Game 162, Athletics at Mariners
Vidal Nuno vs. Chris Bassitt, 12:10pm
Every game starts at the odd time of 12:10 today, as the AL West remains undecided. Texas is a game up on Houston, and two up on LA with one to play. Meanwhile, the M’s and A’s just need to put 2015 behind them. The M’s and A’s took very different routes to this shitty place; the A’s completely rebuilt their team with a number of high-profile trades, while the M’s made a big free agency splash and then hoped development would take care of the complimentary pieces on their roster. The pitchers on both clubs disappointed, turning in mediocre runs-allowed numbers despite playing in pitcher’s park and both teams had awful bullpens. But the A’s remain a team that can turn on a dime – they traded for Ben Zobrist, then traded him away a few months later. They traded for Jeff Samardzija, then trade him away. The M’s, to a remarkable degree, gave their homegrown players a lot of time, and when they struggled, there simply wasn’t a plan B.
At least more than just another lost season’s ended. At least we can start thinking about how things might change. After a much-needed change at GM, it’s not clear what kind of offseason the M’s might have – and, at least today, I’m looking forward to being surprised.
1: Marte, SS
2: Seager, 3B
3: Gutierrez, DH
4: Cano, 2B
5: Trumbo, RF
6: Smith, LF
7: Morrison, 1B
8: Sucre, C
9: Miller, CF
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21 Responses to “Game 162, Athletics at Mariners”
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Rational me hopes this is the last game Jesus Sucre plays in a Mariners uniform. Irrational me hopes that he can become the first combination relief pitcher-backup catcher in modern baseball. That biodiversity would be a spectacular resource.
We could call Sucre “Bat Venditte”!
And to think we could’ve had (should’ve kept, to be more accurate) Wellington Castillo…
Thanks for your efforts this season marc w.
A just ending to a crap season – locking up the 11th pick in next years draft.
Thank you Marc!l
Let’s hope this off-season gives us a reason FOR hope! We’re #11! We’re #11!
Just popping in to say a quick thanks for keeping the site going throughout such a disappointing season! I know that I personally always stopped by to check on the game posts and other articles to keep up with the team (even when I mostly stopped watching the games). Here is hoping that a new GM and a new year will bring a better team our way!
Yes, thank you Marc! I only hope that Jerry D. does what he says. Off to AZ in two weeks for some AFL in the sun.
Thanks Marc for all of your posts this season. Hopefully your upbeat style will be rewarded next season with a better product to cover.
I never post but a big end of season thanks to you Marc for keeping ussm a fun place to visit!
Just want to add my thanks to Marc. I watched The Martian this afternoon, starting at 12:15 — perfect timing to miss the end of the season. But when I can, I follow the games with USS Mariner open, read almost every write-up and all of the comments.
Thanks for pretty much single-handedly keeping the site going. I imagine it was not always fun this year, but USSM a big part of what makes baseball the best.
Now starts the real work. At the start of the season a large percentage of “experts” thought Z had put together a good team. Every player on the M’s that I have heard interviewed thought they had the weapons to contend. It is obvious this team lacked any “Plan Bs”.
It will be interesting.
Joining everybody else with a big thanks, Marc. And you’re right. Got to always be looking ahead. When do pitchers and catchers report? 🙂
Hello citizens of October 2015.
I knew it would be a long summer, so I had myself cryogenically frozen during Spring Training. I have been thawed for this occasion so that I can now witness the Mariners big playoff run! Woohoo! Go M’s!
Why is everyone thanking Marc already?
Hey Marc, thanks for everything this year, your daily previews were great reading, and the farm updates were fantastic.
As a side note, since no one seems to be responding to admin email on any of the addresses linked to the site…
On the off chance you read this could you validate my account so i can post? I imagine a major reason there was a falloff on game thread activity was anyone who made an account this year was… unable to post with it, sadly.
Marc, I want to chime in and say “Thanks” for all the work you’ve done this season, clear back to before spring training. I’m a long-time lurker and an occasional commenter. You’ve got the chops to get the site back to its glory days; I’ve enjoyed all of your game previews and the occasional special posts. I hope you stick with it and that the Ms give us more to cheer about next year. Have a great off-season!
Thanks Marc as well.
Lloyd’s gone. I suppose that’s sorta good. I liked him but easy things like batting lineup’s seemed to escape him. I know you can only cook with the ingredients you got but taking so long to figure out how to bat Cano, Cruz and Seager was always frustrating.
I assume Justine Siegal is the No.1 candidate?
Sounds like Tim Bogars is seen as the front runner for the new job.
I’m glad McLendon is gone – in part because I’m not a fan of his coaching philosophy, but moreso because (through no fault of his own) his continued presence as manager would’ve served as another example of the Mariners’ ownership meddling in baseball decisions. We’ve seen how bad they are at understanding baseball, so this was a good chance to see whether Dipoto really had a free hand with remaking the organization or not.
The problem is in the minors.
Mariner Player Development = Oxymoron
How many Mariners players have we seen promoted who lack the skills to play major league baseball? Catchers who can’t hit (Zunino)? Outfielders who had to hire their own batting instructors (Michael Saunders)? Pitchers who lack enough pitches to succeed in the majors?
There so much incompetence in the Mariners minor league system it’s a wonder that Felix and Kyle Seager made it through unscathed.
An illustration of why McClendon was deservedly fired came in the last game of the Cubs – Cardinals series. Rodney came in, and as usual, got himself into a jam. However, unlike McClendon (who would have left Rodney in until he lost the game), Joe Maddon pulled Rodney and the Cubs survived. Interestingly, when McClendon was fired as Pirates manager, poor bullpen management was cited as one of the reasons.