Mariners 2014/2015 Offseason

[Thisnamewasntaken]

Upton or Melky, now we're down to 2 options. I have a feeling this season is over and it's not like there was much we could do but we took 2 steps forward and 1 back.

 

[gowazzu02]

Upton or Melky, now we're down to 2 options. I have a feeling this season is over and it's not like there was much we could do but we took 2 steps forward and 1 back.

Gooood lord dude take a step back from the ledge. It's not even xmas yet. Theres a long time till the season. And there are alot of things pointing towards the M's being better this year then last year.

Paxton is a bonafied stud.
Walker, will be in the majors as our 5.
Happ is a good vet
We signed Cruz

How did we take one step back exactly? Trading Guti 2.0? I dont get the saunders love. He wasn't that good when healthy and he never was healthy.

Maybe you should just go be a fan of Boston or NY. Cause they do the big name FA signing every year. They had such great years last year as well..........oh wait

 

[cezero]

it's already an offseason i would never have dreamed of

getting cabrera would make it truly spectacular

i'm fine with z watching and waiting

 

[SeattleCoug]

Even though I wasn't to happy about the Saunders trade, I still am happy with the progress made so far. I don't think its fair to grade an offseason on December 11 so I wont.

However we locked up the best homegrown position player we have had an over a decade to a fairly cost effective deal. We also replaced a black hole at DH by adding the guy who led the majors in HRs.

I recommend just seeing how things shake out. There are so many rumors that float around if you take everyone seriously you will drive yourself crazy.

 

[PolarVortex]

Gooood lord dude take a step back from the ledge. It's not even xmas yet. Theres a long time till the season. And there are alot of things pointing towards the M's being better this year then last year.

Paxton is a bonafied stud.
Walker, will be in the majors as our 5.
Happ is a good vet
We signed Cruz

How did we take one step back exactly? Trading Guti 2.0? I dont get the saunders love. He wasn't that good when healthy and he never was healthy.

Maybe you should just go be a fan of Boston or NY. Cause they do the big name FA signing every year. They had such great years last year as well..........oh wait

There is stepping on the ledge and then there is having your head in the clouds. Paxtron is NOT a bonafide stud. We think he will be. We hope he will be. But, he hasn't even thrown 100 MLB innings yet. Don't write his ticket to the All Star Game yet.

 

[cezero]

There is stepping on the ledge and then there is having your head in the clouds. Paxtron is NOT a bonafide stud. We think he will be. We hope he will be. But, he hasn't even thrown 100 MLB innings yet. Don't write his ticket to the All Star Game yet.

just no injuries, baby jesus, that's all i ask.

i want to see that breaking ball make a lefty cry at the plate someday.

 

[dude82]

There is stepping on the ledge and then there is having your head in the clouds. Paxtron is NOT a bonafide stud. We think he will be. We hope he will be. But, he hasn't even thrown 100 MLB innings yet. Don't write his ticket to the All Star Game yet.

You're right... we can't know what Paxton's future holds based on the relatively low number of innings he's pitched in the majors so far, but in focusing on the Paxton part of his response, I think you missed the bigger point that wazzu made. For someone to "have a feeling" that the season is already over when there is still more than two months of offseason to continue adding to the roster before Spring Training starts, based purely on the idea that the M's only have two options left to fill one role on the team, and one of those options isn't particularly appealing and must be the option the M's are going to go with, is about as defeatist as it gets.

The M's finished one game out last year and have improved their roster already with two months to go before Spring Training to improve it more. How in the hell can anybody "have a feeling" that the season is already over based on the fact that Viciedo is ONE candidate, and maybe not even a serious one, for ONE spot on the roster? It's a spot, by the way, that would be virtually impossible to get worse production than we got out of it last year. The statement also fails to take into account what the A's, the team that the M's were one game behind for a spot in the one-game playoff last year, are doing to their roster this offseason. If any fanbase has a right to wonder whether their team's season might be over before it starts, it's the A's fanbase. The M's are trending upwards.

 

[Thisnamewasntaken]

Gooood lord dude take a step back from the ledge. It's not even xmas yet. Theres a long time till the season. And there are alot of things pointing towards the M's being better this year then last year.

Paxton is a bonafied stud.
Walker, will be in the majors as our 5.
Happ is a good vet
We signed Cruz

How did we take one step back exactly? Trading Guti 2.0? I dont get the saunders love. He wasn't that good when healthy and he never was healthy.

