Griffey in 2008?

As I mentioned in my previous post -- I'd really honestly prefer the M's sign Barry Bonds over trading for Griffey. Recognizing that they likely wouldn't do that, my second choice would be to sign Kenny Lofton, who's defense would help the Mariners and whose bat probably wouldn't be that much different than Griffey's (sacrificing some power for fewer outs and a bit more speed).

Here's some perspective. Griffey's MLB career started in 1989 -- here's a list of things that were going on back then:

• The Berlin Wall was still intact. I know, I was there in 1989 -- it came down only 6 months after I wrote on it (and after Griffey had been in the league for one season).
  
• The Exxon Valdez oil spill happened
• It was still the 80s.
  
• Paula Abdul's "Forever Your Girl" was a #1 single. Madonna's "Like a Prayer" was, too. Deborah Gibson was known as Debbie, and topping the charts. New Kids on the Block, Milli Vanilli -- need I say more?
• Rain Man was the Best Picture
• Wrestlemania V: Hulk Hogan defeats Randy "Macho Man" Savage
• Sega Genesis & Nintendo GameBoy released
• Pete Rose's lifetime ban begins, the Skydome in Toronto opens
  
• The Simpsons and Seinfeld debut on TV
  
• Joe Jonas, Sanjaya Malakar, Michele Wie, Jordan Sparks, and Lil Mama were born
• Ted Bundy, Ayatolla Khomeni, Salvador Dali, Lucille Ball, Bart Giamatti, Ferdinand Marcos, Graham Chapman, Bette Davis, Joe Collins, Irving Berlin, and Mel Blanc (aka Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck/Porky Pig/Barney Rubble, etc...) all died.
  

But let's dig a little deeper.

As most of us are probably aware, Griffey has 10-5 rights -- he's been in the league for 10 years and has been with the same team for 5 years. This allows him the right to veto a trade and/or a waiver claim, even without having a no-trade clause in his contract.

The important question becomes, then, would Griffey consent to a trade to the Mariners -- and if so -- why?

During his heyday, Griffey was definitely a leader in the clubhouse. He and Jay Buhner were particularly close, and both of them helped drive Lou Piniella insane. Remember this commercial? Of course, Junior was a LOT younger then, and most of those teammates have retired, except RJ and a few others. But John McLaren was around then, and he was beloved by Junior.

Yeah, Junior probably has a sense of nostalgia and would like to finish his career where it began. I believe his words -- and it wouldn't surprise me at all if he wanted to stick around longer than the 1-day contract that's been discussed in the media.

The thing is -- Griffey probably wants a ring more than he wants nostalgia. I'm not sure if he's got the energy or the desire to carry this woeful team on his shoulders to dig them out of the deep hole they've found themselves in. It's a ridiculously deep hole that sacrificing outfield defense won't help. While I don't necessarily assent to the validity of defense stats and measurements, I'm comfortable enough with their reliability when looking at a team's rating/valuation, even if I'm not 100% sold on the cost/benefit to the win/loss record. I am not at all surprised that the recent analysis shows the M's as having the worst defense, in terms of plays below average. While Wlad Balentien has been helping tremendously, he caught the sucktitis virus going around the team tonight. Moving him out to move Griffey in would definitely not help this.

I mention defense because if Griffey does consent to be traded back to Seattle, it won't be as the DH. At FanFest this year, Jay Buhner -- arguably one of Griffey's best friends to this day -- mentioned that while Griffey would probably be best suited as a DH (saying his days as a great OF'er are long behind him), Griffey isn't quite ready to give up his spot on the field. And even if they move Raul from LF to DH (or 1B), the upgrade probably isn't very significant. I can't imagine Griffey being too anxious to be platooned and/or moved around the field. Even if it's probably best for all parties involved. Except, of course, the M's current DH -- Jeff Clement (who really should displace Kenji Johjima at the catcher's position).

And I really don't want to get into my fears of what Bavasi would give up to get Griffey back.

While the nostalgic part of me would like to see Griffey come back and put some energy into this woeful team, I also recognize that the older you get, the less motivated you get to "go all messiah". While the 1990s Griffey could definitely help the M's right now, the Griffey of today would just be another symptom of the problem.

The M's are too focused on the past. They're content to completely ignore defense. The M's value experience and reputation much more than they value talent. Trading for Griffey at the cost of someone like Adam Moore or Juan Ramirez, and the development of either Wlad or Jeff would be a terrible decision.

That's completely why I expect it to happen...

Screw Junior -- The M's Need Bonds!

