Mike is a former… a lot of things, really. He’s currently with an NL club after two decades split between an AL East team and an NL East team. He’s pretty much had his hand in on everything, so this should be fun.

First question is from Tod –Do either of you think that the MLB will make changes / tweaks to the draft deadline signing period, since this past year was so “orchestrated”…?

PIMike: That is really the way the league office wanted it. teams did what the comissioner’s office asked them to do. I don’t see any need to make

changes to the signing process. other changes are always being talked about though.

JasonAChurchill: Like what, Mike?

PIMike: Draft order, date, who is eligible, the trading of picks. Things like that.

Next question is from CONOR - What is the best part about your job and what is the worst part about your job?

PIMike: That’s an easy one, since the wife is right behind me. The travel. I enjoy it and walking into a different park or two every week is a lot of fun.

I wouldn’t want to do anything else. But it wears on families and I do tire out at times.

It’s not a glam gig.

Next one is from SETH - Who is the player you were sure was going to be a star who failed greatest? And the opposite - Who is the player you thought had no chance to be a big leaguer who turned out to be a good/great player?

PIMike: Good question, Seth. The lists on both sides go for days, That is the nature of the business. I remember not liking Brian Giles to be an all-star. I thought he was a useful everyday type, but never envisioned him as a star of any kind and he put up some really nice numbers in his prime years. But as far as not being a big leaguer at all? Eckstein? I think a lot of people can claim that one. I didn’t see a future for Jamie Moyer, either.

I scouted Cory Snyder really heavily and thought he was destined for greatness. The tools were there, but in the end he was ultimately limited in what he could do, both offensively and as a daily third baseman.

CONOR asks: - How many scouts do you know of that did not play pro or college baseball?

PIMike: There aren’t a lot of them in comparison. We have a half-dozen or so on staff, and it really depends on what organization is in question and who the front office people are at the time. I’d venture to guess less than 15-20% on a given scouting staff.

The vast majority played, at least in the minors, and those that didn’t are either holding a new-school analytical scouting position, or managed, coached or played in college.

CONOR asks: Can you get a good feel for a player by watching video, or do you have to see him in person?

PIMike: TV doesn’t give you the whole story, usually, but you can get a decent idea by watching video or tv games. Being there allows you to use your live eye to put that fastball up against hitters and see there reactions up close. Or see how a shortstop ranges side to side, how an outfielder cuts a ball off before it reaches the track, his routes, things like that. It’s advantageous to be sitting behind the plate for pitchers, too. That is must.

You get to see what the hitter sees.

JasonAChurchill: Conor also wants to know if changing angles when watching players can help.

PIMike: Not a pitcher, for me, but maybe a third baseman, or a bat, yes. Ever watch a game and the tv camera changes from the center field cam to the shot behind the plate? Terrible.

Tod asks: Has all the “new and big” money the past few years into latin countries changed the conditions on the fields,

equipment, training (like actually having training facilities) and etc… of these countries?

PIMike: That has been going on for awhile as ML and the clubs set up academies and schools and offices in Latin countries. Mexico, Venezuela,

Dominican. I was in Puerto Rico for a lot of that 10-12 years ago and that was the start of it. It’s grown a lot.

Joshua asks: Who would you consider to be the top 5 prospects among position players from this year’s international signing class? Any particular order you would rank them in? Or are there perhaps one or two that stand out? Also, where would Edward Salcedo rank if he were to sign this year?

PIMike: That’s a tough one, as I have not been actively scouting the scene the past few seasons, but it sounds like Salcedo is the best talent. The kid the Red Sox got, Almanzar from DR, the 3B. Big bat.

JasonAChurchill: When was the last time you scouted the Latin area?

PIMike: I did read the reports on Triunfel last year… I’ll just say, I’m excited.

A little in 99-2000, and I go back for special assignments every now and then. I was in Venezuela in Oct-Nov 2003.

Tod asks: What positions will the 2008 draft be deepest in?

PIMike: Off the top of my head, I don’t think there will be a big favorable position, but it looks like it’s not going to be a draft for pitchers like the past few have been. I’d look for power bats to reign in the top half of the first round.

Alvarez is special and Smoak, well, I’d have taken him No. 1 last year

JasonAChurchill: That the kid from Miami?

PIMike: That’s him. I think he’s a better pro than Alvarez, the Vandy 3B.

