How About the Huskies and More

The Washington Huskies right now are showing being the best team in the Pac-12 Conference in men's basketball. They beat USC Trojans 75-62 home on Wednesday night at Alaska Airlines Arena. Going into the game the Trojans were the second best team in the Pac-12 and they probably still are. 

Though the Huskies led throughout the game the Trojans did get within three points on a couple occasions in the second half. The issue the Huskies had allowing the Trojans to stay close for a little while was turning the ball over because they passed the ball probably one time to much. They were trying to get the perfect shot instead of hitting an open shot when available. The Trojans had the same problem as well.

The other team in the state in the Pac-12 continues to struggle in the Washington State Cougars. Right now they have a record of 1-7 after losing to UCLA Bruins on Wednesday night 87-67. The Bruins are the opponent the Huskies play on Saturday night. 

In other sports news, the Seattle Reign FC announced Wednesday afternoon they are moving to Tacoma and play at Cheney Stadium until the new soccer field is ready to go. They will be called just the Reign FC now. The other team playing soccer in Tacoma the Seattle Sounders FC2 is changing their name to Tacoma Defiance. They are the second tier team of the Seattle Sounders who play in the MLS.

 The Tacoma Rainiers baseball team continues playing at Cheney Stadium as well.  Be interesting to see how they do this coming season after a turnover of the roster with all the changes the Seattle Mariners have done this off-season. The Mariners start spring real soon in just over two weeks on Monday, February 11. It will be interesting to get to know all the players on the team who have come over. General Manager Jerry Dipoto might add a few players by training camp starts. 

Washington Huskies Men Stay Undefeated in Pac-12

The Washington Huskies men's basketball team continues to do well in the Pac-12 season. They beat Oregon and Oregon State on the road which isn't an easy thing to do. The Huskies lead the Pac-12 with a record of 7-0. 

This coming Wednesday the Huskies face USC Trojans at home followed the UCLA Bruins on Saturday.  The Trojans have a 5-2 record in the Pac-12 while the Bruins are at 4-3. 

The Huskies beat Oregon 61-56 on Thursday night then beat Oregon State on Saturday 79-69. The game was a larger margin than winning by ten points. The Huskies had as much as a 21 point lead in the second half.

The success the Huskies are having so far in the Pac-12 the Washington State Cougars are not doing well at all. They have a record of 1-5 beating only the California Golden Bears at home last week. They lost to Oregon State on Thursday 90-77. They play the Oregon Ducks on Sunday. I wouldn't be surprised of a coaching change at the end of the season. 

We hope the Huskies continue on their way to make the NCAA tournament in March. There is a possibility only two teams will make the tournament so it will be important to keeping winning. The winner of the Pac-12 tournament is the only one guaranteed to go to the NCAA tournament.

Edgar's In

It took a long time ten years for that matter however Edgar Martinez finally made it to baseball's Hall of Fame. I know there is a lot of stories coming up on Edgar so I am keeping this short however I have to be like everyone else who are fans of Edgar congratulations you made it.

Here in Seattle and the state of Washington, we all know his accomplishments even if you aren't a big baseball fan. Everyone here knows his name even if they didn't watch a game. Speaking of watching a game the double Edgar hit to score Joey Cora then Ken Griffey Jr. for the Mariners go to the American League Championship series in 1995 by beating the New York Yankees is still the greatest moment in Mariner history even though they won 116 games in 2001. Every time I see the replay of that hit my eyes come to tears and I am excited. We know Edgar accomplished so much more for the Mariners however that play shows why he is in the Hall of Fame now.

Again thank you, Edgar, for your accomplishments for all 18 years as a player then you became the hitting coach as well We will miss seeing you in the dugout for every game however we forward to seeing your induction into the Hall of Fame.   

A trade and Edgar's Hall of Fame Announcement

While everyone was celebrating Martin Luther King Jr Day the New York Yankees traded right-handed starting pitcher Sonny Gray to the Cincinnati Reds for second baseman Shed Long and a competitive balance pick in the next draft.

 General Manager Jerry Dipoto who had talked to the Reds about Long before traded outfielder Josh Stowers who the Mariners had drafted last year and had a solid time in rookie ball Everett. The Mariners had high hopes for him but picking up several outfielder prospects over the off-season they felt getting an infielder instead would be a good deal. The Mariners don't have many infield prospects so getting Long was good and he is further along as well. He is young to at 23 years old. He played double-A ball last season and may start there again for the Mariners or move up to triple-A Tacoma. This could mean if he is ready to be on the scene next year or in 2021. 

