Yeah, yeah, Beltre's off to a tough start, but there's something else going on here. Boone, Reed, and Sexson are all hitting below .250, which isn't bad, but there just doesn't seem to be much in regards to run production. Is it Ichiro? Should he be moved to clean-up? What do you think pitchers fear most? Belte w/ one on (most likely Ichiro) who's hitting .223, or Ichiro w/ the bases loaded and no outs? What about having Reed lead off, followed by Winn, and Beltre w/ Ichiro batting fourth? Given this teams horrible start, it might not be a bad idea.
Pitching seems to be so-so as well. Franklin has proven he is NOT starting material. Guardardo has done a "steady-Eddy" job in the bullpen, so I don't think it's an Ayala situation. It will be interesting to see how Madtrich does coming back hopefully full steam. Sele also seems to be struggling, however, if you remember, he had a 4.51 ERA when he won 17 games w/ the M's a few years back. He's an ok pitcher when he gets run support, bottom line.
I expect this team to turn things around, but it will be difficult to do w/ their upcomming schedule w/ Boston and NY on the road (especially given NY's desperate need for W's). This team needs to stay positive and weather this storm.
Seattle Sports Blog Guy
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Comments:
Call it the curse of Richie Sexon. Talk about a guy who won't raise a team batting average. If his shoulder was properly attached last year, Adam Dunn wouldn't hold the new NL K record (no offense Reggie Jackson- your all-time record is intact) b/c it would belong to Sexy Sexon. Yeah, he'll hit 35 HR's this year if he stays healty, but look for him to bat .265 max. On a good team this guy is a classic #6 hitter.
The AL West is shaping up like the AL Central. There are a whole lot of mediocre teams fighting to lose to the AL East in the first round of the playoffs. Fortunately for the low(er) payroll teams, the short 5-game series gives even crap teams a chance to lose in the Championship round. If the M's want the honor of losing to the soon-to-be-unstoppable Yankees, Ichiro needs to bat 4th and Sexy Sexon needs to move into the #2 or #6 spot.
Although, that's from an NL Central fan who knows nothing about Seattle.
Good points all around. Yeah, Sexy Sexon is at best a 35 HR guy hitting .250. He's like Gorman Thomas, an old school M that lasted about 2 years before turning to the bottle. Actually, looking at his career stats, he hit a whopping .215 w/ Seattle while belting 34 HR's in 85' (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=thomago01)
Seattle has a shot in this division, however, they need to get some help pitching. Hopefully they will pick up a good SP near the trading deadline if they are still in.
Definitely agree w/ you.....Ichiro should be moved to a #4 spot since the dude hits .350.
Seattle Sports Blog Guy
No way you put Ichiro anywhere but the one spot. If you bat Reed one that is one lost ab. Plus it would cut down on Ichiro AB's. I still am not a big fan of a guy like Winn batting 2nd. I know the whole idea of having speed and obp but how much better would it be to have your top 3 batters Ichiro, Beltre and Sexson assured of ab's in the 1st.
well, something needs to be done to pick up this anemic offense....Belte .237, Sexson .230...stellar pick up, GM
Good pick up by the M's today. Clement C for the Trojans seems like a gamer.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/227608_mdraft08.html
Good article in the times. Overall they say his only knock is his defense but if you can mash (see Mike Piazza) you can play behind the plate. Overall this makes the M's "good up the middle" in the future. You will have Reed in center, Lopez at 2b and Tui/Morse/Bettencort at ss. With 3b and 1b locked up for a long time and King Felix looking awesome this team is looking like a future W.S title contender.
in 2-3 years
1b Sexson
2b Lopez/Ballentine
ss Tui/Bettencort/Morse/Jones
3b Beltre
LF Snelling/Choo
cf Reed
RF Ichiro/Choo
DH Ibanez/Tui
C Clement/Christianson/Olivo
King Felix
Meche
Pinero
Baek/Campillo
Soriano/Madrich/Livingston
Thorton
Putz
Franklin
Sheril
Livingston
Madrich/Soriano
Update on minors
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/226385_msfarm31.html
Now if they stay healthy and not pull a Little Unit.
Dom, I agree w/ you, good pick w/ going w/ the C for Seattle. I think the major challenge for this team will be trying to keep the talent in Seattle in the coming years. As was the case a few years ago (Griff, T. Martinez, Randy, A-rod), it's a tough market for big name players to play because they don't get the same exposure they would on the East Coast
Want to know what really pisses me off. It was a forgone conclusion that the M's were going to be in last place. Did they have to be the second best worst team? There was no way they were going to beat the Rays but they missed that #2 pick by 2 losses. Like in Major League the movie they should have given incentives to boot balls and most strike outs. Sometimes the difference between a #2 pick and a #5-6 is a Mark Prior and a Jorge Wastapick.
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