Official Mariners Spring Training Thread 2018

[SeattleCoug]

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports the Rays have traded Jake Odorizzi to the Twins.

FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reports that shortstop prospect Jermaine Palacios is headed back to the Rays. It's a savvy pickup for the middle of the Twins' rotation. Odorizzi's name swirled in trade talks all winter after he put up a 4.14 ERA and 1.24 WHIP over 143 1/3 innings last season. He recently won his arbitration hearing against the Rays and will make a $6.3 million salary in 2018. He's under team control through 2019.

This one bugs me. The Mariners clearly could have exceeded this offer if they chose to but obviously Dipoto didn’t even make a phone call. Money not an issue as much as Dippy is just trying to make his point with this staff and that his way will work. What choice do we have since there’s no baseball guy above him to hold him accountable

 

[SeattleCoug]

Maybe this is a good thing. Because I don’t think Erasmo is a starter

 

[NWinAZ]

Maybe this is a good thing. Because I don’t think Erasmo is a starter

Unfortunately on this staff, he is a starter and needs to be or we get Moore or Gonzalez.

 

[seahawksfan234]

Why was Corey Dickerson DFA'd? I thought I read that wrong at first. He had a good year. I'd take him over Ben Gamel in a heartbeat.

 

[wazzu31]

Ya, just weird. I don't recall to many baseball contracts set up like NBA contracts. Usually the MLBPA frowns upon stuff like this but maybe this is their response to GM's?

 

[NWinAZ]

Why was Corey Dickerson DFA'd? I thought I read that wrong at first. He had a good year. I'd take him over Ben Gamel in a heartbeat.

I found that strange as well. I know he is regarded as more of a DH than an outfielder, but the guy can hit. I would take him over Gamel as well.

 

[seahawksfan234]

I found that strange as well. I know he is regarded as more of a DH than an outfielder, but the guy can hit. I would take him over Gamel as well.

Similar to Gamel, he had a huge dropoff in the second half of the season. Even taking that into account, his cumulative stats were vastly superior to Gamel or C.J. Cron who they traded for.

I'd take a flier on Dickerson. He offers little defensive or running value, but he has a good bat.

 

[Anointed One]

Why was Corey Dickerson DFA'd? I thought I read that wrong at first. He had a good year. I'd take him over Ben Gamel in a heartbeat.

Me too... I like Corey Dickerson... Surprised as well... Usually, young players like Dickerson don't get DFA'd... He's already been an allstar as well during his brief 5 year career...

 

[NWinAZ]

Instead of new and improved, Felix opts for same-old, same-old. This won’t end well, Mariners fans
BY JOHN MCGRATH

[email protected]

February 18, 2018 04:32 PM

article200856114.html

 

[wazzu31]

Instead of new and improved, Felix opts for same-old, same-old. This won’t end well, Mariners fans
BY JOHN MCGRATH

[email protected]

February 18, 2018 04:32 PM

article200856114.html

Strategically, if all things are equal, it makes sense to start Felix opening day IMO. It's outside of the box, but a Felix start is a 50/50. A Paxton start is a 90/10 when not facing an ace. If Jerry and Scott are as confident in the lineup as they say then IMO take the assured win with Paxton against a number 2 and 3 throughout the year. Maybe some humble pie against aces in a way is a wake up call for Felix that King's court doesn't need 10 k signs anymore.

 

[seahawksfan234]

Instead of new and improved, Felix opts for same-old, same-old. This won’t end well, Mariners fans
BY JOHN MCGRATH

[email protected]

February 18, 2018 04:32 PM

article200856114.html

Very sad, but not surprising unfortunately. Dude has mailed it in. Really sad ending for one of the greatest pitchers in franchise history.

People mention his 4.36 ERA, but I think he performed much worse than that. He got lucky with getting out of innings with guys on base. His WHIP, BB/9 and SO/9 are all very concerning. I wouldn't be surprised if his ERA is higher in 2018 than it was in 2017. My biggest concern is that I think it's much more likely he has an ERA over 5 than an ERA under 4.

Really hope I'm wrong, but this appears to be the likely scenario.

Good article nonetheless. I have to imagine it takes balls to publish something like this (even if it's just The News Tribune).

 

[seahawksfan234]

Strategically, if all things are equal, it makes sense to start Felix opening day IMO. It's outside of the box, but a Felix start is a 50/50. A Paxton start is a 90/10 when not facing an ace. If Jerry and Scott are as confident in the lineup as they say then IMO take the assured win with Paxton against a number 2 and 3 throughout the year. Maybe some humble pie against aces in a way is a wake up call for Felix that King's court doesn't need 10 k signs anymore.

I personally buy into the author's argument.

No reason to treat him like a king when he is now a peasant.

He's being paid like a king, and his performance has substantially declined. Let him prove that he deserves to be the opening day starter next year. In 2017 he made $1,678,563 per start. He can wipe his tears with that paycheck.

Felix has done a lot for us, and I'll always love him. He's a great guy. But if he's unwilling to make adjustments with his conditioning, approach, etc. then I really lack sympathy for him.

 

[wazzu31]

I personally buy into the author's argument.

No reason to treat him like a king when he is now a peasant.

He's being paid like a king, and his performance has substantially declined. Let him prove that he deserves to be the opening day starter next year. In 2017 he made $1,678,563 per start. He can wipe his tears with that paycheck.

Felix has done a lot for us, and I'll always love him. He's a great guy. But if he's unwilling to make adjustments with his conditioning, approach, etc. then I really lack sympathy for him.