I know they'll never do it. I know the blog-o-sphere has overstated this. I'm still going to say it.

Now, more than ever before, the Mariners need a bat. They need some attention. They need a guy who can distract them from spiraling completely out of control. Yes, it's cold outside and it's still spring (and the kids are still in school) -- but that's only a minor reason why attendance is plummeting.

Apathy, I'd say, is probably the biggest reason.

To cure this apathy they could a) start winning; b) get someone in there to draw some attention in or c) do something drastic (and stupid) by clearing house completely. Since a) isn't about to happen, and c) isn't about to happen, that leaves us with b) -- however remote THAT even is.

A lot of talk lately has centered around bringing Griffey home. Yeah, that might be interesting. But considering that Griffey is on the downhill slide of his career arc, and would require giving up talent, he shouldn't be the first option. I just don't trust Bavasi with his trading track record.

So, really, that leaves us with Barry Bonds as the next logical option. Yes, he too is on the downhill slide of his career.

But.

Barry Bonds at age 44 is a better hitter than Griffey at age 38. Yeah, yeah -- PEDs and all that crap. I discussed this nearly two years ago. There's news that the union is looking into possible collusion, with how Barry Bonds has been treated in free agency.

I hate Barry a metric ton. I don't care, though -- I love the Mariners more than I hate Barry. This team needs a kick in the ass. Barry's about the only guy around who can do it.

To a lot of people, Howard Lincoln doesn't have a soul to sell. Well, it's time for him to sell whatever's left of it to make room for one of the best hitters of all time, even if he skirted unspoken rules (PEs, of course, not being banned by MLB during the time Barry Bonds was likely to have taken them).

This is getting absolutely ridiculous.

I really am starting to hate this team.

Now Batting: WFB... Are You SERIOUS???

With Brad Wilkerson actually having a decent day, John McLaren decides to pinch-hit Willie Bloomquist for him in the 9th. Yes, the M's had just taken the lead on an Adrian Beltre 3-run bomb. And Richie walked ahead of him. McLaren put Cairo in to pinch run for Sexson, and then unexplicably pulled a heating-up Wilkerson for a woeful Willie Bloomquist. Seriously -- I realize Wilkerson's having a tough start to the season, and I'm on the bandwagon for replacing him sooner rather than later, but Bloomquist as a pinch hitter? At that moment in the game -- yeah, the M's had a 3-run lead already built up, and they still had outs to spare in the 9th -- with the way the 'pen has been shaky lately, a 3-run lead didn't feel comfortable. There were better options.

Greg Norton was on the bench, having just had a couple of successful games. He could've hit for Wilkerson if you REALLY want to ignore Wilkerson's reverse platoon splits. Then, with the lead, stick Willie in RF for defense.

You know things are bad when your manager pinch hits WFB for you. Vidro had some important hits, too, including an RBI double. Maybe the news that Clement and Balentien were not in the Tacoma lineup and that McLaren said they'd both be up "sooner than later" actually helped wake them up. I still think Wlad and Clement are better options, but whatever.

GS52 Watch:

Walked B.J. Upton, but got the save to push Baltimore into first place in the AL East.

Hey -- LOOK! He CAN Bend His Brim!!!

This might very well be the first photo of George in an Orioles' uniform with his brim bent! Yeah, I know, it's only a spring training/batting practice cap, but hey -- it's a start.

I had the time of my life at the game. It was definitely bittersweet for me going to the enemy bullpen and seeing a friend. Thanks to the awesomeness of George Sherrill (and, of course, Sid too), I got to sit 22 rows up from home plate for his return to Safeco Field. I've said it before, and I'll say it again -- my fandom of George goes well beyond his status as a Mariner player (of course, now being a former Mariner).

It was an awesome game -- Guthrie matched Felix pretty well, and I was very very surprised to see Trembley leave him in there after 100 pitches. I turned to a family friend of the Sherrills (with whom I had the pleasure of spending most of the pre-game with, to which and gave a guided tour of Safeco) and said "Here comes Walker to face Ibanez -- he's terrible against lefties!"


Well, the decision to leave Guthrie in to intentionally walk Ibanez came back to haunt Trembley -- after walking Beltre to load the bases, I was the lone voice in a sea of Orioles friends and family members (okay, there were some M's fans to the side of me -- but I was sitting in the O's players' seats) chanting "Fra-ank Tho-mas (clap clap, clapclapclap)!" when Vidro came to the plate (in the spirit of good ol' Lookout Landing mockery).

