Who ARE These Guys?

Posted by

DaddyO
5/10/17
33

I mean, really, who ARE these guys?

Mitch Haniger, Jean Segura, Guillermo Heredia, Ben Gamel, Taylor Motter.

Young, good and in Mariners uniforms.

We have been treated to a succession of young busts over the years (including from this team Mike Zunino-- he went out from among us because he was not of us). But these guys are different. Are we sure there isn't some cosmic mistake, a sort of Bizzaro World in which young Mariners players are not only not bad, not only good, not only doggone good, but, in the words of Tony the Tiger, "GrrrrEAT!"

I mean you guys all know it, but look at this:

So I ask again and again, like Cassidy and Sundance of old, who ARE these guys?

Comments

1

Martin and Zunino have been with him for a year and can't hit a pinata even without a blindfold on.  They gotta go - or at least remain completely marginalized.

All the kids who are open to swing modification and the small adjustments in hand placement and approach? They can stay. Seattle went out and got guys who weren't too proud to rework the swings that made them professionals.  Sometime I'll do a post on how Gamel is swinging now vs. how he was swinging in NY. He's growing.

So manyu of DiPoto's offseason hitting acquisitions are hitting, and in ways outside of their career norms.  Segura looks like frickin' Sheffield when he puts his pull power to use.  I'm afraid he's gonna get PED-suspended like Melky Cabrera he's putting those guns to use so efficiently.  Some of it is picking a guy who has made changes that his old club has not put their faith in.  Some of it, IMO, is picking players WILLING TO CHANGE who have the material there to make them good pieces.

It's been like finding a fistful of Ibanezes in one offseason.  Crazy.  If that holds up - I dunno if it can but if it DOES - then the marriage of DiPoto and Edgar is going to be the most important thing in the Northwest. I don't tend to put a lot of faith in hitting or pitching coaches, but there are a couple who can work wonders with Their Guys, and Edgar seems to be one of those.

On the flip side, trade guys who aren't Edgar Guys.  Apparently we can find his type of players, so do that and burn the rest.

3
OBF's picture

OBF

Gamel, Heredia and Motter all have to be considered starters, and when Haniger gets back (hopefully soon?) Motter is back to super sub, so not much room for Dyson.

If there is a market for him I am sure Trader Jedi will exploit it, otherwise he is a championship level (as he has already proven with KC) backup/platoon/pinch runner OF, 

4

probably wouldn't want Dyson but maybe in a 3 team trade that could work.  Toronto would probably want prospects who are close and maybe fight to get one of our young OF in the deal.

I still like Zunino as a backup but have little hope of relying on him to be the starter.  He could potentially go in a trade as well though. 

5

The first week or ten days of the season, also later into April, I was wondering if the Edgar charm had worn off. Now it is clear that if anything it's reputation is enhanced. 

If DiPoto/Edgar is the recipe that will ultimately bring success to the Mariners, I want that dish seven days a week, 52 weeks a year.

Interesting comment, G, about the M's purposely acquiring guys who are willing to work with Edgar. Interesting also as to which guys clearly are either (a) not willing, or (b) not ABLE to successfully work with The Gar.

The thing I find fascinating about these young outfielders is this:  What if they continue to play remotely this well? What if they establish themselves as all the core outfielders we need? WHAT IF THEY ELIMINATE THE NEED TO SPEND BIG ON A FREE AGENT OUTFIELDER?! Money that everyone thought would need to go to such an acquisition could then be used to address other urgent needs like starting pitching, catcher, and first base? The possibilities are intriguing.

The M's are averaging 5 runs a game with black holes at catcher and CF and a less-than-fully-productive first baseman. Heredia in CF, Gamel in LF once Haniger comes back solves the outfield problem. Valencia starting to hit some brings promise at first base. If we were to get a catcher who could hit .240 and get on base at a .310 clip, just how many runs can this team score?!

We need a catcher and a bona fide SP. The catcher must be obtained from outside the organization. The pitcher will likely be the same unless Moore demands a fast track to MLB.

Hey, it's the nature of baseball that we're giddy after recent run-scoring exploits. Give us a week of being shut down and our moods will temper. But we have seen a sustained three weeks or so of eye-popping offense.

6

i am sitting here in a public power conference and I almost posted the very same thing about our young, good and cheap OFers.  It means capital resources can go elsewhere.  I am not yet done with Zunino.  I think what is mostly broken is his approach.  Those 12 homers last summer have further convinced him his offensive value is to slug dingers. I want Gar to convince him his value is to be an 80-85 hitter, choke up, make contact, be a Dan Wilson-type.  He will hit a decent number of homers, anyway.  He is too good as a framer, receiver and staff handler to worry about homers.  Choke up and shorten up Mike.  

10

Gaviglio?  

