by | June 25, 2013 · 2:50 pm

Pac-12 Alumni Teams – Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA

Yesterday, I started our quest to predict a Pac-12 alumni basketball tournament winner.  In case you missed it, I’m taking 10-12 of the best alumni each Pac-12 schools have and placing them on a hypothetical basketball team.  These teams would be playing today, so there aren’t  any old legends in them.  Most of the players I’m placing on the teams are playing professionally somewhere.  

I assembled the first four teams (alphabetically) rosters yesterday.  Today we have Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford and UCLA.  Once we’re done with all of the teams rosters, we will make a bracket and go from there.  Let’s get to it!

Oregon:

G Malik Hairston – Hairston was drafted in 2008 and currently plays in Spain.
G Luke Ridnour – Ridnour was drafted in 2003 and is playing for Minnesota currently.
G Aaron Brooks – Brooks was drafted in 2007 and plays for Houston. 
F Luke Jackson – Jackson was selected in the 2004 draft and played through last year professionally.  He accepted a coaching job in a small college in Oregon.
C Tony Woods – Woods graduated this year from Oregon and hopes to catch on to an NBA team.
F Arsalan Kazemi – Kazemi graduated this year and hopes to get drafted.
F E.J. Singler – Yet another guy from this year who is hoping to catch on in the NBA.
G Tajuan Porter – Porter plays in the NBA D-league after finishing at Oregon in 2010
F Joevan Catron – Catron finished at Oregon in 2011 and plays in a Japanese basketball league.
C Michael Dunigan – Dunigan finished at Oregon in 2010 and is playing in the Philippines and has been very successful there.

Oregon Overview:  Oregon has a decent group here.  There aren’t a ton of NBA guys but there are a bunch that are very close.  The Ducks have one of the youngest teams that has been assembled so far.

Oregon State:

G Jared Cunningham
F/C Joe Burton
F Roeland Schaftenaar – Schaftenaar played his final season at OSU in 2010 and is now in a European league.
G Calvin Haynes – Haynes graduated in 2011 and has played in the D-league but is now in a European league.
F Marcel Jones – Jones graduated in 2008 and now plays in an Australia league.
F/C Sasa Cuic – Cuic graduated in 2008 and now plays in Europe.  He played in Morocco last year.
F Nick DeWitz – DeWitz played at Oregon State in 2006 and most recently played in a Portuguese league.  Yep, I’m really struggling to find guys here.
F David Lucas – Lucas graduated in 2005.  He has played everywhere and is currently in IBL playing for the Portland Chinooks.  Yeah…
F Omari Johnson – Johnson graduated in 2011 and is now playing a Canadian League.
G Gary Payton – Yeah, it’s come to this.  By far the oldest guy in the tournament, Payton was drafted in 1990 and is now 44 years old.  If anyone thinks there are better qualified guys, do the research and get back to me. 

Oregon State Overview:  We have an early contender for the number 12 seed here.  They aren’t particularly young, there is only one NBA player and there are basketball leagues here that I didn’t know even existed (Canada? Japan?).  This team has about three guards, and one of them is 44.

Stanford Cardinal

C Robin Lopez – Lopez was drafted in 2008 and plays for New Orleans.
C Brooke Lopez – This Lopez has had more success in the NBA and plays for Brooklyn.
F Landry Fields – Fields was drafted in 2010 and played in Toronto last year.
C Jason Collins – Collins was drafted in 2001 and is now a free agent (if he doesn’t retire).  He’s had a long NBA career and is another 7 footer on this team.
G/F Josh Childress – Childress was drafted in 2004 and played in Brooklyn last year.
F Josh Owens – Owens graduated in 2012 and is now playing in the D-league for the Idaho Stampede.
G Chris Hernandez – Hernandez finished at Stanford in 2006 and retired from professional basketball last year after winning a championship in Spain.
F Taj Finger – Finger graduated in 2008, and is most recently playing in Japan.  He also runs a basketball camp in New York during summers.
G Jeremy Green – Green was left Stanford in 2011 and is playing in Europe.
G Matt Lottich – Lottich graduated in 2004 and is now running a basketball camp.  The team is low on guards so Lottich makes the cut.