Needless to say, I was quite happy that the M's didn't have to face George tonight in my presence. After all -- my cell phone LCD display got smashed somewhere along the way tonight, and I could barely dial Sid's number a few innings earlier. It would've been tough to try and put the "Hey -- don't call Sid when George is pitching" jinx, whether or not my cell phone actually was working.

And this night was even made more awesome by the fact that I was able to take my son along with me and share a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was fun for him being able to talk to George in the 'pen, I'm sure, and getting to hang out with one of Brian Roberts' relatives (a 4-year-old close enough to his age -- the only kid I've met that actually could keep up with my son's energy level and not be put off by his crazy silliness).

I heard in the post-game show that Felix had caught that nasty bug going around the clubhouse (and, well, my house, too). He got off to a slow start, but found the strike zone and while not nearly at full kingly strength. It was good enough and -- like Bedard's Opening Day start -- he showed his aceness by being able to pitch through adversity when he didn't have his greatest stuff.

I sure felt like a king being there...

Jeez. It's late. I'll have many more pictures in the coming days. I may not ever get to experience a baseball game like that one again. What a night!

Rohrbaugh, Jimenez dominate

It's early in the year, but the Rainiers rotation certainly looks impressive so far. Robert Rohrbaugh got his first start of the new season last night and threw 6 shut-out innings, allowing only 3 hits, no walks and getting 5 Ks. A fly-ball pitcher, Rohrbaugh might be expected to do well in April in the spacious confines of Cheney Stadium. But the wind was blowing out last night (or out to right center), but the Grizzlies simply couldn't get solid contact off of him.

Even the outfield fly balls were pop-ups, with Wlad calling off Chen for one and Hulett making the catch in front of Brent Johnson on another.
Ivan Ochoa was the only Grizzly who had a couple of good swings - he picked up a couple of singles on the night. Scott McClain squared up a couple of pitches on Rohrbaugh, but had a line-out and a fly out for his efforts.

Rohrbaugh is basically Ryan Feierabend if you take away 3 MPH on his fastball. As Feierabend's 'stuff' is not exactly eye-popping, that should tell you something about Rohrbaugh. The guy isn't just another in the long line of Jamie Moyer clones the M's drafted, he's trying to get guys out with Jamie's arsenal. Seriously. His FB was varied last night, but he threw one of them at 82 MPH. Moyer himself might throw faster than that in the 8th inning. He generally worked between 84-86, but got up in the high 80s occasionally and hit 90 one time.

All of this is to say that the reason Rohrbaugh is not well thought of in prospect circles is... valid. If Feierabend has little room for error, Rohrbaugh has none. And yet, the guy's been successful at every stop so far. My guess is that if he wants a real shot at the majors, he'll have to improve his command a bit. It's tough - get too much of the plate with an 84MPH fastball, and you'll get annihilated. Walk too many with an 84MPH fastball, and people will encourage you to explore different career options. He's been in the 2.5-3BB/9IP range historically, but last night's no-walk performance may be a great harbinger of improved command as he settles in at the AAA level.

A lot of people like to make fun of the Grizzlies line-up, and given that these are the guys who couldn't make the SF Giants MLB roster, there's a grain of truth there. But while the line-up isn't exactly littered with great MLB prospects, it's clearly not a bad AAA line-up. Scott McClain hit 31 HRs at this level last year, and hit at least 28 HRs in AAA five times (for four teams). He also hit 39 HRs for the Seibu Lions in NPB. You all know that Justin Leone's a quality AAA slugger, and OF John Bowker's coming off a year of .307/.363/.523 in the Eastern League last year (he's the closest they've got to a prospect). On paper, they may be a better AAA line-up than the Rainiers. The best on the Rainiers are better than the best on the Grizzlies, and clearly have better MLB prospects, but the Grizzlies have fairly impressive depth.

I mention this to give added context for Cesar Jimenez's jaw-dropping performance. Jimenez came in to start the seventh and promptly struck out the side on 12 pitches. He faced the heart of the order, and got Leone, McClain and Brett Harper (.296/.350/.500 last year in the eastern league) easily. He started the eighth by striking out Eliezer Alfonzo, then K'ing Bowker. Bowker was the only player to work the count and foul off a couple of pitches, but in the end he couldn't lay off a nasty change. Julio Cordido was the last man to face Jimenez, and actually managed to put the ball in play... a meek pop-up to 1B Bryan LaHair.

