My interview with 710 ESPN Seattle's, and The John Clayton Show's producer Liz Mathews posted by Brad VanFossan

I recently had a chance to talk sports, working in sports, and even a little Arod with 710 ESPN Seattle’s Liz Mathews. Liz is “The Professor” John Clayton’s producer on The John Clayton show on 710 ESPN Seattle, an avid Seattle Seahawk fan, and she practices law. Liz was nice enough to take the time to answer every question I had for her, and did a great job in doing so.

I got a chance to stream John’s show this past Saturday, and I can honestly say I thought it was very good. My readers know I tell it like it is, so I wouldn’t just say this. Not only was the NFL insight great, but it was very cool to hear John talk about baseball and other sports as well. And not to mention the great music Liz plays coming in and out of the breaks! Overall, the show is very well done, informative, easy to listen to, and fun! Without further ado, here are the questions I had for Liz and her answers:

1. What days and time does the John Clayton show air?

The John Clayton Show airs live every Saturday morning from 9-Noon PST, on 710 ESPN Seattle.

2. You are based out of Seattle, does the show reach out of the area as well and if so how far?

710 ESPN Seattle broadcasts over a huge signal. The show can be heard locally from the Canadian to the Oregon borders and everywhere in between.

3. Where can someone from the Midwest like myself tune into The John Clayton show?

The show streams live on MyNorthwest.com at: http://mynorthwest.com/?nid=5. In addition, podcasts are available on the web shortly after each hourly segment at:

What does the future hold for the M's? posted by Cam W.

First off, I will say present ownership has been misguided in the past but I have great faith in Z and Wak and what they will do for this franchise and that is a move the present ownership made; to bring those 2 guys in. Squandered opportunities in the past or not, they make money and in doing so, keep this team in Seattle. As fans, we expect more, and rightfully so, but at least we have a team. 

As for the future, some see it as murky, but I am not one of them.  Trades, FA signings, and up and coming talent in the minors are going to bring a big change to the look of this team in the next couple of years.

At 2b, Lopez, although underachieving this year offensively, which makes his defense miscues more glaring, is an above average MLB player. Put a solid defensive SS next to him (AKA not Yuni) and you won't even notice Lopez's mistakes.

3B, well Tuiasosopo is an option after what he showed in ST. Yes he's hurt right now, but still an option moving forward.

1B, could be Branyan again, could be the drafting of Dustin Ackley, could be Clement or Carp. Who knows? But there are options.

SS, Triunfel. He's the future and what the FO is waiting for. There might have to be a temp SS to fill his place (i.e. Cedeno) until he's ready which should be 1-2 years.

LF, Balentien, Saunders, Halman, LaHair, Ackley again, or an FA pickup.
Again, options.

C-Moore/Johnson. Johnson's bat isn't good, at all, but it could improve into something serviceable and Moore is the better long term answer anyhow.
Continue reading "What does the future hold for the M's?"

Sox Thoughts - Bad Luck on the West Coast posted by Tony Rossi

The one game the Sox win this series and I don’t even get a chance to write about it before the Sox lose another one…

Well, that’s baseball for you.  I was actually walking through Boston last night after seeing the National Tour of Spring Awakening (which was amazing, by the way) and caught the score of the Sox game through a restaurant window.  “Oh good!”  I thought.  “We’re up 4-0.”  As it just so happened, I was just in time to see Yuniesky Betancourt hit a two run homer to change the score to 4-2. 

Don’t get me wrong – we won last night.  Great ball game.

Today wasn’t so great.  I got into my car just in time to hear the 9th inning where Green made the error and Franklin Gutierrez hit the walk off single to win it for the M’s.   “Great,” I thought.  “Did anything good happen in this game?” 

Actually, yeah.  A lot of good things happened.  Masterson, although giving up 9 hits, pitched 6.1 innings and struck out 6.  He did not allow any walks.  That’s a huge improvement after his last start where he couldn’t seem to find the plate.  Another plus for the game today was that Drew continued to swing a hot bat by hitting his 6th homer of the year.  God knows we need hot bats with all the injuries and slumps some of our better hitters are going through right now.  And how about the fact that none of our relief pitchers gave up any walks, with the exception of the free pass that Ramirez gave Ichiro in the 9th?  Good stuff boys, good stuff (those boys included Okajima and Delcarmen). 

Breaking down your 2009 Red Sox (in context) posted by Charles Bisbee

The Sox are going to have a difficult time making the playoffs this year. I’m no sucker for the Jays quick start (they’ll start to slip once they deal Roy Hallady and realize Marco Scutaro is starting at shortstop) but I think the rest of the American League is better than most pundits allow.

