Seattle Sports Insider

Pepper, Aug 1

Posted by

8/1/09

Flip: The rotation is announced as Vargas - Felix - Snell - RRS - and either Olson or French.

Chop: Capt Jack was on KJR saying that he took the Detroit deal precisely because he got talent for NOW AND LATER.

Other packages offered nice talent that was a few years away, and that wasn't as appealing, sez he. The Detroit deal stood out because the Mariners got help for 2009 along with the minors talent. That was the swing factor: help for 2009.

Z went on to emphasize that they've got a full six years of Luke French.

.............

I don't get this, though, that they keep saying "Olson OR French." What's the decision here? They powerflushed Olson two cycles ago. They brought him back only because of injury, and then he got pounded again.

They regard Olson as unacceptable. Why the hesitation about replacing him with French? It's like you traded for an ML-ready third baseman, and then let everybody know that you were going to audition him against Jack Hannahan for a while.

Hm. So French is viewed as "rotation thickener," a #6-7 SP who will provide a stoploss for several years?

Flip: M's watcher thinks the rotation has taken quite a hit.

Chop: My epiphany came when it was announced that Snell was starting Sunday, and Zduriencik on the radio spoke so optimistically of what they expected from Snell in 2009.

As opposed to two weeks ago, they've got Snell vs. Washburn, and all the rest is the same. Again, as a roto dweeb, I'll take Snell over Washburn right now, for the rest of THIS year.

I think Washburn is defying gravity to a certain extent, and Snell is the guy with the sky-high Shandler BPV's. I take my pitchers based on K/BB/HR. Gimme Snell.

So Felix-Bedard-Snell-RRS and then Vargas-Olson-whoever. What's wrong with that?

Flip: Jason Vargas battles Texas heroically, but gives up two crushing dongs, a 2-run and a 3-run shot.

Chop: D-O-V's instant report was: quality offspeed stuff, good mound presence, but the LH fastball shows itself very early, and is as readable as a ball flung off an Iron Mike pitching machine.

His Achilles Heel has, indeed, turned out to be the two balls a game that get lost in the clouds. He has coughed up 13 taters in 72 innings, including 6 of 'em in his last 23 innings. The ERA has sailed up to 4.71 and the clock has struck 12.

A lefty with a very hittable fastball is out there trying to fend off Manticore spikes with a 12" wooden shield. It's just not a good way to try to slay the Texas and LA dragons.

...............

Vargas was a nice value pickup, a good soldier, but he's a bridge guy. Let's get Snell, Morrow, and RRS rollin' ASAP. I like STUFF, babe.

Cheers,

Dr D

Comments

Wash vs. French, not Wash vs. Snell

Doc,
You've missed my point. I was thrilled when we added Snell, buying low with a big upside, taking Bedard's spot in the rotation while he's on the DL. Keeping Wash, we would maintain a big three in the rotation and have a big four on Bedard's healthy return. That would match up with any AL rotation. We didn't get much help from the Wash deal for 2009, a long reliever to clean up after our bottom of the rotation 3-5 SPs, or maybe he's the #5. They all aren't much better than Valle throwing BP, with the exception of RRS' last outing.

Cool...

Point taken. So you wanted Felix-Bedard-Washburn, plus Snell? Fine, but as it happens the reality is that Snell replaced Washburn...
When you say, they didn't get much help from the Wash deal: they did get Ian Snell directly in that deal. Are you saying that Snell won't match Washburn's future performance, or that the M's didn't *improve* vs. July, or ?

Also -

am not getting where you are on Rowland-Smith.

This is troubling

Why would Z trade with Detroit just because he could get Frenchy in the deal? How does he actually help us this year? He seems to be a real fringy player who isn't much better than Olson or Jaku, if at all. What's more, once Bedard is back we won't need any of those players. I hope Jack didn't opt for a lesser deal just so he could say he was helping the team this year. The fact that the team controls him for six years is irrelevant because they aren't going to want him for six years! He most likely is going to wash out of the majors pretty quick. The only way to justify this trade using Z's reasoning is if he thinks French is going to be better than the scouting report suggests. Is there any reason to think that?

Snell in the Wash deal?

Yes, i was drooling over those four in the rotation. Last I checked, we got Snell for Clement, Cedeno, and 3 low MiL pitchers, so I don't understand your Wash-Snell relationship. The only one I see is Snell picking up Wash's next scheduled start and beyond.
I like Wilson who solves the SS problem, and look forward to Beltre's return. The rest of the hitting needs to improve, and it didn't improve at the deadline aside from these two. Not enough, but maybe too much to expect at once. There may be opportunities in the off-season, but for now, the guys we have need to perform better, like Jr. did yesterday.