Right now the Mariners have Dee Gordon at second base.  The Mariners are hoping he will be healthy this year. If Long can turn into a major leaguer than a prospect the Mariners likely would trade Gordon. The Mariners may play Long at third base and shortstop as so a different scenario could happen too.

Today, Tuesday, January 22 we are supposed to hear whether Edgar Martinez makes the Hall of Fame or not. This is his last year of eligibility but could be voted in years later by the veteran's committee. This year the veteran's committee voted in Harold Baines. He had a solid season playing 22 seasons but not close to Edgar. In my mind, it will be a sure disappointment if Edgar doesn't go in this season. So we hope to hear your name today Edgar so we can all yell Edgar! Edgar! Edgar!.

Huskies Go 3-0

The Washington Huskies men's basketball team start the Pac-12 schedule going 3-0. They beat Washington State at home as expected but did a fine job on the road this last Thursday and Saturday beating Utah Utes and the Colorado Buffaloes. Both of those teams are hard to beat on the road.

The Huskies hadn't beaten the Utes since 2012 and the Buffaloes were undefeated at home. The Huskies took a big lead scoring 12 straight points at the beginning of the game. The had to hold them off as the Buffaloes did get within one point at 63-62 in the second half. The Huskies defense though kept them to stay in the game. The final score was 77-70 Jaylen Nowell led the Huskies once again with 19 points. David Crisp who had a so so non-league season has bounced back to have three great games to help the Huskies win all three games. Against the Buffaloes, he scored 16 points.

The Huskies come home where they are undefeated so far on the season. They will be facing the Stanford Cardinal who are 1-3 in Pac-12 while California Bears haven't haven't won a game yet.
Everything goes right the Huskies should end next week with a 5-0 record in Pac-12 and 14-4 overall.

Right now the UCLA Bruins and Arizona State are both undefeated well as the Oregon State Beavers. The Beavers and Bruins play each other on Sunday. This could be a good race down to the finish. Go Huskies!

Debate over Seahawks Loss and Huskies News

I am sure a lot of fans along with the media are debating about the Seattle Seahawks loss to the Dallas Cowboys.  Some of what I have heard was how the offense should have done things different especially in the fourth quarter. Instead of running the ball going to pass sooner. 

I didn't like how the offense was done throughout the game however it could have been the execution as much as the play calling. I don't give it all to the offense when it came to the loss though they did take a part in the loss. The defense didn't do the job they should have done either. They gave a touchdown at the end of the first half plus two at the end of the game. The one at the end of the first half had the Seahawks didn't allow a touchdown and the Cowboys scored a field goal the Seahawks would have won the game. They likely would have stopped the momentum the Cowboys had. The Seahawks may have given up a field goal in the fourth quarter as well instead of a touchdown. The Seahawks try to win the game in the fourth quarter by wearing out the opposition and they didn't do so in this game. Yes, the Seahawks running game wasn't up to par however the defense didn't do the job either. So I give the loss to both sides of the ball.

In Huskies news, after the Rose Bowl safety Taylor Rapp said that he was not returning to the Huskies next season and going to the NFL early. On Monday cornerback Byron Murphy declared for the NFL draft as well. The Huskies will miss both those players along with the graduation of Jake Browning, and Myles Gaskin to mention just a couple. With the turnover of the Huskies especially on the offensive side of the ball, Rapp and Murphy made good decisions. Murphy should be a high first-round pick and Rapp should be a good pick too. The Seahawks could use more depth at cornerback for sure so it would be nice if Murphy can still be around when they have their turn to draft. If he is already gone the Seahawks should and probably will trade down to add at least another pick. Outside of adding a cornerback or safety, the Seahawks need to a defensive lineman to stuff the opposition running game. The Seahawks already have a good pass rush.

The Huskies are also going to lose wide receiver and co-offensive coordinator Matt Lubick. He has decided to go into business and out of coaching. It will be interesting to see who the Huskies bring in to taking his coaching spot. 

I expect not a lot of other news concerning the Huskies until the spring game in late June. I am sure the Seahawks will have additional news before the NFL draft in April. The NFL brings news all year long. One of the key news will the Seahawks sign Frank Clark to a new contract or give him the franchise tag. We will see. Go Hawks and Huskies. Oh yes, we can't forget what happens on the other side of the mountains with the Cougars. We will see what happens there. 

Current Look at Mariners Bullpen

When we look at the forty man roster you can see that Jerry Dipoto general manager of the Mariners will need to add some pitchers to compete for the bullpen. Not only are they limited with bullpen pitchers right now most of the guys have little experience. So here is a look at who the Mariners show on the roster. 

When we look at the forty man roster you can see that Jerry Dipoto general manager of the Mariners will need to add some pitchers to compete for the bullpen. Not only are they limited with bullpen pitchers right now most of the guys have little experience. So here is a look at who the Mariners show on the roster. 

