I’ve been a fan of the Seattle Mariners since the dark days of Alvin Davis, Spike Owen, and Phil Bradley.

I remember those dumb hats that they wore in the late 80’s with the Safeway-style “S” on them. I remember being delusional enough to actually believe that Rey Quinones was a good shortstop.

Needless to say, I’ve followed the team through good times and the bad. I plan to weigh in from time to time on various Mariner-related subjects. While I am not as well-versed on the prospects side, I’ll likely have a word or two about the farm system as well.

First, and certainly foremost, Felix Hernandez has obviously been spectacular. There isn’t much more that I can say about him that hasn’t been written and discussed to death at this point. It’s tough to think of many comparable matches to the 21-year-old at this point. Dwight Gooden is always a name that comes to mind, though he had experienced more success at this juncture. But, Gooden was also busy throwing more than 525 innings in his 20 and 21-year-old seasons.

I don’t think that I’d like to see The King throwing that many innings this year, or any year, really. Perhaps 220 innings or so, but that’s about it.

Middle of the Order
Jose Vidro… is there a worse No. 3 hitter in the American League? Yes, I do realize that he just smacked two homers in a game for the first time since 2003. But I also realize that has not surpassed even a .450 slugging percentage in a season since 2004. Not to mention the fact that he has only eclipsed a .500 slugging percentage once (when he was 25).

I started pouring through box scores to see if I could find a worse 3-hole hitter. The only team in the AL that has a No. 3 hitter that is anywhere near as suspect is the Kansas City Royals. Their third hitter is typically 3B/OF Mark Teahen. I’d still take Teahen over Jose Vidro in a heartbeat. I think we all would.

And, one would expect the Royals to not have a very imposing lineup due to their small payroll. With Vidro’s well-documented lack of speed, I am perplexed by the decision to bat him in the middle of the lineup. I’d almost be willing (if it weren’t such a depressing notion) to argue that the middle of the M’s lineup (Vidro-Ibanez-Sexson) is the weakest in the circuit. There a couple of teams whose middle of the order are about as inept as ours. And, since it’s early, I’ll stop short of making that claim.. for now.

This is How I Really Feel
Watching the game Friday night I’m also mystified by the fact that Julio Mateo still has a roster spot. I counted two, if not three, flyball outs that would’ve likely been home runs in other stadiums. It’s not as if he’s really fooling much of anyone.

When Mateo records outs it’s usually more due to the batters getting themselves out more than Mateo’s “stuff” being a factor. With a bullpen that’s pretty well-rested and has a lot of live arms to choose from, it seems that putting Mateo in would be akin to waving a white flag.

There are several arms, such as Jon Huber, among others, that I’d much rather see out there in middle relief. Mateo should either be the mop-up long man or he should be long gone, it’s as simple as that.

Airing it Out
The newest members of the broadcasting team, Dave Sims and former M’s third baseman Mike Blowers, are a breath of fresh air, thus far. Perhaps their rhetoric will wear on me in time, just like Hendu, Valle and Fairly did, but at the moment I have little to gripe about regarding either of them.

The only time I’ve been irked with Sims is when he continually mentioned Felix’s pending no-no (from about the 5th inning on). I’m not a particularly superstitious person by nature, but his constant mentioning of the no-hitter had me literally screaming at my TV.

Blowers has been relatively informative and he hasn’t been irritating in terms of stating the obvious or rambling on about old “war stories”. I think that the best color analysts fill in the gaps without being obvious that they’re doing so. And, thus far, Blowers has fit the bill.

 

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