Do the M's Have Pitching to Spare?
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This sparkling gem, predictably from The Counselor's table, got buried in the comments:
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Are we about to hit a pitching dry spell?
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Dr. D sez,
1) This should have been on the front page for the Joe Saunders bullet point alone. The whole thing is an outrage.
2) It hadn't really hit me that Taijuan had proposed marriage to us on the Jumbotron. He did, though.
3) It hadn't really hit me, how much I prefer smokin' hot young developmental Star-Scrubs (Stubs?) (Scars?) to Randy Wolf. How far we've come from the days of Silva, Batista, and Washburn at $10M each.
4) I tend to lose track of the fact that Taijuan is 0.5 pitches away. From becoming something that will give Corey Kluber the comeuppance he so richly deserves.
5) It hadn't really hit me, that Iwakuma probably would give us a nice discount. Which the Taro-nator immediately seconded. It's great to sit at the head of the table and be the dumbest guy in the room. Guess which AL shot-caller said that? Hint: not Zduriencik. Wasn't Nolan Ryan*, either.
6) The Orcs thing is just piling on, as Mojician undoubtedly does in the courtroom after the jury's already swooning at him. But what are "dorei," Ice/Taro?
6a) While we're on the subject, picture Hisashi-san's smile after a World Series.
7) No Mas
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That said, Mojician's claim as to "that's all you get!" with the Mariners' current rotation and trrrrip-le bullpen, that's kind of like claiming "that's all you get!" about Marshawn Lynch's taste for collisions.
But we take The Counselor's point. Around 1974, the LA Dodgers had like eight recent All-Star pitchers and had like eight more coming. That second wave doesn't exist here.
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That that said, the sidebar link to the Times doesn't link Geoffy any more. Get that straight. Geoffy now writes one article every ten days and spends the rest of the time sitting on his desk nodding sagely at editors. (I doubt you want the admins to prioritize my sidebar capabilities ... they're workin' a whole new thang, by the way.)
That's why the Times has the true-but-not-accurate claim that the M's have only 7 starters on the 40-man roster, two of which are Erasmo Ramirez and somebody way worse than Erasmo Ramirez. "And that's it." The M's may need to add 2 SP's to what they got (like real McCarthy-type SP's, we presume he means).
We're not trying to bust Ryan's chops but hey now.
- Danny Hultzen is going to make it 6x impact SP's
- What are you supposed to do with 6x impact SP's
- Tom Wilhelmsen looks like, and is, the very definition of a power right hand starting pitcher
- Joe Bullpen would prevent a few guys from going stale, such as Alias Smith and Leone
- Erasmo Ramirez counts (BaseballHQ quote: once a player shows a skill, he owns it)
- You have the three Randy Wolfs, Chris Youngs, and Jeremy Bonderman retreads who'll come to camp
- For that matter, Chris Young his ownself may come to camp
- 12 months on, there is the "free agent market" (you do have an external pipeline, kiddies)
- Let's not count 15 minor league draws at the deck to be absolutely worthless
- If you did have to deploy a melancholy #5 starter, let's not make that the end of civilization (cf. 25 other ML rosters)
- Felix is worth two starters
We don't say that anybody's pitching is a guarantee. But in a disaster scenario it's not like Tom Wilhelmsen can't go five innings, bumpkito.
Love, love love that Boeing expression "true but not accurate." The M's could trade pitching. But they prolly shouldn't trade Iwakuma or Taijuan, or Paxton or Felix :- )
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Gordon sez,
Even if you like our kids, you can't play them all. Find an 8-for-1 blockbuster somewhere.
Enjoy,
Jeff
Good pitching has sprouted up like mushrooms from the ground for Seattle for some time now, but that may be over. It seems like every good starting pitcher or reliever in the Mariner's system is already in the majors, except Erasmo Ramirez and Danny Hultzen.
I think that the top three other starting pitchers in the high minors are Tyler Olson, Jordan Pries and James Gilheeny, and they all have mountains to overcome. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it isn't time to hand the ball to any of those guys.
The idea of trading any pitching hurts mightily. Especially 'Kuma.
"You will build a house but not live in it, you will plant a vineyard, but not even begin to enjoy its fruit" Deuteronomy 28:30. Last I checked, this was a curse to be avoided. Here, the Mariners have built a mighty house of piching, and now it is time to live in it.
Consider the cons of trading the Kuma:
Consider the cost of trading Walker:
More rhetoric from the no trading pitchers party (NTPP).