In the same game that Jamey Carroll hit his first home run since August 2009, Adam Dunn struck out tonight to become the sixth player in MLB history with 2,000 punchouts. Dunn joins Reggie Jackson, Jim Thome, Sammy Sosa, Andres Galarraga and Alex Rodriguez as members of the 2,000K club. Here are tonight's links:
- Cubs manager Dale Sveum is pleased with the job that interim hitting coach James Rowson has done since taking over for Rudy Jaramillo in June, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. Rowson could figure into next season's plans, as Sveum plans to address the 2013 coaching staff in the season's final weeks.
- MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch has quotes from Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak and manager Mike Matheny about the club's decision to promote Shelby Miller. A start is possible down the stretch for Miller, according to Mozeliak.
- Many wonder when Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik will change his stance on listening to offers for Felix Hernandez, but that day doesn't appear to be here. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe asked the Seattle GM if it was a possibility and received a simple "No," as an answer (Twitter link).
- While he's struggled at the plate, Tommy Joseph has still impressed the Phillies since being acquired in the Hunter Pence trade, writes Marc Narducci of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Joseph's defense has impressed the Phils, and they still project plus power from the promising catcher.
the Tommy Joseph?
wait until he invents Tommy Joseph Surgery
Cafardo has been trying to push the M’s trading Felix to the Red Sox all season. Hate to tell him: it’s not happening. Not happening now, not happening this winter, not happening next year. Hear that, Nick? NOT HAPPENING. Felix is exactly the kind of player the M’s need to build around, not trade away. While Seattle has a lot of pitching prospects, the key word in that sentence is prospects. Not one of them has thrown a pitch above the AAA level or spent a second in the majors. No one knows how they will actually do. Felix is a proven commodity… a VERY proven commodity who has stated several times that he likes Seattle and wants to play his whole career here. With Ichiro gone, Felix is the M’s franchise player, and it would shock me if the team didn’t extend his deal this winter. But he won’t be going to the Red Sox, and Cafardo really needs to stop flogging this dead horse.
Hultzen has pitch in triple a
As a Mariners fan, I wish they’d stop with the Felix rumors. I realize the team isn’t much this year, but they are trying to rebuild around Felix, who wants to be here. They’ve had bad luck trading stars for prospects (see the Cliff Lee trade).
I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone that is a fan of the Mariners would be against trading Felix! The Mariners are going to have to find someone that can hit at some point. You’re not a couple guys a way. You are a core away! Outside of Jaso, your OPS leader is Seager at .714. I mean how in the world can you tell me that if Boston took on all Felix’s money and gave you Bogaerts, Lavarnway, Webster, Bradley, and Barnes you would turn it down? There is no way you could ever tun this down! Felix is great. The guy is awesome, but the Mariners are very bad. This is the chance to really turn this thing around.
Trading Felix would overall hurt Seattle. Both Financially and competitively. We have other pitching prospects which could bring hitters if Jack Z wanted to pull the trigger. Trading Felix would hurt ticket sales and it’s forcing the Mariners to take even more time to rebuild. They are 4 games under .500. Ackley is finally learning to swing at the lefty strike and the rest of the team is hitting a lot better. We have Jesus Montero to be the power guy, with Nick Franklin, Mike Zunino, Brad Miller and Stefan Romero waiting in the wings. Guti looks to finally found his stroke (if he can stay healthy) and we have John Jaso who has been outstanding this year.
Not to mention there isn’t really a package out there that equals Felix in value. The team that could come closest is the Pirates and that would have them surrendering Andrew McCuthchen, Tony Sanchez, Jameson Taillon, Starling Marte and likely others.
Besides, even if Boston offered Middlebrooks, Lavarnway, Bogaerts, Cecchini, Webster and Barnes, it’s still not worth it. It’s just more prospects, slowing down the building of the Mariners. They are not as far off from competing as a lot of people are saying.
It would take McCutchen, Sanchez, Taillon, Marte, and more???!!! This is why I almost never respond to anything Mariners related. You do not have a single player that will hit 20 hr. Guty has not played consistently for the several years. Jaso is playing great, but do you really believe this is going to be a typical season for him? Not one of the younger hitters you have mentioned have proven anything! Montero has an under .300 OBP! Your first basemen can’t OPS .600! You play in a graveyard. Basically any pitcher can throw well there, just like in Oakland (Millwood, Vargas!). The difference between the mariners and the Athletics is that the A’s knew when to pull the trigger. Felix is a great pitcher. there is no doubt about that, but I’m not sure you guys understand that he is not worth an entire roster of great players. Five very good prospects is a lot to give up for any one player, especially one that only plays once every five games.
Romero had a nice year in AA at 24. Let’s see what happens next year before we start believing he is going to be an offensive force. Zunino also put up some terrific numbers in a 150+ at bats. Let’s hold off awhile before we start saying he is going to be one of the offensive juggernauts that carries this team forward.
