| By Alex Carson |  | By 01-20-2012 |
There are 22 days between now and the day pitchers and catchers report for spring training on February 11 - the rest of the squad will report no later than February 17 with the first full-squad workout slated for the day after.The M's first spring game is against the Oakland A's on March 2 in Phoenix, with their first home game the following day also against the A's.
Minor leaguers won't report until the second week of March, though these dates are more of a deadline than the day most players show up for camp.
In any case, we'll be here daily to round up the thoughts and ideas as the club heads closer to the 2012 season; lending you all anything you might need to get yourself ready.
Jesus Montero's Arrival Delayed
Thanks to visa issues and travel difficulties into the barren tundra of Seattle, Jesus Montero is still stuck in Venezuela.
As soon as those problems are resolved, he'll arrive in Seattle for a physical and the big trade can be finalized.
Fausto Carmona Isn't Actually Fausto Carmona
Reports swirled today that Fausto Carmona is actually Roberto Hernandez Heredia. To make things worse for the Indians, Heredia is 31 years-old, which is older than the aged 28 Carmona.
You'll remember Florida Marlins' closer Leo Nunez, also of Dominican blood, being caught using an alias at the end of last season. Nunez is actually Juan Oviedo and he too is older than thought. His punishment? A new $6 million contract.
Had the Indians and Marlins made a Nunez-for-Carmona swap last year, would it have been the first ever PTBNL for a PTBNL trade?
Also, I'm going to convince Churchill that my name is actually Ralph Westminster O'Malley so he'll give me a raise.
Rays Sign Will Rhymes
Will Rhymes has signed with the Rays. Bad rhyming jokes set Twitter ablaze. Here at PI, we're above all that. We'd rather talk about our new bat. Let's get serious and move on from this. Here's a plethora of linkage bliss.
Links
Hall of Famer Gary Carter's condition took a turn for the worse.
Joel Zumaya thinks he can still throw 100mph. Twins fans just hope he can throw period.
ESPN Stats & Info has some cool tidbits on Jamie Moyer. I especially like that Moyer's debut at Wrigley Field happened before lights were installed.
Check back in tomorrow for Adam H. Wong's smattering of goodies.
countdown-to-peoria:-22-days
Comments
The following 24 comment(s) for this article are shown below:
| 1. By: rotoenquire on 01-19-2012 22:27:05 I hope G. Carter beats this. I remember watching him growing up collected his cards the whole nine yards. Sad to hear about him.. |
| 2. By: greentunic on 01-19-2012 22:45:54 I just want the trade to finalize because I am incredibly interested in hearing what JZ and Wedge say about Montero. For us, has there ever been an aquisition of MLB-ready talent that has come with this much debate and controversy over where he will start? I can't think of any. The interviews after the finalized trade will undoubtedly shed light on their plans (if not said outright). So while the visa/passport thing is no big deal at all, It's making me antsy! |
| 3. By: sexymarinersfan on 01-20-2012 11:00:00 I hope he does too. I'll definitely say a prayer for the family. |
| 4. By: rjfrik on 01-20-2012 11:33:24 Was reading an interesting paragraph on ESPN insiders Rumblings & Grumblings. Essentially they had quotes from a lot of executives around baseball that were completely surprised by Pineda being on the market. Some said they had dozens of conversations with JZ and he never once brought up Pineda. A few said that if they would of known that he was on the market they would of made offers to the M's that could of been better then the one they got. Another said that if he would of been announced as being available like Gio, Cahill and Latos were that they most likely would of obtained a bigger bounty then they did. They also said that JZ played this close to the vest and only let the teams that had players he was interested in know that Pineda was available. Those teams were the Yankees and the Marlins. Very Interesting. Also a few said that something must be going on with Pineda and that no one in their right mind would trade a player like Pineda for a DH. We shall see. I still love Montero and think he will rake for us. |
| 5. By: maqman on 01-20-2012 11:47:50 I'm in on Montero, it's not like he's trying to beat out an All Star catcher for the job, the bar is pretty low. Evidently he's in transit to Seattle now to take his physical, according to Shannon Drayer. I love how Z never tips his hand, the man knows how to deal. |
| 6. By: Alex Carson on 01-20-2012 12:42:22 @ rjfrik - Yeah, I think we can agree "better" is a relative term. It's easy for those FO types to sit back and claim they could have offered a better package, but their opinion of better may differ from Jack's. I get the feeling he knew what player he wanted to target and just went straight for it. |
| 7. By: Edman on 01-20-2012 14:48:41 Jack wasn't looking for a better package, he was looking for an impact player. The Latos trade brought back multiple players, but none were impact type players. Jack is giving up an impact player in Pineda, and he wanted one back, not a few that could be good. He wanted a guy that comes with as close as you can get to a guarantee of success. The Latos trade didn't have any one player who's even close to Montero. It wasn't about quantity, it was about getting one guy back with super bat skills. |