Conor asks: How important is makeup in relation to the 5 tools?

PIMike: With some kids, the Latin kids and the prep draftees, it’s more important than half the rest of their tool set. It’s the one thing that can render the rest of his tools, no matter their upside, useless to any club.

JasonAChurchill: OK, last pre-generated question for awhile and we’ll let the rest of us here ask questions….

Conor, who has 10 more good questions, by the way…. asks: If you could be a genie and give a pitcher 2 plus pitches, what would they be?

PIMike: If plus includes top drawer command, too, I’d choose fastball-change. It’s a devastating combination, ask any hitter who has faced Johan Santana or Cole Hamels.

Having a plus breaking ball can log more strikeouts but if I was building a pitcher, I’d magically give him a fb-ch combo to start with. Lots easier to teach a curve or slider.

JasonAChurchill: Do you like the splitter, Mike?

PIMike: I don’t for young pitchers, Jason. We’ve talked about this with Morrow. It can be a dangerous idea.

Guest22: Any thoughts as to pre-conceived limiting notions of what does/does not consitute a successful major league pitcher? i.e., you didn’t think Moyer would make it, guys like him often get overlooked.

PIMike on Salceco: I’ve read only our guys’ reports on him, 31. He’s got a load of natural abilities and could hit enough to play anywhere, but with middle of the diamond defensive skills.

PIMike re Guest22: I didn’t like Moyer, and that was when he was topping 87-89 regularly. He didn’t know how to pitch, and at 25-26, he still didn’t. That is usually a good cutoff point. But he’s a rare case, obviously.

Bretticus: What are your thoughts on Hayden Penn’s upside and prospect status after his appendicitis? I’ve always thought he’d look good in a Mariner uniform.

PIMike: I think in today’s game teams will have to give second and third chances more often than being patient and more detailed and decisive on what they consider when picking the guys they keep long term.

Nobody goes overlooked, though. Teams see everyone. Sometimes they don’t take the plunge for whatever reason, but if you can pitch, someone will find you. What you can’t scout from the stands, though, is a pitcher’s brain.

Guest22: Do most teams have particular philosophies they follow through their system re: development (I’m thinking of the A’s system-wide focus

on plate discipline) or is it more…random? (With the Ms, it seems very…random)

PIMike: Hayden Penn — I wouldn’t think he’d be permanently hindered by the appendicitis. I think he’s a back-end or swing starter with a chance to be a little more in the NL.

With Bob (Fontaine) and Bill Bavasi, it seems anything but random to me. They have a plan and follow through with it. Every club has their preferences. The A’s tell their 17-year-olds to never swing at a 3-0 pitch and that stays with them to the big leagues.

Not all are so extreme. I remember the Expos used to have their relievers out throw their starters in spring training to save the starters arms, take longer to stretch them out, stay safer, while building the endurance of the short relievers. I never understood it.

And that wasn’t that long ago!

Guest31: What do you think of Wlad Balentien? What do you think he could bring in a trade?

PIMike: Good question, I saw him for about four games before his finger injury and back in May I think. I like him. I think he can play everyday, and maybe as early as right now. Trades are difficult, though. The market is going to dictate.

But I have seen worse, similarly experienced, more expensive players exchanged for solid arms before. It might take a package to net a starter for him, though, if that’s what you were getting at.

01vdubs: You mentioned before that you were excited about Triunfel. What do you think his ceiling is in terms of offensive production? And when do you think he’ll rech the bigs?

PIMike: Triunfel has the physical nature of someone who might pop 30-35 homers one day. If he can maintain the contact rates and improve his discipline - I saw him reach for pitches an awful lot - he’s a surefire star.

Bretticus: Dave Cameron of USSMariner seems pretty low on Jeff Clement’s stock as a future big leaguer. Do you think Clement still has the ability to be a potential star catcher with 30 HR power as was touted when he was drafted? What do you think is scaring some evaluators away from Clement?

PIMike: Clement isn’t very athletic, and that’s the concern with him defensively. It’s more about down the road as he ages a little and gains weight, naturally and in the weight room. He’s better this year and with the same improvements can catch in the bigs.

As far as 30 homers - in his prime, I can see .260, 25 hr with a good obp.