Maybe you should just go be a fan of Boston or NY. Cause they do the big name FA signing every year. They had such great years last year as well..........oh wait

I meant OFFSEASON hahaha my bad lol I read it and was like..ok wow. Anyways I meant the OFFSEASON is over just because of Z's patterns, he doesn't have to get Dayan. He could get Rios and I'm sure there's other small moves that could be made..I'm just saying it looks over because the meetings are over and a lot of options are now gone. Also we took a step back if we got rid of Saunders just to pick up Dayan. Injury risks or not I would still have taken my chances on Saunders over Vicideo.

 

[NWinAZ]

Dude, Im all for some MAriner Front office and Jack Z bashing but nows not the time. They signed their big bat. Their rotation is solid, deeper with the happ add. The bull pen is the same. This team missed the playoffs by one game. They are ready for a run. This wasn't the off season for wholesale changes.

Lots of time for some more shopping too.

Not the time? Major contracts getting older and we have no SS that has established himself as a major leaguer, a catcher that strikes out more than anyone and hits below .200, Morrison at 1B, Ackley in LF, A CF that didn't hit anything for us, and a rotation that has a #2 who melted down and is injury prone, and 3 rookies following him up. Our SP depth is Happ and Ramirez. Oh, and bullpen had career year so questioning if they can repeat the same performance is legit. So I guess we are ready to go again.

Also remember we are not better than Angels and both Sox teams have improved as well as Blue Jays making wildcard spots real hard to come by. Am I worried if this is our team? Yup. We need another LH bullpen piece (and the rule 5 guy won't be it), a 1B or platoon 1B, a RF, and another legit SP to compete.

 

[wazzu31]

You're right... we can't know what Paxton's future holds based on the relatively low number of innings he's pitched in the majors so far, but in focusing on the Paxton part of his response, I think you missed the bigger point that wazzu made. For someone to "have a feeling" that the season is already over when there is still more than two months of offseason to continue adding to the roster before Spring Training starts, based purely on the idea that the M's only have two options left to fill one role on the team, and one of those options isn't particularly appealing and must be the option the M's are going to go with, is about as defeatist as it gets.

The M's finished one game out last year and have improved their roster already with two months to go before Spring Training to improve it more. How in the hell can anybody "have a feeling" that the season is already over based on the fact that Viciedo is ONE candidate, and maybe not even a serious one, for ONE spot on the roster? It's a spot, by the way, that would be virtually impossible to get worse production than we got out of it last year. The statement also fails to take into account what the A's, the team that the M's were one game behind for a spot in the one-game playoff last year, are doing to their roster this offseason. If any fanbase has a right to wonder whether their team's season might be over before it starts, it's the A's fanbase. The M's are trending upwards.

I have a negative feeling about this season, with the offseason thus far, because no matter if Cruz puts up monster numbers the one game out of the playoff spot last year is irrelevant considering there is a less than 1% chance the pitching staff (especially bullpen) can match last years numbers. Jack needs to do what a half way decent GM would do and make a smart trade since he should have a good farm system since he "rebuilt" it.

It's also hard to get giddy over Oakland's dumpster fire when while they are giving in for this season the Rangers and Astros will be better this season.

 

[NWinAZ]

Yes, but as we saw with Bavasi it does take half a brain to build the farm system. Jack has done that, and now we find ourselves in a position of strength in both our major league and farm systems. Personally, I would rather hold our prospects than give them up for a rental. At this point our best options are rentals from a trade stand point. I say pay Melky and let's get ready for spring.

Jack's farm system (From Draft):

Ackley - 'C'
Seager - 'B'
Zunino - 'C'
Miller/Taylor - 'C'
Walker/Paxton - 'C'

Everyone else still on the farm - 'Incomplete'

He has had only one guy truly be above average on the MLB team. All so-called prospects ar still just prospects. Rankings mean nothing as the ranking past has shown.

 

[wazzu31]

Jack's farm system (From Draft):

Ackley - 'C'
Seager - 'B'
Zunino - 'C'
Miller/Taylor - 'C'
Walker/Paxton - 'C'

Everyone else still on the farm - 'Incomplete'

He has had only one guy truly be above average on the MLB team. All so-called prospects ar still just prospects. Rankings mean nothing as the ranking past has shown.

Damn you, you keep beating me to my posts

 

[unlvmariners]

Not the time? Major contracts getting older and we have no SS that has established himself as a major leaguer, a catcher that strikes out more than anyone and hits below .200, Morrison at 1B, Ackley in LF, A CF that didn't hit anything for us, and a rotation that has a #2 who melted down and is injury prone, and 3 rookies following him up. Our SP depth is Happ and Ramirez. Oh, and bullpen had career year so questioning if they can repeat the same performance is legit. So I guess we are ready to go again.

