Do you think the M's will be over .500 from this point forward?

[cezero]

I like their chances, actually.

We'll see if any trades impact this positively or negatively soon enough.

Looking forward to the next couple of months.

 

[unlvmariners]

I like their chances, actually.

We'll see if any trades impact this positively or negatively soon enough.

Looking forward to the next couple of months.

I agree. I think it is possible. Trades could certainly impact this negatively.

I just hope the young guys continue to play well. I am most looking forward to watching the young guys play out this season and build experience for the future. It would be great to see this team play well the rest of the season and end on a good note.

 

[Cloud]

The team played extremely well heading into the AS break but now they have this really long lay off so we'll see if they can keep up the hot streak moving to the end of the season.

Overall though, yes, I do think this team from now until the end of the season will probably be over .500. They may also end the season over .500 as well. A definite improvement moving forward if that's the case.

 

[wazzu31]

Highly doubt it, it's not a negative on the team at all.

A. There starters 3-5 will not hold up with Saunders about to be dealt. All the young talent that can be brought up to pitch will run out of innings.

B. The younger guys will eventually go through a slump which will cause at least a few losing streaks. But this is why it is crucial to keep Morales and Morse, Ibanez is already going to stay. They need veteran presence in the locker to help the kids through their struggles in the dog days.

Not saying anything negatively about the past veterans but it seems whenever Jack or Wedge talk about Saunders, Smoak or Ackley working on things it always invovles some outside help, a private hitting coach, an agent who played ball or anything other than someone within the organization or even a veteran.

 

[dumbrabbit]

If The Mariners keep playing the way they did before the AS break, then I really like their chances of breaking the .500 mark. They just gotta keep doing what they're doing and I'm sure they'll be much closer to .500 than they could have been. This however, depends on the play of Smoak, Seager(I'm sure he'll keep playing hot), Morales, Miller, Franklin and Ackley. If these guys can play well and improve on their weaknesses, I sure as hell like their chances of playing .500.

 

[mcnabb7542]

A. There starters 3-5 will not hold up with Saunders about to be dealt. All the young talent that can be brought up to pitch will run out of innings.

I want them to finish .500 or better but I'm thinking like Wazzu is, this staff at #2 spot is real shaky and I dont think they can get the job done, or better yet eat up inngs...

 

[Cloud]

I want them to finish .500 or better but I'm thinking like Wazzu is, this staff at #2 spot is real shaky and I dont think they can get the job done, or better yet eat up inngs...

The argument for the 3-5 starters are legit and I agree. But did I understood you right by saying our "#2 spot is real shaky" as well?

#2 = Iwakuma = shaky?

What?

Iwakuma has gone through some command issues since June, but prior to that, the M's have arguably the best 1-2 punch in the AL. Even on his last start, he seemed to have gotten things straighten out and every pitchers go through that phase, so it shouldn't be a cause for concern. Perhaps it was fatigued so the ASB should be a good thing for him.

If you want to talk about inning eaters, Felix and Iwakuma are it. Felix is at 138 IP and Iwakuma is at 131.

 

[Logicallylethal]

I wouldn't rule it out...but being 9 games under .500 it's going to be really hard.

I would be more happy if we played at .500 or a bit over .500 the rest of the way. Our total win/loss at the end of the year is honestly just whatever to me...I am more concerned with seeing progress and so far the progress has given us a rejuvenated sense of optimism and hope for the future.

Here's what I want to see in the second half

- Nick Franklin to pick it up again. Since that injury his batting avg has really dipped...and if he continues to slump it could very well dip into the .240-.250 range
- Smoak to continue his hot streak...and add on some power...I want to see him finish with 20-25 hrs
- Erasmo to return to the Erasmo we saw last year to finish the year
- Michael Saunders to get his bat avg back to .250
- Ackley to hit .270 the rest of the year (I may be the only one who still has faith in the guy...but I'm pullin for him)
- Felix to get to 20 wins! If our offense continues to hit like this...Felix will have a great chance to finally get to 20 wins

 

[cezero]

I wouldn't rule it out...but being 9 games under .500 it's going to be really hard.

I would be more happy if we played at .500 or a bit over .500 the rest of the way. Our total win/loss at the end of the year is honestly just whatever to me...I am more concerned with seeing progress and so far the progress has given us a rejuvenated sense of optimism and hope for the future.

Here's what I want to see in the second half

- Nick Franklin to pick it up again. Since that injury his batting avg has really dipped...and if he continues to slump it could very well dip into the .240-.250 range
- Smoak to continue his hot streak...and add on some power...I want to see him finish with 20-25 hrs
- Erasmo to return to the Erasmo we saw last year to finish the year
- Michael Saunders to get his bat avg back to .250
- Ackley to hit .270 the rest of the year (I may be the only one who still has faith in the guy...but I'm pullin for him)
- Felix to get to 20 wins! If our offense continues to hit like this...Felix will have a great chance to finally get to 20 wins

Excellent points, though I think the thing about Ackely is a fantasy. He played good at AAA before being called up in 2011, and hit well at AAA again when he was sent back down this year. All it has proven is that he can hit AAA pitching and cannot hit MLB pitching. Sad. I hope he turns it around, but it would be a miracle.

To be clear, I didn't mean will they get to .500 this year. I meant will they play .500 ball from this point forward.

 

[SeattleCoug]

If you take out the 8 game losing streak then we have really played .500 ball basically to whole year. I think we are better now then we were in the beginning of the year so I expect us to play 4-5 games over .500 and make a run at 81 wins.