The Royals are a dangerous team based not only upon the promise of their pitching (will Zack Greinke lose a game this year?) but also upon an underappreciated lineup that is dynamic at the top. Coco Crisp has reverted to his pesky former-self (he leads baseball with 4 triples). Alberto Callaspo, currently hitting a robust .378, follows in the two-hole and, if Jose Guillen, Alex Gordon and Billy Butler can at least hit their weight, Kansas City should challenge Detroit atop the under-appreciated AL Central.

Don’t sleep on the AL West either, where the Mariners pitch enough and field well enough to make up for a gawd-awful lineup. Ditto the Angels who, once Vlad returns, should muster enough O to put up a fight. The entire division, in fact, has potential. And if the Rays taught us anything last year, its that any team with legitimate talent can do serious damage given a little luck and some realized potential.

I see a lot of potential Rays throughout the American League this year. I really think if the Sox don’t take the division from the Yanks (or Rays, for that matter) they could be on the outside looking in come October. 

All-Star balloting reminds me of the Iowa Caucus posted by David

Someone at MLB must have read my blog post from 5/9/08 and decided that All-Star voting needed to start even earlier this season just to see my reaction.  Keep in mind that the 2009 season began later than the 2008 season.

The one good thing about early voting is that maybe the fans will show some support for Evan Longoria over the injured Alex Rodriguez and vote the reigning Rookie of the Year starting third baseman for the American League.

Longoria is hitting .415 and has already hit five home runs and seven doubles – good for a slugging percentage of .830.

How ‘bout that?

How about the Cleveland Indians?  On Tuesday against the Royals the Tribe infield turned six double-plays.  Still not impressed?  How about when I tell you they did it in SIX CONSECUTIVE INNINGS (3rd-8th)?

How about Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko?  In the second inning of a game against the Tigers on April 13th, the White Sox teammates hit back-to-back home runs – the 300th of each slugger’s career.

How about the Pirates, Mariners, and Padres?  Though the season is still young, these teams hold records of 9-6, 10-6, and 9-6, respectively, after finishing with three of the four worst records in baseball in 2008.  Pittsburgh actually was the least bad, losing 95 games – good for a .414 winning percentage.  San Diego barely avoided 100 losses, finishing at 63-99 and a .389 winning percentage.  Seattle took the cake with a .377 winning percentage, losing 101 games despite wining their last three contests.  As awful as they were last year, this trio is off to a great start in 2009 and will hope to build on their early success over the next several months.

Opening Day Headache posted by Juan Cortrai

Opening Day Headache

                 The Mariners opening day, 2009, has many people excited about the possibilities of a first place Mariners team with the return of Ken Griffey Junior. At with 5 wins and 2 losses, the Mariners sit atop the American League West, but they will present quite a headache to the hometown faithful as they open their doors for business.

                Due to some ongoing construction, there will be no access to the Safeco Field parking garage. There will still be access at a great number of parking lots as well as other area parking, such as Qwest Field; but the convenient access of Edgar Martinez Way directly from the freeway to your parking spot, to your seat will not be available. To think that we sat through months of wreckage on and around the former Atlantic Street to make such convenience possible, only to have it fall short of what is needed on the most anticipated opening day in Seattle since at least 2002, if not ever.

                “Well, that doesn’t sound too bad. I guess we can just take the bus to the game.”

                I know that’s what you’re thinking, but not so fast. Due to a non-competition clause from a federal statute from last year (remember the Seahawks controversy?) that said that a public entity, Metro, could not compete with a private industry solution; there will be no such Metro bus service to Safeco or anywhere nearby. So, who are the big winners in this equation? It is certainly not the fans. But luckily there is an answer.

Twins rally to top Mariners in the bottom of the 9th - 4/7/09 posted by Homer Franky

            After a less than exciting home opener Monday night, the Twinkies appeared to be headed to an 0-2 start Tuesday after trailing 4-0 early to the Seattle Mariners.  The Twins were able to put together some hits, closing the gap to 4-3 heading into the sixth.  But the M's scraped together an insurance run in the top of the 9th, and looked poised for another victory as the Twins headed into the last half-inning trailing 5-3.  Closer Brandon Morrow struck out lead-off hitter Joe Crede, retired Delmon Young on a fly-out, and had Carlos Gomez down to his last strike.  Gomez was able stay alive and taxed Morrow for 8 pitches, eventually drawing a walk.  It all unraveled for the Seattle closer from there, walking pinch-hitter Jason Kubel on four pitches, followed right behind by Brian Buscher.  With the bases jacked and the winning run aboard, rookie manager Don Wakamatsu finally decided to pull Morrow in favor of Miguel Batista.  Denard Span then hit a chop single to deep third base, scoring Gomez and keeping the bases juiced for Alexi Casilla.  Jumping on the first pitch, Casilla dropped a single into shallow center, bringing in pinch runner Brendan Harris to tie and Brian Buscher for the go-ahead.  I just can't understand why Wakamatsu would have waited so long to pull the obviously struContinue reading "Twins rally to top Mariners in the ..."

