We'll Miss You Dave

The Seattle Times is reporting that Dave Niehaus has died at 75.  He goes down as one of the greatest Mariners of all time.  Personally I put him right there next to Edgar, with The Big Unit and Griffey not far behind. 

Over the past few seasons his calls weren't as sharp as they used to be, but many of us accepted that and were able to enjoy hearing his soothing voice at the mic knowing that he could retire at any time. 

More to come on Dave this week.  I'm off to raise a salami and rye bread toast in his honor.

Two Mariner Related Must Reads

Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus rates his top 11 prospects for the Mariners (and 9 others).  It's a must-read for any Mariner fan, and certainly good material as we drool for anything baseball-news-related during these dark months. 

What's notable about this list?  Well, Goldstein doesn't just give away "five-star" prospect status, so there's reason to be excited about the fact that he's as impressed by Ackley and Pineda as most of us are giddy about their potential contributions in the near future.  But I have to say, it's Goldstein's writeup of Nick Franklin (pictured) that gets me pretty stoked.  Oh, to have a power hitting shortstop again...

Next link is a fun spreadsheet from the MLBTR writers making free agent predictions.  M's aren't mentioned often, but they are linked to Lance Berkman, Hisanori Takahashi, Pat Burrell (GAH!), Kevin Millwood, Hideki Matsui, and Brandon Webb.

I actually like the idea of Berkman and Takahashi a lot.  Berkman could do a little splitting time at 1b with Smoak (or as much as would be necessary to keep him happy and healthy) and DH the rest.  He's old, but there's a lot to like about him - including the fact that he'd probably be our 2nd best hitter on the team.  Takahashi might come on the cheap, and he'd probably be the second best starter on the squad too.  Plus, he's a lefty, and controls left handed bats nicely which would play well at the Safe.  Hell, let's be honest with ourselves - anything would play nicely at the Safe next year as long as it doesn't resemble that 2010 squad.

Matsui? Eh, well, if he's ultra cheap. But I could see the allure there, Ichiro-Matsui reported feud aside.

Webb might be a nice project, but I'm not about to speculate about his 2011 contributions.  Might as well have him room with Bedard and maybe they can share parts to make one whole...

November mock draft, for better or worse

We're doing a ridiculously early mock draft over at RotoHardball.com and we're barely through the first 7 picks and it's clear that it's going to be a pretty funny/painful experience.  The whole thing is going to be conducted in the comments section of a post and every five rounds a summary will be written.  If you're already dying for fantasy baseball or already mourning the loss of the baseball season, this might provide not only insight but perhaps a little comic relief.  Enjoy.

Miller & Morgan Out At ESPN, Rizzs Provides Encouragement

ESPN is breaking up their Hall of Fame Sunday Night Baseball announcing crew of Joe Morgan and Jon Miller.  (Note to Mariner fans:  Yes, Sunday Night Baseball still exists. No, don't expect to play on Sunday night in 2011.)  I think it has been a good 21-year run and will be sad to see them go. 

This is as good of time as any to pass along some encouragement from Mariner announcer Rick Rizzs.  Anyone who hasn't had the pleasure of finding this 'easter egg' on the Mariner site, enjoy!
http://Mariners.com/positivelyrickrizzs

Tsuyoshi Nishioka - Japanese Shortstop to be posted

Japanese posting interest, take two?

After missing out on Iwakuma, it looks like Nishioka will be posted.  I don't have access to anything reliable besides anecdote, but it sounds like he's a speedy switch-hitting contact hitter that had some evidence of power (recall that Ichiro hit 25 HR's in Japan though) and is a pretty skilled shortstop who can also play some second base.  He's only 26 and plays a position that the M's could really use some kind of long term solution at.  In fact, they could use a 2011 solution there as we know Jack Wilson will be a black hole on offense, play great defense, and then get hurt.

Check out his career statistics here.

He doesn't strike me as a superstar kind of player in the Major Leagues, but I would be surprised if the Mariners weren't part of the conversation on this guy. 

So much for that Iwakuma plan

The A's won the bidding.  Now they just have to sign him.

This guy would have helped. Now we really need him to suck.

#$*&ing Billy Beane.

Derrek Lee to the M's?

So Ken Davidoff is predicting that Derrek Lee will sign with the Mariners on a one year contract for $7 million dollars.

Some quick shots about this:

• Lee will be 35 this year
• Coming off a disappointing year by his standard with .260/19/80 between the Cubs and Braves.
• 2009 was arguably his 2nd best offensive season
• His batting average on balls in play was down marginally last season
• He is generally considered to be an above average first baseman
• His wins above replacement last year was 2.0.  2009 was 5.3
• He would be so much better than Casey Kotchman it would boggle the mind.

There are a lot of things to like about Derrek Lee, but I can't for the life of me understand why a 35 year old would sign with a team certainly not going to the playoffs, also sign with a team certainly not going to the playoffs which plays half of their games in a park which will probably kill his value in 2011 should he wish to continue playing, AND sign with a team that would most likely ask him to DH for most of the season.  Furthermore, why he would sign with the M's for, what would probably have to be considered to be market value and for only one year defies logic.  I just don't see the fit here, unless for some reason Derrek Lee just loves him some Space Needle and traffic jams.

It would be a nice pickup for the M's, but it's probably not worth getting excited about.

Moyer Might Finally Act His Age

So Jaime Moyer might finally be finished.

Pitching in a winter Mexican league attempting to embarrass yet more hitters with 68 mph changeups and land a big league gig, he apparently blew up his elbow again, and team manager Moises Alou thinks the jig is finally up.

I had kind of secretly hoped that maybe Moyer might entertain coming back to the M's on some kind of yay-Seattle-farewell-tour and not only mentor some of the kids, but probably hold down the 3rd or 4th best starter on the staff seat.

He's 48 years old this month, my God...seriously, what a career.  He's been pitching for 25 years, has 267 wins, and over FOUR THOUSAND innings pitched - and let's face it, he's done almost all of it with smoke and mirrors.

Jaime Moyer - you are an inspiration to everyone in the world with a shitty fastball and a ton of desire.  I'll forever teach my kids that the greatest pitch you can learn is the changeup because of you.

If I run into you on Magnolia hill somewhere, I hope you let me buy you a beer.

Analyzing Aaron Hill Using Jack Moore's Four Factor Method

via Xtranormal.





You really should read the article, as Moore's stuff is really quite excellent.  But I just couldn't help myself...

New Fantasy Baseball Site

I'll be contributing over at RotoHardball where you can find all sorts of fantasy-baseball-related fun.  The site is new, so there's not much in the way of content yet, but it will build quickly in the coming weeks.  It's on the SB Network, which has some really handy tools, and it's geared towards fan participation.  It's not FanGraphs and it's not Rotowire, but it probably meets somewhere in between.  Not heavy duty geekdom, but plenty of nerdiness yet hopefully always well defined.  Feel free to check it out.

The Log will motor on, of course, and our efforts to survive an offseason fraught with disappointment will not go unnoticed...