Hector Noesi Roughed up in First Start Since Demotion

Hector Noesi just has not been what the Mariners had hoped he would be when he came over this offseason as a part of the Michael PinedaJesus Montero trade. Noesi had a very rough first half to the season. He pitched 96.2 innings with a 5.77 ERA and a 5.64 FIP. He had a poor K/9 at 5.59 and a high BB/9 at 3.17. There were some starts this year where he was impressive but for the most part, the command just was not there for Noesi. He had the second highest HR/9 in the league with 1.86. Imagine if he had a different home park than Safeco Field. Noesi just has not been able to keep the ball down in the zone this year as his 45.9% fly ball percentage, which is 3rd highest in the league, suggests. Well Noesi was demoted just prior to the All-Star break to AAA Tacoma. His first start came last night and I was on hand for the game. Check out my game report following the break.
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Surprises in Early Offensive Numbers

We are more than halfway through the month of April and most teams have already played double-digit games. This is not a big sample size but there have been some surprises in the beginning of this long season, from the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-1 start to the St. Louis Cardinals scoring the most runs in the game despite the face of the franchise and future hall-of-famer Albert Pujols leaving for the Los Angeles Angels.

And, to our surprise, there have been some major overachievers and some major underachievers, including the aforementioned Albert Pujols who has yet to hit a homerun and is hitting only .268/.318/.366 through his first 44 plate appearances outside of St. Louis red. Here are a few of the statistical surprises so far this season:

The “No Walk” club includes some surprising names as well as some you might expect to see (min 30 PAs) with three Texas Rangers appearing on the list: (more…)

2012 Rookie Watch: AL West

A couple weeks ago I began a series of posts as I take look at rookies in 2012. I have been going division by division taking a look at rookies who I think will have an impact in 2012 for each team. I’ve been making my pick for the guy who I think will have the biggest impact and note other names that could have an impact as well. So far I have taken a look at the NL West, NL Central, and NL East. I now present to you my 2012 rookie watch for the American League West.

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Ten Most Fascinating Stories for 2012

The start of any baseball season is fascinating in and of itself. The teams all start off with identical records and despite a thousand predictions from hundreds of sites around the world, nobody really knows what will happen once the season starts. Teams will surprise us like the Arizona Diamondbacks did in 2011 and like the San Diego Padres did in 2010. Formerly contending teams will fall by the wayside such as the Minnesota Twins did last year. Players will surprise us and disappoint us. Dramatic stories lie ahead of us. Never in our wildest dreams could we predict how the last day of the regular season played out last year.

But just like every season, there are some fascinating questions that are ahead based on what happened this off season. These questions will be answered in the coming months. Each one has us drooling in anticipation. Here are the top ten most fascinating stories we are watching for the upcoming 2012 baseball season: (more…)

My 2012 Predictions: AL West

I am continuing my 2012 prediction series by revealing my AL West standings and a few positive and negative predictions for each time. In case you missed it, I have already revealed my AL East Predictions  and AL Central Predictions and we, as a staff, revealed some of our overall MLB predictions. Enjoy. (more…)

2012 Seattle Mariners Top 16 Prospects

The Seattle Mariners have a stacked system with a top six that is unmatched by just about any team in the league and tons of upside teenagers.

Below are my top 16 prospects with 2012 opening day age, position, and comments on each player. Below the top 16 is a small list of additional notable names. Enjoy.

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My 2012 Top 100 Prospects

I present to you my 2012 top 100 prospect list. I have ranked the players evaluating ceiling, how likely a player reaches that ceiling, risks that come with a player, experience, and all the other stuff along those lines. I hope to hear what you guys think whether it be in agreement or disagreement. Enjoy.

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One Fan’s Rooting Section

Continuing a theme started in the last post I wrote on this site, any baseball writer who says he isn’t a fan is a liar. We wouldn’t be in this business if we weren’t fans of this great sport. Oh, there have been some truly terrific writers about baseball who haven’t set out to be baseball writers, but on the whole, you have to love this stuff to write about it every day.

Of course, if we have to consider ourselves, “journalists,” then that fan thing has to take a back seat to objectivity. I wrestle with this all the time. We writers who let our fan-selves get in the way too often jeopardize our credibility if we don’t hold it back. Joe Posnanski has drawn the line that he won’t root for teams as a journalist but he does root for players. Fair enough. If it’s good enough for the Great Pos, then it’s good enough for me. What follows is a list of players I will be rooting for this season. There is no rhyme or reason for the wish list. They are simply players that capture one writer’s imagination. Some aren’t great players and I know they will continue not to be great players. But what the heck, eh? A fan is a fan is a fan.

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A Different look at the Pineda-Montero trade

This analysis is a little late as the trade took place almost two weeks ago but after reading a lot of articles that other people have written, I’ve looked at the trade a little different. In this article I’m really just going to focus on the Michael Pineda, and Jesus Montero parts of the trade and not the Jose Campos and Hector Noesi pieces. This was a rare trade as we usually do not see teams trade 22 year old phenoms to each other like the Yankees and Mariners did.

The Mariners had a chance to land Jesus Montero in a potential trade for Cliff Lee back in 2010. The deal was very very close to happening but it fell through and Cliff Lee ended up being dealt to the Rangers for a package around Justin Smoak. Well Smoak hasn’t quite lived up to the expectations in the eyes of many Mariners fans and people have gotten impatient. After trading Pineda for Montero, I have read people say that they wished the Mariners would have just traded for Montero in the first place back in 2010 and Pineda would have never been traded. People have called the trade for Montero a mulligan for Jack Zdurincik, almost like a re-do of the Cliff Lee deal. People think they should have made only one trade for a young bat and if the Mariners would have made the “right move” back in 2010, Pineda would have not had to been traded. Instead of looking at it like the Mariners should have just traded for Montero back in 2010, I look at it like the Mariners now have both Smoak AND Montero.
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The Prince Fielder Market: Post Yu Darvish Signing

The potential suitors for Prince Fielder has been dwindling this offseason, and another one may have just been lost. The Rangers signed Yu Darvish for a 6 year deal around $60 million which most likely takes them out of the Prince Fielder market. Now they could possibly still somehow sign him but I highly doubt it. So who is left to sign the power hitting first baseman?

Well Scott Boras has made it clear that Fielder wants a huge, long term deal but I am not so sure there are many teams that cane make that happen. The likely contract looks to be around 6 years for $22MM-$24MM which is a big time commitment for the young first baseman. The Cardinals could use a first baseman but they have made it pretty clear that they are not interested in Fielder. Will someone be willing to give Fielder that kind of deal or will Boras have to settle for a shorter deal, but with possibly more money?

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