Speculation: Mid Season Trades posted by Cameron Clow

The Seattle Mariners picked up injured closer Chad Cordero in the offseason. Cordero was a solid major league closer with the Washington Nationals for years. Foxsports reports that the Mariners are likely to use Cordero as mid season trade bait if they are out of contention early as they are expected to be.

With that said the Brewers will need at the very least bullpen help and will likely need a closer as Hoffman is obviously not a long term solution. It's a long shot to call any mid season trade at this point, but given this information I would not be suprised if Chad Cordero was the second Cordero to close for the Brewers in recent years.

The San Diego Padres are also still trying to shop Jake Peavy. I don't see a chance at the Brewers getting him and maintaining him. It would be another CC Sabathia situation that would likely not pay off as well as the Sabathia deal did.

The Brewers obviously have the prospects to shop around at the deadline, but I believe we would be better off keeping the majority of our prospects especially: Escobar, Gamel, Green, and Iribarren unless we could pick up some talented young pitching prospects.

The Sports Don's 2009 AL West Preview posted by Christian Mielcarek

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim won the American League West by 21 games in 2008, a margin 13 1/2 games wider than the next largest difference which was the Chicago Cubs’ 7 1/2 game lead over National League Wild Card winner Milwaukee. With the departures of some key Angels and the acquisitions of some big name players by the other teams in the West, the race will tighter, but don’t expect Texas, Oakland or Seattle to leapfrog Los Angeles who should capture their fifth division title in six years.

To read Monday’s AL East Preview, click here.

To read yesterday’s AL Central Preview, click here.

1. LOS ANGELES ANGELS (100-62, first place and lost in the ALDS in ‘08)

The golden prize of free agency left the West Coast when Mark Teixeira signed a megadeal with the New York Yankees rather than returning to the Angels which has left a gapping hole in the middle of Los Angeles’ lineup. Kendry Morales will step in at first base but will only put up half the power numbers Teixeira did. The Angels signed Bobby Abreu late in the offseason to aid the offense, and a lot of people think this will be the year Howie Kendrick will display his potential. Vladimir Guerrero produced the lowest numbers of his career last season and is perhaps showing his age despite hitting 27 homeruns and driving in 91.

Francisco Rodriguez saved a major league record 62 games in ‘08 and departed for the New York Mets as a free agent. He has been replaced by former Colorado Rockie Brian Fuentes, and although Fuentes’ name may not have the same cache as K-Rod, he did save 88.2% of his chances which was only 1.7% less than Rodriguez last season. The bridge to Fuentes, who has been awful this spring, will be Jose Arredondo (10-2, 1.62 ERA, 1.05 WHIP in 61 innings pitched in ‘08) and Scot Shields, perhaps the best setup man in the game. The starting rotation is hampered by injury, but assuming John Lackey, Ervin Santana and Kelvim Escobar return in late April and early May and pitch effectively, the Los Angeles staff, front to back, is a fearsome bunch.

Finally posted by Ryan Cole

Although it was accompanied by the usual foot-dragging - the delays that are so characteristic of this team and are a major reason why we're still going to be a joke franchise for a long time - we've traded Bedard.

 What we got, for the trade, was actually not a bad catch.  I've always said to anyone who would listen, if there's any way we can trade with Bavasi - the only GM I think even the O's can out-think - we gotta do it.

So, we get Adam Jones.  He's good, right now; he's also 22, and the O's can have him until he's 28.  I don't know if he'll be a "superstar" the way everyone's been claiming, but he's going to be a contender for a few all-star teams, barring injury.

He's also supposed to be an outstanding defender - and if you read my thoughts for long, you'll know that I blame the O's woeful defense for a lot of their pitching problems in recent years.  We've turned a lot of outs into hits, and having Jones won't exacerbate the problem (although it's the infield where the issue lay before, with Miggy and Mora just butchers).

Add him to Markakis - who Rob Neyer just called the right fielder he'd most want over the next five years (subscription required) - and you've got a pretty damn good young outfield.  Dare I say it, you've got a potential core.

Tillman sounds like he'll be a productive MLer, a 19-year-old who just missed the top 100 prospects list.  At that age of course, he isn't through the injury woods yet, but he was the Mariner's minor-league pitcher of the year, and his ceiling remains quite high.  He's got the chance to be an important cog in the next winning O's team, if such a thing can still exist.  And if you ignore TNSTAAPP (we've got nothing else, allow us this heresy).