Also remember we are not better than Angels and both Sox teams have improved as well as Blue Jays making wildcard spots real hard to come by. Am I worried if this is our team? Yup. We need another LH bullpen piece (and the rule 5 guy won't be it), a 1B or platoon 1B, a RF, and another legit SP to compete.

I think you covered it. I agree.

I have the same concerns about this team. When I look at the roster as it is currently and the other rosters in the AL I don't think we have added any wins to an 87 win team. The window for this team is going to be a very small one with the way the roster is constructed. This was a very important off season and I am not sure it has been handled all that well by the front office so far.

 

[dude82]

I have a negative feeling about this season, with the offseason thus far, because no matter if Cruz puts up monster numbers the one game out of the playoff spot last year is irrelevant considering there is a less than 1% chance the pitching staff (especially bullpen) can match last years numbers. Jack needs to do what a half way decent GM would do and make a smart trade since he should have a good farm system since he "rebuilt" it.

It's also hard to get giddy over Oakland's dumpster fire when while they are giving in for this season the Rangers and Astros will be better this season.

We still have two months to go in the offseason. I choose to look at what we've done so far as the beginning of our offseason, not the end of it.

The bottom line for me is that I guess I'm just annoyed at the "Same old Mariners" attitude I'm starting to see again because they aren't acting as quickly as some people would like them to to get certain things done. If we're sitting here in mid-February having missed out on Cabrera, settling for a lesser hitter and having found no answer to our shortstop issues, then yeah... the M's will have missed a golden opportunity to get a leg up on the AL West in an offseason that saw the A's trade roughly a quarter of their roster including pretty much every established hitter they have. I'm just more inclined to take the wait-and-see approach, even if that approach has burned me plenty in the past, than the "here we go again" approach, especially this early in the offseason.

 

[NWinAZ]

Didn't you say the same thing last year after the Cano signing? I could be wrong, but someone said it and I know I am still waiting for the net move. So far it is Cruz in, and Saunders/Morales/Defino out. Small gain at best even though I like the Cruz signing...as a start.

 

[NWinAZ]

And I believe you should always give a guy the benefit of the doubt when they have earned it. Anyone that believes Jack has earned it, well, is watching something different than I have been watching.

 

[gowazzu02]

Lots of negative nancys in here. And I dont blame you one bit, over a decade of bad baseball will do that to a fan base.

For all the people who point to the negative, and those are all valid. I choose to look glass half full.

-We have Cano, who now has some big league protection behind him,
-Cruz has big league right handed power, something we haven't seen in a long time.
-Seagers arc. He has improved every year in the bigs, I dont see a reason he wont improve off last year, especially since he'll be hitting in the 5 hole which is where he should be.
-CF, While im not the biggest fan of Jackson. He has plenty of experience and will give us professional AB's at the lead off spot. I also am very intrigued with Jones. Hope he continues to learn. Love his speed.
-Zunino. Someone pointed out his high SO rate. Thats cause he was forced up to the bigs. His D is all star callibar and if one guy from our farm system will figure out how to hit I think its him. He already has the power numbers, now just needs more contact

-Starting staff. You guys forget Kuma didn't have any spring ball. That I believe lead to his fall off.
-Ive already made my thoughts known about Paxton. Im all in on him being our number 2 this year. Small sample size yes but that easy lefty heat is something that you dont find every day.
-Bullpen, we still have big arms in there, I think big arms are more consistant. When in doubt reach back and throw 95 plus.

But again the team still has holes, specifically RF and SS. and theres a lot of off season left. Jack Z is known for his later lower risk signings. Also looks like the Melky market isn't what he thought it was, so we may still end up with him too..........


Too damn early to be disgruntled. We have all summer for that if things dont end up working out!

 

[cezero]

Lots of negative nancys in here. And I dont blame you one bit, over a decade of bad baseball will do that to a fan base.

For all the people who point to the negative, and those are all valid. I choose to look glass half full.

-We have Cano, who now has some big league protection behind him,
-Cruz has big league right handed power, something we haven't seen in a long time.
-Seagers arc. He has improved every year in the bigs, I dont see a reason he wont improve off last year, especially since he'll be hitting in the 5 hole which is where he should be.
-CF, While im not the biggest fan of Jackson. He has plenty of experience and will give us professional AB's at the lead off spot. I also am very intrigued with Jones. Hope he continues to learn. Love his speed.
-Zunino. Someone pointed out his high SO rate. Thats cause he was forced up to the bigs. His D is all star callibar and if one guy from our farm system will figure out how to hit I think its him. He already has the power numbers, now just needs more contact

-Starting staff. You guys forget Kuma didn't have any spring ball. That I believe lead to his fall off.
-Ive already made my thoughts known about Paxton. Im all in on him being our number 2 this year. Small sample size yes but that easy lefty heat is something that you dont find every day.
-Bullpen, we still have big arms in there, I think big arms are more consistant. When in doubt reach back and throw 95 plus.

