tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60727292009-02-21T02:37:24.690-08:00<i>No matter how cynical you get, it's impossible to keep up. - Lily Tomlin</i>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comBlogger600125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1103369242539115442004-12-18T03:22:00.000-08:002004-12-18T03:27:22.540-08:00

It's time now. It's probably past time. But it's definitely time. This is the last post at Mariners Wheelhouse. I’ve been delaying the inevitable. I've known that I can't put the time in that I've done in the past. But when I read Brian’s comments at Redbird Nation, I knew it was the end. Brian's situation is virtually identical with mine, but he expresses it much more eloquently than I

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1103368911484445912004-12-18T02:43:00.000-08:002004-12-20T06:57:08.896-08:00

I got out of the car and looked around as my eyes adjusted from the tinted car interior to the bright outside sunlight. I saw what I was looking for - five chairs set up on the grass, about 50 feet away. Then I looked further to the horizons. It was a fine early September day in western Minnesota. It was actually cool for the week after Labor Day, and a bit breezy, but the sun was shining

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1100128378326080642004-11-10T15:11:00.000-08:002004-11-10T15:12:58.326-08:00

Reds sign infielder A.J. Zapp to minor league deal, invite him to camp

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1099689141597710202004-11-05T13:08:00.000-08:002004-11-05T13:15:10.993-08:00

The fired manager of a 99-loss team gets hired to turn things around for a 111-loss team. Only in the good old U.S. of A.! Could a D'Backs trade for Willie Bloomquist now be in the works?

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1099675066764713762004-11-05T09:13:00.000-08:002004-11-05T12:19:35.240-08:00

Dodgers Have an Interest in Radke Thanks to Rob at 6-4-2 blog for the link to this LA Times article. Added note: I forgot that that LA Times requires soul-sucking registration. Thanks to Grant's note for mentioning that. The gist of the article is simply that DePodesta has apparently contacted Radke's agent. Also, although the Angels are also looking for starting pitching, they have not

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1099633377620353312004-11-04T21:27:00.000-08:002004-11-04T21:42:57.620-08:00

Over at Dodger Thoughts, Jon Weisman posted an excerpt from The Dodgers: 120 Years of Dodger Baseball by Glenn Stout and Richard A. Johnson. Jon's excerpt is the entire Chapter 14, covering the years 1967-1976. It's an interesting read, with intriguing parallels between the Dodgers of the late 1960's and the current Mariners situation. And for both teams, the manager was named Bavasi. If you

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1099629067573779672004-11-04T20:24:00.000-08:002004-11-04T20:31:07.573-08:00

I updated links in the right sidebar. I removed cobweblogs, and added a few active blogs that I should have added before.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1099625673222905232004-11-04T18:56:00.000-08:002004-11-04T19:34:33.223-08:00

Adrain Beltre is one of the free agents the Mariners are likely to pursue. At various fans sites I've seen comments questioning whether the Mariners will be able to compete with the Dodgers for Beltre, the premise being that the Dodger's are a big market team that can easily resign him. While the Dodgers are a team that operates in a big market, the Dodgers' capitalization is a financial house

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1099580436806101802004-11-04T06:57:00.000-08:002004-11-04T07:00:36.806-08:00

From today's Kitsap Sun: It got so bad this year that he could barely push off his back leg when he swung the bat. An exam revealed the cartilage damage and he had surgery on Sept. 16. After six weeks on crutches, doctors cleared Jacobsen on Monday to put all his weight on his right leg and continue building strength in it. "I'm not at full speed, but I'm at ahead of schedule," he said. "The

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1099577842669329722004-11-04T05:57:00.000-08:002004-11-04T06:17:22.670-08:00

According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Mariners have expressed strong interest in Brad Radke. The PP also indicates that a deal for Radke is likely to be at least two years and $15 million, or $8.5 million per year if the second year is not backloaded. A contract such as that would use up most of the $13 million that Seattle Times writer Bob Finnigan claims the Mariners have available

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1099362369271959282004-11-01T18:21:00.000-08:002004-11-01T18:26:09.273-08:00

As expected, the Mariners declined their $6 million option on Eddie Guardado for next year. Guardado is now free to sign with another team if he wishes, or he can exercise his option to the return the Mariners for $4 million, his salary last year. If there is another team out there willing to pay more than $4 million for Guardado, they can probably pick him up. Given the Yankees bullpen

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1099326918339637202004-11-01T08:04:00.000-08:002004-11-01T08:35:18.340-08:00

Grazing through all of the sites speculating about Mariner moves this off-season, I have two principal reactions: Many fans are focusing too heavily on the free agent market. The Mariners have money to spend, and money is at least as valuable in trades as in the free agent market. I expect that the Mariners will make a strong and early push for the free agents they most want. If the Mariners

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1098941799131238552004-10-27T22:27:00.000-07:002004-10-27T22:36:39.130-07:00

