Seattle Sports Insider

Editor's Choice - Videos and Kibitzing on Healy

Dr. D will let you in on one of the 'frame's most guarded secrets. Shhhhh. Don't let it get out. 'kay? ... here it is: you go to Field Gulls and Lookout Landing for the Comments. The authors are there to "cover" the story, but ... every 10th or 20th commentor tells you some little thing you did not know. Usually the guys who timidly put question marks after.

In this case my fave comment was Logan Davis', not to sign off on every word, but, very pertinent observations:

Image:

Dipoto on the Coming Offseason

The Times posted a video, after MLB.com, with a fairly meaty 9-minute Dipoto interview. We'll do a quasi-transcript with a bit of kibitzing - call it 80% Jedi, 20% Jemanji maybe. You know that Dipoto would (justifiably) have objections to a few of Dr. D's phrases, so head over and watch yer ownself.

Q. Any young players you were happy with in 2017, that made progress?

A. (truncated) Mike Zunino made a "huge step forward" last year, was always a quality defensive player, now has "finally become a force" at the plate.

Mitch Haniger we think had a "breakout" year and will give us 5-6 years of "above-average" play in right field.

Ben Gamel at age 25 did a great job and we think "really makes sense for us going forward."

Image:

Dipoto, Second Four Minutes

Dr. D has ta say, too, that this dude comes off as one of those 1%'ers that is totally impossible not to ... well, like. Sort of along the lines of an extroverted Edgar Martinez or something. Bill James always rued the fact that MLB GM's seemed to have a "natural grace about them" that he didn't have; he was probably thinking of Theo Epstein more than he was a couple of the local guys here lately. But Jerry Dipoto definitely has it goin' on with the people skills, don't he?

Image:

Linkables

Assuming the "over" is about 10%, 20%, of course on HOF'er Ichiro Suzuki as a free agent to Seattle. Maybe we could put gold piping on his shirt sleeves, or something? Give him on onyx acupressure stick for the soles of his feet?

....

Eric Filia with a big hit to raise his AFL batting average to .400 and his OBP to... wait for it ... .476. This is against other elite talent, y'unnerstan'. At this point even MLB.com is reduced to asking, "So, given that he can rake, what else can he do?" He's fanned only 5 times in 82 at-bats.

....

Image:

Carlos Santana, 1B

Anthony Spaulding, after Jon Paul Morosi, fancies the M's chances to play Santana at 1B next year:

The Mariners are looking at free agent first baseman Carlos Santana as a possible addition, sources told Jon Morosi of MLB Network.

Image:

Eric Wedge Up for Yankee$ Job?

A BJOL reader wanted to know, would you compare the firing of Yogi Berra in 1964 -- after the Yankee$ won 99 games but lost the Series 4-3 to the Bob Gibson Cardinals -- would you compare that to the Yankee$ firing Joe Girardi after the 2017 season?

His terse answer, "I already have."

Image:

BJOL "Dynasty" Accounting System

Back in July of 2012, James set up a points system for ranking all of baseball history's dynasties. A fan wrote in today and updated the scores, so, good on him.

Definitions: "Dynasty" is taken from royal dynasties, a series of rulers from the same family. Practically speaking, James gives "a series of successful teams that ... have key personnel in common." Getting any more precious about the def than that leads to trouble, and Dr. D approves of James' habit of avoiding the trap that sabes get into, that of quibbling about hair-fine distinctions.

By the way, he gives the first Dynasty in MLB history as the 1880-1886 Chicago Cubs, with Cap Anson and Albert Spalding. (Heh.) He's got three dynasties from the 19th century, and then the 20th century leads off with the 1900-12 Pirates, of course with Honus Wagner but also with Rube Waddell, Jack Chesbro and about 7 other stars. The Pirates had "merged" with Louisville to form a true "superteam;" this year the sabermetricians told us there were 4 or 5 "superteams" in the playoffs. :: sniff ::

A few takeaways from the accounting post-2017:

Image:

Skinning the Big Bopper cat

OK, it seems that almost all of us think the M's will make a move for some sort of a big bopper. Stanton leads the rumor hit parade, of course. Otani is just behind, in second place, and Martinez, et al, are getting some mention. But there's another way to skin this bopper cat, one that takes advantage of a guy rumored to be on the block, from a team that might match up with us as a trade partner.

Jose Abreu and the Chicago White Sox.

Image:

NW Sports on Shohei Otani

Shannon Drayer puts up a dense, to-the-point Greg Johns-like report of the latest on Ohtani. It is fact-based, very Seattle-favorable, and well worth the read (not that these are Johns' distinguishing characteristics).

Takeaways:

...

1. Ohtani isn't kidding around about 500 at-bats - hitting even on days he starts. One scout says "of course" every team will promise him an everyday spot in the lineup; Drayer opines that it will come down to the team's credibility. All NL teams then face the problem that they're asking Ohtani to play a new position.

Dr. D sez, the Mariners could go with Haniger-Heredia in CF, give DH to Ohtani with Nelson Cruz in RF, and then inform Ohtani that is is his own call if and when he feels comfortable in RF. Juicy, no?

Sounds kludgy we know, but special circumstances require bend. Figure on Ohtani being in the lineup daily if he gets here. Dr. D puts him "on a hand," that being Curtis Granderson - 60-75 PWR, 60 SPD, maybe not a lot else.

Image:

4 Light Bulbs - Hot Stove Edition

CRUNCH: Jerry Dipoto is comfortable with a CF job-share between Heredia and Haniger. MLB.com sez so. The idea passes the chuckle test, easily, presuming that Dyson doesn't face reality sooner than later.

I/O: This does free the M's to go for lumber in a corner OF spot. This frees the M's to target (ulp) J.D. Martinez, Jose Bautista, Jay Bruce, Lorenzo Cain, and their ilk. The Condor if JeDi gets REALLY ambitious.

Image:

Pages