Is Anyone in Favor of......

[sportznutt]

......the direction of the Mariners for next season?

[Goose]

Well the direction they are going is up. This is a better team now than it was last year.

But, I don't imagine anybody is in favor of how they have gotten the results.

[RotatorCuff]

Better team???? Hmm...I don't see them that way at all. They will have an extremely hard time matching their win total from 2006 in my opinion.

[Wiggen]

I agree. We're significantly weaker in the bullpen, I don't see much improvement, if any, in the starting pitching, and offensively it seems we're about a push. So I would say we're probably about the same - maybe a shade weaker over all.

[sportznutt]

I don't mind Guillen, but Jose Vidro for youngsters and Soriano is gone........sigh.

[Slica]

I agree with Wiggen.

I would guess Lopez will put together a full season...but I think its offset by Betancourt's unlikiness to repat his performance last eyar at the dish. Id say we are marginally improved offensively, with Everett gone and the superior Guillen here. A full season wtih Vidro as opposed to half season with others should be ok...not as good as a full season with Snelling (at DH, so screw the health concerns)...but adequate.

Bullpen is alot worse. I think the rotation is even worse, believe it or not. Then again Felix could always take a step forward, but I dunno if he'll do that unless there is food in front of him.

Basically its last year again: Questions, questions, questons. I think we'll score more, but give up more...im hoping for 99 losses, but I would say we get maybe 76 wins. Its a pretty close comparison.

Knowing Seattle's luck right now (All sports teams, the major storm, the adding a ton of nuclear weapons, etc)...with the luck of the city, I would imagine we win 117 games and lose in the second round of the playoffs. I have zero optimism right now.

[Goose]

I really think people are letting their emotional states, over these last two trades, cloud their judgements.

[RotatorCuff]

Sorry Goose but I agree with Slica. I think the bullpen is worse and that the rotation is as well.

This team ain't gonna win games on an expolsive offense so get ready for one looooonnnnng losing season.

[Goose]

Something tells me that if the following scenarios happened, people's opinions of the team would be drastically different.

Lets say Snelling blows out his knee(or his entire leg,it's certainly possible with him) and is out for the entire season, and
we trade Fruto for a backup catcher or something of similar significance.

Then lets say Soriano was never able to recover from eating a baseball and was out as well. We then sign John Thomson to a similar contract to what Rameriz currently has(plus a few million bucks).

Everything else happens the same. Batista signed to 3/25 and Guillen signed to 1+/5.5.

That team is basically the same exact team we have now. With the only difference being no Vidro. We still have no Snelling, and no Soriano. Thomson and Rameriz are pretty similar.

I bet people wouldn't be near as down on that team as they are this team. And why is that? Because their favorite players weren't traded, and are just injured.

[Slica]

Make no mistake, as much as I hate the two trades, I am not being emotionally attached here.

We didnt have Snelling all year last year, only half the year. We will have Guillen all year. We upgraded with him...and Vidro is not a bad gain. That right there tells me our offense has upgraded. HOWEVER, we were probably better off with Snelling instead of Vidro. I know Snelling seems to have an injury curse, but with him playing DH...he should stay healthy. Which means he was a better choice than Vidro.

Bullpen has gotten worse, for obvious reasons.

Meche was inconsistent...and was not consistently terrible (though sometimes he easily hit that mark). Id take him over Ramirez easily. Batista is getting older, so who knows how long he can be average for us. He might be an upgrade over Pineiro, but thats offset by the downgrade from Meche to Ramirez.

I just dont see our team recovering very much. Last year we would allow runs early, but the opposing offense hit a brick wall in our bullpen. This year we dont have the brick wall, unless someone steps up mightily. We're gonna need our offense to step up instead.

While Lopez should put together a full season (at least 15 HRs, and a ton of doubles)...Betancourt is unlikely to flirt with .300 as long as he did last year. Then again, noone knows that. Vidro has zero power, and we lose Broussard's decent pop, AND Snellings pop...We basically got the exact opposite of Carl Everett in Vidro - Can hit, no pop. So I dont think Lopez can make up for all of those likely downgrades. Ibanez is getting older, and he should still hit...but can he repeat last year?

Once again, this season will fall on someone stepping up from the bullpen (ala Mark Lowe) AND ---you guessed it, Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre.

[Slica]

I dont necessarily disagree with you Goose, either...the team is basically the same. They could win a couple extra games (if some players step up) or they could lose a few more games (if things offset each other).

[The Iceman Cometh]

I can't even tell you what the M's direction is. Someone significant still has to be moved. Obviously, the assumption is it's Broussard, but nothing's happened yet and there are other options.

The bullpen shouldn't be the issue folks are making it out to be. We still have a top-notch closer, a potential midseason Lowe return, and plenty of arms to audition, not to mention money and tradeable commodities to acquire an arm.

The offense will be better, for reasons already stated, although pending the presumption that Broussard will be moved.

The rotation really depends on individual performances this year and should be the biggest factor for the M's. In addition to Felix, at least ONE other starter needs to step up in a big way. Somehow, some way, we need to upgrade from Baek to something better.

[Timberwolf]

Given the resources available, this team had the opportunity to make a significant upgrade. With the right off season this could have been a 90 win team that might have sneaked into the playoffs with some luck. Instead the knuckleheads went cheap and got overpriced duct tape, paint, and baling wire.

The natural improvement from Felix, Yubet, Lopez, and Johjima would have produced a few more wins than last year anyway. Jamie Moyer is gone, so any gain from having no Crazy Carl is offset. I see this year's team winning almost exactly the same number of games as last year.

[The Iceman Cometh]

Jamie Moyer is gone, so any gain from having no Crazy Carl is offset.

I don't see see how Jamie's 6-12 record and 4.39 era in 160 innings last year are irreplacable.

[Barnstormer7]

The intangibles that Jamie brings to a team is the thing that will be hard to replace (work ethic, experience, etc.)

Would you prefer Batista, HoRam or Jamie at this point?