released by the Seahawks. Not sure why Harris was released except it could be that he fumbled on the five yard line. The Seahawks have brought back running back Bryce Brown who has been on and off the practice squad several times already this season along with Christian Michael who the Seahawks traded to the Dallas Cowboys before the start of the season and then was released by the Cowboys a few weeks ago. His most recent football was being on the practice squad of the Washington Redskins who released him just before the Seahawks signed him up again.

Right now we expect Bryce Brown to do the most carries and we are not sure whether Christian Michael will be activated for the upcoming game on Sunday again the Cleveland Browns. The only true thing we know for sure is that Fred Jackson will be the running back on third downs. If Michael is activated this Sunday I am sure that he and Brown will share the load. Depending on their success we could see fullback Derrick Coleman at running back as well. I would like to see Coleman running some at running back; however, I don’t want to see another running back injured either.

Since the air attack of Russell Wilson has been really good the last four games I am sure we will see as much passing as running though Pete Carroll prefers mixing things up and have at least a few more carries than pass attempts. If the offensive line can open the holes like they did for Rawls before he was injured then the running backs should have a very good day as long as they can keep their hands on the ball and not fumble. We are all lucky here in Seahawk land that they are playing the Browns this week in Seattle. Who knows the defense could score more points than the offense so we could all be relaxed. Anyway, things will be interesting on the offense side of the ball. We can hope the Seahawks can win the toss of the coin at the beginning so the defense will start right off. Remember the Seahawks always take defense first when they win the coin toss.

We hope that you return soon Marshawn we do really need you regardless what happens against the Browns. We just hope that we will not see any other new running backs against the Rams on the 27^th. Regardless of the results please stay healthy. Go Seahawks!

Russell Wilson and Seahawks Do It Again!

The Seattle Seahawks went into Baltimore against the Ravens on a hot streak that continues on. Most people expected the Seahawks to win especially since the Ravens have had a very poor season and going with their 3^rd string quarterback Jimmy Clausen who the Seahawks faced earlier when he was playing for the Chicago Bears; however, no one expected another blow out though.

Russell Wilson continues to be on a hot streak for the last four games throwing for sixteen touchdowns without an interception. This all started after he had a poor game in Seattle against the Arizona Cardinals. We can hope that Wilson will continue on this streak in the remaining three games on the regular season schedule and into the playoffs. If he gets anywhere close we will likely see the Seahawks again in the Super Bowl for the third straight year in February.

Now the play of Russell Wilson is even more important since running back Thomas Rawls who was having another good game after replacing Marshawn Lynch in the lineup broke his ankle in the first quarter and he is out for the rest of the season.

The Seahawks had to rely on the running of DuJuan Harris primarily after Rawls left the game and the passing of Wilson. Also, Fred Jackson had some carries; however, he is used mostly by the Seahawks coming in on third downs. I don’t know anything about Harris and we know the Seahawks will go out and get another running back to replace Rawls until Marshawn is back. No one expects Lynch though to be back until the last game of the regular season again the Arizona Cardinals or until the playoffs. So the Seahawks will continue to depend on the legs and arm of Russell Wilson for at least the next two games. The great thing though is the Seahawks play the next two games at home in CenturyLink Field against the Cleveland Browns and the St. Louis Rams. Both of those games are expected to be easy games; however, in the NFL any team pretty well can beat another on any given Sunday. We can expect that for sure against the Rams since they always play the Seahawks tough though they have not done well recently except they did win Sunday beating the Detroit Lions 21-14. Regardless of the Rams’ offense we do expect their defense to play well; however first the Seahawks have to take on the Browns. The Browns like most seasons are not having a very good season but they did beat the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday 24-10. Of course, that does not say much.

We can hope the Seahawks defense continues well along with the great play of Wilson. We can hope that DuJuan Harris or whoever will at least be able to do some running against the Browns. Also, it is nice to see how hot Doug Baldwin has been as well scoring eight touchdowns in the last three games including three against the Ravens. Also, rookie receiver Tyler Lockett scored a couple touchdowns as well. Any way we like the play of the offense as well as the defense in the month of December. The 12^th man continues to back the Seahawks up. Go Seahawks!