The left-handed Jimenez faced 4 righties and 2 lefties - the fact that his change-up is as tough on righties as lefties may actually hurt his chances of making a return to the majors; Jimenez isn't a LOOGY. He's done fine versus lefties so far, but he's not a George Sherrill or Arthur Rhodes type of pitcher. If he makes it, it'll have to be as a set-up guy who can get righties or lefties (sort of the role Ryan Rowland-Smith finds himself in...finally... for Seattle). With Eric O'Flaherty struggling, he may get a chance this year. Arthur Rhodes may be one place ahead in the queue, but Rhodes' health at this stage is always a question.

Jon Huber finished the game out by allowing a run on a hit, a walk and a wild pitch.

The offensive 'star' of this 2-1 victory was Wlad Balentien, who followed up his grand slam on Wednesday with a 2-4 performance last night. He knocked in the first run with a line drive smash double to left. He actually hit the ball so hard that he was very nearly thrown out at second; a neat slide helped him avoid the tag, but the ball beat him to the base handily. Wlad's going to be fine, and his slow start wasn't all that concerning to the R's.

Matt Tuiasosopo, on the other hand, continues to look a bit overmatched. He went 0-3, and is now 1-19 on the year. He struck out twice and popped up on the infield. I know Churchill at Prospect Insider is still high on him, so perhaps there's no need for panic, but as someone who's been a bit circumspect on Tui for years, uh, yeah, I'm a little worried. He's still young, but without some power, and without a better showing against high minors righties, it's going to be tough to stick as a corner defender. One thing he's shown in his MiLB career is a willingness to listen to coaching and a real aptitude for learning and improving. He's not someone who's gotten frustrated by some seriously frustrating spells in AA, and he's improved each year (particularly in plate discipline). I'm sure he'll get better, but he's got a long way to go.

Four for Four...

The last three coming against our beloved Mariners.

See -- We told you George was good!

But it's not because of the brim. Bend it, dude, bend it!

(Photo from MLB.com -- Rob Carr/AP)

So...Ryan Feierabend?

Ryan Feierabend pitched one of his best games at the AAA level in yesterday's opening day game. 6IP, 0R, 4H, 3BB and 7Ks. Where'd this come from?

Well, it's not from any new pitches. He was his normal three-pitch self last night, with his FB just the same as it was last year - from 85 to touching 90, but mostly 87-88 or so. His change-up was around 78, which is what the pitchfx data shows.

So how does a guy with standard platoon splits shut down a decent line-up stacked with righties?


First, it looked like he used the change-up much more than the curve. That's actually pretty similar to his M.O. vs. righties in the big leagues, but it was noticeable that the curve was a show-me pitch that he'd leave off the plate. That willingness to work off the plate showed up both in his higher than normal walk total and in his very low SLG percentage against. Remember, this is the same guy who allowed righties to slug over .600 in the majors, and who allowed PCL righties to slug .463 against him in Tacoma last year.

So clearly, he was able to improve the deception on the change-up last night. It's either that or he's willing to use it a lot more. Ryan's pitchfx data show something interesting - he got swinging strikes (the type most likely to stay consistent from year to year) on 13.6% of his change-ups last year, and gave up a home run on only 1 of 206 pitches thrown. His fastball induced swinging strikes only 3.5% of the time, and he gave up 4 HRs in 352 pitches. He was in the strike zone about the same with both pitches - he threw called balls on roughly 34-35% of both FBs and Changes.

From these data, and from his experience giving up 9HRs in less than 50 IP, I'd say Ryan may be learning to trust his change-up a lot more, and to avoid giving the hitter a hitter's pitch even in 2-0, 3-1 counts. His FB isn't good enough to blow by people, and if he wants to be successful, he's going to have to use the change-up a ton, and he's going to have to put the FB on the corners. Sure, this is true for every pitcher. But Feierabend's start last night showed that he doesn't have to be a 2 BB/9IP pitcher to succeed; that approach may actually PREVENT him from succeeding. This isn't a case where he wasn't mixing his pitches before - he was. But the Cha Seung Baek path to (FIP) success isn't going to work here, so he's got to make a change (ha!). So far, so good.

The hitting star was Yung-Chi Chen, who put a charge into a Greg Smith pitch and pulled a double pretty high off the wall in left center. He also had a single and a successful-if-uneventful night in the field. I'm pulling for the guy. Nice photo of him in the Tribune's photo slide show here, and stay tuned here or at Prospect Insider for photos from last night - Positive Paul got some great shots.

Matt Tuiasosopo apparently looked great in BP, but looked absolutely lost in his first AAA AB (a strikeout). He came back with a couple of better ABs, but still looked a bit overmatched. I'm sure there was a lot of pressure on him as his parents and numerous siblings were in attendance - gotta be nice to play in Washington again for the first time since he was at Everett.