Mariners Getting Close To Spring Training

Spring training begins for the Mariners

pitchers and catchers reporting next

Thursday while the position players

come on February 20. First preseason

game happens on the 24th.

The Mariners have their starting five

returning at this point unless another 

trade happens beforehand. Emerson 

Hancock will be the main addition to

that group depending on his health. 

He could be a long reliever or start in 

thenminors. Expect to see him sometime

during the season unless he is traded.

The Mariners have four relievers who

spent most of last season in the bullpen.

They along with Gregory Stantos newly

acquired make up the five spots with

three remaining. We look further throughout 

camp how things go.

Cal Raleigh is the only returning catcher.

Mitch Garver is listed as a catcher 

however will be the dh most of the

time so they will have a third catcher 

most likely. Acquired during the off season

Seby Zavala from the Diamondbacks 

should  be the third catcher though they

have Blake Hunt acquired from Tampa

Bay as well.

JP Crawford and Ty France are the

only infielders who began and played 

most of last year to return. Josh Rojas 

who the Mariners acquired in the

Paul Sewald trade played mostly 

second base in August and September.

This year expected to platoon with

newcomer Luis Urias at third base.

Second base will be Jorge Polanco

acquired last week. Sam Haggerty

and Dylan Moore are the two returning

utility players. Moore will likely play

in the outfield and shortstop when

Crawford needs a day off.  With

others competing for utility spot

plus Rojas and Urias platooning 

Haggerty likely start in Tacoma.

In the outfield Julio Rodriguez is

the only regular from last year

to return. Luke Raley acquired 

from Tampa Bay will be in left

or right field. Mitch Haniger 

returns from a year in San Francisco

to be in right or left field. The decision

may depend how the Mariners feel

to keep Mitch the healthy. He is

accustomed to playing right field.

Dominic Canzone who the Mariners

acquired in the Sewald trade as well

may platoon with Haniger or give

him sometime off. He could give

Raley time off as well. Raley may

play some first base as well though

the Mariners hope Ty France returns

to good form. We could see Cade

Marlowe in the outfield as well. He

came up late July last year and 

played some in August as well as

a little in September. Cade hit

.239 in 88 at bats. Likely we will

see Dylan Moore occasionally in

the outfield as a right handed bat

unless the Mariners acquired

another through trade or free agency.

Justin Hollander the Mariners general

manager after Jerry Dipoto was promoted

to President of baseball operations 

mentioned over last weekend the

Mariners may not be done acquiring

another bat so we will see. Stay tuned.

Go M's. 

Huskies Add To Coaching Staff

Jedd Fisch added two members to

his coaching staff. Steve Belichick

and Vinnie Sunseri both from the

New England Patriots.

Steve will be defensive coordinator

while Vinnie's exact role hasn't been

named yet however on the defensive 

of the ball.

At the Patriots he was running back

coach however played as a defensive

back at Alabama. Good to have

two coaches to help on defense.

The Huskies 14-1 this last season

however over the last few years 

the defense has struggled against

both the run and passing game.

The important thing they made

adjustments in the second half

and were quite affected in the 4th

quarter in the close games. Both

games against Oregon made 

important stops to lead to both

wins.

Now we have to see whether they

can play consistently throughout

the game. The Huskies do seem

to have improved in the running

game while they well have to get

back to the passing game with

losing Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan

and Ja'Lynn Polk to the NFL along

with German Bernard going to

Alabama.

The defense will have to have their

part in the Huskies first year in the

Big Ten. At this point Oregon seems

the only team of the four joining

the Big Ten this coming season.

The Huskies will starting to sign 

more incoming freshmen starting

this week. They have been able 

to have some players who had 

gone through the transfer portal

to decide to return. Also they 

have seven players at this point

transferring in from Arizona. 

We will see who these guys will

be and any other coaches added

to the staff.

Over the next few days and weeks

we will see who the new members

of the Seattle Seahawks coach 

staff will be. The Seahawks are over

the salary cap so we have to see who

they retain, release or trade. 

The Seattle Mariners training camp

will be starting soon as well. In about

ten days. There are still some free

agents on the market so see whether

they sign anyone or stand pat after

two major trades last week..Go M's 

Cougars Beat Huskies and Zags Lose

On Saturday the Cougars beat the

Huskies in men's basketball in

Seattle. The Huskies have done

mostly at home however lost to

the Cougars in overtime 90-87. 

The Huskies continue not playing

good defense while the offense

is going well. They actually had

an eleven point lead in the first

half however couldn't sustain it.

The Huskies shot 57.1% from the

floor however the Cougars were

able to out rebound them including

15 to 5 in offensive rebounds. The

Huskies made  8 more foul shots 

while taking 10 more. The Cougars 

made six more shots from the 

field while taking 19 more shots.

They shot a good 50.7 % however

not like Huskies.

Keion Brooks Jr  led the Huskies

with a career high 35 points. The

trouble was they couldn't get him

the ball in overtime when the

Cougars took the final less with

over a minute remaing in overtime.

The Cougars were led by forward Issac Jones with 20 points. They were able to

match Keion Brooks Jr.  by having  five players scoring in double figures while

Huskies had three.

This week the Huskies and Cougars

go to Oregon to take on the Ducks

and the Beavers. The Huskies will

need to play better on the road then

they have and the Cougars keep

doing what they have. 

Arizona Wildcats are on top of the

Pac-12 with a 8-3 conference record

while the Cougars and Ducks are 

tied for second 7-4 record. The Ducks

got off to a 6-0 record however have

struggled as of late. The Huskies 

are in 10th place with a 4-7 record.

Oregon State and USC at the bottom

with 3-8 record. 

