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Welcome to Scott Weber
2008-04-18 23:30:00
I'd like to take a moment to introduce the newest member of Bleeding Blue and Teal, Scott Weber . Scott has been a reader here for quite a while, and I was pleased when he accepted my invitation to write here. He is extremely knowledgeable in regards to the team and baseball in general, and also has formal writing experience, writing music reviews at absolutepunk.com for quite a while. He should be making his first appearance here sometime after the weekend.Weebs should be a very valuable addition to BBT. Welcome!

At Least It's Not Steroids
2008-04-18 06:55:00
Just in case you were getting sick of the performance enhancing drugs witch hunt that has been tumbling out of control over the past few seasons, Miguel Tejada has singlehandedly kicked off a new one. In case you haven't heard, it was recently discovered that Tejada was born in 1974, rather than the 1976 that has been listed in MLB media guides throughout his career. Tejada will turn 34 in May.If you recall, a similar thing happened with current Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez. He was thought to have been born in 1969, but now the common belief is that he was born four years prior. Some reports have him being born as early as 1957.Since Tejada's case isn't the first of it's kind, bold acquisitions are being made and fingers are being pointed. Some of the bigger names that have been accused of providing a false age are David Ortiz, Albert Pujols, and Andruw Jones. Ortiz and Pujols are more believable to me, though, as Jones would have been younger than 19 years old when he popped ...
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Morrow Fills Bedard's Roster Spot
2008-04-17 00:47:00
I think everyone saw this coming, even though it isn't the right call. I would have rather seen a guy like Jon Huber, or even another lefty like Cesar Jimenez or Jake Woods.Brandon Morrow didn't find his control while pitching at AA West Tennessee, issuing 6 walks in 7.1 innings. He also had a minor bicep injury in his time there. I do not believe Morrow should be with the big club right now. How long can he really last with the fastball being the only effective pitch in his arsenal? Some pitchers can get away with this, but they have much better control. Morrow is all over the place, and unless he figures out how to throw his secondary pitches for strikes he's not going to be successful. Of course I hope he, along with Arthur Rhodes, prove me wrong and dominate.In other news, recently DFA'd Charlton Jimerson was granted free agency, but re-signed with Seattle anyway. He is back in the minor leagues and is not on the 40-man roster, meaning Jeremy Reed now has an edge at ...
More About: Spot , Roster

7-8
2008-04-16 04:22:00
The Mariners defeat the Kansas City Royals 11-6 to improve to 7-8. Here's a few more observations after 15 games:Manager John McLaren brought Ryan Rowland-Smith into the game for the 6th inning and veteran Arthur Rhodes in the 9th. There had been some debate among fans about which lefty would replace the recently demoted Eric O'Flaherty as the teams LOOGY, and based on tonight's game it looks like it will be Rhodes. RRS went 1 inning, allowing 3 hits and 2 runs, while Rhodes managed to get one out and was pulled after allowing a couple hits. I would personally like to see RRS get the nod in close and late situations, at least until Rhodes proves he can still get big league hitters out. Rhodes didn't show any spectacular stuff, as far as I could see anyway, but RRS wasn't so great either.I love Jose Lopez post game interviews. He continues to excel in the 2-hole, by the way.With Erik Bedard DL bound, it's hard to tell who may take it roster spot. It'll almost certainly ...

Bedard to DL
2008-04-16 00:13:00
It was already unlikely that Erik Bedard would be able to go for his next scheduled start, but now it appears he's heading for the DL. Don't panic: This isn't all bad. First of all, it's good that Seattle is going to sit him out and try to get him healthy now, in April, rather than having him constantly mess up the rotation or hurt himself further down the road. Second, the injury took place a while ago so he'll be eligible to come off the DL in just nine days. R.A. Dickey will take his next start. No word on who will take Bedard's roster spot. Unfortunately, Brandon Morrow may be the second Mariner pitcher to be promoted too quickly this season (Arthur Rhodes being the first).None of us could have expected Bedard to make all of his starts. He's a fragile pitcher and the team has to focus on minimizing his time out. This is a good step.Happy Jackie Robinson day!