Stanford Overview:  Stanford doesn’t have the depth of some teams but they have a lot of talent.  There are three seven footers who are still in the NBA.  Stanford will pose some match-up problems for other teams.

UCLA:

G Russell Westbrook – Westbrook was drafted in 2008 and plays for Oklahoma City, currently.
G Shabazz Muhammad – Shabazz declared for the NBA draft this year, and is expected to be a first round pick.
F Luc Mbah a Moute – Mbah a Moute was drafted in 2008 and plays for Milwaukee. 
C Kevin Love – Love was drafted in 2008 and plays for Minnesota currently. 
G Malcolm Lee – Lee was drafted in 2011 and plays for Minnesota. 
F Tyler Honeycutt – Honeycutt was drafted in 2011 and played for Sacramento sparingly last year and also played in the D-league. 
C Ryan Hollins – Hollins was drafted in 2006 and now plays for the Clippers.
G/F Jrue Holiday – Holiday was drafted in 2009 and has played for Philadelphia.
G Darren Collison – Collison was drafted in 2009 and played for Dallas last year. 
F Matt Barnes – Barnes was drafted in 2002 and has had a long NBA career.  He played for the Clippers last year. 
F Trevor Ariza – Ariza was drafted in 2004 and played for Washington last year. 
G Arron Afflalo – Afflalo was drafted in 2007 and played for Orlando last year.

UCLA Overview:  The Bruins are obviously one of the most talented schools and always will be.  All of the guys listed above are or will be in the NBA.  The Bruins are definitely in contention for the top seed.  They also are pretty versatile in their positions.

That’s all for today.  If you have any different guys that I should add, put them in the comments and I’ll get back to you.  Thanks!

Andrew

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by | June 24, 2013 · 3:49 pm

Your Pac-12 Alumni Tournament

Yesterday, most of the Good Guys went to the Husky alumni basketball game.  It was a great environment and a great event for a school that has a growing history of fantastic players.  After the event, Joe, Matthew and I were talking and were wondering how the top players on the floor would fare against other teams alumni today.

Unfortunately, they aren’t going to have this tournament in real life.  That would really be something.  Instead, the Good Guys are going to bring it to you.  Over the next few days, I will be putting together each school’s alumni team.  If there are any oversights, please leave the players in the comments and I will add them to the team before we start bracket play.

Once the teams are assembled, we will make a bracket (with seedings) and put the teams up against each other.  The four Good Guys will vote on the winners of each matchup and will try to leave our bias out of it.  Again, these matchups are based on if these players were facing off against each other today.  There won’t be any UCLA legends in here because they are old and wouldn’t be able to play with guys from the last 10 years.  In fact, I plan to only go back 10 years in assembling the rosters (although I may make some exceptions).  Each roster will consist of 10-12 players.

Today, I’ll start with the rosters for the Arizona schools, Colorado, and California.  I’m just going in alphabetical order.  I’ll give a little explanation of what each player has done of late.

Arizona Wildcats:

