<p>It is also the 50th anniversary of the 6 team expansion of 1967.</p>
<p>Those 6 teams were the #Los_Angeles Kings, #Minnesota North Stars, #California Seals, #Philadelphia Flyers, #Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues. The #Minnesota North Stars are the #Dallas Stars now and the #California Seals or better known as the #Oakland Seals were moved to #Cleveland and eventually faded away as bad trades and poor management took its toll. The team has ties to the #San_Jose Sharks and the #History is interesting to read about.</p>
<p>Also a major BUMMER for the Mariners as they won't be getting the draft pick now... Only way to salvage this for Kuma AND the M's is for him to sign with the mariners probably on a cheap deal... otherwise no one will sign him until after the ASB because of the draft compensation. Hopefully Dipoto didn't burn any bridges.</p>
<p>Scribner doesn't have a minor league HR problem...but that is often the case for guys with good stuff that just huck it foolishly down the center of the plate...minors hitters don't always make you pay for your bad pitches...MLB hitters will. And Scribner struggled to get significant PT in #Oakland. At age 28. For a REASON. He's interesting...and once again, Dipoto shows his love for multi-inning relievers, which is a love I actually share...but I don't think this will be as impactful as the hope must be.
<p>I'm certainly not qualified to comment on how effective ERA+ is as a statistic, but Iwakuma has not been pitching as well as his past glory for a couple years. He is older and may or may not get back to that level again. It's frustrating not to see that big immediate splash like when we signed Cano. I'm willing to watch and see what all of these little moves add up to though. Maybe he has a scrap heap Chirs Young like guy in mind to add depth. Sure hoping bullpen is where those extra $$$ go :) 1B could be fairly inexpensive (and easy) to upgrade over LoMo.
<p>#Colorado replaced Smith with an all-star...#Oakland replaced Smith with a few extra minutes in a metered steam room (they literally trade players for clubhouse amenities, they're so poor)...I do not think the Mariners need to emulate #Oakland's willingness to punt players to save a buck...we need to win. Now. And #San_Diego replaced him with Upton. So...yeah. Not convinced that Smith's production can be so easily replaced. Especially since...um...we are TERRIBLE at that.</p>