| 8. By: MarinersArmy on 01-20-2012 14:52:12 "They also said that JZ played this close to the vest and only let the teams that had players he was interested in know that Pineda was available. Those teams were the Yankees and the Marlins. Very Interesting." "He wanted a guy that comes with as close as you can get to a guarantee of success... ...It wasn't about quantity, it was about getting one guy back with super bat skills." Gee, I wonder who JZ would want from the Marlins?????? =) |
| 9. By: Gilligan on 01-20-2012 15:21:56 Pineda is a freek pitcher. But I would trade him in a second for a 22 year old Edgar Martinez. The DH spot in a line up is a spot you can put a impact bat.. Why put an average bat there? |
| 10. By: valencia on 01-20-2012 17:55:25 Obviously they asked for Stanton. But I wonder if he would've done it for Morrison? Morrison or Montero? Who do you take? I'd go with Montero...Morrison is crap with the glove anyway, but it's in the OF unlike Montero with Catcher. Plus I think Montero has a higher ceiling - going to be really fun watching him grow here. |
| 11. By: DUWORKSON on 01-20-2012 19:06:32 JZ made the right decison with Montero. I can't wait to see this kid! |
| 12. By: dewey on 01-20-2012 19:36:00 #7 Edman i guess JZ told you that himself the way you say it? Have you ever seen any of the players S.D. got for latos with your own eyes? Im not ripping you just asking legit questions? |
| 13. By: dewey on 01-20-2012 19:36:01 #7 Edman i guess JZ told you that himself the way you say it? Have you ever seen any of the players S.D. got for latos with your own eyes? Im not ripping you just asking legit questions? |
| 14. By: rocketdawg31 on 01-20-2012 21:00:58 Re: #7 (Edman) and #13 (dewey): And legit questions they are, dewey. As they would be with any young, largely unproven player. Edman is fundamentally correct...none of the group of Alonso, Grandal, Volquez and Boxberger- if taken as individual players- are projected to have as much value as Montero. Montero simply has a higher pedigree in terms of pure prospect status. But if we wanted to be absolutely within technical precision, it probably should've been stated by Edman as "The Latos trade didn't have any one player who's even close to Montero's projection/ceiling in terms of bat skill" (or, you know, something along those lines). And his overall point wouldn't have lost anything in the deal. Ballplayers defy their projections all the time, for better or worse. I don't think any of us could've anticipated Doug Fister having had as much success as what he's already had, and I know guys like J.J. Putz, Ryan Franklin and Asdrubal Cabrera were anything but widely heralded as youngsters. (Conversely, I have 17 Ruben Rivera rookie baseball cards rotting away slow by slow in my storage space! But back then when I collected them? He was thought to be a can't-miss, bonafide superstar for a generation). So, for all we know, Yasmani Grandal will make us say "Piazza who?" and Yonder Alonso will be Boog Powell's twin. And Jesus Montero- please God, don't make this so- could wind up washing out of the league in a few years. We. Don't. Know yet. And so, we all should prob'ly avoid definitive statements like "Montero is THIS good... and Players X, Y & Z are only going to be this (lower level) good. As Edman stated it, I think we get what he meant. As far as the self-assured tone that it comes with....hey. Most of us have had a couple years-plus to get used to that. Nothing really wrong with being quite sure of decently-formulated opinions. |
| 15. By: rocketdawg31 on 01-20-2012 21:02:45 Terribly sorry, everyone. I must've accidentally deleted one of my tags and made a ton of my post in bold. No screaming, shouting, or authoritative bluster is meant by it. |
| 16. By: Edman on 01-20-2012 21:55:38 From MLB Rumors, which supports my position.... One club official estimated that he had about a dozen conversations with the Mariners this winter and Michael Pineda's name never came up. That's probably because M's GM Jack Zduriencik wanted young, controllable, impact bats like Jesus Montero, Mike Stanton, and Logan Morrison and only dangled the pitcher to those teams. Eventually, it was the Yanks who made the deal. I'm not a professional scout, nor do I claim to be. But, Montero is typically is at or near the top of all prospect lists.....none of Alonso, Grandal, Volquez and Boxberger have come close enough to see it. If you read the scouting reports on him, he's miles apart from any of those four. |
| 17. By: rocketdawg31 on 01-20-2012 22:07:19 If you read the scouting reports on him, he's miles apart from any of those four. Let's hope he HITS miles apart from those four. Four hundred fifty feet at a time. Many times. |