Morse to DL; Rhodes Recalled
2008-04-14 23:15:00
As I speculated last night, Mike Morse has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a dislocated left shoulder he suffered on an awkward dive attempt in yesterday's ballgame. Seattle was probably thrilled at the chance to get Morse off of the 25-man roster without losing him entirely, as he is of little use to the ballclub as of now.Veteran lefty Arthur Rhodes has been called up to take his spot on the roster. I haven't been a fan of Rhodes this time around, and I'm not at all convinced that he can still get it done, but even with my doubts these latest flurry of moves get Seattle's roster back to where it should be: 12-man pitching staff, 4-man bench.Bullpen:Mark Lowe, RArthur Rhodes, LRoy Corcoran, RSean Green, RRyan Rowland-Smith, LR.A. Dickey, RCha-Seung Baek, RBench:Willie Bloomquist, INF/OFMiguel Cairo, INF/LFGreg Norton, CIF/COFJaime Burke, CThe bench doesn't contain a single true outfielder, but manager John McLaren's history of choosing against using defensive r...
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Series Preview: M's vs Royals 4/14-4/15
2008-04-14 22:01:00
The Kansas City Royals roll into the Emerald City for a brief two game set against our Seattle Mariners.Expected Starters:4/14 - Jarrod Washburn vs. Zack Greinke4/15 - Miguel Batista vs. John BaleMatchups to Watch:Among Mariner hitters Raul Ibanez has found the most success against Greinke, hitting .500 (5/10) with 2 doubles and a triple. Bale pitched in Japan in two of the past three seasons and is unknown to most of the Mariner hitters, however Richie Sexson is 2 for 4 with 3 RBI. Batista and Washburn haven't had too many problems throughout their careers with the players expected to be in Kansas City's lineup.Keys to the Series : No time for me to get to the keys this time, but I may update them later. The next two series are short 2-gamers, so it's hardly worth the time.I believe the Royals are playing decent baseball lately so this isn't exactly an easy series.
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O'Flaherty to Minors; Dickey to MLB
2008-04-14 18:30:00
There were rumors of this last night, and now it's official. Seattle sent struggling reliever Eric O'Flaherty to the minors and recalled knuckleballer R.A. Dickey . Geoff Baker reports that O'Flaherty was optioned to AAA Tacoma, though USS Mariner says he's heading to AA West Tennessee. As I've mentioned before, this won't be a permanent fix.Seattle's bullpen, as it stands now:Mark Lowe, RSean Green, RRoy Corcoran, RRyan Rowland-Smith, LCha-Seung Baek, RR.A. Dickey, RSeattle will want another lefty in there sooner than later, whether it is Cesar Jimenez, a healthy Arthur Rhodes or a mentally rehabbed Eric O'Flaherty, so someone will have to go. Having two long relievers is pointless, so either Baek will be traded or waived or Dickey will be sent back to AAA. This decision is for another day, and I assume it will be determined by how effective Dickey is. Baek hasn't pitched well in relief after a stellar spring, and Seattle may finally be willing to cut ties with him if Dicke...

Possible Roster Moves to Come
2008-04-14 07:21:00
After struggling in pressure situations for most of the season, Eric O'Flaherty was seemingly demoted from the later innings and appeared in what was supposed to be long relief for emergency starter Cha-Seung Baek. O'Flaherty gutted out 2.2 innings, but allowed 6 runs on 8 hits.I already wrote about how Seattle should start using Ryan Rowland-Smith as the teams LOOGY over O'Flaherty, and now it would make sense that to demote him even further. AAA Tacoma seems to be his next stop. In fact, there has already been a rumor that he has already been sent to the minors in favor of R.A. Dickey; this coming from a commenter over at Geoff Baker's blog that was supposedly in the clubhouse after the game.Such a move makes perfect sense because Seattle is short a long reliever after Cha-Seung Baek started in place of the hurting Erik Bedard. Having two long relievers on your team isn't the best strategy, and either Baek or Dickey would have to be sent down or waived after the bullpen sorts...
More About: Moves , Roster