Look at the New Mariners Part 2

It look like the Mariners have signed a free agent reliever who maybe the closer for the Mariners however I will get into that later in this report after writing about the outfield and the starting pitcher.

The Mariners have returning in right field and designated hitter Nelson Cruz along with Franklin Gutierrez and Seth Smith. Primarily Gutierrez and Smith will platoon with Gutierrez against left handers and Smith against right handers. How much in right field will depend on Cruz? According to new manager Scott Servais Cruz wants to play some right field; however, the decision will be up to Servais and the health of Cruz. Personally I would like to see Cruz play less in the field especially in Safeco. Also, the amount of time will depend on his health. Cruz was the best overall player in the Mariners lineup last season and we can only hope that he can somewhat repeat this next season. Being a year older if he can hit around twenty-five home runs instead of forty that still will be a good season; the most important thing is that he does not miss a lot of games over the season. We can hope that Gutierrez can return to have a good season like he had for the Mariners in the second half when he was called up from Triple A. The Mariners will keep an eye on his health as well. Seth Smith we can hope that he will have another solid season. What I like about the platooning of Gutierrez and Smith is having one of them coming off the bench to hit. It is an area the Mariners were not good at all last year.

The Mariners signed Nori Aoki as a free agent to primarily play left field though we may see him play some time in centerfield. Being athletic and playing a solid outfield he will be the Mariners leadoff hitter.

He played his baseball career in Japan before coming to United States to play major league baseball four years ago. He has been a solid hitter batting over .280 all four years. Seeing his press conference he has a personality that seems he will be able to keep the locker room very loose. Sounds like a good addition to the team.

Another questionable position for the Mariners was centerfield especially after the trade of Austin Jackson to the Chicago Cubs. Jackson is now a free agent looking for a team. He did have some good times with the Mariners but in general he was not the centerfielder the Mariners need so Dipoto went out and got centerfielder Leonys Martin from the Texas Rangers for reliever Tom Wihelmsen. There were other players involved in the trade however they were the primary two. The Mariners hope that Martin will play a sold centerfield which he should and hope he can rebound as far as his hitting goes; most likely he will start the season as the Mariners number nine hitter because of his speed and turnover of the lineup. Martin, Aoki and Marte will give the Mariners more speed in the Mariners lineup.

The Mariners have added two members to the starting pitcher. The first one was Nathan Karns who they traded for with the Tampa Bay Rays and sent them Logan Morrison, Brad Miller, and Danny Farquhar. At this point he is considered the fifth starter which is better than the Mariners had last year. What makes him good in the Mariners starting pitching is that he should pitch around 200 innings.

The second trade the Mariners made to bolster starting pitching after losing Iwakuma was during this last week at the Winter Meetings. Right after learning that Iwakuma would not return they went to plan 1b acquiring Wade Miley from the Boston Red Sox; however, they had to give up reliever Carson Smith and lefty Roenis Elias. Miley is a lefty who is another that the Mariners hope will pitch about 200 innings.

The starting pitching will begin with King Felix Hernandez followed by James Paxton, TaiJuan Walker, Miley, and Karns. As long as they stay healthy this looks like an improvement in the starting pitching over last year. The most questionable is James Paxton who has not pitched a lot of innings the last two years. We all hope that he can be the pitcher the Mariners have wanted since he came on the scene.  Adding to the depth is Mike Montgomery who is out of options and must make the team out of spring training. When he came up to the Mariners from Triple A he started out pretty good especially with three good outings; however, he backtracked and the Mariners did not pitch him in September. Another lefty who could come out of the bullpen to start is Vidal Nuno. What the Mariners like most about him is that he is able to start or relieve. He showed last season that he could pitch six good innings in a start along with going one inning or more out of the bullpen. If he had to he could get a tough left handed hitter out. Another pitcher the Mariners are counting on if they need him to do some spot staring is right handed pitcher Anthony Bass who the Mariners got in the Tampa Bay trade. Depending on what comes out in spring training all three may start out in the bullpen.

