Oakland

 .............

Baker, coming from the East Coast, has a macro sense for what some ballclubs are up to when they say, "We'll put together a competitive team and offer a nice family night at the ballpark."  

Baker has seen East Coast teams that thirst to win, and he has seen midmarket team that "manage expectations."  He calls baloney on it.  So do I, and have since July 2011.  If you, Gentle Reader, are oblivious to the fact that many sports CEO's want to play .500, make money, and sit in the luxury boxes getting fawned over ... you better axs somebody.

This macro industry problem is real, and it can't be waved off so easily.  Particularly not by a non-athlete smugly asserting that there is no such thing as sports psychology.  

The moral issue arises if and when an MLB team overtly sells a pennant race - and covertly does not intend to offer one.

Dr. D, with his immersion in 1945-1975 Soviet chess and olympics training, is completely convinced that there is such a thing as sports psychology.  But that's not the point.  The point is that everybody in baseball, especially everybody who's ever won in baseball, will tell you that.

Baker tells you that, too.  Laugh if you want.  Guess who else you're laughing at, at the same time?  Jack Zduriencik.  Don't think he doesn't wince at the naivete when he reads it online.

 ..............

By the time my man, your man, the San-Man was done taping incredulous caps and **!?!?$** marks onto his parcel-post delivery, "Is Z *really* THAT aggressive?!?" ... Dr D's roman candle was pleasantly lit.  

Wanna get serious, mate? :- )  Step up.

Ya, we know.  South'n man hopes Dr D will remember, South'n man don' need him aroun' anyhow.  

He remembers, he remembers.  But west of the Mississippi, it iss Heil der Bazeball-Reference kommissar.  Go for your (stats) luger, Freunde sind.

.......

::WWII stand-tall, straight-arm sight-fire::  

If you are looking for specific examples of major league GM's stuffing rookies into the same rotation together, you don't have to look far.  At SSI, we live to serve.

The 2009 Oakland A's handed the ball, out of spring training, to a couple of 21-year-old pure rookies.  These pitchers debut'ed together in the majors in Opening Week of 2009.  Those being Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill.

That same 2009 A's team put Gio Gonzalez into the rotation, one month later, on May 3.  In arb-clock terms, this would be analogous* to the Mariners bringing Taijuan Walker up after a single month in AAA.

 .... 

Q.  Okay, each year half the teams make the postseason with about +75 differential.  Does this mean that the 2012 Mariners are contenders if they hit +75?

A.  No.

For the Mariners, the target is more like +100.  Maybe even a bit more.

The AL Wild Card the last five years has been won by Boston, New York and once the Tigers, with run differentials of +140 to +190 runs every cotton-pickin', chicken-pluckin' year.  If you want to shoot for the wild card in the American League, you better pencil in 95 wins, bro'.

So the Mariners have to factor in the reality that the Wild Card is a no go, not unless they become a truly powerful team.  To win the AL Wild Card, you frequently have to be (pretty much) the 2nd-best team in baseball.

That ain't happenin'.  Not unless you got like three more Pinedas in the minor leagues somewhere.

....

 .... 

Draft review, continued

.

2002:  The laughingstock Pirates took Bryan Bullington 1-1, Bullington signed for a discounted bonus, and then the next several pitchers taken were HS kids -- no other college pitcher could even argue to be a 1-1.

It's hard to say whether to dismiss Pirate picks... it was a tricky draft.  All of the first 5 picks disappointed.

Still, Bullington was a (RHP) 3-pitch guy with a great K/BB in college.  We'll include him, since he was fairly comparable then to where Hultzen is now.

 ..... 

=== Michael Pineda's Changeup ===

As the M's season went fszzzzlt, my primary goal for the ballclub was for Michael Pineda to finish with more K's than IP.  :- )  

He's doing it, as are two other AL pitchers, Justin Verlander and Brandon Morrow.

...