F*cking Oakland. Here they come

[PolarVortex]

Our turn to over-achieve was May and June. Now it's their turn. The team isn't that good. I don't know how they keep winning. But then, I said the same thing about our team...or at least I did up until about two weeks ago.

Anyway, good time for a break. And when they come back they get the lowly White Sox. Nice soft landing as Angie said yesterday. But then they play the Astros or A's in 13 of 23 games in a stretch from July 30th to August 22nd. So hang on to your butts. We are going to have some turbulence. And Jerry - get on the phone. It's gonna take more than Robinson Cano to give this team a shot in the arm.

 

[CaptainStubing]

i have been a little surprised by Oakland this season also but they seem to have a balanced line-up and have put together a decent bullpen. It looks like they might be battling for a WC spot this season.

Not sure their starting pitching is going to hold up though. i think i like your starting pitching better for the stretch run (assuming Paxton's back is not a lingering problem).

 

[WizardHawk]

Of course Jerry is going to do some kind of deal. It would be a huge shock if they couldn't pull the trigger.

And yes, the threat of Oakland is real even if they come back down to earth a bit. The M's are still 19 games above .500, but have a -2 run differential. MINUS TWO ffs. There is no way you can sustain a full season playing above .500 ball with a negative RD. It's going to catch up to them in spells even if they can find stretches where their insane closer allows them to win a bunch of those low scoring 1 run games.

 

[SeattleCoug]

Super hard for me to be positive about things lately but lets take a step back and remember Oakland is in the midst of an unsustainable stretch. They aren't gonna keep playing .850 ball or whatever it is.

As much as I don't love quoting Run differential, the tendencies of the team led you to believe regression was coming. The two biggest things that irked me even when we are winning are scoring early and not adding on and the way Servais uses the bullpen to get to Diaz. Both of those things bit them in the game yesterday. You can get away with it playing the Orioles and Royals but not good or even decent teams.

This is a broken offense. Healy is useless, he is essentially Valencia 2.0 but with more homers and less hits and walks.
Dee is a joke at leadoff, Heredia cant hit a beach ball with a tennis racket. But even with those holes the overall approach is awful. Basically score and the first inning and do little after that. And they aren't even facing strong starters. Based on that I'm not even sure Cano or another bat helps. Its a broken system

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

There is no way you can sustain a full season playing above .500 ball with a negative RD.

The 1987 Minnesota Twins had a run differential of -20, a season record of 85-77 and went on to win the World Series.

The Mariners probably won't do that, though.

 

[Duders]

Super hard for me to be positive about things lately but lets take a step back and remember Oakland is in the midst of an unsustainable stretch. They aren't gonna keep playing .850 ball or whatever it is.

As much as I don't love quoting Run differential, the tendencies of the team led you to believe regression was coming. The two biggest things that irked me even when we are winning are scoring early and not adding on and the way Servais uses the bullpen to get to Diaz. Both of those things bit them in the game yesterday. You can get away with it playing the Orioles and Royals but not good or even decent teams.

This is a broken offense. Healy is useless, he is essentially Valencia 2.0 but with more homers and less hits and walks.
Dee is a joke at leadoff, Heredia cant hit a beach ball with a tennis racket. But even with those holes the overall approach is awful. Basically score and the first inning and do little after that. And they aren't even facing strong starters. Based on that I'm not even sure Cano or another bat helps. Its a broken system

Agreed- couldn't have said it better myself. I think most teams get hot and then cool or cold. Look at Houston, they were hot as hell and then hit a cool streak, the M's were rocking it and now hit a low point, the A's were sucking and now they're on the upswing. The only team I can think of that has been at the bottom of the barrel and hasn't had a "hot" streak is Baltimore, but Toronto is not too far off from that either. Problem with the Mariners is that they were lucky and were able to win those 1 or 2 run games thanks to Diaz and baseball luck. I think the M's are just a "better than average" team- not a post season contender.