F Chase Budinger – Budinger has played in the NBA since 2009.  He played for Minnesota last year.
F Andre Iguodala – Iguodala was drafted in 2004 and has been in the league ever since.  He played for Denver last year  
F Derrick Williams – Williams was drafted in 2011 (2nd overall) and currently plays for Minnesota.
F Solomon Hill – Hill in projected to be a late 2nd round pick this year in the NBA draft.
G Jerryd Bayless – Bayless was drafted in 2008 and played for Memphis last season.
F Jordan Hill – Hill was drafted in 2009 and played for the Lakers last season.
F Richard Jefferson – Jefferson was drafted in 2001 and played for Golden State last season.  He is one of the oldest players on this team.
C Channing Frye – Frye was drafted in 2005.  He retired last year, due to a health problem (I’m not sure if he should be included in this tournament or not, we may revisit this).
G Jason Terry – The oldest player on the team, Terry was drafted in 1999 but still plays in the NBA.  He played for Boston last year and has average double-digit points every season since 2000.
G Hassan Adams – Adams was drafted in 2006 and has bounced around different leagues ever since.  He currently plays in a Venezuelan league.
G Salim Stoudamire – Stoudamire plays on the same team in Venezuela as Adams.  He was drafted in 2005.
G Gilbert Arenas – Arenas makes the cut, as this team needs a few more guards.  He was drafted in 2001 and currently plays for Shanghai in the Chinese Basketball Association.

Overview of Arizona:  This team has a wealth of good forwards.  The guards aren’t as prominent but there are plenty of them playing professionally.  Overall, this is a very good team and one of the favorites.

Arizona State Sun Devils:

F Ike Diogu – Diogu was drafted in 2005 and now plays in a Puerto Rico league.
G James Harden – Harden is easily the best player on this team.  He was drafted in 2009 and is currently a Houston Rocket.
F/C Jeff Pendergraph – Pendergraph was drafted in 2009 and has been in the NBA ever since.  He has played with the Pacers most recently.
F Michael Batiste – Batiste played his last season with Arizona State all the way back in 1999 but is still playing with a Turkey league team and has done quite well overseas.
G Eddie House – House was drafted in 2000 and retired from the NBA last year after a long career.
F Tommy Smith – Smith was drafted in 2003 and has been around a few different leagues since.  This year he played for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants (I’m not joking).
G Derek Glasser – The last thing I can find on Glasser is that he was playing in an Israeli league.
G Ty Abbot – Abbot seems to have played in a European league this year, after graduating in 2012.
F Richard Kuksiks – Kuksiks played for ASU until 2011 and now plays in Ukraine.
G Kevin Kruger – Kruger played for ASU and UNLV but we’ll count him because this team needs players.  He has played in a few different leagues and was in the NBA D-League last year.

Arizona State overview:  Arizona State has one of the best players, but is lacking after that.  To be honest, it was hard just to come up with 10 guys.  If you know of anyone else who is playing professionally from Arizona State please add them in the comments.

California Golden Bears:

F Ryan Anderson – Anderson was drafted in 2008 and currently plays for New Orleans.
Jason Kidd – Kidd is the oldest guy on any team, so far.  Kidd was drafted in 2004 and played last year for the Knicks.  He is now the coach of the Nets, but I think he’s still probably one of this squad’s top players. 
Leon Powe – Powe was drafted in 2006 and stayed in the NBA for about 5 years.  He now plays in a Puerto Rico league.
Francisco Elson – Elson was drafted in 1999 and played in Iran last year after spending most of his time in the NBA.
G/F Allen Crabbe – Crabbe may be the best player on this team and will be drafted this year, in the NBA draft.
G Jerome Randle – Randle finished at Cal in 2010 and currently plays in Belgium.
G Jorge Gutierrez – Jorge graduated from Cal in 2012 and played in a D-League last year.
C Max Zhang – Zhang played with Cal through 2010 and currently plays for the Shanghai Sharks.  He’s 7’3″ if you forgot.
F Harper Kamp – Kamp graduated in 2012(?) and is currently playing in Europe.
F Jamal Boykins – Boykin graduated in 2010 and plays in Europe currently.

California overview:  Cal is a bit depleted because of injuries to alums (Theo Robertson comes to mind).  This team doesn’t have many NBA players on it, but they are relatively young even if they have Kidd and Elson on the team.