I will list the bullpen pitchers in alphabet order along with what they did last year. 

Ruben Alaniz: primarily pitched at Durham in the Tampa Bay organization. Could have an outside shot to make the Mariners. He pitched in 20 games with an era of 4.00. He did strike out 35 batters in 27 innings and only gave up one home run. Most likely he will start the season Tacoma. He has had experience as a starting pitcher so likely would be a long reliever if he makes the roster.

Dan Altavilla: a familiar face to the Mariners. He started last season in Seattle however did have injuries keeping his pitching to a limit. 2018 was his third year spending some time in the bullpen he pitched in 22 games with an era of 2.61. He has a fastball known to get up to the high 90s and peak at 100 mph. If he is able to stay healthy he could be the Mariners setup man in the seventh or eighth inning. Also could close in the 9th inning as well. 

Shawn Armstrong: he spent most of last year in Tacoma as the team’s closer. The Mariners could use him in multiple roles this year. He had some previous major league experience with the Cleveland Indians. The Mariners recalled Armstrong in September where he often was the first pitcher out of the bullpen. The Mariners could use him in that role this coming season as well as other times. Like Altavilla, the Mariners could use him as the closer at times too.

Gerson Bautista: he came in the trade where the Mariners traded Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz. He is one of the prospects the Mariners picked up. He likely will be invited to training camp but will probably start the season in AA or AAA. He is one of the relievers the Mariners will have as depth this coming season. He is 23 years old so his future is a year or two away. 

Chasen Bradford: he had a solid first half of the season but didn’t pitch as well in the second half as he went up and down between Seattle and Tacoma. He could again be the first pitcher out of the bullpen or pitch later in the game as well. He isn’t known as a fastball pitcher either. He is a solid reliever though. He could pitch more than an inning if needed to be called upon. Since he has more experience than many of the candidates at this point he has a pretty good chance of making the ball club. 

Brandon Brennan: so far a minor league pitcher who was a starter when he began his career but switched to the bullpen in 2016. He is another pitcher likely start in Tacoma as depth in case of injuries. 

Roenis Elias: the Mariners brought back in a trade last May with the Boston Red Sox. He spent most of last year in the Mariner bullpen when he was brought up from Tacoma. He did start four games. The Mariners could use him as the fifth starter or be used in the bullpen. Right now he is the second lefty in the bullpen so the Mariners could use him in a variety of ways. 

Matt Festa: he was the Mariners minor league pitcher of the year spending most of his time in Double-A. Depending on how he does in spring training could begin in either Triple-A or in the Mariners’ bullpen. He could be one of the Mariners setup men or be the closer as well. In the long run, he could be the closer.

Zac Rosscup: the Mariners signed Rosscup as the lefty specialist out of the bullpen. He missed a lot of action because of injuries last year. He was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers. I wouldn’t be surprised if Dipoto will look to sign another pitcher as a left specialist however Rosscup will get his chance anyway.

Nick Rumbelow: another pitcher having limited action in the minor leagues last year both in Double-A and Triple-A for the Mariners. Last time he was in the major leagues was 2015 with the Yankees. Just another guy the Mariners are taking a chance on and likely is used as depth. If he starts the season with the Mariners he will probably take one of the last spots in the bullpen, otherwise, he will be in Tacoma.

Anthony Swarzak: veteran pitcher the Mariners picked up in the Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz trade. The lack of experience the Mariners have in the bullpen he could be the main setup reliever or the closer for that matter. Last year he was injured a good part of the year pitching in only 29 games in relief with an era of 6.15. The previous year 2017 he pitched solidly with the Chicago White Sox than the New York Mets in relief. He pitched in 70 games between both teams with 27 holds. If he pitches anything like that for the Mariners in 2019 I would not be surprised the Mariners trade him by the trading deadline for prospects. 

Sam Tuivailala: the Mariners picked Tuivailala in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals at the trading deadline. However, in August he was injured and he needed to have surgery in the off-season. Likely he won’t be ready for the opening of the season. He will find an important part of the Mariner bullpen when he returns. He is only 26 years old with two good solid seasons in the major leagues. I am sure Dipoto considers him an important part of the bullpen in the years ahead.

Right now I only see four solid relievers with major league experience right now plus Tuivailala when he returns. Dipoto needs to look at picking up at least two pitchers with major league experience. Not just pitchers we would consider fringe but have someone that is capable. David Phelps who was out all last season hasn’t signed with anyone as a free agent so if he can be signed at a bargain price the Mariners could bring him back. This would be a kind of pitcher the Mariners could use.