Are Weber, Overton and DeJong 3-5 now?

sounds like Paxton will be back soon.  Will see about Felix and Kuma.  

Moore in Tacoma is a timely move. 

13
OBF's picture

OBF

ANOTHER former Beaver :) :) :)

I wouldn't suprise me in the least if he comes in and out pitches De Jong, Overton and the rest of the fillers...

14

Fewer than 5 K/9 in AAA is hard to convert, but that's not his career path.  He's throwing everything in the zone right now, and pitch-to-contact is how Altavilla wound up back in AAA.  But we'll see.  He's a smart guy with a decent arm, and the Beavers know how to make em. ;)

We just need to stay afloat - and for all these injuries to be the non-serious kind.  Povse in AA and Moore in AAA are doing fine, but rolling for a month with Miranda as our ace and continual call-ups to fill the back end would be an incredible ask of the staff.

15
OBF's picture

OBF

But let this poor little Beaver heart dream for a minute :)

At least until he gets shelled in his first outing ;)

16

Well, they picked him up to be an innings eater, he might as well eat them all.

17

This season is like an entire 15 years of Mariner prospect hopes coming in from back order.  I think that JeDi should trade for another pitcher or two so the Mariners aren't a few games short come September.  There will not be 10 runs every night.  

18
OBF's picture

OBF

Gamel - Heredia - Haniger :)

Seriously as soon as The Maniger is healthy that is the outfield we need to roll with 9 out of 10 games...  if they gel we are SET in teh outfield for a while...

Dyson and Motter as super subs (or Dyson as trade bait).

Hopefully we are just getting all these little niggling injuries out of the way now, and everyone will be healthy for the long run.

Felix, Smyly and Paxton (and maybe Kuma?) will be back soon to fortify the rotation.

We need a catcher and one more ace (bullpen or starter).  Go get em Jedi!

Go M's!

19

We've got a Tank.  But the other three sure allow him time to begin to hit the bendy stuff.  

21

Must say that this is one of Doc's best ever picture & thread title pairings!!  Extra credit for Doc in my classroom.  

Of course,  I am a big Butch and Sundance fan.

Next time Nellie goes yard, into the next zip code, i think one of the announcers should say, "Think you used enough dynamite there Nellie?"

24

A two day suspension for Doc and the extra credit points for Daddy!

And the Dunce Cap for me!  Well done Dad!

25

Your percentage of catching what's going on is MUCH higher than mine.

364/1000 might be great for Haniger or Segura, but it's not such a great percentage when it comes to my cognition.

26

Went to see the movie five times the month it came out.

SO many classic lines. I can't remember for sure the name of the stubborn train guard whose car was blown open on the first robbery and then is recognized by voice as the same guard on the second robbery. Something like "Heacock."

Butch says, "Heacock?! Is that YOU, Heacock?" He mercifully tries to get Heacock to abandon the train before he blows it open for a second time, but Hancock says he can't "on account of I work for Mr. E.F. Harriman of the Union Pacific Railroad." The repartee is priceless.

27

they're standing over four or five bandito's who tried to hijack the money, and in utter despair about their attemp to "go straight."  Poignant.

30

This flurry of movie quotes from BC&TSK gives me an idea for a new category of post. There's POTD. Konspiracy Korner. Assorted other Doc'isms. And coming soon to a "screen" near you, the Movie Fest, featuring a particular classic, memorable movie ripe for comments from the peanut gallery. Of course, not all would be interested in the same movies, but if you didn't care for a particular one you could opt out of participating.

Maybe the idea is not really feasible, and it probably would need to be used sparingly, and right now we've got a team hitting like gangbusters which deserves our full attention, but...

31

What an outfield!

The Tigers have 3 catchers playing MLB(tm) level ball - McCann, Avila, and our old friend John Hicks, who is currently hitting like he wants a better job; he'd been playing 1B on the Tigers just until Miguel Cabrera got well, but got sent down to Toledo when Miggy was activated. From what I've seen and heard of Hicks, I hope Jerry is talking with the senior Avila. Hicks' hitting has certainly pumped up his value, but a couple of good prospects, especially young and fast ones (Powell? Miller? Bishop?) might be tempting to the Tigers, and a late-blooming Hicks who is willing to be a well-used (60-40?) BU to Zunino would certainly help. And the fact that he can play 1B passably well is the cherry on top.

32

He did get a lot of time at 1b in 2015 in Tacoma and even a little time at 3b and in LF.  Very little time.  He's been well regarded behind the plate.  In hindsight he might have been better than the Ianetta he was DFAd to make room for.  That was Dipotos choice but I don't know if that fact would affect anything with the current situation and need.  

Add comment

More information about text formats

Filtered HTML

  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd><p><br>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

shout_filter

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.