What the Mariners Need to Do Now
| 6
|
by user Andersed
Do I want the Seattle Mariners to make the playoffs? Of course! Do I think it will happen? Not really. Compared to expectations entering the season, the Mariners have enjoyed a successful four months. It hasn't always been happy or easy, but M's fans have finally been able to enjoy "real", competitive baseball. I've identified a few steps the team needs to take in the second half to make themselves more competitive and sustain fan interest.
1. Trade Joel Pineiro and Carl Everett - For Carl Crawford, if possible. Please. Actually, we'd have to give up Adam Jones (see #2) to get Crawford, which probably wouldn't be such a bad trade, because Jones' ceiling is Crawford-level (sports-talk mumbo jumbo, sorry). Still, there's no way the M's make a deadline deal where they land a big-time player instead of dumping one. Piniero is bad and inconsistent. The Mariners have capable young arms that can perform at least equally and create some excitement for fans. I shouldn't be depressed when I head to the ballpark and Piniero is pitching. It's the opposite of the platonic "Felix Feeling." Everett doesn't believe in dinosaurs, can't hit lefthanders (or righthanders, usually), brings down the clubhouse, and has a rough contract option that guarantees him $4 million if he reaches 450 at-bats this season. As my dad said today, trade him for a bag of balls.
2. Play Eduardo Perez and Adam Jones on regular basis - Jones is obviously the team's centerfielder of the future. After being drafted as a shortstop, he's played centerfield for less than a year and has still managed to reach the major leagues. Thanks to Jeremy Reed's injury, he's been starting recently. Today he made a few catches where he simply outran the ball - into leftfield, where Everett was inexplicably playing. They electrified the crowd. His bat has turned around a bit. At the two games I've attended where Perez has started, he's scored the winning run each time and produced other runs. He's younger and a much more confident hitter than Everett. He hits lefties, the Mariners' achilles heel. He has serious power and significant MLB experience. Even if Jones isn't Griffey in center, he'll be better than Reed and get the serious centerfield time he needs. Perez is a cheaper upgrade over Everett.
3. Get Adrian Beltre to take a salary cut - Beltre's salary pays him $13 million a year to play outstanding defense at third base and contribute as an average offensive player. He's only 27, so there's still the chance that he develops and reverts to his 2004 form. Not likely. Can you imagine how valuable $4 million a year from his contract could be to the Mariners? It could pay for an outfielder, help rent a trade deadline player, and certainly improve the team somehow. Every slice of money is important to a professional sports team, while perhaps I'm being presumptuous to say that I'm sure Adrian's family can survive on $9 million a year. I'd rather have him around than get rid of him, because his defense is invaluable and he's definitely solid offensively. But if he could do something unprecedented and swallow his macho masculinity for the good of the team, the Mariners might improve overnight. He could even talk to Richie Sexson about the same.
4. Strike out less with runners in scoring position - On today's postgame show, one of the analysts, former player Mike Blowers, maintained that strikeouts are just outs, that's all. They're the same as groundouts or flyouts. Maybe Blowers said this because he used to strike out often. Anyway, he's flat wrong. Flyouts can become sacrifice flies or move runners over. Even more often, grounders take bad hops, move runners over, turn into errors, and create runs. At every level that I've played, my coaches have emphasized hitting the ball on the ground or on a line. Flyouts are almost as bad as strikeouts, because at some point all outfielders can catch fly balls. The whole dropped third strike thing hardly ever happens. The fact remains: you have a better chance of getting a man on base or advacing a runner when you put the ball in play, particularly on the ground. Sexson, Beltre, and Everett have regrettable penchants for striking out in key situations with runners on base. It's rough to watch when a runner reaches third base with less than two outs and the M's can't get him in. All it takes is a grounder to the middle infielders or a medium fly ball. This is a minor aspect of the game that could have a major impact on their run production.
5. Beat the three teams ahead of them in the AL West - Duh. Easier said than done. But remember - they don't need a division title to have a successful season. Making these moves and decisions (hey, let's "decide" to strike out less) will help the team enjoy success this year and in the future.
Date
Sat 07/22/06, 5:37 pm EST