Colorado Buffalos:

G Chauncey Billups – Probably Colorado’s most famous basketball alum, Billups is finishing up his NBA career after getting drafted in 1997.
G/F Alec Burks – Burks was drafted in 2011 and is still with the Utah Jazz. 
F Chris Copeland – Copeland graduated from Colorado in 2006 and played in D-leagues but made his debut in the NBA with the Knicks last year.
G Cory Higgins – Higgins graduated in 2011 and has played in the D-League since , with a short stint in Charlotte.
F Andre Roberson – Roberson declared for the NBA draft and is hoping to be drafted this year.
G Sabatino Chen – Chen graduated this year and is hoping to play professionally somewhere.
G Carlon Brown – Brown graduated in 2012 and is playing for the Idaho Stampede (D-League).
C David Harrison – Harrison was drafted in 2004 and has played on several D-league teams since then.
G Richard Roby – Roby played for Colorado until 2008 and now plays in Venezuela.  I’m really struggling to find these guys now.
G Marcus Hall – Hall finished at Colorado in 2008 and now plays in Europe.

Colorado Overview:  Admittedly, I don’t know much about Colorado because I didn’t grow up watching them.  If you come across this and know more please fill me in.  These were about the best 10 players I could find and this team is fairly guard heavy.  Some of them are combo guards so there is still some size on the team. 

That’s it for today.  If you have any quibbles with the rosters, please let me know in the comments!

Andrew

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by | June 22, 2013 · 1:51 pm

Mariners Minor League & Draft Notes

It’s summer in Seattle and the Mariners are in the middle of another depressing season.  I actually think they have the pieces to turn it around and finish near the .500 range, if their luck would ever turn.  I’m also starting to think this might be one of those years where nothing goes right.  Regardless, when the offense is this bad, they’re hard to watch.

So once again, I find myself paying more attention to the Mariners’ minor leaguers, the one place where the outlook for Jack Zduriencik’s Mariners is always hopeful.  Betweens call-ups, promotions and the draft, a lot has happened lately.

Franklin, Zunino to Seattle

This is old news now, but there’s a little data that’s worth discussing.  Franklin has been quite solid.  He’s at .277/.362/.494, which would be pretty phenomenal if he could maintain it.  His defense looks prettier than Dustin Ackley’s but isn’t as consistently reliable, at least to my eyes.  Zunino is showing some of the expected struggles with the bat, hitting below .200 with corresponding power and on-base numbers.  His power is consistently apparent, but he’s not quite squaring up the ball well enough to get it out.  I don’t see anything that makes me worried for his future, although I wonder how long they’d let him struggle before they’d send him down.  His defense is excellent, and I imagine it will keep him in Seattle for quite some time.  While it’s far too early to say definitively, both look like line-up regulars for years to come.

Ackley, Others to Return Soon?

Since going down to Tacoma, Dustin Ackley has been hitting around .400, with OBA and Slugging % around .500.  He’s done everything they could ask, including spending most of his time in the outfield.  That isn’t necessarily a permanent move, but it gives him an avenue back to Seattle for this season.  Rumors are he’s working on some mechanical fixes, including shortening his stride.  True or not, I’d expect to see him back around the all-star break, if not sooner. Continue reading →

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by | June 14, 2013 · 2:05 pm

A Day With Coach Sark

This was all a dream.  It was one of the more in-depth dreams I’ve ever had, but it was still a dream.  Football season can’t come soon enough and my brain has apparently grown tired of the Mariners’ failure.  So, while the rest of me has been asleep, my dreaming has turned to Husky football.

“If I was only a little bit faster” I thought, as I had just finished stretching with the rest of the Washington football team.  We always finished with a sprint at the end of stretching and I, being the lowly walk-on among the receivers, always ended up coming in last.

But, after this bit of wishful thinking, I immediately turned to being grateful.  There I was, practicing on the field that I’d watched my favorite players and teams roam in years prior.  “There’s where Reggie Williams made his leaping grab against Michigan.  That is where Mason Foster made his interception against Arizona.  That is where Corey Williams made his game-winning catch in the Apple Cup.”  The memories continued throughout practice.  Needless to say, I wasn’t very good.  I was still in awe of how close the stands were and the new technology all across the new Husky Stadium.  The west end-zone looked unbelievable.  The north and south stands still held their triumphant positions.  Heck, the east end-zone, where I grew up, upgraded to permanent seats.  When I closed my eyes, I could feel the crowd noise wash over me.