Besides those three guys the bullpen has made the biggest change so far during the off-season. Of course, with the problems they had in 2015 it is very understandable. The only remaining member of the bullpen from 2015 is lefty Charlie Furbush. He is very key to the bullpen since is main job is to get out the tough left handed hitters. Furbush missed the second of this last season, and that is when the bullpen especially went bad. The Mariners are hoping that Furbush will be able to return to his place in the bullpen when 2016 season begins. I am sure with the new guys in the bullpen if he is not ready the Mariners will have his position covered. They do have two returning lefties who had so so seasons last year in Dave Rollins and Tyler Olson. Both did spend some time in Triple A though Rollins was suspended for 80 games at the beginning of the season. We will have to see how both of them do along with Montgomery and Nuno.

The Mariners brought in some good right handed pitching so far this off-season. There is a possibility the Mariners will bring additional bullpen depth help before the start of spring training. Most likely they will be guys that will be signed to minor league contracts and invited to the major league camp.

The right handed pitchers the Mariners brought in to bolster the bullpen are Evan Scribner, Joaquin Benoit, and newly acquired closer the Mariners signed as a free agent Steve Cishek. He pitched for the Miami Marlins and then the St.Louis Cardinals during the 2015 season. He had a poor start this season but ended the season well. He is a right handed reliever who pitches sidearm. The Mariners have other pitchers that they have added to the depth of the bullpen. According to Dipoto he has another reliever coming in soon to the fold and likely will have more. Outside the top three who will pitch the last three innings the Mariners will have a much better bullpen than last year. The key according to Dipoto is how the starting pitching does next season.

Looking at it right now the look of the new Mariners is brighter than when the season ended. Unlike last season when everyone expected the Mariners to make the playoffs there is no expectation so we can hope the players can relax and make the playoffs. What I hope for is the players can work together as a unit and we will see a fun season. Go Mariners!

Look at the New Mariners!

Now that the Winter Meetings are over we can look at what Seattle Mariner general manager Jerry Dipoto has done over during the off-season. We can see that he has been a busy man.

He says that he is done basically as far as changing the regular lineup; however, he plans a few more changes with the bullpen and they could happen within in the next couple days. Like I did before I now will put on my report card as far as these new Mariners. Some of it will be hard since I am like a lot of Mariner fans I do not know who some of these players are especially in the bullpen. I had to do a search on all these guys when the Mariners made these acquisitions to see whether they were good or so so. What I did find out I have liked what I have seen happen. Of course, we really won’t know until next season is underway and it may take until mid-July. I am sure some will work out while others will not; so now position to position.

First we will look at the catcher’s position. The Mariner’s had to make changes there because of the poor performance last season at the positon as far as hitting goes. The Mariners found that starting catcher Mike Zunino who was into his second season in the major leagues was really not ready to perform as an everyday catcher as far as the hitting. He was in a slump throughout the season and at the end of August was batting around .160 and was sent down to triple-A Tacoma to finish out the season. When the season was over he was not called back up in September, and instead was sent to Arizona to work on his hitting. The Mariners should have sent him down back in May; however, they had no other catcher to replace him on a regular basis. We will have to see if he can recover this coming season and return to the Mariners. The Mariners first signed Chris Iannetta who Dipoto knew in his time with the Angels. This last season he had a poor season; however, the Mariners hope that he can recover to be the player he had been before, and that Zunino if needed can spend time in Triple A this coming season. The Mariners also went out and got Steve Clevenger from the Baltimore Orioles in the trade for Mark Trumbo. Backup catcher Jesus Sucre who was on the Mariner roster most of last season will return to see if he can make the roster. Personally I think the Mariners should have played Sucre more last season when Zunino was struggling hitting. Though Sucre was not hitting very well either he did much better at the end of August and into September when he got a chance to play more. Chances likely are that Sucre will share catching duty with Zunino while playing in Tacoma unless he is traded. Iannetta will start out the season as the regular catcher; however, unlike last season Clevenger will catch more often than Sucre did. How much will depend on the performance of Iannetta. In regards to Iannetta he is signed to a one year contract so if he is not performing well the Mariners can let him loose and make Clevenger the regular catcher unless Zunino is ready by that time; whatever the case the catching position will be in better hands this coming season.

