Seattle Sports Insider

M's 7, Orioles 6

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8/17/17

WORMHOLE 1 --- > the MLB standings have the M's at .500, same as 122 games ago. The Royals are +2 despite a -17 run differential, the rodent Angels at +3 despite a -5 run differential. Forthy games left.

Whether the Mariners, with all their injuries, deserve to have a shot at the playoffs is one question. Whether they are in fact in position to take a shot at the playoffs, that's a separate question.

WORMHOLE 2 --- > Servais plans Erasmo - Miranda - Guy Art Dough over the weekend, with a 4.1 IP agenda for all except Miranda. Same goes for Albers and Marco to follow. M's are hopeful that this group of horsies will carousel only twice more before Zeus rejoins, only three times more before Felix rejoins.

It's an aspect of the games that Dr. D enjoys tho'ly. The enemy lineup getting our SP triangulated and then SCCHOOOOOOOM here comes a flamethrowing reliever. Chew on that, feebs.

WORMHOLE 3 --- > Marc-O Gonzales is slipping gingerly towards a 50% offspeed mix. If Billy Zoom's and Bat's view of the world be on track, his touch-and-feel will produce better and better outings over the last 40 games.

Hey, no sooner do you noodle that then you run into a Servais quote: “He’s going to be in our rotation,” Servais said. “We’ll go forward with him. He’ll continue to learn and get better.”

WORMHOLE 4 --- > The Mariners themselves, the actual players that is, feel that they have "flushed" the losing streak and arrested their scrabbling slide down the gravel hill. SSI has harped on the fact that this is one of the sweetest aspects of sports enjoyment, watching a team fight a rearguard action and try to turn around a set of adverse circumstances. Last two games?, that's what we needed.

WORMHOLE 5 --- > About 60% of Lookout Landing fans would go for Justin Verlander, provided he didn't cost a premium minor-league asset. Verlander is currently the #3 starter in the AL per Bill James' Starting Pitcher rankings.

Enjoy,

Dr D

Blog:

Dr's Prognosis

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Marco Gonzales

Comments

Marco is not in the darko ...

Hey, DePoet would not have traded for him if he did not think he could be of immediate help.

Tank was a major chip in a minor farm system who still needed another year of fattening ... and the M's needed help right away.

Manager Cerveza still seems to be studying him to figure out when to pull the plug when Marco's mounding looks unsteady as he slips near a gopher hole. Anyway, that is still under study but we don't have to listen to any Moore about that.

I'm still a bit uncomfortable as he faces batters the second time around, maybe he is thinking too hard.

Meanwhile, someone has been feeding worms to Sugar.

Didn't a fastball used to be his mealticket?

Now's he's just sliding on by ... and that is batter after batter.

Tossing at 100+ hurting his arm?

Zunino and Ruiz conspiring against him?

New bullpen coach is only recent staff input, and why would he get into changes?

Hopefully, pulling Sugar last night was an electric message to the stopper with a high voltage cattle prod.

They are still pushing the rock up the hill ... and seem to grab it each time it begins slipping back down.

And, Dear Doctor, I told you I slid down a rock embankment and bruised my tailbone ... but that was ten weeks ago ... I would much preferred to have been scrambling through gravel as long as it wasn't sliding into the abyss.

zoom

Verlander

Maybe the definition of 'premium' as applied to prospects is limited in the M's system, I truly don't know.

I suspect I'd be content givng up any single prospect outside of Kyle Lewis (and the ineligible 2017 guys) for Verlander, assuming the FO was confident regarding the salary taken on.

We've got a window somehow open this year, who CARES if we 'deserve' it. Verlander would be around long enough to make the acquisition more than worthwhile, and once our injury truants return... That playoff rotation is looking fairly rock-solid. (Pax-Verlander-Felix-Kuma? can anyone else break in? Gonzales or Miranda, as a second lefty?)

Premium minor-league asset?

Throwing Ver Lander into M's playoff equation is an interesting notion, one I am all in favor of; supposing the minor(!) issue of his compensation is settled. Is he not guaranteed $28 million in EACH of the next 2-years? At that level of compensation plus including a minor-league asset qualifies as robbery. Settle his compensation fairly and i'm all in.

If we're pushing chips into the middle of the table

...then I say Verlander's salary is a bad bet.

I would rather soldier on with what we've got, then in the offseason...

1) make the necessary push for Sho Otani...or Arrieta...or Darvish

2) have enough left over for Cobb or Estrada or Jaime Garcia or Hellickson or Lynn or Pineda or Vargas

Have the Opportunity?

Take it. I wouldn't trade my best chip for potential contract albatross, but something. Detroit wants out of that. Verlander may not give you Darvish, Arrietta, Otani......but no Verlander doesn't give us any better shot at landing those guys either.

Are we going to soldier on this summer? And then when those guys sign with the Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox and the usual players, are we going to soldier on then too?

Next July?

Doing nothing can get me killed too. We're not talking a ten year contract committment here. Sufficient unto the day us the evil thereof.

BTW, the soldier on position has plenty of merit. I'm cool with that too. But I'm also getting older. Next year is always the focus. There is one less of "next years" for me (and you) left than there was last year.....

Silentpadna, "But I'm also

Silentpadna, "But I'm also getting older. Next year is always the focus. There is one less of "next years" for me (and you) left than there was last year....."

For several years now this has become an exponentially increasing factor in my deep disappointment with the M's as a franchise. I was excited going into both 2016 and 2017, years when we were supposed to be among the better teams in baseball. I was excited in part because I got to witness these seasons at all. The day in early 2016 that very easily could have been my last on earth, a day when I was saying my goodbyes to my family, brought me to that point of appreciation.

It's one thing to say, "There's always next year," when you have a reasonable expectation of many more next years. When you don't, it sorta changes your perspective. Verlander? By all means. Those of my tribe, those who can't feel too assured of of a large number of seasons ahead, can't help but want the M's to do a little carpe diem FOR ONCE. By this I mean don't just make the roster moves, play playoff quality baseball, make the playoffs, and do something worthwhile once you get there.

Wow...scary stuff, DaddyO

I didn't know you'd been so ill! What was the issue, if you don't mind me asking? If you do mind, just tell me to butt out.

I am always the "win now" guy. When I play fantasy, I don't do rebuilding. Ever. That's boring.

Get us an inning eating starter to buoy the confidence of the team and spare the bullpen.

I don't mind.

After twelve years with an implanted defibrillator after a serious heart attack in 2002, without warning I needed it three times in one day in January 2016. Three times my heart stopped beating and I was, um, GONE. Three times the defibrillator shocked me back into the land of the living, the second time after a full minute.