Tyler Woods's Seattle Mariners Fan Profile

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Miguel Batista: To Pitch, or not to Pitch? posted on 06/01/2008

There was not much to cheer for as the Mariners tallied another loss after J.J. Putz gave up 4 earned runs in the 9th inning, earning his fourth blown save of the season and ballooning his ERA to 5.60. However, fans could leave the game with some optimism after seeing another electrifying, but familiarly short outing from Brandon Morrow.

Morrow pitched a perfect 8th inning while striking out two and displaying his 100 MPH fastball. The 23 year-old right-hander has dazzled in limited time this year, pitching 15 innings while giving up only 2 ER on two solo home runs. Meanwhile, as Morrow seizes each opportunity he gets on the mound, Jarrod Washburn and Miguel Batista are stinking up the joint. Washburn has posted a 2-6 record with a 6.54 Batista is 3-6 on the season with a 5.90 ERA. While I do believe Washburn will play better as the season progresses, Batista really shows no sign of turning things around. First off, he is 37 years old, quickly losing velocity on his already sub-par fastball, and even in the prime of his career his ERA was consistently in the 4.6-4.9 range.

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The Genius of Bill Bavasi posted on 05/31/2008

Mariners fans experienced another failed experiment by Mastermind and GM Bill Bavasi on Sunday night, watching Carlos Silva get shelled by the Tigers for 7 ER in 2/3 of an inning. After receiving a 4 year, $48 million contract in December, Silva has been horrible recently. In his last six starts, Silva is 0-5 with an 11.00 ERA. Though he did show promise at the outset of the season, a player doesn't earn $14 million a year by showing potential. The thing is, all Silva has produced over his career has been potential and just as much disappointment. He has only had two winning seasons as a starter, and his last two years with the Minnesota Twins he had an ERA of 5.94 and 4.19 respectively. How does a player like this end up getting the second biggest free agent pitcher contract last offseason? Easy, Bill Bavasi. But Silva isn't the only one cashing in on Bavasi's shopping spree, overpaid players have littered the M's roster in recent years.

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John McLaren: What are you thinking? posted on 05/30/2008

With 1 out in the bottom of the 9th inning of the Mariners-Red Sox game Tuesday, Seattle Manager John McLaren elected to have Jeremy Reed pinch hit for Yuniesky Betancourt. Reed is 3-for-15 on the season, while Yuni is batting .285 (3rd best on the M's). Reed ended up advancing the runner to third base and Jose Lopez hit a game-winning single, but I still do not understand the rationale for this move. Yuniesky has been one of the more consistent hitters in the Mariner's lineup, yet McLaren seems to have no faith in him in a clutch situation. 

 As rumors circulated about McLaren getting fired over the past week due to his clubs disappointing start, I believed most of the blame was squarely on the underperformance of the players. But moves like these make me wonder how responsible McLaren's coaching might be for the Mariners' woes.

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Richie Sexson: Single-handedly destroying the Mariners franchise posted on 05/29/2008

As Mariners' fans parade through the streets of Seattle following their unbelieveable consecutive wins (for only the second time this month) over the Red Sox, it's important to note which players really stepped up to make it possible.

Obviously the starters Miguel Batista (7 IP, 2 ER) and Erik Bedard (7 IP, 0 ER) deserve much of the credit, along with Jose Lopez and Yuniesky Betancourt's clutch hitting, but it was another player who had the biggest impact on these games.  Oddly enough, he made that impact without stepping on the field.

Richie Sexson and his $12.5 million salary were kept out of games 2 and 3 of the Red Sox series, resulting in the two biggest wins of the season for the Mariners.  While John McLaren would be smartest to keep Sexson and his abysmal .200 avg on the bench for the remainder of the season, the size of Sexson's salary forces management to keep Richie on the field.  With that kind of salary, it could cause anyone to believe that Richie must be on the verge of breaking out of a 2 year slump and finally contributing.

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