Granted, it would be a small miracle for the Mariners to win the AL
West, but it isn't completely out of the picture at this point.

Positives:

-Felix Hernandez seems to be getting his control back, and if he keeps
steadily maturing he will start going deep into games and dominating.

-The middle infield. Jose Lopez being moved into the 3rd spot in the
lineup is an indication of how good this guys career is going to be. He
should be the starting 2nd baseman for the All-Star game, but he won't
be 'cause of all the ballot stuffing Yorkers. Betancourt is already one
of the top 5 defensive shortstops in baseball, and before it is all
said and done he may very well be as good or better than Omar. His
average is hovering around .300 right now, and for a 9th place hitter
that is extremely good.

-J.J. Putz and Rafael Soriano are the set up/closer of the Mariner
future. They have impressed and dominated all year long.

-Ichiro is back to being the best leadoff hitter in baseball once
again.


Negatives:

-Inconsistent starting pitching...... Piniero has really lost whatever
he had in the early part of the season, and looks about as bad as he
ever has since. You still don't ever know what you're going to get with
Gil Meche, though he has looked pretty good in his last few outings and
that is promising. Washburn and Moyer are pitching about as well as I
expected, but aren't getting much in the way of run support thus far.
Washburn is not worth 9 mil a year by a long shot. One of the most
overpaid starting pitchers by far.

-Sexson and Beltre...... what can you say about these two guys? So.....
goddamn.....overpaid! At this rate Beltre will be lucky to get 15 HR's
and .250 this season, and Sexson won't be anything near his 40 HR's 100
plus RBI of 2005. Talk about a couple of 'lums. The biggest
disappointment of the year! I mean seriously, is Safeco THAT hard of a
park to hit in? I say they are going to go down in Mariner history as
the two biggest underachievers to ever come down the pike. Give Lopez
and Ibanez the 20 mil a year they pay those guys, I say!

-Jeremy Reed...... it doesn't appear he is starting MLB material right
now. His glove and speed are very good, but he has absolutely no power
and currently is batting about .220. He was obviously brought up too
early and should be sent back to AAA or AA ASAP. At least he can bat
..400 in the minors....... Ichiro can play center. Put Raul in right and
Morse in left.


All in all it's been a ho-hum season so far for the Mariners. If they
get any kind of a fire lit under their collective asses they can take
this division, but a lot of things have to come together. I give them a
small chance to pull it off. I will be watching and hoping.......

True,Richie Sexson is not a prolific hitter,but my impression of him is
that he is a darn good first baseman defensively and is worth keeping
him just for that.Beltre has made some outstanding plays at 3B too.....I
think their defensive performance outweighs their lack of offense to
some degree.Some plays I have seen them make getting batters out belong
in the highlight
reels in my humble opinion.

fun to go back to the old posts



"Jimbo Jones" <tomthetauren@yahoo.com> wrote in message
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