The good, the bad and the ugly of Mariners/2011

[Tacoma_canuck]

I thought I'd start a thread with a "spaghetti western" theme about the Mariners this year. We can add in or update until the end of the year.

The Good:
The most obvious is the pitching. Felix is maybe not quite as dominant as last year and it will still be a struggle to get 13-14 wins but the guy is one of the best in the game and is still young by baseball standards. Michael Pineda has been stellar and has a good chance to win the AL ROY award. A little bump in the road in July but dominant last outing and looks like a workhorse. The 133 K's in 130 IP is as good as a lot of veterans. The entire staff has been pretty good, for the most part.
Dustin Ackley. The guy has delivered all that was hoped for. If not for the late call-up, could be right there for ROY consideration. Lack of AB's keeps him out but this kid is the real deal and will be a top 5 2b for years to come. His speed and defense have been even more than expected, as well.
Brendan Ryan. Obviously not a prototypical 2 hole hitter and should probably hit 8th but overall has been very good for our team. Excellent defense in one of the most important positions on the field. A feisty, hard nosed attitude and hustle that is infectious and aside from the June slump has batted very well in that 2 hole, considering we have so few choices. I know people will look at overall numbers and call it atrocious but remember the horrible start in April and early May, he wasn't hitting #2.
The re-building of the farm system and the young guys getting playing time is the last thing. Yeah, some hits and misses (there always will be) but all in all, we've had some glimpses of a promising future. It is probably at least 2 years away but there is, at least, hope.

 

[Tacoma_canuck]

The bad:
Once again, we have an historically awful offense despite one of the best pitching staffs in the bigs. Especially in a DH league. It has improved a little lately with the influx of new young players so we aren't the worst in baseball right now (although overall numbers say we still are or close to) but we have a long way to go when our most productive power threat is a middle of the pack journeyman catcher. Nothing against Olivo, either. He's been asked to do way more than he should. Hopefully this can turn around going forward with guys like Ackley, Carp, Robinson, Wells and Smoak gets right again.
Ichiro. I contemplated putting this in the ugly catagory but the 125+ hits and SB marginally keep him above that. It really is looking like the end of the line for him although he may bounce back but even his defense has been bad this year and he has obviously lost a step. His contract is an albatross but it isn't going away. I doubt he walks away until at least, the end of 2012 but he really needs to start considering it.

 

[Tacoma_canuck]

The Ugly:
Here we go, down to the real problems.
Chone Figgins. I know he's been bashed ad nauseum but there is just no avoiding the obvious. This guy has been absolutely awful and at $9 mil/yr doesn't even have a decent glove to go with a sub Mendoza line. It is truly sad and I fear we are stuck with him unless the team eats a ton of money which gets to the next point.
Bradley,Silva, Cust and all the money being eaten up by DFA players and bad deals and signings. A lot of fans can complain about the all youth movement not producing results for awhile but at least they don't cost the millions of $ that the bad trades/signings do.
Our DH problems. Maybe this is a toss-up between bad & ugly but we need a steady solid DH. Lately the extra young guys have been filling the role but I hate having rookies DH'ing when they have a good enough glove to play defense. It's a position for veteran guys or slower guys who can produce runs but can't field as well.
Guti,Wilson. We gave these guys decent contracts and neither one has any business on a major league line-up card, at this point. Don't get me wrong, they are really great guys and they play stellar defense and they hustle but neither one can hit his shoe size. I cut Guti only a slight amount of slack because of the health issues but he will have to be better or get traded in a package because we have a lot of good young farmhands that can catch balls in the outfield. We've replaced all-star CF'ers before and will again.

 

[Destroydacre]

I'm actually really looking forward to the Mariners next season. Casper Wells and Trayvon Robinson sure look good so far this year. The Mariners finally (FINALLY) called up Carp and let him play and as no shock to me he's producing fantastic numbers. The Mariners got some other great prospects at the deadline this year (Chiang, Martinez) and the PTBNL from Detroit will be announced sometime this week, maybe as soon as tomorrow. Oh and Hultzen signed tonight too. The Mariners could definitely be a darkhorse to win the AL West next season. It's taken 3 years, but I think Zduriencik can see the light at the end of the tunnel of the mess Bavasi created.


/How sweet would it be if the M's opened up their wallets this off season as well and signed say Jose Reyes. I can dream anyway...

 

[Tacoma_canuck]

I agree that we can see real hope for the future for the first time in awhile. I thought we probably wouldn't be a serious contender in the west until 2013 and I think that is still the case. The young guys will have setbacks and have to work through them but players like Ackley,Carp,Robinson,Wells and even Smoak (who I think will bounce back big-time) are a real solid core to work around going forward. Jack Z has made some plus deals in his tenure and being able to turn around solid secondary pitching (which we have a ton of) into good talented young players shows just how smart the guy is. There is going to be money coming off the books but I hope they are smart with how they spend it. I honestly don't believe we need a Prince Fielder type of impact player to be successful and I wouldn't want them to go all in just yet. I kind of hope they try to lock up Ackley and Pineda long term the way they did with Felix. Maybe wait until Ichiro's contract is up after next year. Then they will have a lot of financial flexibility to get serious in the market and all these youngsters will be well seasoned and ready to perform at the next level similar to the mid 90's with Griffey, Edgar and company.