Odds and Ends (10/20/10)
Various minor newsbits are filtering out, none of which are worth a separate post. Consider this a catch-all for the past few days.
• Wedge was introduced yesterday, now sporting a handsome mustache, but no bolo tie to complete the ensemble. Larry Stone has started a celebrity look-alike contest which presently features Stacy Keach, Captain Leland Stottlemeyer, recent Bradley Whitford, Ron Swanson, and Ron Burgundy, but surprisingly, no Wyatt Earp (an earlier popular suggestion) or Daniel Plainview.
• Actual news from the conference ran about in the expected manner. Milton Bradley says “I’m over it,” Wedge says “I don’t hold any grudges,”, and adds that he’ll reach out to Milton and others in the coming days. Carl Willis is likely to provide some continuity at the pitching coach position, though nothing is yet certain. Wedge came off as intense and organized; the kind of guy who won’t stand for mental errors. These statements mean things.
• Felix Hernandez was named Sporting News’ AL Pitcher of the Year. It’s not the Cy Young, but could be a precursor to it.
• If you didn’t have enough indications recently that we’re going to be stuck in the mid-90s for at least another few years, the Mariners are bringing back the “Northwest Green” (read as: teal) alternates, used earlier this year on a Turn Back the Clock Night. Ichiro can be seen rocking the teal uni here. No word on possible returns of teal caps or Turn Ahead the Clock black and pink. Ichiro’s sentiments on those are presently unknown. Felix will be wearing the jersey when Wedge does his Q & A though.
• You’re not getting through a post by me without some prospecting news. On that note, Ackley is still out, but should be back any day now. Nate Tenbrink is playing third base again for Peoria after working out mostly in the outfield for West Tenn. Matt Lawson is at short a lot of the time. All the pitchers are making progress, measurable or not, but of particular note is Tom Wilhelmsen recording eight strikeouts in four innings. Down in Venezuela, there’s not much worth talking about yet, but to be clear about one issue, Robles is relieving, but not being viewed as a reliever.
Just as a summary regarding NPB players,
– Iwakuma has had a checkup and seems to be cleared to go to MLB.
– Nakajima seems to be on the way over too, if the report he’s hired an agent are true. The Orioles seem to be taking a harder look at him.
– Darvish seems to have squashed all rumors about going over to MLB, meaning that Iwakuma’s stock should shoot up.
– And perhaps there is another fielder that might be posted in Nishioka Tsuyoshi (Chiba Lotte Marines). He’s just SS and just 26 years old which is really young for a person being posted, but he does have injury issues. Stats can be found here.
I really hope you aren’t saying this tongue-in-cheek because I really think the team lacked discipline last year. Wak repeatedly tolerated mental errors in all aspects of the game. To me that’s inexcusable. Players will make physical errors and shouting about it won’t help. However you can learn not to do dumb things on the field, but only if someone is holding you accountable.
We can’t know if he suffered any off-field consequences, but when Lopez got picked off as a meaningless runner he should have been benched for a game. The way Lopez was hitting, Wak should have been ecstatic for an excuse to sit him down. Next game he was out there like nothing happened.
We don’t need a guy with a huge, Showalteresque rulebook to follow, but the players need to know who is in charge, and that certain kinds of mistakes won’t be tolerated.
My vote is for Stacy Keach, all the way.
Looks like I will be avoiding Monday and Friday home games next year. I liked the dark-navy home alternates, and don’t see how any player could possibly look other than jaundiced when photographed in that color teal. Ew.
So…as a starter who shows up late on game day?
It’s about 50-50. I don’t expect any manager to go out there and say” yes, I have every intention of letting the inmates run the asylum, as it were, because after all, we’re all mad here” and then take a long drag from a chipped teacup. No manager is going to say anything other than he expects his team to play the game the right way, that he intends to command respect, provide leadership. Even when guys talk about not over-managing, they try to make it clear who is top dog, and not undermine their own hard-won credibility, should they have it.
