The Haves and the Have Nots

I don't if anybody saw this coming down the pipeline today. We Mariners fans have wanted something exciting to happen to the Mariners roster all offseason. Today they made a big trade. I personally am not too impressed with the deal. The mighty Yankees have pulled down the Mariners pants in front of the whole school. Back in June of 2010, the Mariners and Yankees were working on a deal to send Cliff Lee to the Yankees for catching prospect Jesus Montero. The deal fell apart and Cliff went to Texas instead. Today the M's finally got Montero. They also acquired Hector Noesi.

In exchange for a right handed hitting catcher that can't catch, we give up a big horse in Michael Pineda. Also going to the Yankees is Jose Campos, who spent last season on A Everett.

While I know that everybody thinks that Jesus is next hot commotity, I don't know if I'm sold on him. I would assume that since he can DH and Justin Smoak can play 1B, that pretty much takes us out of any slight chance there was of getting Prince to come to Seattle. I  think we still need a lefty hitter, but I guess we will probably roll out another stinker this year. I'm starting to feel the pain of Royals and Pirates fans, every good kid gets dealt. I sure hope there is some more signings or deals to come before Spring Training.

A stud and a dud

Last night as we all know was the All-Star game. I'm a sucker for these things. I still love to see all the players in different uniforms on the same field together. It is always better when guys from my team are there to perform too. As we all knew, Felix would not be able to pitch due to starting on Sunday. The player that I most wanted to see succeed was rookie Michael Pineda.

In my opinion, I think Big Mike is on the inside track to win AL Rookie of the Year. A good showing and a decent second half of the season. I think Mike did his part last night by getting Tulo to pop out, then Scott Rolen, and Rickie Weeks on strikeouts. The dud of a closer showed up again for the M's last night. Brandon league got his one inning, but looked painful doing it. Big pitches to hit, wild pitches and all cost the AL another run.

I think the highlight of the night was this guy and his fun attitude. How could you not like a guy that would do that? I know the game was meaning on the World Series, but do the Padres really care? Why not give the fans a show? I appreciate guys like Heath Bell, and the beard Brian Wilson. I want players that are serious, but still remember it is a game after all.

Rolling the Right Way

It was 30 years ago yesterday that was the play of the night in Seattle:

Also in the Northwest this happened 20 years ago yesterday:


Things are starting to get back to normal for the Mariners. Big Mike didn't have has best stuff last night, but he got through 5 innings. The best part of the night was to see A-Rod go down swinging on an ugly strikeout.

The bullpen came in for the last 4 and slammed the door. With the win last night, the Mariners have achieved .500 and now sit only 1/2 game out of first place!!

 While I know it is only the end of May, the way this team has been for awhile it's reason enough to be excited. I think that this team is starting to put together a nucleus of a team that we can build around, and start making a future. There are some guys that won't be a part of the longer future, but are surely contributing. If you would have told me that Adam Kennedy, Brendan Ryan, Miguel Olivo, and Luis Rodriguez would be the older guys that are helping this team I wouldn't have believed it. Now if we could just get Chone Figgins and his 9 million dollar head to be a team player, we could continue.

I will be at the Safe tonight to be part of King Felix's court. Let's hope the M's can shoot down the Bombers again, and maybe tomorrow I'll wake up with the Mariners in FIRST PLACE!!

Well Played, Pineda

Micheal Pineda was awarded the honor of being the AL Rookie of the month for April. He is only the third Mariner player to win the honor joining Ichiro in 2001, and Rafael Soriano in 2003.

In his five starts in April, Michael was 4-1. All five starts were quality starts, and Pineda went at least 6 innings in each and never gave up more than 5 hits in each. In April, he ended up with 31 1/3 IP, giving up 22 hits, 7 ER, walked 12, and struck out 30. Until this winning streak that the team has been on, all but 2 wins came on starts by Pineda or Felix.

Congrats to Michael on this well deserved honor, and let's hope he can work his magic tonight in his second start against the Rangers. I'm still not sure where this Mariners team has come from all of a sudden, but I like it!

New slogan time

I have been thinking long and hard about this one. None of us are old enough to remember, but the 1948 Boston Braves chant was, "Spahn, Sain, and pray for rain."