Next we look at the first base position. Logan Morrison who played the major time at first base until September along with shortstop-utility player Brad Miller and reliever Danny Farquhar was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays after the season. Actually it was the first trade that Dipoto made. Just before the Winter Meetings Mark Trumbo who was figured to be the first baseman next season was traded to the Baltimore Orioles. At the time the purpose was to dump his salary; however, at the winter meetings the Mariners traded with the Milwaukee Brewers for Adam Lind in exchange for three minor league pitchers. Lind will be in the last year of his contract next season so he will want to perform the best he can going into free agency. We hope the Mariners will be able to take advantage of it. Most likely will be with the Mariners for the one season; he hits primarily good against right handed pitching and not as well against left handers. He is a left handed hitter so he should be able to take advantage of hitting home runs beyond right field. He did say after being traded to the Mariners that he enjoys playing in Safeco Field. He played several seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays. He is figured to be platooning at first base, and now the right handed hitter figures to be Jesus Montero. This would all depend on how Montero plays during spring training or the Mariners bring in another right handed bat to play first base. I am rooting for Montero since he did a good job in Tacoma last season. He really worked hard to improve his play and that includes playing first base. Whether he plays first base or not will depend on his fielding and if he can hit breaking pitches; he has the power the Mariners could really use. If he is on the roster he may be used at designed hitter as well when Nelson Cruz is in the field. The best for the Mariners though is if he can play first base. If not the Mariners will have another player who will be able to do so. We will see an improvement at first base over last season as well.

Going around the bases we now look at second base. Robinson Cano will be returning as the second baseman. This coming season should be an improvement since the first half of the season he had a terrible time and may have been the reason the Mariners ended up having such a bad season. The second half of the season Cano was much different and he played more like his old self. We found near the end of the season the reason he struggled was that he had been injured and he had surgery when the season was over. The Mariners should be a better team if Cano has a good overall season.

At third base Kyle Seager also struggle during the first half. Not necessarily as bad as Cano but he had trouble driving in runs and his fielding was good but not like in 2014. Like Cano though he picked it up in the second half of the season. The reason this may have happened when the Mariners changed the lineup and Seager batted second in front of Nelson Cruz. Both Seager and Cano hit much better when they moved Cruz to third in the batting order. The Mariners should be a better team again if Seager can go back to having a consistent season like he had in his previous seasons before 2015. I expect to see that since most players do have one season where they slump. A major problem last year the Mariners had many players who slumped.

Ketel Marte is the starting shortstop for the Mariners right now. He had a good second half of the season after coming up from Triple A. The Mariners found their leadoff hitter as well for the remaining of the season. Most likely he will be batting second in the lineup this coming season. We can only hope that he really is prepared to be the regular shortstop and not go into a slump like Mike Zunino did last year. The Mariners have three candidates right now to backup Marte and be the utility player. We have Christ Taylor who spent a month in May as the regular shortstop; however, his hitting was not good enough so he was returned to Triple A when Marte was brought up. Another candidate is Shawn O’Malley who had a really good time playing for the Mariners in September after spending the season in Triple A. What makes O’Malley a good candidate is that he has speed and he can play the outfield as well as the infield. If he is on the roster he not only backup at shortstop he would at second, third and centerfield. The third candidate the Mariners made a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers and acquired Luis Sardinas. He spent some time with the Brewers as their starting shortstop so if Marte does slump he likely would take over the shortstop position. We do hope that Marte can hold onto the position for 2016. What I like about him is that he is a patient hitter and is willing to take walks. If he is the shortstop likely he will be moved to second in the batting order. The advantage of him hitting second is that he does have contact and is able to bunt very well too. Whatever the case the shortstop position should be better than last season.

Since this report card has been long I will write next time about the outfield, designated hitter, and the pitching. Go Mariners!

Kuma Moved

Kuma Moving On

Free Agent starting pitcher Iwakuma who pitched a no-hitter for the Seattle Mariners in 2015 signed a 3 yr. $63 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

 There was thought that Iwakuma would return to the Mariner; however, the Dodgers offered him an amount the Mariners or any other team were not willing to meet. Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto said that the difference was having a third year. The Mariners may have accepted the $21 million per year if it was for only two years.