Bedard, Beltre Scratched
2008-04-13 22:20:00
Erik Bedard was expected to pitch today against the rival Los Angeles Angels, but was scratched due to the same hip pain and inflammation that postponed his last start two games.It's good that Bedard has been up front with the coaches and training staff, but things are going to get difficult if Bedard continues to miss his scheduled starts. I'll update this post after the game if any news on when Bedard will make his next start surfaces.Adriane Beltre also got the day off with stiffness in his thumb. His left thumb has been hurting him since last season when he tore a ligament that never properly healed, but don't get too concerned. Manager John McLaren said earlier in the year that the team would try and give him regular days off to keep him healthy. (Ed. Note: As Patrick mentioned in the comments section, Beltre is out with a hamstring, not a thumb injury. I skimmed through the report before the game and must have read it wrong. Him being out of the lineup appears to be a preca...

Bench Johjima!
2008-04-12 12:19:00
(Before you make any assumptions, this post has nothing to do with Johjima's early season struggles.)Kenji Johjima is a very good offensive catcher and is also among the best in the league at throwing out wannabe basestealers. Other than those two things, what is the benefit of having him around? Does he even deserve to be Seattle's starting catcher?Seattle signed Joh-K prior to the 2006 season in order to bring some much needed offensive stability to the position. He has done a very good job in that regard, and is one of the top offensive catchers in the American League behind guys like Joe Mauer, Victor Martinez, Jorge Posada and Ivan Rodriguez. While he is succeeding in the job he was brought in to do, it's something he's not doing that should make him a candidate to lose his job. Simply put, Johjima isn't the best signal caller on the team.Opponents hit .272 against Felix Hernandez when caught by Johjima, but only .243 when backup Jaime Burke is behind the plate or .209 whe...
More About: Bench

"April Baseball, October Intensity"
2008-04-12 07:55:00
The promo's for this Mariners/Angels series on MLB.com seemed a little cheesy. October intensity in April ? C'mon...Tonight's game, game one of a three game set, certainly lived up to the promo's slogan . What an exciting game! Felix Hernandez emphatically striking out Vladimir Guerrero three times. Raul Ibanez with a pair of absolute blasts into the right field seats. An amazing defensive play in which Adrian Beltre makes a diving stab, tags out Garret Anderson before weilding and nailing Macier Izturis at first base for the double play. Exciting hussle doubles by Jose Lopez and Vladimir Guerrero. A fantastic defensive play by Angels shortstop Erick Aybar in which he robbed Yuni Betancourt of an RBI single deep up the middle by flipping the ball to second for the force. A very exciting game, and I'm glad I was able to watch it.There was certainly a "playoff atmosphere" that engulfed this ballgame. There was a level of excitement and energy that we had yet to see from ...
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Norton Called Up, Jimerson DFA
2008-04-12 00:27:00
From 3:27 pm PST: Nothing is official, but USS Mariner is reporting that Greg Norton has been called up from AAA Tacoma and will be available for tonight's ballgame.Jason A. Churchill of Prospect Insider confirmed that Norton is already with the team, but has heard nothing of an official move.It's unclear which player will be dropped from the roster. Miguel Cairo is a candidate to be waived, or the team may try and slip Charlton Jimerson through waivers. There is also the possibility that someone has been sent to the disabled list. Richie Sexson appeared to pull something near his groin while running the bases in game two of the Tampa Bay series. Norton would certainly be able to fill Sexson's spot defensively and offensively.If it is an injury it would have made sense to bring up an extra reliever, but it doesn't appear that either Brandon Morrow or Arthur Rhodes are ready for big league action. Both are pitching in AA West Tennessee last I heard.I will update this post when de...