Bretticus: I’ve heard Miguel Cabrera comparisons to Triunfel. It’s premature, yes, but do you think that would be a good comparable for Triunfel?

PIMike: Cabrera is much bigger, so I don’t know about that. Oh, Jason says he said that about Triunfel and Miguel Cabrera… well, Jason is wrong. Ha.

JasonAChurchill: Hey! I didnt say they were twins! Just that they are built similarly, just on a different scale.

Arbeck: Does that mean we have to hide the cheeseburgers from Carlos?

PIMike: And the burritos!

Bretticus: So maybe Jorge Posada (This crazy year aside) would be a good comp for Clement? With a little less batting average, of course.

PIMike: Posada? I would say Varitek more than Posada. Clement isn’t likely to ever hit .320 and Posada has done that more than once. I think Clement will strike out more than both.

Guest31: With you not working for the Mariners, how do you value our farm system? Obviously without giving up your secrets or things like that which players in the system do you really like and would be ones that teams would be asking about in trades?

Guest22: Same vein: what, generalized, do other teams think of the Ms preferences. Again, As want plate discipline in players - what’s the common thread in the players Fontaine and Bavasi seem to want, or is the development strategy just ‘push them fast’?

PIMike: I have no secrets. Jason dug them all up a long time ago. It’s a good group they have there, and I’m not just saying that. They aren’t deep in any areas and a lot of their better talents are years from helping, but that’s ok, they seem to be after

the immediate help in the June draft. it takes time to build it right, and it’s an ongoing process. You can’t ever sit back and watch it grow, you have to go find another top prospect. every day.

PIMike: 22 - That usually depends most heavily on the GM, the scouting director and the field manager. The A’s have been that way since Beane arrived and they hire their scouts and coaches accordingly. In Seattle, they went after sluggers, not hitters, and that means Beltre and Sexson too.

This is where home runs and rbi have hurt some clubs. it loIoks good on a baseball card, but doesn’t help teams win, necessarily. I always look at it this way, and I fight for this a lot on draft day.

The object of the game offensively isn’t to hit home runs or steal bases, it’s to score run, and to do that teams have to run around four bases before they commit three outs

So why not avoid making three outs as best you can? Teams don’t do that enough.

Bretticus: Not a Beltre fan? I’d say Adrian’s earned his pay. Richie, on the other hand….

PIMike: I like Beltre a lot. But he’s not the kind of hitter the M’s need right now. You don’t build your team around sluggers. You build it on hitters.

Bretticus: It seems most bloggers think the Mariners front office is the laughing stock of the Major Leagues. I’ve got to say, I can see why that would be said. Is that a perception only held by bloggers who are angry, or is the Mariners front office really considered that bad?

— Bretticus, Mike added this in an email later last night. Says he thinks he forgot to answer it in the midst of the chat and it’s fuss. –

PIMike: They have done things in a very odd manner, I must say. But I like Bill, and Bob does a great job as always. It appears to me that they just aren’t willing to take a purposeful step back in order to take a much larger and more permanent step forward, and sometimes that is necessary. They needed to rebuild. A total rebuild. And they didn’t, and continue the patchwork in a lot of areas.

They still could have gone about things a little bit more intelligently, and I think this year is an aberration. Without major upgrades, they may struggle to win 80 games in ‘08. And Jason tells me Bavasi has pretty much already been extended, so… good luck.

01vdubs: Are Tillman and Butler potential frontline starters in your mind?

PIMike: I think Tillman is a No. 2 type. Butler has the stuff for it, also, but he’s more of a worry health wise, both with his back, being so tall, (what is he 6-8?), and his arm due to potential mechanical problems.

Guest22: THANK YOU. Ichiro is a hitter, not a slugger and perhaps, our only example in the starting lineup.

PIMike: Ichiro is a free-swinger, though. He’s good, darned good. But not a hitter in the sense I was attempting to speak of.

Bretticus: I’d agree with that. I still think Adrian can help a pennant winner. So do you think the Mariners thumb their noses at OBP because they don’t want to be stat-heavy, or is it just a strange, coincidental, unfortunate coincidence?

Do you think the Mariners have any OBP heavy players in their system, or have they completely forgotten that statistic?

PIMike: I read that McLaren sure notices the issues with OBP for them, so I don’t think they thumb their noses at it at all.