Practice was wrapping up while I was still in a dazed amazement.  We finished our practice and a few members of the team, along with the coaches, were going to go over to see some fans that were watching a volleyball tournament in Hec Ed.  I somehow found myself riding along with the head coach, Steve Sarkisian, in a gator as the team followed behind.  I’m not sure why he let a walk-on like me ride with him but there I was.  Along the way, we were stopped by a few equipment managers for other sports.  They were saying that they wished they had the facilities that the football team had.  Sark just smiled and nodded.  He added in his thanks when he was supposed to.  It’s the same thing he did with the fans that we stopped to see.

Before long, we were back at the stadium.  We were up on the west concourse, looking down on the field.  The rest of the team had thinned out.  A few players were still tagging along, but mainly it was just him and me.  We stood there, looking out over the lake and the field.  Football stadiums aren’t supposed to be this beautiful.

Around this time, an older booster came by.  He was wearing a black suit and tie, asking about August 31st.  Our first game was coming up.  The older gentleman said, “I remember the days when going to see the Huskies was an event.  They were the top ticket in town and you made a day out of it.  You would tell all of your buddies you were going, just to make them jealous.  The crowd’s would be so loud that you could hardly hear the fly-over after the National Anthem.  Now, look at where we are.  They aren’t events anymore.”  I could feel my face start to get red.  “A lot of the time, I don’t even care about going to the games.  They usually start so late now.  Excellence doesn’t ooze out of the team like it used to.  What you have on August 31st, that is as close as we’ll get to an event like the old days but even that won’t come close.”

I had heard enough, and thankfully the booster had stopped talking.  It was my turn to speak up, “Coach, for me Husky football will always be an event.  I’ve sat in those stands (pointing toward the east end-zone) for the last 15 years.  I grew up here.  Saturdays were a way to spend a day with my family.  We sat through an 0-12 season.  We sat through Casey Paus.  We sat through those awful, wet Oregon State games and I wouldn’t have changed any of it.  August 31st is an event.  Husky fans have been waiting for a game like this for 10 years.  I have no doubt that they’ll show up, in full voice that night.”

Sark thought for a moment before he began.  “For our football team, this isn’t an event.  It’s another game.  We have to stay focused on that, even though there are sure to be distractions.  For our fans, this will be a day to remember.  I wish I could be out there as everyone enters.  I’d like to see the looks on their faces when they see the new video board.  I’d like to see excitement in the zone.  I’d like to feel the energy as the band takes the field 22 minutes before the game starts.  This is a big day for our program and a day that I hope proves to be a landmark for when the program started to ooze excellence once again.”

Just like that, my day had ended.  77 more days, Dawg fans.

– Andrew

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by | June 12, 2013 · 7:54 pm

Catchers

Given a bit of time, everything develops its own mythology.  Baseball is one of the best examples of this.  There’s Babe Ruth calling his shot, and Jackie Robinson stealing home, and “the luckiest man on the face of the earth,” and so much more. The mythology is always there, as deep as one wants to look, and it only makes the game richer and more fascinating.

Part of the mythology is the archetypes ingrained in the game. I’ve written before about the importance of shortstops, but that’s only one example. Centerfield might be the most legendary position on the diamond, and I think it’s solely because most seats face toward the centerfielder, and we look out there and see him running down everything near him, going over the fence and deep into gaps, all long strides and grace.  Because it’s most demanding position, it draws the most talented players, and so the mythology becomes self-perpetuating.  We have Mickey Mantle and Joe Dimaggio and Willie Mays and Ken Griffey Jr.  We have songs about it. Everyone wants to play centerfield.

