Mid-week newsathon
From the Everett Herald:
“Reliever Mark Lowe says his surgically repaired elbow is responding to surgery”
:Starter Felix Hernandez is in ‘amazing shape’ after an offseason of working out”
Yeah, if you put enough dip on a chip, it’s really a struggle to get it to your mouth… wait, what?
“You should see Felix,” relief pitcher J.J. Putz said Tuesday during the Mariners Caravan stop in Granite Falls. “He’s in amazing shape. I think he’s down to 175 pounds.”
That part is an exaggeration; Hernandez was listed in last year’s media guide as being 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds.
It was clear to Mariners personnel when Hernandez arrived from his home in Venezuela on Monday that he has taken this offseason seriously.
“He’s in great shape,” trainer Rick Griffin said. “He’ll walk into the room tomorrow and you’ll see.”
That’s potentially huge, season-changing news. Possibly franchise-changing. If Felix is going to take conditioning seriously, it’s going to help him stay healthy, first, but I’d also like to hope that he’s going to put that kind of energy into preparation through the season. One of the biggest fears has been that as an immensely talented kid, it’d be easy for him to check out and still put up decent lines – and to be distracted by off-field temptations until it cost him. If he’s entirely ready to sacrifice a good portion of his time off to keep in shape, that’s a great sign. The M’s can’t compete without a healthy, effective Hernandez.
Mind you, if he failed like Garrincha failed in all those world cups with Brazil, I’d take it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrincha
On the statement that this news might be season-changing:
Let’s assume Felix cuts down his ERA by one third to around 3. That would mean that instead of 96 earned runs in 191 innings he’d give up about 60-65 in ~200 innings. How much would that be worth in the standings? IIRC, a ten run improvement on either side of the ledger is worth about 1 win so that this scenario improves the team by 3-4 wins. That would be great contribution from one player but still, quite a few other things would need to go right to make it to the playoffs.
sigh. Sandmeyer just declared that last year was the Mariners fault because they kept Felix from pitching in the WBC, so he sat home eating. of course, he also seemed to be under the impression that the only difference between this year and last was that Felix actually began exercising. Does he still do the Mariner post-game shows? Nice to know he’s keeping the public well informed.
Thanks for reminding me how much I wanted Lilly. I think he would have been great in Safeco.
From the world of NFL footbal – Ryan Leaf. Self Destruction mentally, physically, emotionally. It was all about the signing bonus, and nothing after.
So I’m glad to see Felix with some discipline and appreciation for a work ethic.
I love revisionist history. Seth Everett is claiming that Griffey could see that the M’s weren’t going to win and so he asked to go closer to home. Of course, he also thinks that the Mariners are spinning it that Felix wasn’t out of shape last year. Hopefully Corey Brock, due on soon, can clear a few things up for him.
My question remains: Were Felix’s struggles in 2006 more about his conditioning or more about the Mariners trying to force an ill-suited pitching template upon him?
44/45
“My father’s doctor told you (that) you had a brain cloud…and you *believed* him??”
Right idea, wrong Weaver.
Apparently, the STL-Dispatch isn’t the only source that thinks the Mariners might be in on Jeff Weaver. From Ken Rosenthal:
Weaver’s far from ideal, but for the right price, I could see acquiring him making some sense.
#58 Nice “Joe Vs. The Volcano” reference.
I see we signed Arthur Rhodes to a minor league contract.
#56 Ah, revisionist history. Was he wearing rose colored glasses?
what? the return of Arthur Lee doesn’t merit a thread?
#60– rose-colored? no– he was pretty down on everthing mariner, past present & future.
#62 Ah, so the glasses had a brownish hue then.
I wonder which spot Arthur would take?
Hickey’s put this up on his blog:
“Mariners closing in on Weaver
Denied a chance to get right-handed starter Brian Lawrence on the cheap last week, the Mariners closing in on a deal that would bring Jeff Weaver to the club.
Sources say that the Cardinals are bowing out of the competition
Weaver, one of the heroes of the St. Louis Cardinals’ World Series championship in October, is represented by agent Scott Boras, so the asking price is bound to be high. although not nearly so high as the $8.325 million he made last year.
Weaver pitched himself out of the rotation in Anaheim last year (3-10 in 16 starts), but he went to the Cardinals, was 5-4 down the stretch, then went 3-2 in the post-season, including eight innings om Game 5 when St. Louis clinched the World Series. “
you know, Bavasi said yesterday that he was looking for a 200IP, .500 pitcher– if they can pay Weaver comensurate with that …
MSNBC — “The Mariners are also reportedly interested in left-hander Mark Redman, who was an All-Star with the Royals last season. Seattle, however, prefers Weaver.”
I love revisionist history. Seth Everett is claiming that Griffey could see that the M’s weren’t going to win and so he asked to go closer to home.
I’d be pretty peeved over that claim if I were Griffey. They only won a measily 393 games in the next four seasons after he left. So yeah, he could see that they weren’t going to win and… oh, wait.
rhodes has the invite to camp, but what about the invite to aaron small? he was lights out in 2005 (10-0) but terrible last year…does he have a shot at making the club? and would weaver/redman be better than baek?
but what about the invite to aaron small? he was lights out in 2005 (10-0) but terrible last year…
10-0, and he started 9 games. What does that tell you?
Do you think he’ll be bringing the NYY lineup to Seattle within him?
Aaron Small was not lights out in 2005. He was far from it. He was no different that he is now.