M's fading fast

Wow, they sure are sinking quickly, its starting to look a lot like last year. So with Moyer, Pinero, Franklin and Sele stinking it up and Meche not far behind, it may be time to look at a heavy retooling with the starting rotation.

Here's my complaints so far.

1. Starting Pitchers high ERA - they're giving up the long ball again, just like last year. Maybe keeping Price wasn't such a good idea.

2. Use of the bullpen. Villone has had a pretty rough May, he's blown a few games, and so has Nelson. Putz and Mateo need to be used more. And I think the Thompson or Thomason or whatever his name is needs to be sent back to the minors to work on his control. Shigie is past his prime, as it appears to me.

3. Beltre, if its so hard to learn AL pitchers then why has Sexson had better success this year so far? Richie hasn't played a full season since 2002 right? And he came over from the NL.

4. Blown opportunities, they get guys on base, and cannot get them home. Seems like a problem the M's have had since Lou's last year with the club.

5. Hargrove's statements. They're starting to bug me, and this could just be me. It's always, "Well...we pitched a good game, but dog gone-it we didn't get hits." or "The other pitcher was lights out, boy we just played hard but lost the game" I'm tired of the sugar coating, come out and say it, Adrian isn't hitting, Richie strikes out way to much, Boone needs to take his time, the last 3 spots in our batting order could be filled with 3 year olds and no one would notice the difference. Ibanez, Winn, Reed, and Ichiro are the only constant players right now. Lou was hard on his guys when they fell into a rut, and I liked that about him, sometimes thats what these ballplayers need.

Here's Hargrove's comment after tonights loss to Tampa;


``It was a bad game ... it was a good game,'' Seattle manager Mike Hargrove said. ``It was one of those games where you didn't know whether to strangle people or kiss them.''

How about stepping up and saying that they couldn't get a hit when it mattered and that they need to make some better efforts at bat or this season is going to be over before the all star break.

I feel your pain, ReMax. Two years of this crap and I might as well be a Cubs fan. For what it's worth, here is my $.02. (Probably < $.02 8) )

Thornton can't be sent down - he's out of options. They either have to DFA him, trade him or keep him. Believe it or not, he's actually pitching better this year and I no longer have a problem keeping him in the bullpen for the duration of the season. This season is pretty much toast, so we might as well keep him around and see if he can continue to improve. He's like Jeckle & Hyde this year - unhittable one night and wild beyond belief the next. Left handed relievers that can throw 97 mph are rare, though, so I say keep him for this lost season and make a decision on him in the off season. He might be a late bloomer and I'd hate like hell to see him go somewhere else and put it all together.

Putz pitches a whole lot better when he starts off an inning. When he comes in with men on base, I feel sick to my stomach.

Mateo hasn't been the same since his start. I hope to god they didn't screw him up by starting him. He's had two relief sessions since his start and been pretty much lit up each time.

Hargrove drives me nuts. I think that he's an ideal manager for a tough, winning team. (Kind of like Joe Torre, actually.) But I don't think that he's so good with a team that is struggling. He likes to trot the regulars out there, stay positive and let them play. If your regulars are good, that's a nice strategy but when they are bad...ugly. That being said, I don't know if anyone could manage this club well.

If I see Beltre lunge at one more slider that's two feet outside and ankle high I'm going to lose it. I'm now prepared to downgrade my opinion of Beltre to cautiously optomistic. I think they should try moving him down in the lineup - he's absolutely killing us batting third. It seems to have worked for Reed. Swap him and Ibanez in the six and three holes and see what happens.

Re. the pitchers: I'm starting to think that part of the problem is Olivo. Not only is he stinking it up with the bat but he appears to be calling a bad game. When you are being replaced in two or three games out of five with a 42 year old that was playing in Milwaukee's minor leages ten days ago, you know it's bad. Maybe Olivo needs to be sent to Tacoma to work on some things.

Piniero just doesn't look right. Rumors of steroids and/or injury are rampant on various M's boards. He hit 93-94 mph in his first start after his 10 day hiatus but didn't exceed 90 today against Tampa.

Meche is so maddening. Such good stuff but he can't seem to find the plate half of the time. May be relegated to the bull pen if he's not careful.

When Willie Bloomquist is an offensive upgrade at shortstop, you are in deep trouble.

The bench is terrible.

Here is the bad news from AAA: Lopez went on the disabled list again with hand troubles and Morse - the shortstop that came in the Garcia trade - is in a miserable slump that has seen his BA drop from around .290-ish to .240-ish. No shortstop help from Tacoma. Sherril (LH reliever) is out with a strained tricept (so they say). Felix Hernandez continues to dominate but is only 19 years old. Campillo continues to pitch well but might not be a whole lot better than the guys we've got now (at least since Sele started pitching well again).

The good news from AAA: Snelling and Christianson are hitting the cover off the ball. Snelling is so darn brittle that you can't rely on the kid but he's hitting .400 with decent power and they may not be able to keep him down much longer. I'd hate to see him brought up just to sit on the bench but he might make Ibanez expendable as a left handed DH. Ibanez might have some value in the late July trade market.

I never thought about Olivo possibly being a little responsible for the pitching errors, but now that you say it, that makes sense. Look at the White Sox, this year with out him they've got a solid starting staff, including Freddy.

I could easily see Ibanez getting traded by mid-season, possbily Sexson or Boone too.

I think they just adjust the order to;

1. Ichiro
2. Winn/Reed
3. Sexson
4. Ibanez
5. Beltre
6. Boone
7. Reed/Winn
8. Olivo or Borders
9. Valdez or Bloomquist

Well, Larry Larue of the Tacoma News Tribune is reporting that Olivo IS being sent down and that Rivera is being called up from AAA. The article also states that Borders is expected to catch 4-5 times per week and that the M's are looking for another 'veteran catcher' to stick on the bench. (Yikes - get ready for Benito Santiago. That guy is older than Methusela.) No official word from the M's yet, so I'll be listening to the game against Toronto carefully to see what the official line is.

I like your lineup but I wouldn't move Reed back to the two hole. He's hitting pretty well at the bottom of the order and I'd be reluctant to move him around again.

Hey - at least we are not A's fans! The A's stink even worse than the M's right now.

Reed fits well in the 7 spot. Also with an order more like that I think the Ms stand a better chance of knocking in a few more runs per game. How many times this year have they put a few guys on and been unable to send them home.

Looks like shortstop Morse has been called up from AAA - no word on who's going down. Valdez seems to be the most likely but I don't think he has any options left. My guess is that Dobbs will go down to get some playing time in Tacoma.

Curious timing - Morse is in the midst of a horrible offensive slump. This may be the first salvo in a "play the youngsters" movement similar to what happened last year. Once Bavasi gives up on a season, he seems to start rotating young players through the team to give them a good look.

Valdez was designated for assignment. My guess is he will be picked up by someone who needs a good backup SS. I dont know if Morse is the answer at SS, but he is for right now. Both Valdez and Bloomquist are struggling at the plate, and right now the M's cant get even offense. There was a thing on Morse last night on FSN after the game, and it said he had only committed something like 2 or 4 errors so far this season, which isnt bad at all.

Yeah - it'll be interesting to see him play. All of the folks that have seen him play in Tacoma and posted on the topic seem to think that he looks very awkward but still makes plays. He's really tall for a short stop, so maybe that's why.

Bloomquist is in the starting lineup tonight but I'll bet we see him before too long. Franklin is getting lit up early - it's 5 to 0 in the first as I type this. Gag.