 

[WizardHawk]

I mean if they had Zunino and if Cruz was capable of playing decent outfield anymore they probably take at least one of those games. It's not just a system issue, although they do have holes and none of us cares for how Servais manages the pitching staff, it still comes down to how bad their bench and farm system is. They simply can't have winning streaks with any type of injury or missed playing time by pretty much anyone. Cano hurt them more than some are willing to admit, Cruz hasn't been 100% for most of the season, Z going out hurt even if he can't hit his weight since he does oddly come up with clutch HR's here and there they now do not have.

I keep hearing all this talk about how they have to pay cruz and keep him for a few more years and it baffles me really. This idea they don't have a DH if he goes after this year is insane because that's all Cano will really be good for going forward. Gordon has been a massive upgrade in the field over him already and moving him to first base seems risky given how many plays he takes off in the field. Can't expect him to dig out all those throws.

They need a CF. Badly. Heredia isn't the answer. He really isn't even a viable backup/bench guy. They also need a catcher that can hit above the mendoza line at the very minimum, power or not, but everyone is looking for that power catcher. You can't have both first base and third being a liability at the plate as well. Maybe you can take one of those having some power but being streaky, but not both.

The M's are heading in the right direction after adding Haniger, Segura, and Gordon the last couple of years, but they have a long way to go and at the rate they are actually adding pieces it may be another 3 years before they find a complete lineup. And oh by the way, that doesn't even include the rotation and setup guys.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

And Jerry - get on the phone.

Of course Jerry is going to do some kind of deal.

If I was the Mariners' GM, I don't think I'd make any major moves unless I felt it would help beyond 2018. While the Mariners could grab a wild card slot, the odds of them having a meaningful playoff run in an AL featuring the Astros, Red Sox, Yankees and Indians is pretty slim.

 

[PolarVortex]

If I was the Mariners' GM, I don't think I'd make any major moves unless I felt it would help beyond 2018. While the Mariners could grab a wild card slot, the odds of them having a meaningful playoff run in an AL featuring the Astros, Red Sox, Yankees and Indians is pretty slim.

You shoulda stopped at Yankees, bro. This ain't 2017. You remember 2017, right? When the Astros had a bullpen built for the post season and the Fraundians didn't.

 

[WizardHawk]

If I was the Mariners' GM, I don't think I'd make any major moves unless I felt it would help beyond 2018. While the Mariners could grab a wild card slot, the odds of them having a meaningful playoff run in an AL featuring the Astros, Red Sox, Yankees and Indians is pretty slim.

Word is he is looking for a starter with multiple years. There is no way he's going to leverage what few chips they have to offer in a package for a one time shot rent a player. That's not what they have been doing since they came here.

There are a lot of teams in the dumps this year that are bonified sellers and only a few clubs in the AL that are for sure buyers, but most of the NL is wide open and many may consider themselves buyers. No idea how this market will play out.

They were saying on the radio this morning that they believe the M's already have a deal and are waiting until the all star game is over to announce it. The thought being it is possibly someone representing a team at the all star game. Rumors are always iffy at best in baseball so who knows.

 

[SeattleCoug]

If I was the Mariners' GM, I don't think I'd make any major moves unless I felt it would help beyond 2018. While the Mariners could grab a wild card slot, the odds of them having a meaningful playoff run in an AL featuring the Astros, Red Sox, Yankees and Indians is pretty slim.

I get it but at the same time this is baseball. Get in and you have a shot.
Its not like the NFL or NBA when you pretty much can choose between 3-5 teams that will likely win it all.

Plus you factor in a fanbase that has to live with the title of "longest current postseason drought in professional sports." If they don't make a move and get passed by the A's and sit at home again, I don't even want to fathom what that would do.

 

[ulmax]

Super hard for me to be positive about things lately but lets take a step back and remember Oakland is in the midst of an unsustainable stretch. They aren't gonna keep playing .850 ball or whatever it is.

As much as I don't love quoting Run differential, the tendencies of the team led you to believe regression was coming. The two biggest things that irked me even when we are winning are scoring early and not adding on and the way Servais uses the bullpen to get to Diaz. Both of those things bit them in the game yesterday. You can get away with it playing the Orioles and Royals but not good or even decent teams.