Shortstop and center field are identified with grace, but that doesn’t fit for catchers.  Catchers are some combination of bulldog and point guard.  They’re a coach on the field, the dependable captain who hoists it all on his shoulders.  A catcher is someone for all others to follow.  He’s an ambassador to the umpire, a counselor to pitchers, and a slugger in the batter’s box.  He’s a font of wisdom, like Yogi Berra.  Often, he’s the best player on the field, like Johnny Bench, but he always get a little less credit than he deserves, because he spends his life squatting down instead of racing into the gaps. We close our eyes and we can see the perfect catcher.

There’s always debate over whether teams, to be successful, need players who fill these traditional roles. Teams try to play a bad glove shortstop for his big bat, or they put a left fielder in center, or a guy know one respects at catcher.  Sometimes it works.  Usually it doesn’t.  We have the images in our head for a reason, and it’s because they are successful.  Even if that’s not the case, we can say teams and players need to get over the mumbo-jumbo of it all, but that’s not going to happen.  The mythology has become reality, whether it deserves to be or not.

The Mariners have not had a catcher who came close to fitting the traditional catcher archetype since Dan Wilson.  Miguel Olivo had the toughness, but he was sufficiently undependable and untalented to prevent him from filling the role.  Kenji Johjima had a couple of great seasons with the bat, but language and culture issues kept him from ever being the leader everyone would like.

I never understood how Rob Johnson kept a job.  He couldn’t catch and he was a terrible hitter, but somehow he started a lot of games over a few seasons.  A lot of that was a lack of better options, but not completely.  A few years ago I went to Mariners Fanfest, and we sat down to listen to a Q & A session with a handful of players, Rob Johnson among them.  It became clear within minutes why he was the Mariners catcher.  He controlled the moment and was obviously well-liked by his teammates.  He had a sense of command and confidence that was exactly what we want from a catcher.  Johnson didn’t have enough skill to supplement his presence. Ultimately, production wins out, but that he held the job as long as he did says a ton about what teams want from their catchers.

In the first inning of his first game, Mike Zunino stood up for a pop fly and threw off his mask, and it was clear at that instant that he is a Catcher, the kind you dream about.  He didn’t even make the play.  The camera cut away from him almost as soon as his mask was off, but by some combination of his eyes and the sureness of his movements, his control of the game was obvious.  He looks like a catcher, tall and solid but still athletic-looking.  You see him move and think, oh, this is what the scouts see, this is why he was the third pick in the draft.  There is a stillness and confidence to his movements that makes obvious what Jesus Montero was missing.

This is not a guarantee that Zunino will be a success.  Remember Rob Johnson.  He will have to hit, and his first at-bat exhibited the questionable strike zone judgement about which so many have fretted.  He has plenty of time to work on that, though, and fans can rest easy knowing that he already has those intangibles the Mariners have lacked for years.  Maybe finally having a real catcher will be the first step to making the Mariners a real baseball team.

-Matthew

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by | June 11, 2013 · 8:31 pm

Mike Zunino in Seattle: It’s Fine!

The Mariners called up top catching prospect Mike Zunino today, just over a year after he was drafted third overall out of the University of Florida.  Known for his leadership, defense and power, Zunino hit like Babe Ruth when he started his professional career in Low-A Everett last summer.  That earned him a late season promotion to Double-A, where he took a step down to Lou Gehrig production levels.  Already high expectations elevated to the point that fans were wondering if he would make the Mariners out of spring training.

That didn’t happen, and no one really expected it would, but his first weeks in Triple-A made it look like his Seattle absence would be short.  By the end of April, he started coming back to earth, dragged low by breaking balls.  At time of call up, he’s batting .238/.303/.503.  He’s not in the line up tonight as he had to fly from Las Vegas today, but I would expect to see him tomorrow. Continue reading →

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by | June 6, 2013 · 8:37 pm

Mariners Draft DJ Peterson, Austin Wilson

The first two rounds of the MLB amateur draft are in the books, and the Mariners added a pair of college hitters.  With their first pick, they selected New Mexico 3B DJ Peterson.  He’s a masher with solid plate discipline.  Billy Butler is the comp I’ve heard often for Peterson, and a Baseball America writer threw out the Edgar template: solid all-around hitter who might not hit a ton of homers but should balance that with lots of doubles and good on-base skills.