The Dodgers went quickly to sign Iwakuma after losing starting pitcher Zach Greinke who signed a free agent contract of 7 years for $217 million with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Iwakuma was the best starting pitcher available so the Dodgers signed him to a contract they knew no one else who match.

I don’t blame the Mariners for not matching the contract of the Dodgers primarily because Iwakuma has had seasons where he has gone through injuries. If he had injury free seasons than it would have been more of a disappointment that the Mariners did not resign him.

The Mariners though did not waste time to replace Iwakuma by making a trade with the Red Sox for starting left handed pitcher Wade Miley and right handed reliever Jonathan Aro. In return the Red Sox received starting left handed Roenis Elias and right handed reliever Carson Smith. Most people believe the trade would have not been made if Carson Smith had not been part of the trade. I am sure Smith will be a big time reliever for the Red Sox. Right now he fits as a really good setup man. In a few years he could be the closer while Elias could be a solid starting pitcher for the Red Sox.

Wade Miley obviously was the Mariners number one choice to purchase after Iwakuma signed with the Dodgers since the trade was made very fast. I am sure the Mariners were discussing with the Red Sox prior to the Iwakuma signing.

The Mariners now will be looking to go after a first baseman. The story right now is that they have talked with the Milwaukee Brewers about first baseman Adam Lind. No news now who the Brewers would get in return. Knowing Dipoto the trade could be worked out on Tuesday. Most likely if Lind is traded to the Mariners he will be platooned with Jesus Montero. Also,, Dipoto is talking with free agent relievers so there could be some news on that front before the Winter Meetings conclude on Thursday. I would not be surprised if the Mariners make some other moves that we do not expect at this time.  Go Mariners!

Mariners Continue to Stay Busy

Right now Jerry Dipoto is the busiest general manager in major league baseball making more trades and transactions this week and we will see what happens with the Winter Meetings happening next week in Nashville, Tennessee.

I know some people are questioning the trade of Mark Trumbo to the Baltimore Orioles for left handed hitting catcher/first basemen Steve Clevenger. Besides Trumbo the Mariners sent left handed reliever C.J. Riefenhauser. The full purpose of the trade was to dump Trumbo’s salary so the Orioles ask for another player in return as well. According to Dipoto Trumbo’s salary which is expected to be around $9 million because of arbitration will allow the Mariners to find another player a pitcher, an outfielder, or first basemen. Right now the Mariners have one first baseman in Jesus Montero. According to Dipoto Montero should have the opportunity to win a position on the Mariner roster or be sent elsewhere to do so as well. Montero is out of options so he has to make the Mariner team or he would have to put on waivers in which likely he would be picked up by another team. The Mariners would trade him to get another player possibly a prospect in return.

The Seattle Mariners signed right handed reliever Justin De Fratus who is a free agent who played last season with the Philadelphia Phillies.  Dipoto feels that De Fratus can rebound from a poor season with the Phillies. Dipoto feels that De Fratus best situations is to pitch no more than one inning per outing, and the Phillies pitched him more innings that did not fit him best.

Clevenger likely will be the Mariners backup catcher; however, he may see some action at first base as well. Depending on how Mike Zunino does coming out of spring training it is possible the Mariners may carry three catchers on next season’s roster. Of course, we know at this point things may change and most likely will. In fact, we expect more will happen to the roster in the next week or so adding a first baseman, an outfielder, and a pitcher. All the other positions seem to be in good shape at this point. The Mariners maybe adding outfielder Nori Aoki who played for the San Francisco Giants last season and the Kansas City Royals the year before. He has to pass a physical, and with the Giants he had to deal with concussions. What makes him a good fit with the Mariners is that he has speed along with defense. Also, in the four seasons he has played in the major leagues he has batted just over .280. Most likely he will be platooned and play right field. He will be a good choice to play some center field as well.

We know that Dipoto has some other fires going on so we will have to hold tight to see what the next moves will happen for the Mariners. I am sure some of that salary dump of Trumbo’s will go toward paying starting pitcher Iwakuma who still is a free agent. We will look to see additional presents acquire this month. Go Mariners!