I think it would be foolish to pull the plug Ackley or give up on him. Some guys are late bloomers. I think the Mike Trout factor plays a role as well as he succeeding at far better rate. If you look back at the 2009 draft Ackley has more ABs then any other position player taken in the 1st round and only Trout is having more of impact in the bigs. In fact the 4 position players taken after Ackley still havent hit the bigs yet.

 

[cezero]

If you take out the 8 game losing streak then we have really played .500 ball basically to whole year. I think we are better now then we were in the beginning of the year so I expect us to play 4-5 games over .500 and make a run at 81 wins.

I think it would be foolish to pull the plug Ackley or give up on him. Some guys are late bloomers. I think the Mike Trout factor plays a role as well as he succeeding at far better rate. If you look back at the 2009 draft Ackley has more ABs then any other position player taken in the 1st round and only Trout is having more of impact in the bigs. In fact the 4 position players taken after Ackley still havent hit the bigs yet.

Ackley is 25, and has an OPS of under .650 and BA of under .240 after nearly 300 MLB games.

The only reason his career numbers are even that high is because he was so "hot" (relatively speaking) in 2011 and 2012 compared to now.

2013 for Ackley: .205 BA / .267 OBP (dear lord) / .522 OPS

Why in the name of the Almighty do people still talk about him like he will magically become an even moderately good MLB player? Which #1 draft picks have ever become league average after abysmal numbers like this at Ackley's age with his time in MLB?

 

[cezero]

To be clear, I certainly don't expect Ackley to be a once in a generation player like Trout, and I doubt anybody else on here does, either. I understand that it takes time for players to develop.

But there has to be a middle ground between Trout and utter incompetence at the plate if we're going to talk about "blooming" and such.

I missed all of 2011, so I never got a chance to see Ackley then. I did see him all of 2012, and got lambasted when I tried explaining that Seager was learning and growing with just about every plate appearance while Ackley just looked lost. I couldn't believe that so many would basically plug their ears and cover their eyes and insist that Ackley was better. It's absurd.

What more will it take for people to give up this ghost?

 

[SeattleCoug]

I am not trying to say he is going to become a star. I am just saying it would be foolish to give up on him. Smoak has almost a full year more then Ackley in the majors and we stuck with him despite the back lash and he just now starting to turn it around (we hope).
Dominic Brown of the Phillies is another example. He was there top prospect for a while and was all but given up on until he got a chance due to injury and he is taking advantage of it.

My bigger concern with Ackley is he may not have a position here if Franklin is taking over second. However whose to say Franklin just got off to a good start and now dipping back. I just dont really see him as an outfielder.

Again not saying he is gonna be a perennial but in my opinion its still to early to give up on him. As long as Jack Z is still here I dont think they will as that was Z's first major draft pick.

 

[mcnabb7542]

The argument for the 3-5 starters are legit and I agree. But did I understood you right by saying our "#2 spot is real shaky" as well?

#2 = Iwakuma = shaky?

What.

Cloud,

No that was a solid error, it shouldve read, "after the #2 starter it gets shaky."

 

[cezero]

I am not trying to say he is going to become a star.

Good.

Believe me, as long as Jack Z is at the helm, Ackley will not be "given up" on. Z is too proud for that.

 

[cezero]

If you take out the 8 game losing streak then we have really played .500 ball basically to whole year. I think we are better now then we were in the beginning of the year so I expect us to play 4-5 games over .500 and make a run at 81 wins.

Yeah, that Cleveland series really stuck for a long time.

I'm optimistic for the first time in awhile now. Not much to complain about with the 2nd generation of prospects all just recently called up. Seager just rock solid as always. Ibanez a good mentor in the clubhouse.

Even if they play a little under .500 the rest of the season, it's good to see this.

 

[seattlefan75]

I think whats gonna happen in the trade deadline will determine how were gonna finish this season, if we sell a lot then were probably going to tank a lot and the angels will just run right ahead of us. If we just go all out and trade ibanez, iwakuma, morse, morales then we will probably finish the season on a weak note

 

[dude82]

I don't see any selling or tanking happening with this group. They're on a decent run right now and if this team is going to be a winner soon, these kids need to know what it's like to have success at this level now. Trading guys, particularly veteran guys, takes away mentors for these young guys as well and there's no need to do that. I said before that if any players get traded, it'll most likely be Saunders and/or Perez, but if they keep putting up a good showing for the next week and a half, those guys might not even be traded. We'll see I guess, but I really hope they don't go on a sell-off of this roster.

 

[mcnabb7542]

We'll see I guess, but I really hope they don't go on a sell-off of this roster.

If they do "sell off" the roster then you will see a fan base turn really fast on Z and the orginzation alot more then what has happen already.. They have put themselves in a good postion here, they have young guys hitting, playing good defense, that will build confidence for next season and better pitching next year could finally, finally, put them back in the playoffs...

 

[blstoker]

With the second wild card position, there are gonna be a lot of teams that would have sold in the past that won't sell now. The Mariners are 9 games back coming into today, with an offense that is averaging nearly 6 runs a game over the last month. If the pitching staff could put it together and the offense stays playing well, there isn't any reason to think the team couldn't be .500 or better (14-11 in last 25 5.28 runs against a game). If the pitching staff weren't so mediocre, I may even think the team could make a push at closing the gap with Texas (1995 like) for the second Wild Card.