The difference here is that we have the evidence of Wedge pulling Milton over that well-remembered spring training flyball and anecdotal evidence from Wedge’s former players that he will try to bring in a needed discipline to the clubhouse and maintains the expectation that his players will not give up on him. That gives the statements more clout than they would have ordinarily, but they’re still just statements at present. It will take time to instill the philosophy, to see if it takes, and determine the results.
How do we consider however many innings Robles and others throw in the fall and winter leagues when the team thinks about limiting innings the next season. Robles threw 142 in the minors this year, and that’d put him around a 170 limit next year, but if he throws 20 in Venezuela, does that limit go up any?
We probably don’t consider it. It gets considered by the various members of the coaching staff down there (which is mostly Mariners, at least for Lara) and after a certain point they decide that the pitcher has hit their limit. It’s a case by case thing. If you look throughout the system, you’ll see over the course of the year that they have a shorter leash with the kids in their early 20s who were drafted early or signed as international free agents than they do with the older, minor league veteran types that they’ll run out there for seven some innings each time out. You’ll also see in the older college player that they’ll have a freer reign to go as deep as seems appropriate, the example being Anthony Vasquez who had 171.2 innings spread over three levels. What you’re likely to see is the winter work get tweaked to match the work done over the summer, not so much the next summer’s work tweaked to match the whole year, if that makes any sense. Cleto, Fields, and Wilhelmsen are both in Arizona because they didn’t get a lot of work done during the season. Grube gets to start in Venezuela because he was only just over 100 innings for the season, whereas Robles relieves because he was starting without much interruption during the season. Guys like Vasquez and Pineda, meanwhile, sit.
I feel like that was a total ramble but hopefully it has some kind of logic in it.
And Ackley went 3-for-6 in his first game back with three runs scored.
Real men wear teal.
Seriously though I have always loved those teal uniforms. Now if the Mariners could change their home uniform pants to the midnight blue we would really be getting somewhere.
Kinda weird that they think Robles could be a starter thought he told management he wanted to be a reliever because he loses control afterawhile same with Cortez…Love the Teal Jerseys though and glad there bringing them back.
Should we be excited about this? I heard it was much easier to hit in AZL.
I like the teal uniforms.
Any word on potential coaching holdovers or replacements?
I also like the teal much better than the dark blue. Now how about sleeveless versions also.
Am I the only one that mentally pictures the old left-handed Twins outfielder Matt Lawton everytime Matt Lawson’s name pops up?
Cortes was the one who told the coaching staff that he wanted to relieve. I’ve never heard anything about Robles saying the same.
I don’t know that it will work, but there are enough reasons to keep trying at the moment.
Heh, I have one of the old hats with the teal bill, it will be relevant again!
Re: teal uniforms – sigh.
How long before the Ms just make every position player wear the number and name of the player that played that position in 1995? I mean really.
I still rock the teal-billed cap. Good times.
I wish they’d also bring back that alternate cap with the silver bill. I always liked the teal jerseys, but wasn’t as fond of the teal caps that went with them.
Why not go back to the Royal Blue and Gold and the trident logo if we want to go back in time?
Nope.
Umm….are you sure you don’t just think you rock that sweet little teal-billed cap? There was a long time when I thought I still rocked my favorite acid-washed jeans until someone pointed out that everybody else had kind of moved on.
Teal Mariners cap, acid washed jeans, International News sweatshirt, Member’s Only jacket, and British Knights shoes. Accessorize with a lime green Swatch and you’re there.
So evidently I’m the only one who spit up a little when I heard the teal uniforms were coming back? (Although I do admit it’s hard to come up with daily headlines on the official Mariner’s site this time of year that actually grab anyone’s attention.)
Maybe this can be the first real test for judging whether Wedge is serious about making the team play the game the right way. And whether he’s really willing to stand up to ownership to right this ship.
If the teal uniforms ever hit the field, it means Wedge’s days in Seattle are numbered. And that Z has lost confidence in his ability to run this team.
Heck, maybe they’re just testing him? Who could possibly be willing to let that slide without at least a TINY fight?
I’m reading Gladwell’s “Tipping Point.” You sport the ensemble described above and it’s likely to start a horrifying trend. Remember when you really believed noone would ever wear bell-bottoms again? Ugh.
With annual performances like this, maybe they should go back to wearing them.