| 18. By: dewey on 01-20-2012 23:25:35 Edman so you didnt talk with JZ?I do remember Brian Taylor and the Space neddle the number 1 prospects in all of baseball both never played a day in the majors. I have watched Monetro play on TV and think he will hit but quit acting like you talk to JZ dude we all want the Mariners to win but all of us dont rip every other person that comes on here and act like our opinions our the only ones that count that was my point.I don t like Smoak but thats me and my opin ion i dont rip you end of me talking |
| 19. By: greentunic on 01-21-2012 00:04:55 We don't HAVE to see them. We can learn from the experts. And about 98% of the experts seem to agree that none of these guys are close to the value of Montero (they're not predicting the future, just projecting). Nearly all the lists have Montero very high, with 70 hitting and 70-80 power. I have not seen any similar ratings with the Reds-to-Padres players. While we cannot be certain of their futures, I think we are justified in accepting everyone's appraisals of these prospects. |
| 20. By: Edman on 01-21-2012 02:21:43 dewey, I've tolerated enough from you. Get a damn brain. Did I say that JZ told me something? Do I REALLY have to specify that something is an opinion, because you're apparently affected by it? Here, I'll make it simple for you. From now on, when Jack actually tells me something, I'll preface it with, "Jack told me......" If I don't, then it's an opinion. Is THAT clear enough for you, or are you going to continue to seek out ways to confront me? I didn't rip anyone with my comments. Just because you can't let something from the past go, that's not my problem. Complain to Jason or his admins if you feel wronged. I did nothing out of line, and you jumped right into it and invented a problem. Congratulations, you should feel proud. rocketdawg, it has nothing to do with not understanding what I meant. dewey knew exactly what I meant, as did everyone else. But, he can't let go of some comments that I made to him in the past. Because it wasn't what he wanted to hear, he jumped back to the "I asked Jason, not you" defense. When someone posts something here, it's fair game. It's not a difficult process to understand. It's a writing style, and I've seen others use it. Do we really have to make sure that everything we write is politically correct so as not to offend anyone? |
| 21. By: dewey on 01-21-2012 13:34:56 Save it Edman we all get it you know all and everyone here knows nothing im done have a nice day.. |
| 22. By: rocketdawg31 on 01-21-2012 14:29:25 rocketdawg, it has nothing to do with not understanding what I meant. dewey knew exactly what I meant, as did everyone else. I know that...I was just kind of hoping dewey would get the subtle hint to knock off any personal-agenda head-hunting towards you or anyone in here. However....not so easily derailed. He was determined to pick a fight with you. But stuff like that drags down this whole part of the Mariners blogosphere. Edman's right on this one point. If you can read this, or any other post above it....this means it's fair game to comment on. Without having to consider who the original recipient was supposed to be. Even if you really hate the dude and the way he comes off in type. Exclusive questions to Jason should go to his e-mail box, where he decides if he answers or not. Really not that hard, dewey. I've done it several times. Most of the time, JAC answers (in my experience). I can tell you I've never posted/commented/queried in here in the atmosphere of "I only want so-and-so to answer, and eff that one guy if HE answers"- even if I address the post as "Hey JAC" at first. It's common knowledge; I don't get to choose who decides to respond. Neither do you. Neither does Edman. And I don't think Edman- for all the self-assuredness of his posts- thinks of everyone here as a know-nothing. We can speculate that perhaps he thinks he knows MORE than anyone else here, and he certainly owns a track record for antagonizing. Even moreso when someone comes after him first. But the thing is, it takes two for a tango and two for a conflict. If you think Edman just wants the conflict, DON'T give it to him. In two years and some change- to the best of my knowledge- Edman has never blatantly ripped ME, for example. I'm sure there's other long-standing members here that he's never gotten into it with, either. And if you read (I suspect you will go back to this post) this...Have a nice day, dewey. |
| 23. By: greentunic on 01-21-2012 15:34:03 Internet forums are funny. If we had all met at a party, we would become the best of chums because people who care THIS MUCH about the Seattle Mariners are not common in the everyday public. We'd have so much in common and have so much opportunity at intelectual exchange about one of our favorite subjects. No one would be able to seperate us. Unfortunately, here in these forums, we take that commonality (super hardcore M's fans) for granted and the only real exchange some of us can find is that of our disagreements. Let's just take a step back, realize we're all rootin for the same thing and excercise respectful debate (it is possible I promise)! Sorry to get all philisophical but I just really wanted to both lower the temperature and bring some warmth (both figurative, I understand the mutual exclusivity) to the chat. |
| 24. By: rocketdawg31 on 01-21-2012 16:00:48 Well noted, greentunic! And I agree in full! |
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