Gonzaga lost to Saint Mary's at home

on Saturday 64-62. Saint Mary's is

9-0 in conference play while the Zags

are now 7-2 and tied with San Francisco

Dons in second place at 7-2. 

The Zags went with their starting unit

most of the way with the bench going

sixteen minutes total and scoring two

points..The Zags were led by guard

Ryan Nembhard with 18 points. St.

Mary's had four player scoring in

double figures led by Adian Mahaney

with 20 points. The difference between

Mahaney and Nembhard was the

difference in the game.

The Zags play the Portland Pilots at 

home for the first time this season 

on Wednesday. They take on #10

Kentucky on the road on Saturday.

This could show us what chance 

they have to make March Madness 

this year. Having an upset over

Kentucky would help. Go Zags!

Mariners Make Another Trade

For the third time this week the Seattle

Mariners made another trade on Saturday.

This was another significant trade to 

make the Mariners a contender for the

2024 season.

The Mariners made a trade to bolster

there bullpen. They picked up Gregory

Santos from the Chicago White Sox for

prospects. A great trade partner since

the White Sox are looking to rebuild.

Santos is a right handed reliever who

throws up to 100 mph. He is only

24 years old and the Mariners have 

control of him through 2028 season.

Last year he ended the season as the

White Sox's closer. So along with 

Andre Munoz and Matt Brash he will

close games as well.

We should see these three primarily

in the eighth and ninth inning sometimes 

in the seventh seeing all three. The 

Mariners have lefties Gabe Speier and

Tayler Saucedo returning for a second

tour. They are the only lefties on the

Mariners forty man roster.  

The Mariners may have to see about

getting another lefty or what they have

in the minors. As you know relievers

can sometimes not last long. 

The Mariners gave up right handed 

reliever Prelander Berroa their #15

prospect who is a year younger than

Santos. Hss the same skill set though

not there yet. Before the trade the

thought was Berroa would likely be one

of the setup relievers for the Mariners.

They also traded outfielder Zack Deloach

in the trade along with the #68 overall

pick in 2024 baseball draft. Not many 

teams trade draft picks. In fact you

can't trade draft picks during the draft

like in other sports. Deloach is a left

handed hitter and had Dominic Canzone

and Cade Marlowe ahead of him. This

gives him new life I expect. He is the

second outfield prospect traded this 

week. The other in the Jorge Polanco

trade. Jonathan Clase is the top

outfield prospect at #7 for the Mariners.

He is a switch hitter with speed. You

will see him in training camp and he

is on the 40 man roster too. Go M's.

Seahawks Make Move To Build Coaching Staff

The Seattle  Seahawks  hired their first

member to head coach Mike  Macdonald 

coaching staff.  The first hire is Leslie 

Frazier a veteran defensive  coach and

had some experience as a head coach 

in the NFL.  

Frazier will be  assist head coach and

not defensive  coordinator. Someone 

else be hired for that post. In the days

ahead we will no who else  will  be on

the staff.

In  men's  basketball  the Cougars and

Huskies play in Seattle.  The Huskies 

have played  their best ball at home.

The Cougars are one of the top teams

in the Pac-12  this season so expect 

it to be a tough game with either team

could win. I  am  sure  there will be a 

lot of Cougs in the stands to for this

rival game. Being the last season of

the Pac-12  it is hard to know how

often they will play each other. 

Hopefully  they will play at least once

each season. 

Gonzaga will be playing St. Mary's on

Saturday.  This will be a big game as

St.Mary's is undefeated in conference 

play and the Zags can't  afford another

loss to make March Madness. Go Zags!

Seahawks Press Conference

Thursday the Seahawks with new 

head coach Mike MacDonald.

Of course new coach always come

in with positive attitude. He said he

wouldn't be Pete Carroll however 

one thing MacDonald seems to be

a player's coach as well. 

He said both the offense and defense

will come down to the players and

who may come in. The defense be

aggressive like it was in Baltimore.

It may not be like the Ravens since 

it all depends who the Seahawks

have. 

One thing I like to see the cornerbacks

more on the line especially on the third down or late in the game. I believe

Witherspoon can do so. The team they

play against will depend on that as well.

How much speed or physical the wide

receivers are. How often the opposition 

passes or runs on third down too. 

Pete Carroll likes to run the ball more

than throwing the ball. How MacDonald

likes to do so will depend on the players

and who the offensive coordinator is.

Word came out that former Huskies 

offensive coordinator Ryan Gruff is a

candidate for the position. He does

become the OC I could see him use

DK Metcalf in a way he did with Rome

Odunze with the Huskies. 

The only assistant coach returning is

defensive running back coach Karl 

Scott. There was word that the Eagles

were looking to hire him however the

Seahawks and MacDonald wanted to 

keep him. 

Weeks and months ahead we will see 

what happens with the Seahawks.

Mariners Make Anymore Moves

Now that is February  and  spring

training is about two weeks  away 

are the Mariners  make any additional 

moves. 

They acquired Polanco  in a big 

trade with the Twins this week.

This helps the offense and the 

second base spot to. He isn't 

the greatest defensive  second

baseman in the world however

infield  coach Perry  Hill has 

done wonders before with players.

Not only helping Polanco the 

Mariners will have to see how

Josh Rojas  and  Luis Urias do

over at third base. Those two

could  platoon or whoever isn't 

the everyday  third baseman 

maybe the Mariners  top utility 

player.

As the Mariners  look to have

the offense go into another

direction by not hitting as many

home runs and striking  out too.

Polanco will  help since he puts 

the bat on the ball. We should 

see more singles and doubles.

It will be interesting  to  see 

spring training  games to see

the differences. Go M's.