Discounting the guys who were unlikely to be available, Peterson and college outfielder Hunter Renfroe were at the top of my wish list.  That doesn’t mean much, as I’m no scout and am just going by others’ opinions, but they seemed like good fits for what the Mariners need.  By the time the Mariners picked, pitcher Braden Shipley was also surprisngly still on the board and would have been a good pick, but I was happy they went with Peterson.  Some called him the best all-around college bat available, and he should move fairly quickly.  If you’re worried what they’ll do with both Seager and Peterson, don’t be.  There’s a good chance Peterson’s a first baseman or DH, and there’s no guarantee that both of them are good by the time it would matter anyway.  They can let it play out and adjust positions once Peterson forces the issue.

Second rounder Austin Wilson is a big (6’5″ 245 lb.) outfielder from Stanford.  He’s one of those guys with lots of talent who’s performance thus far has not matched expectations, especially in the power department.  He’s battled some injuries, though, and Stanford is notorious for messing up guys’ swings.  I’m sure the M’s hope to get him healthy and straighten out his swing and turn him into a monster.  It could happen, although usually it doesn’t.  The Mariners were rumored to be interested in him with their first pick, so from that perspective, getting him in the second round is a win.

The draft resumes in the morning, and there will be a lot of new Mariner prospects, most of whom will never sniff the majors.  I’m hoping their next pick is Rowdy Tellez, a slugging lefty high schooler with the best name in the draft.  I might recap tomorrow night, or I might not, but there are tons of other places to get much better information in this case.  See the end of the post below for some recommendations.  Happy drafting!

-Matthew

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by | June 5, 2013 · 1:15 pm

Mariners to Get New Mariners Tomorrow, and Other Notes

I’m mostly going to talk about tomorrow’s MLB draft, but there are a few things I should mention first:

  • It seems pesky injuries are hitting the Mariners harder than usual this year.  The latest casualty is catcher Jesus Sucre, who was hit on the back of his hand by a backswing last night. Nothing’s broken, but he’ll be out at least a few days.  Sucre’s been okay, and better than that defensively, since taking Jesus Montero’s roster spot, but he’s no huge loss.  The only problem is the M’s had no other catchers on the 40-man roster, since Montero just suffered a knee injury and is out for a month or more.  They promoted Triple-A back-up Brandon Bantz, who will be around for a week at most and may not even see the field.  Again, no big deal, just a bit of a headache for the M’s to figure out.
  • To open a 40-man roster spot for Bantz, Franklin Gutierrez was placed on the 60-day disabled list. That’s retroactive to when he first went on the DL, but it still feels tantamount to the Mariners giving up on Guti.  I’m sure we’ll see him the second half of the season, and he might even get our hopes up again, but I see no way he’s around next year, even at a near-minimum salary.  Having Guti on the roster means compensating in too many other ways, and it’s just not worth it.  You have to be able to count on players to stay on the field for longer than a week.  It’s a shame, because he still has mountains of talent, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.
  • On a brighter note, Nick Franklin has been a revelation as Dustin Ackley’s replacement at second base.  He actually looks a lot like Ackley did when he first came up, with a great eye and a swing that delivers a lot of contact and surprising power.  He looks better at second, which is nothing against Ackley, who was extremely solid there.  In only a week, Franklin has done enough to generate talk about whether Ackley will ever get a chance to reclaim his spot.  Those talks are fair, but also remember that Ackley was quite good for a half a season before falling apart last year.  You just never know.
  • The Mariners have struggled before this Chicago series, but I’m actually feeling a little optimistic.  The worst part of the schedule is over, and the offense has crept up to league average and is still improving.  More importantly, there’s hope on the horizon for the biggest weakness: the back of the rotation.  I’m okay with Joe Saunders, and Aaron Harang I can live with for the moment.  That fifth spot is a killer, though.  Luckily, Erasmo Ramirez could return within a couple of weeks, and if he has his form back he could immediately become the staff’s third best starter.  Danny Hultzen has started throwing again, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him up around the all star break.  Keep your fingers crossed, but the options are slowly improving.