All great points he made and I don't disagree with anything he said (besides I hate the guy) but from a strategic standpoint I think for the Mariners it's better to have Felix start opening day. But that's the tug of war with aces, aces give you a better chance to win but also a better chance to shut down your offense which has been the problem with Felix his entire career. My logic (probably wrong) but along the lines of all this metric crap. Felix as the ace is a 20/80 chance of a win but 50/50 as a number 2. Paxton is 50/50 as an ace but 80/20 as a number 2. Sabermetrics is used throughout the sport now except spots in the rotation. Why bring in a lefty to face a lefty but not put your ace against an inferior pitcher?...just my out of the box thinking.

 

[seahawksfan234]

All great points he made and I don't disagree with anything he said (besides I hate the guy) but from a strategic standpoint I think for the Mariners it's better to have Felix start opening day. But that's the tug of war with aces, aces give you a better chance to win but also a better chance to shut down your offense which has been the problem with Felix his entire career. My logic (probably wrong) but along the lines of all this metric crap. Felix as the ace is a 20/80 chance of a win but 50/50 as a number 2. Paxton is 50/50 as an ace but 80/20 as a number 2. Sabermetrics is used throughout the sport now except spots in the rotation. Why bring in a lefty to face a lefty but not put your ace against an inferior pitcher?...just my out of the box thinking.

Good thoughts.

I just have an issue giving this positive reinforcement to a guy who doesn't necessarily deserve it when he seems unwilling to make any changes.

Paxton seems like he's working his ass off to alleviate the injury issues. Felix on the other hand seems to think he's fine. I think his hubris is getting in the way and he needs to be told that he is no longer "king Felix" anymore.

IMO Leake and Paxton are clearly ahead of him.

 

[rightstuff]

Paxton.........

a) 30+ starts and 17+ wins.
b) 30+ starts and 12-16 wins.
c) 1 DL stint, 10-30 games missed ( 2-6 starts), but still 14+ wins
d) 1 DL stint, 10-30 games missed ( 2-6 starts), but only 10+ wins
e) 1 DL stint, ending his season before July.
f) 2 DL stints, and 8-10 wins, or less. Big Window here.
g) just another disappointing year that 'could have been'.

 

[wazzu31]

Good thoughts.

I just have an issue giving this positive reinforcement to a guy who doesn't necessarily deserve it when he seems unwilling to make any changes.

Paxton seems like he's working his ass off to alleviate the injury issues. Felix on the other hand seems to think he's fine. I think his hubris is getting in the way and he needs to be told that he is no longer "king Felix" anymore.

IMO Leake and Paxton are clearly ahead of him.

Without question, I think it is dumb that Felix is even penciled in the rotation when his stats put him in the cluster of the 11 guys going for 4 and 5. I get why, but on paper he is the at best third guy, and I'd say Miranda has surpassed him as he is a lefty and reliable.

But I'm still haunted by my coach in HS costing us state by pitching our ace against the 15 seed instead of our guaranteed semi finals matchup. So I've just never quite understood why it is so automatic that you pitch your best against their best in the regular season. Postseason, elimination games sure, but there is 162 games not 35.

 

[rightstuff]

Good thoughts.

I just have an issue giving this positive reinforcement to a guy who doesn't necessarily deserve it when he seems unwilling to make any changes.

Paxton seems like he's working his ass off to alleviate the injury issues. Felix on the other hand seems to think he's fine. I think his hubris is getting in the way and he needs to be told that he is no longer "king Felix" anymore.

IMO Leake and Paxton are clearly ahead of him.

#1 Paxton
#2 Leake
#3 Felix

85+ starts from these guys is necessary.


is 85 an over or under? I'm betting UNDER.

 

[seahawksfan234]

Without question, I think it is dumb that Felix is even penciled in the rotation when his stats put him in the cluster of the 11 guys going for 4 and 5. I get why, but on paper he is the at best third guy, and I'd say Miranda has surpassed him as he is a lefty and reliable.

But I'm still haunted by my coach in HS costing us state by pitching our ace against the 15 seed instead of our guaranteed semi finals matchup. So I've just never quite understood why it is so automatic that you pitch your best against their best in the regular season. Postseason, elimination games sure, but there is 162 games not 35.

Interesting point.

 

[seahawksfan234]

#1 Paxton
#2 Leake
#3 Felix

85+ starts from these guys is necessary.


is 85 an over or under? I'm betting UNDER.

Paxton: 27
Leake: 32
Felix: 19

I think this is generous. That would put it at 76. The 19 for Felix is more than he started in 2017 (16) but less than 2016 (25), but I think it's a good number because he has suffered more injuries + age.

Even if Paxton starts 33 games, Felix starts 25 (2016 total), we're still only at 88. That only crosses your threshold by a bit, and that would be an optimistic assumption.

 

[NWinAZ]

Without question, I think it is dumb that Felix is even penciled in the rotation when his stats put him in the cluster of the 11 guys going for 4 and 5. I get why, but on paper he is the at best third guy, and I'd say Miranda has surpassed him as he is a lefty and reliable.

But I'm still haunted by my coach in HS costing us state by pitching our ace against the 15 seed instead of our guaranteed semi finals matchup. So I've just never quite understood why it is so automatic that you pitch your best against their best in the regular season. Postseason, elimination games sure, but there is 162 games not 35.

My brother and I have talked about this for 2 decades or more. Why use your #1 vs their #1 if their #1 is vastly better than yours? Sacrifice a #4 or #5 in my book and shift your top 3 down one and have a chance and taking the series. I mean if you have Randy or Felix of old, then ya go for it.