Guest22: Front office MVP: Engle or Fontaine? My thought is both are excellent. My fear is that they get good players but then we screw them up

Because coaching varies from level to level, essentially changing focus too much. Thoughts?

PIMike: I only know Engle by reputation and I can tell you he’s as good as there is. Fontaine I know more. Great at his job, always has been, and is a great human being, too.

Bretticus: What type of hitter were you attempting to speak of? Miguel Cabrera seems like consumate hitter to me…average, patience, power. What’s your definition?

PIMike: I was referring to hitters who work the count more, draw a more acceptable amount of walks, limit the strikeouts a little, make good contact, can hit for some power.

Cabrera is a superstar because he’s such a great hitter. He doesn’t need a glove, just a hat and a piece of wood.

01vdubs: Have you seen Amount pitch yet? Jason compared him to Roy Halladay, do you agree with that?

Bretticus: Agreed on Cabrera. To my bare eye, he’s the most talented hitter in the major leagues, it’s a treat to watch him hit.

PIMike: I haven’t seen him live. I know Wayne (Norton) with the M’s was super high on him the whole time and they really wanted him to fall to them. He looks like a big horse with a sinking fastball, and those are things Halladay is and has.

I think Albert Pujols is probably the best bat in the bigs. His off year is as good as Cabrera’s best. Think about that.

Bretticus: Dave Cameron said Kevin Brown might be a good comp for Aumont.

Yeah. I think Pujols makes it look too easy, so people tend to overlook him.

PIMike: That’s a tough comparison because Brown was such a dominant ground ball pitcher. I haven’t seen Aumont or spoken to those who have worked with him, so I don’t have a good feel for what the future of his own sinker may be.

Guest22: About Felix: a King? a prince? a Freddy Garcia ‘got talent but kinda a head case’?

PIMike: I haven’t heard any of the head case comments thrown around. I was in Seattle when Pittsburgh and Griffey came to town, and Hernandez just appears antsy. I think he’s trying to be the best pitcher ever and he’s trying on every single pitch. He will learn that you don’t win games on one pitch. From what I have been told, he’s a much better kid to work with than Garcia, because his desire far exceeds that of most other athletes.

Bretticus: Who do you think will have the better career, Jose Reyes or Hanley Ramirez? Which one would you build a team around? Sorry I’m so full of lightning fast questions.

PIMike: I would take Reyes, but only because he’s a good shortstop. I think Ramirez belongs in center field where he can become a plus defender. Offensively, I like Ramirez and overall, it’s close, but today I’d lean to Reyes because he is a pretty good glove at SS.

Ramirez is a lot like BJ Upton. Get him into center as soon as possible.

Florida will probably be trading him soon anyways, so moving him now before they max out his value, as a SS no less, isn’t happening.

Guest37: Florida will be trading Ramirez?

PIMike: At some point, they probably will have to. No ballpark, no money.

Guest22: Much Ms blog-space has been consumed with ‘why aren’t they putting Adam Jones in the lineup more’ (sitting or DHing Ibanez or Vidro).

What’s your take on when to bench the vet, play the kid.

PIMike: I would have played Jones months ago. You don’t need to bench anyone, just work a rotation. He deserves to play.

01vdubs: This offseason looks very bare for starting pitching, out of all the pitchers available which ones would you try to sign? Would you be hesitant to give Garcia or Jennings a chance?

PIMike: For very conservative guaranteed deals, yes. Make them pitch to make money.

Garcia may miss half of 2008.

Bretticus: Do you think having Garcia on the team would help or hinder Felix’s development?

- Another one Mike added later, Bretticus, he thinks he was writing this when his battery went dead. He had no idea it was close –

PIMike: I don’t think Garcia is a hindrance to others like that. I have a good friend in Chicago who never said a word about Garcia being a detriment. He’s a quiet guy and while his reputation around these parts as a partier would be a concern, at some level you’ve got to trust the players to handle themselves properly.

If Felix was going to get lazy, in trouble or into other bad habits, he doesn’t need his idol to help him do so.

By all accounts, Hernandez is a smarter more disciplined 21-year-old than Garcia was at 27-28 when the Mariners traded him away.

Thanks to all of you who wrote in and joined us in the chat. Mike was awesome and has agreed to re-join us again this winter when he has more time. I’m currently bugging him about joining us from the Winter Meetings.