Now in 2011, I believe the Mariners should get rid of "Ready to play," and replace it with this.

"Felix, Pineda, and pray for a tornada!"
Works for me. New series starts Tuesday in D-town

When a win is a loss

Last night the Seattle Sounders FC played an MLS match in Colorado. In only the 3rd minute of the game, Sounders top player and one of the league's better players Steve Zakuani suffered a devastating injury. It was diagnosed last night to be a fractured tibia and fibula. That's both bones in the lower leg. If you are squeamish or have a light stomach, don't watch. It will remind you of Theismann's injury.


While the Sounders were able to pull off the 1-0 win, it is a major setback for this team. The Sounders have set up ways to show your support for Steve. You can Tweet him directly on Twitter @stevezakuani11 and/or hash tag it #forzakuani. You can go directly to the Sounders website , where a page has been set up. Also, the Facebook page can be used for good wishes. Physical mail may be sent to: Sounders FC Community Relations, 12 Seahawks Way, Renton, WA 98056. After winning tickets to take my son to next week's game, he was devastated to see the injury to his favorite Sounder. Godspeed to Steve for a speedy recovery!

Also last night, the kid Michael Pineda was on the mound again. This young man is really starting to impress me. He now goes to 3-1, and has a ERA of 1.78. His line for last night was 6 IP, 5 hits, no runs, 2 walks, and 5 K's. It's nice to have him and the King in the same rotation. Pineda is starting to look like he could become something special.

Tonight, hopefully the Sharks will close out the Kings in the Shark Tank, and we can move on to the second round...

Ride that horse

The young phenom was a stud last night. I think Wedge should have taken him out after 7 innings, but here's what his line looked like from last night:

7 1/3IP, 5H, 2R, 1ER, 2BB, 7K, 104 pitches. And he got his first win in the bigs.

If we can keep this kid getting even better, he and King Felix will be an awesome combination.

Hot Seat Watch

Who would have thought that one week in to the season, the hot seat is already firing up. I have not heard it anywhere yet, but I'm starting it. While the Mariners might have pulled out a miraculous comeback in front of nobody, I'm lighting the burner. Hitting coach Chris Chambliss, Come on down you're on my hot seat.

The game started out with the smallest crowd EVER at Safeco(13,056) and Felix on the mound. Last night was not his night. He got smacked around pretty good. Prima donna Chone Figgins took himself out after 3 innings with a bruised thumb. The M's got a run in the 7th, five runs in the 8th, and 2 to win in the 9th. Yes, they did get 11 hits last night and got a win. Unfortunately, in most games they have not come up with the CLUTCH HITS! This team is batting a collective .225, good enough for 24th in the league. Let's see if they can do something tonight for the new phenom Michael Pineda.

Impressive Debut

I think the kid lived up to the hype. Even though he ended up with the loss because the offensive didn't come alive until late, he looked good. If you were told your rookie making his first start in Texas would go 6 IP, 3 runs, 5 hits(4 extra base hits), walk 1 and strikeout 4 would you take that outing? I think Michael Pineda is on the track to do some good things for this team. He is only 22 years old too. He and Felix might make a nice 1-2 punch. The King goes to the hill this morning against the Rangers. Let's get a win boys!

Spring Training Flashback

As I was listening to the Mariners get whacked yesterday in a meaningless spring game, I was reminded of the past ineptitude of the front office.

Boy genius here was running the show at the time. Boy oh boy, doesn't he look about as bright as a sack of potatoes. No disrespect meant to potatoes.

With the 6th pick in the 2006 draft we could have had this 3 time All-Star, 2 time Cy Young award winner and World Series champion. And he is a local kid after all.

Instead, Bill decided to draft this guy, who they couldn't decide if he should start or come out of the bullpen. Once, Bill finally got fired, Jack Z had seen enough of him and sent him to Toronto for this guy.

 I'm not a big fan of either Brandon, when we could have had "The Freak" along side Felix. As a side note, Felix and Michael Pineda both looked good in their outings against Oakland today.

That would have been an awesome top 3 in my opinion. Oh what could have been....