MLB Draft

The MLB draft starts tomorrow, which most baseball fans are probably not even aware of.  I personally love the draft, but it understandably gets less attention than it’s basketball and football counterparts.  Most of the players are unknown, and they generally won’t make the majors for 3-4 years, if at all.  I like following it because I can completely release my judgement of the picks and just trust in the Mariners.  Trust in the Mariners?  Am I crazy, you ask?  The Mariners are actually quite good at drafting.  Since Zduriencik and Tom McNamara, the amateur scouting director, took over, the Mariners’ farm system has gone from maybe the worst in baseball to top two or three, almost solely on the strength of their drafts.  We can debate another day on why some of those draftees are failing in the majors, but getting players into the system hasn’t been the problem.

After choosing Mike Zunino third overall last year, the Mariners are picking 12th tomorrow, which is good and bad for all the usual reasons.  It’s hard to know who they’ll take that far down the draft, and the Mariners are one of the more unpredictable teams anyway.  I’ll list a few potential names below.  Just remember that no matter who they pick, don’t get worked up.  They know much more about these guys than any of us do.  You can treat the Mariners drafting like we treat the Seahawks drafting: it can be surprising and you might wish they had done something different, but they’ve earned a pretty high level of trust at this point.  That said, here are a few names:

DJ Peterson is one of the best bats in the draft, and maybe the most advanced.  A college third baseman at New Mexico, he’ll likely move to first or DH but should have plenty of bat to still be a threat there.  The comparison I’ve seen most is to Kansas City’s Billy Butler.  Peterson is probably my top choice of guys who could realistically be available, but I’m not sure he’ll make it to them.

Hunter Renfroe is a college outfielder who is getting a lot of buzz lately.  He’s athletic enough to be solid in a corner and has plenty of power.  Someone mentioned Jay Buhner as a comparison.  The Mariners are low on outfield prospects and Renfroe is probably the best one they might have a shot at.

Austin Meadows and Clint Frazier are both outfielders from Georgia and the two best high school position prospects in the draft.  Both will likely go before the Mariners pick, but there’s a chance one could slip.  I’d be thrilled with either.

JP Crawford, a high school shortstop, is the only shortstop considered a first rounder.  I gather he’s not elite with the glove but could be above-average.  The bat is solid.  He’s expected to go right around the Mariners’ pick.  Not sure how I feel about Crawford, but it’s always good to have shortstops around.

Reese McGuire is a high schooler, and he also happens to go to school minutes away from where I’m writing this, at Kentwood High.  He’s a catcher who projects to be solid with the bat and quite good with the glove.  He was going to the Mariners in a lot of earlier mock drafts, but I think most now believe he’ll be gone by then.  I’d be fine with that.  He sounds like a good prospect and it’s fun to add local kids, but I’m not crazy about high school catchers, especially with Zunino and others in the system already.

That’s probably enough names for now.  I didn’t mention any pitchers, because I didn’t feel like it.  A pitcher pick wouldn’t surprise though. Watch especially for high schooler Phil Bickford and his big fastball, or Ryan Stanek, whom the Mariners previously picked but couldn’t sign away from college.

I’ll try to post something tomorrow night after the M’s pick.  For better coverage, try Baseball America or Minor League Ball from a national perspective, and Seattle Sports Insider and Jay Yencich at USS Mariner for a local breakdown.

Go Mariners! Believe Big!

-Matthew

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