This is a broken offense. Healy is useless, he is essentially Valencia 2.0 but with more homers and less hits and walks.
Dee is a joke at leadoff, Heredia cant hit a beach ball with a tennis racket. But even with those holes the overall approach is awful. Basically score and the first inning and do little after that. And they aren't even facing strong starters. Based on that I'm not even sure Cano or another bat helps. Its a broken system

exactly why they need to get started now at the all star break..to complete a seires of trades...by the deadline.3or4

some of these things are a result of..not having...cano or a cano type in the #3 spot....as with oakland..the mariners where going to lose at some point..what makes me.. peeeuuk.. is they got swept..which means they where letting up..mentaly
right before the all star break

on my list ...is team ERA...yes they do need a #2 starting pitcher R/R..it is no longer filix..that said nicasio's ERA is not all that good either
so trade for the #2 that you want...and then
send filix to the BULL PIN...if he demands a trade...then no problemo..that is HARD CORE..yeah...so it is

then next is cano..boom ..done with those two...then a few games to evaluate

then a couple more trades...by the deadline

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

You shoulda stopped at Yankees, bro. This ain't 2017. You remember 2017, right? When the Astros had a bullpen built for the post season and the Fraundians didn't.

lolz

The 2017 Astros won the WS in spite of their shit bullpen, not because of it. Of course, you didn't know what you were talking about when we first covered this subject, so I wouldn't expect anything different now.

 

[mcnabb7542]

I get it but at the same time this is baseball. Get in and you have a shot.
Its not like the NFL or NBA when you pretty much can choose between 3-5 teams that will likely win it all.

Plus you factor in a fanbase that has to live with the title of "longest current postseason drought in professional sports." If they don't make a move and get passed by the A's and sit at home again, I don't even want to fathom what that would do.

I do, if the trading dead line comes and goes and Jerry doesn't make a "splash", the house that Griffey built will be empty the rest of the season!

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

I get it but at the same time this is baseball. Get in and you have a shot.
Its not like the NFL or NBA when you pretty much can choose between 3-5 teams that will likely win it all.

I agree with that, generally. But there are three, potentially four truly elite teams in the AL this year. Anything could happen, the Mariners would have to beat three of those four teams to make the WS. That's an extreme long shot.

I'm not saying I wouldn't make a move at all, but I wouldn't do a rental for just this year unless I was only giving up a case of Big League Chew and a fungo bat.

 

[SeattleCoug]

I agree with that, generally. But there are three, potentially four truly elite teams in the AL this year. Anything could happen, the Mariners would have to beat three of those four teams to make the WS. That's an extreme long shot.

I'm not saying I wouldn't make a move at all, but I wouldn't do a rental for just this year unless I was only giving up a case of Big League Chew and a fungo bat.

I don't think anyone reasonably expects them to land an expensive rental like Machado. But possibly a rental like Happ shouldn't be out of the question. They don't have a ton to deal from anyway

 

[PolarVortex]

lolz

The 2017 Astros won the WS in spite of their shit bullpen, not because of it. Of course, you didn't know what you were talking about when we first covered this subject, so I wouldn't expect anything different now.

I can see that it still hurts. Y'all thought you'd be wearing a WS ring and instead you've got a ring instead your toilet bowl.

 

[ulmax]

I can see that it still hurts. Y'all thought you'd be wearing a WS ring and instead you've got a ring instead your toilet bowl.

yeah... but it does not have to stay that way(toilet bowl)....and niether do the mariners...which means..i think jerry will pull the trigger ..cuz he knows what is on the line

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

I can see that it still hurts. Y'all thought you'd be wearing a WS ring and instead you've got a ring instead your toilet bowl.

Don't obfuscate. Tell us more about that Astros' bullpen that was built for the postseason!

 

[PolarVortex]

Don't obfuscate. Tell us more about that Astros' bullpen that was built for the postseason!

They are wearing World Series rings.