A note for those faithful few readers still visiting the Wheelhouse after this long hiatus. Due to pressing personal issues, I've needed to discontinue blogging almost entirely. This situation will likely continue for at least several more months. If I do get some time, there are comments I would like to make about what I expect from Bavasi and the Mariners this offseason, some reactions to

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1096562546986149972004-09-30T08:51:00.000-07:002004-09-30T09:54:40.970-07:00

Last night Bobby Madritsch threw 133 pages in a game that is meaningless to the Mariners in the standings. As David Cameron notes at USS Mariner, Madritsch is averaging 110.4 pitches per start, 4th highest total in the majors. Only Jason Schmidt, Livan Hernandez, and Carlos Zambrano are averaging more P/GS than Mads. Madritsch’s 138 pitch effort last night (ed note; it was actually 133 pitches

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1096385660266729332004-09-28T08:30:00.000-07:002004-09-28T09:21:08.200-07:00

So the Dark Lord of Mordor called his minions, the terrible ringwraiths, a collection of nine once noble All-Stars turned awful by greed and hatred. Go to Batgirl for the rest of Lord of the Rings: Part One

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1095704470434598792004-09-20T10:31:00.000-07:002004-09-20T11:22:19.793-07:00

Time demands are still forcing me to cut down on blogging, but this simply cannot pass without mention. According to this item from Ken Rosenthal, Bavasi thinks it would be a good idea to make Madritsch a closer because of his mentality. Here's the full item from Rosenthal's column, including Rosenthal's quote of Bavasi: "Whitey (Herzog) always said to build a staff from the back -- start with

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1095455125121753622004-09-17T13:29:00.000-07:002004-09-17T14:06:29.530-07:00

From the Daily Southtown (Tinley Park, Illinois) last Wednesday after the Twins beat the White Sox 10-2 and went up 11-1/2 games on the Sox with 18 to play. Yes, the American League Central Division title has all but been conceded to Minnesota for a third consecutive season, as a 10-2 Twins victory the Metrodome just about put the final nail in the Sox coffin. However, several Sox players said

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1095143769270309482004-09-13T23:27:00.000-07:002004-09-14T07:45:56.416-07:00

Batgirl gives us a Legovision lesson that when a stoppable force (Terry Tiffee) encounters an immovable object (Pudge Rodriguez), life is better if you are the immovable object rather than the stoppable force. Tiffee has a separated shoulder, and is out three to six weeks according to the AP game recap. Since this little encounter will bring up bad memories for Tiffee, Batgirl nees to ensure

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1094939994406798272004-09-11T14:56:00.000-07:002004-09-11T15:57:16.553-07:00

If it didn't suck, would it not then suck? And if it did suck, would that not mean it didn't suck?

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1094938194380355352004-09-11T14:21:00.000-07:002004-09-11T14:29:54.380-07:00

I had mixed emotions watching Masao Kida pitching last night. I never like to see the Mariners get pummeled. But since Kida was picked up, I've had a nagging fear that the Mariners are considering him as a possible addition to next year's bullpen. Veteran experience, and all of that. Seeing Kida get lit up gave me more hope that Kida will be nothing but end of season roster filler. I hate

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1094762228103360792004-09-09T13:34:00.000-07:002004-09-09T13:37:08.103-07:00

Check out the third picture from the top in this real estate ad.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1094745507904949092004-09-09T08:53:00.000-07:002004-09-09T09:00:47.313-07:00

Peter over at Mariner Musings has a nice post today on Bucky Jacobsen's strikeout rates, with some interesting comparisons with some "valued" Mariners who strike out nearly as often but with far less offensive production. It's another brush stroke in the emerging picture that shows this season has not caused the Mariners Front Office to recalibrate much of their thinking.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1094721029311017212004-09-09T02:10:00.000-07:002004-09-09T15:34:16.293-07:00

We get a double whammy today from Mariners Notebook in the P-I, by Andriessen and Hickey:The Mariners already have had left fielder Raul Ibanez working out at first base. The plan was to work him in some at first base in the next week or so, but the timetable might be moved up without Jacobsen available. Ibanez, who has caught and played third base in the past, has played left and right field

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1094659281361206072004-09-08T08:44:00.000-07:002004-09-08T09:01:21.363-07:00

Despite the callups from roster expansion, Melvin announced that they wouldn't play much, because, We owe it to the league and ourselves to put our best team on the field against teams fighting for the postseason. Isn't that interesting? Makes me wonder what else is going on Melvin's mind these days. For two years now we've watched Melvin not put his best team on the field. What's suddenly

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6072729.post-1094355310252190342004-09-04T20:34:00.000-07:002004-09-04T20:37:02.470-07:00

Ichiro is torrid right now. He's so locked in that he's in the "hit bouncing pitches" mode, which he showed us on one foul ball today. After going 5 for 5 today, Ichiro is at 223 hits for the season, with 35 games left to play. I think Ichiro is on a mission to show that he can play ball on a totally different level from anyone else. At this point, I think he will easily pass George Sisler's

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180652627743955577noreply@blogger.com