Should RRS Relieve O'Flaherty?
2008-04-11 08:16:00
Last season Seattle had one of the best LOOGYs in the game in George Sherrill, who also dabbled in setup duty. Sherrill, as we all know, was dealt to Baltimore in the Erik Bedard trade and is now excelling as their closer. He was deemed expendable because the Seattle Mariners organization thought guys like Eric O'Flaherty, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Cesar Jimenez and even Arthur Rhodes worthy of taking over the position.O'Flaherty won the job out of Spring Training, as expected, but has not been able to shut down tough lefties the way Sherrill did last year. His ERA is currently sitting at an unsightly 20.25 after surrendering runs in five of his six outings thus far. As the left-handed specialist, or LOOGY, O'Flaherty's job is to get the opposition's tough lefties out in close and late situations. On Opening Day he came in and got Texas' best lefy hitter, Josh Hamilton, out on a popup to end the 7th inning. He came back in the 8th to face lefty Hank Blalock and switch-hitting Milton...

Series Preview: M's vs. Angels 4/11-4/13
2008-04-11 08:13:00
The Los Angeles Angels roll into town as Seattle's primary competition for the AL West crown in the first of many important battles.Probable Starters:4/11 - Felix Hernandez vs. Jered Weaver4/12 - Carlos Silva vs. Jon Garland4/13 - Erik Bedard vs. Joe SaundersJon's Keys to the Series :Keep up the good starts: Seattle's starting rotation as a whole has been doing very well this season. This is going to have to keep up as the Angels have a very potent lineup featuring the likes of Chone Figgins, Torii Hunter, Casey Kotchman and Mariner killers Vladimir Guerrero and Garret Anderson. If the Mariner starters put up anything but their best efforts this lineup could really make them pay.Take advantage of absent aces: Seattle has their two best pitchers throwing in this series while the Angels have their two best pitchers on the disabled list. Jered Weaver is the best pitcher that the Angels are throwing out there, so Seattle should definitely take advantage of Jon Garland and Joe Sau...
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4-6
2008-04-11 03:01:00
posted by JonSome notes from the Tampa Bay series:Edwin Jackson is absolutely filthy. He has struggled in recent years, but has always had plus stuff and has been great in his first two starts this season. He's still very young and I wouldn't have minded seeing him in a Mariner uniform. This offseason there were rumors that he could be Seattle bound in exchange for Ben Broussard and more recently there were rumors that Seattle could snag him for Jeremy Reed. While there isn't any room for him in the current rotation, he is definitely the type of arm your organization should try and stockpile. I doubt Tampa Bay would be willing to part with him sine the injuries to Scott Kazmir and Matt Garza, but I wonder if talks could spark up again later in the season.I haven't been much of a Jose Lopez fan since he first came up a few years ago, I even wanted Seattle to start Willie Bloomquist over him coming into the 2006 season, but I have to say I'm really liking the way he's playing th...

Player Profile: Roy Corcoran
2008-04-10 04:13:00
Roy Corcoran , an unknown to many fans, has brought some stability to the Mariner bullpen since closer J.J. Putz was placed on the 15-day disabled list. In his three ballgames so far this season Corcoran has pitched 4 scoreless innings while surrendering just 1 hit, 1 walk, striking out 4 and allowing no runs. He's been attacking the strikezone and doesn't mess around with the hitters.But who is Roy Corcoran? Seattle has been very good in recent years at turning unknown pitchers into effective relievers; will Corcoran become their latest success story?Hardly a prospect, the 28 year old Roy Corcoran is playing in his 7th season as a professional. He was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1980 and played his college ball at LSU before signing as an undrafted free agent with the Montreal Expos in June 2001. He pitched well from the get-go, posting a 1.42 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 19 innings between the GCL Expos (R) and Jupiter Hammerheads (A+) in his first partial season. In 2002 he p...
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