But again the team still has holes, specifically RF and SS. and theres a lot of off season left. Jack Z is known for his later lower risk signings. Also looks like the Melky market isn't what he thought it was, so we may still end up with him too..........


Too damn early to be disgruntled. We have all summer for that if things dont end up working out!

i'm as negative as anybody, but the cruz signing makes me think that the m's general attitude is "win now." as incompetent as z has been, i can't imagine that he would sign cruz and then leave a giant gap in the OF with a trade. the most incompetent and GM/front office in the world wouldn't do those 2 moves within a couple of weeks of each other unless it was part of something bigger.

other than cabrera or some bizarro-world trade, there's just nothing else out there to fix the OF problem, so we'll find out soon enough, i guess.

hoping beyond hope that z/nintendo don't prove me wrong.

i'm okay with what we have at SS if and only if we get a good bat/OF. if that ends up being a big problem with our 2 kids duking it out there, it can be solved later. not as high on the triage list as, say, lefty middle/long relief. i still think that seeing seager get a $100 million contract is going to light a fire under some of our kids' asses, miller and taylor chief among them. would also like to see a little more rotation depth.

 

[SeattleCoug]

other than cabrera or some bizarro-world trade, there's just nothing else out there to fix the OF problem, so we'll find out soon enough, i guess.

hoping beyond hope that z/nintendo don't prove me wrong.

That's how I see too. I would rather them try and get the right deal, then just force a trade for Viciedo or overpay for Melky. I think its obvious that an outfielder is needed and they know that and as of now I feel good that it will happen. The offseason isn't even half over yet. Im sure there are at least 25 other fan bases that are not happy with their product yet. If still looks like this on April 1 I wont be happy but Ill hold back for now.

 

[seahawksfan234]

I think it is extremely important that the Mariners add another legitimate bat like Melky or Upton. This isn't me bashing Jack Z, as I have been happy (so far) with the moves made by the team.

But I do believe the Mariners still have 5 HUGE variables going into the season.

1. Austin Jackson CF: Which Austin Jackson are the Mariners going to get this year? The guy who was an all around good runner, fielder and bat with the Tigers? Or the guy who hit .229/.267/.260 in his 50 games with the Mariners? From 2010 to 2013, Jackson finished every year with a WAR from 3.3-5.1, but in his 50 games with the Mariners it was 0.1. Jackson could either be a huge benefit to the Mariners this year, or he could be a serious problem in CF.

2. Logan Morrison 1B: Ridicuously streaky. He finished with a (by Mariners standards) respectable .260/.315/.420 line with 11 HR in 336 AB. Yet in his first 20 games he had a .164 BA, and had numerous 10+ game streaks in which he hit sub .200. You've got to have production from your starting first basemen, Morrison is a another serious question mark.

3. Nelson Cruz's health: Let me start by saying that I'm very happy the Mariners signed Cruz. Putting him at DH probably mitigates some of these concerns, but since becoming a starter he averaged only 126 games per year from 2009 to 2013. Luckily for the Mariners he doesn't seem to have a problem going deep in Safeco though, in his career he has 21 HRs in 106 games here. That's 32 over a 162 game season.

4. Dustin Ackley: Just like Logan Morrison, we seriously have to ask which Dustin Ackley are the Mariners going to get? Last year, people were optimistic about him because he hit .290/.360/.412 from July to September, yet he followed that up by hitting .214/.273/.329 in his first 74 games of 2014. He followed that up by hitting .274/.314/.463 with 10 HRs in his next 69 games, but who is to say he won't repeat the same dismal 2014 first half in 2015? Optimism going into 2014 was based on his impressive 2nd half in 2013, now we have optimism regarding his production going into 2015 based on his 2014 2nd half production. It wouldn't be out of the ordinary for him to sport a terrible line at the plate next year.

5. Shortstop: Who will start? Chris Taylor or Brad Miller? How will they perform? In 47 games Chris Taylor hit .287/.347/.346, but haven't we seen Nick Franklin, Dustin Ackley and Brad Miller start off strong only to taper off? This is another position the Mariners need to consider going into the year, which is why it is smart to consider Ian Desmond as there is no guarantee that the Mariners will have major league level production from this position in 2015.

I'm not trying to be a debby downer. I actually have a lot of optimism about the Mariners 2015 season. I do believe we have the best shot at the playoffs in over a decade and that this team looks like it can win 90-95 games, but these are all questions that cannot be overlooked going into 2015.