This sucks.
This is the second year in a row that the Angels are a "good" team thats pretending they're a great team.
The Angels' luck likely won't continue for the rest of the year. The problem though is that the Mariners aren't really a better team than the Angels so they'd have to SIGNIFICANTLY outplay them the rest of the year to come out ahead.
A 7.5 game gap is a pretty substantial one. And while I don't think the Angels are a better team than the Mariners, I also don't think they're worse. Its gonna be hard to make up that gap at this point...this is why I thought it was important to make a decision on buying/selling earlier in the season.
We've needed a LF (the Langerhans trade came too late), a DH, and a SS all year long. If we had patched those holes earlier on, perhaps we'd be in a better position to contend right now. HAD we gone on a firesale earlier in the year, perhaps we'd be able to contend with the Nationals on the other end.
As of now, its hard to tell what position the Ms should be in...right now they're looking like sellers, but who knows maybe the Angels lose 8 of the next 10. This blows..
Now, having stepped up onto our soapbox about the desire to quit, if down 12 points in the 3rd quarter of an NBA game...
........................
We WILL follow up by pointing out that if you are -12 to a very good team, with 8:00 left in Q3, that you are in a precarious position.
You have absolutely no right to quit if -12 with 8:00 left in Q3. But you DO realize that if you let them get on another run, it's going to be over. There is no margin for error in that situation.
.........................
Two terrible performances have brought the count to -7.5 games, and that's not out of it, either. But now you are down -14 with 4:00 left in the 3rd.
...........................
Somebody looks over sadly and says, "see, I told you we shouldn't have come out of the locker room at halftime," guess how we're going to react to that guy? We'll wrap him in tape and leave him in a locker. :- )
But the last two lousy days have put the M's near the brink. Zduriencik is well aware of this, which is why Michael Saunders is up.
...........................
What would *I* do, if down -14 with 5:00 left in the 3rd quarter? I'd sub in three players. Whatever bullets you've got in the gun -- Clement, Carp, Saunders, a deal for a bat that does not hurt you longterm -- it's time to fire them.
...........................
Time to deal Washburn and Bedard? Not for the sake of humiliating ourselves, no. IF you can get a true building block for Wash, great. Think you can?
Cheers,
Dr D
Comments
At this point, he's not hitting in a groove, so there is no excuse about messing up a good hot streak with thoughts of defense for a veteran 33 year old who wants to keep his starting job. I'd call up Carp, move Branyan to third, I'd be working on trading Clement and Washburn in a package for a slugger...think the Nats would enjoy that combo for Willingham? Or trade Washburn for a prospect and flip the prospect along with Clement to the Nats for Willingham...something...ANYTHING to shake up the line-up and give us a fighting chance...anything that doesn't blow up the farm of course...which trading Clement and Washburn would not do.
Great thoughts amigos.
That's what you do if down 15 in basketball and it's going south: you try something extreme. Four perimeter shooters, or three bigs, or whatever breaks up the flow of the game.
Branyan at 3B, Carp at 1B, that's a great idea. And it reminds me of when my 1975 Reds went on a tear by moving a hitter (Rose) to 3B, opening up LF for a big bat.
Bedard may be hurt again.
At what point do we start worrying that Bedard may NEVER be healthy?
At what point do his travails with the DL reduce his market value?
The basketball analogy doesn't work for me. We aren't behind one just one team. I'm pretty sure you can't add to your roster at halftime of an NBA game. The angels are going to mortgage some of their future, something we can't afford nor do we have the talent to match. Team redundancy are up +7.5 games and will be adding a significant piece. As an aside, I'm at a loss for your infatuation with Bedard. His tenure as a mariner has been an abject failure considering the cost, context, and his continued fragility. It's time to swallow hard , and view him as a sunk cost and get what we can. That is unless you think he's due for a long 'healthy' streak and move him after the deadline. (He's not, BTW.)
He'd be lucky to get a one-year $12mil deal at this rate. 1 year at $10mil probably does it, and I really hope the Ms give it to him 'cause I'd hate to lose him for nothing.
If there's a chance in hell the Ms could get Reid Brignac for Washburn/Bedard, I'd jump. If we're talking about a live arm in low-A with no performance record or a toolsy outfielder who can't hit yet, you pass and hope to hit on compensation picks in the draft next June. Nobody's talking fire sale for its own sake.
Why is the entire Mariner blogosphere talking about Brignac like he's some kind of up and coming Alex Rodriguez clone?? He's got a minor league OPS of .793, biased lower at higher minor league levels minus this season...he's 23, not 19, and he's been a pretty mediocre fielder in the minors too. What the fozzbot am I missing??
Nothing much.
Hes got the potential for an average glove at SS with an above-average bat (at that position) that isn't hurt much by Safeco.
Hes not going to be a superstar, but hes got a real nice shot at being an above-average player that isn't hurt much by the park.
Personally I prefer Alcides Escobar. Plus-plus defense + speed. Hes a righty but I don't care. Give me the Gold Glover with average offense over the overrated Brignac. Rumors are Washburn+Morrow for Escobar+sweet specs.
Escobar looks like a ridiculously good fit for the M's - the only way he could be better is if he was a switch hitter. At MC one person commented that the scouting reports on him sound like Yuni circa 2005, and that's what I was thinking too. But Escobar is showing coachability - improving his walk rate. And he's younger and apparently further behind in body development than Yuin was at the time.
The thought did occur also that he's Venezuelan and only 2 years younger than Felix. Maybe that plays a very small role in establishing the young new gaurd, or in encouraging Felix to sign up long term.
The M's need SOME right handed batters, if Escobar continues to have improving plate discipline and is the real deal defensively, I can see where Jack Z would be all over him.
I agree.
I think Yuni was probably a plus glove in the minors, but the guy regressed at a rediculous pace at the MLB level. It seemed like every year he was a little chubbier and a little less focused.
I'm guessing Escobar doesn't have Yuni's laziness.
We still have plenty of games against LAAAAA and Texas. Yes, we pretty much have to win almost all of the head-to-head games, but we can salvage the situation. Of course, the odds aren't on our side. That's why something like '95 sticks in the collective consciousness for so long.