Post by Deleted on Jul 20, 2010 1:54:14 GMT -5
Prior to the start of the PBLs inaugural season expectations in Seattle were not high. The Mariners have not reached the post season since 2001, and long suffering fans in the Pacific North West have grown used to false dawns and rebuilding years. However early indications are that new GM Sam East intends to pull out all the stops in an effort to win an AL West Division that looks wide open this year.
East inherited a rotation bolstered by the signing of Cliff Lee from the Phillies at the end of 2009. Lee joined ‘King’ Felix Hernandez and Erik Bedard (currently on the DL), and with an existing strong bullpen the priority for East was a straight forward one: ‘given the strength of our pitching and defense this year, clearly we needed to get some offensive support in as soon as possible. I had my eye on two or three big bats and we’ve moved quickly to bring in some guys who can make a big difference to this club.’
Cliff Lee joins an already solid Mariners rotation
In the past few weeks the Mariners have signed three marquee bats from National League teams. Brian McCann, generally regarded as the top catcher in the NL (All star 2006-09) arrived first and was soon joined by versatile infielder Omar Infante – both from the Atlanta Braves. Then last week saw the Seattle make surely their biggest move since the signing of Ichiro Suzuki over ten years ago. East had apparently been in negotiation with several clubs over players he felt could add some much needed power to the heart of the Mariners line up, when he received a call from Milwaukee informing him that slugger Prince Fielder may be available. ‘As soon as it became clear that finding a deal to bring Prince to Safeco was a real possibility we did everything we could to secure his signing. I view Prince one of the top run producers in baseball (ed. Prince tied Ryan Howard as RBI leader in the NL in 2009) and with high contact guys like Ichiro, Figgins, Jose Lopez and Kotchman already here he was the just perfect impact player to make a massive difference to this offense’.
Fielder sends one of 2009's 46HR into the cheap seats
The price to bring McCann and Fielder was a high one; indeed the Mariners have apparently emptied their farm system to make these deals a reality. This mortgaging of the Seattle organization’s future may concern some fans but as East says ‘McCann and Fielder are both signed to long contracts and are still in their mid twenties. I see them as the key players in our line up not just in 2010, but for the next four or five years. We’ll rebuild the farm system around the success they create for us. Sure I’d have preferred to keep Michael Saunders and Dustin Ackley at the club, and we wish them the best for with their new teams – but with the best will in the World I can’t see either producing at the level of McCann and Fielder in the future’. East has also moved quickly to sign veteran players with major league experience to bolster every level of the Mariners minor league system. In all the Mariners have signed 25 free agents on minor league contracts in less than a month, players who East believes will both increase the gate receipts in every part of the farm system and create a winning environment in which future prospects can develop.
It is thought that the big new signings, McCann and Fielder, both being LHBs is not a coincidence, not only does Safeco slightly favor south paws, with the exception of Brett Anderson in Oakland and Scott Kasmir in Anaheim the strength of AL West teams rotations is right handed pitching. A top 5 that includes Suzuki, switch hitting Figgins, McCann, Fielder and Milton Bradley is likely to cause headaches for any rotation in the league this year.
Much is hoped of Lopez and Gutierrez this year, and the arrival of the two big LHBs can only help their development.
Even with Bedard still on the disabled list, the Seattle rotation and stellar defense is #1 or #2 in every category in the AL at this early point in the 2010 season. Although, McCann and Fielder have only just arrived – Fielder made his intentions clear in the first week with his new club 5 hits, 2 HRs, 2 doubles and 5 RBIs in his first 11 at bats. The Mariners have started impressively at 13-7 and are riding high in the standings on the back of an eight game winning streak. Although, one clear weakness of this organization is a lack of batting depth outside the major league roster that may not ride out the inevitable injury problems every team faces during a long season East clearly sees cause for optimism 'the arrival of star players can help the performance of everyone they play with, there’s a real buzz around the club house, fan interest has never been higher (attendances are already up 32.5% from the same time last year) and although it’ll be a tough season everybody here believes we’ll be playing in the post season this year.’
East inherited a rotation bolstered by the signing of Cliff Lee from the Phillies at the end of 2009. Lee joined ‘King’ Felix Hernandez and Erik Bedard (currently on the DL), and with an existing strong bullpen the priority for East was a straight forward one: ‘given the strength of our pitching and defense this year, clearly we needed to get some offensive support in as soon as possible. I had my eye on two or three big bats and we’ve moved quickly to bring in some guys who can make a big difference to this club.’
Cliff Lee joins an already solid Mariners rotation
In the past few weeks the Mariners have signed three marquee bats from National League teams. Brian McCann, generally regarded as the top catcher in the NL (All star 2006-09) arrived first and was soon joined by versatile infielder Omar Infante – both from the Atlanta Braves. Then last week saw the Seattle make surely their biggest move since the signing of Ichiro Suzuki over ten years ago. East had apparently been in negotiation with several clubs over players he felt could add some much needed power to the heart of the Mariners line up, when he received a call from Milwaukee informing him that slugger Prince Fielder may be available. ‘As soon as it became clear that finding a deal to bring Prince to Safeco was a real possibility we did everything we could to secure his signing. I view Prince one of the top run producers in baseball (ed. Prince tied Ryan Howard as RBI leader in the NL in 2009) and with high contact guys like Ichiro, Figgins, Jose Lopez and Kotchman already here he was the just perfect impact player to make a massive difference to this offense’.
Fielder sends one of 2009's 46HR into the cheap seats
The price to bring McCann and Fielder was a high one; indeed the Mariners have apparently emptied their farm system to make these deals a reality. This mortgaging of the Seattle organization’s future may concern some fans but as East says ‘McCann and Fielder are both signed to long contracts and are still in their mid twenties. I see them as the key players in our line up not just in 2010, but for the next four or five years. We’ll rebuild the farm system around the success they create for us. Sure I’d have preferred to keep Michael Saunders and Dustin Ackley at the club, and we wish them the best for with their new teams – but with the best will in the World I can’t see either producing at the level of McCann and Fielder in the future’. East has also moved quickly to sign veteran players with major league experience to bolster every level of the Mariners minor league system. In all the Mariners have signed 25 free agents on minor league contracts in less than a month, players who East believes will both increase the gate receipts in every part of the farm system and create a winning environment in which future prospects can develop.
It is thought that the big new signings, McCann and Fielder, both being LHBs is not a coincidence, not only does Safeco slightly favor south paws, with the exception of Brett Anderson in Oakland and Scott Kasmir in Anaheim the strength of AL West teams rotations is right handed pitching. A top 5 that includes Suzuki, switch hitting Figgins, McCann, Fielder and Milton Bradley is likely to cause headaches for any rotation in the league this year.
Much is hoped of Lopez and Gutierrez this year, and the arrival of the two big LHBs can only help their development.
Even with Bedard still on the disabled list, the Seattle rotation and stellar defense is #1 or #2 in every category in the AL at this early point in the 2010 season. Although, McCann and Fielder have only just arrived – Fielder made his intentions clear in the first week with his new club 5 hits, 2 HRs, 2 doubles and 5 RBIs in his first 11 at bats. The Mariners have started impressively at 13-7 and are riding high in the standings on the back of an eight game winning streak. Although, one clear weakness of this organization is a lack of batting depth outside the major league roster that may not ride out the inevitable injury problems every team faces during a long season East clearly sees cause for optimism 'the arrival of star players can help the performance of everyone they play with, there’s a real buzz around the club house, fan interest has never been higher (attendances are already up 32.5% from the same time last year) and although it’ll be a tough season everybody here believes we’ll be playing in the post season this year.’