Red Sox 62-74
Mariners 66-70
The Mariners aren’t as far away from competing as everyone makes them out to be. Trading Felix for prospects is a terrible idea. They should trade some of THEIR prospects for major league proven offensive help. Felix is still young and wants to win in Seattle. From a huge Felix fan that would love to see him on my favorite team, they should keep him.
I disagree with you about trading their prospects. I think they should follow in the footsteps of the Giants by using a dominate rotation to get to the playoffs. They could soon have a rotation lead by Felix, Walker, Hultzen and Paxton which would help over come their offensive woes.
Don’t count on Hultzen, he’s completely imploded at AAA. His command/control has disappeared. Can he regain it? Yes, can he be counted on? No.
First full season. The command issues are purely fatigue related. He will be fine. He has never struggled with command in the past.
I don’t know man. A lot of people are iffy about him. If he was fatigued after 75IP at AA this season, somethings not right. His walk rate has been atrocious. Just because they’ve never struggled with command in the past doesn’t mean they don’t have issues. Things change at each level. Hitters become more selective.Each level exposes new weakness. His issues don’t just stem from BB problems. He’s getting hit extremely hard out there. His GO/AO rate is at .71 not good. He’s giving up more Flyballs than ground balls. Considering he had a GO/AO of 1.06 in AA. At this point his stock has fallen quite a bit. Can he come out and fix everything next season? Yep, but until he does, I’m not going to praise him as a can’t miss kinda guy.
This is apples and oranges. The Mariners’ payroll has surpassed $100 mill twice. The Red Sox have been over that for basically the last thirteen years. They topped out at $175 this year. Both teams basically have $40 mill committed for 2013. At best the Mariners can add 55 million onto whatever they are paying guys next year after arb for Vargas. The Red sox will have possibly $130 million to spend next offseason not including arb for Ellsbury. The Red Sox also have a more well-regarded system at least according to fangraphs (while BA has seattle ahead of boston). The Red Sox also have a stadium more conducive towards offensive numbers. Many free agents don’t want to play somewhere they will not be productive. As far as trading away their prospects for help, sure go for it. My only major issue here is that you’re going to be moving basically every arm you have to acquire even half the position players you currently need! You have one above average offensive player on your entire team! You have ONE guy in the minors (Miller) that may actually make an impact at all next year. Your probably going to finish with 75 wins this year. You are fifteen games back in your division even with Felix. Are you guys actually convinced that you are going to be able to some how acquire 20 wins over the off-season without giving anything up? That’s cool that you guys are fans of Felix, but man you have to be kind of on one to really believe this team, as it stands right now, has a serious chance of competing next year.
The answer to the Mariners’ problems isn’t to trade away their strongest building block for more question marks, which are what 99 percent of prospects realistically are. King is still young, use him to your advantage. Especially with the chance of turning out a couple of major rotation pieces from the farm. Who knows, maybe Seattle finds an Allen Craig or so in the rough, and boom…there they are in the thick of it. Not to say the Mariner’s shouldn’t listen on trades (no player is untouchable in my mind), but in this partiular case, I think they should stand pat.
Felix is the Seattle Mariners. He is our Derek Jeter, our Joe Mauer, our Evan Longoria. He is the anchor of the franchise, the cornerstone you build around. This org is building around him, and so far it looks like it is working. M’s are only a few guys away from competing.
felix isnt going anywhere. other ppl should just stop thinking about or wondering what it would take to get him. he wants to be here for a long time and the mariners will be doin what it takes they have the money.
Ahhhh. The Felix trade speculation continues. I agree that the media overblows the possibility of him being traded. However, I don’t think the majority of M’s fans are thinking clearly either. I wouldn’t say he’s NEVER going anywhere. Yes, chances are great they don’t move him. Chances are decent that they extend him. I wouldn’t say that he’s never going anywhere. Every player is moveable – at a price. Don’t set yourself up for heartache thinking your franchise player will retire with the M’s. It may happen, but don’t hold your breath.
Agreed 100%. The recent Red Sox/Dodgers trade reminded us of a very important baseball principle: The franchise comes first. Seattle isn’t too far away from competing that they should look to give away Hernandez but at the same time the right offer should be taken seriously. Right now I’m wondering if the Rangers could make the right offer. I’d imagine any deal starting with Profar and then some could make Seattle think about it.
If Seattle isn’t too off from competing why would they trade away one of the top 2 pitchers in baseball? You aren’t getting equal value for.
I’m not sure I mentioned this before… I think “the the right offer should be taken seriously.” Wait, those were the exact words I used before.
I’ll rephrase it: If the Mariners get a great deal for Hernandez, the kind they think will be better for the franchise, then they will trade him.
So basically the offer that doesn’t exist.
Tommy Josephs stat line this year in Giants organization .260/.313/.391. Stat line with Phillies organization .250/.327/.420. If his season in Philly lasted 300 ABs, he’d be on pace for more HRs, more total bases, a lot more doubles and more runs. What did Philly expect him to do? BTW, his career stat line is .256/.308/.427.
First of all Felix isn’t for trade but what does the Boston media care about Felix? They traded away most of there players….Felix isn’t going to put them over the top. Not trying to be offensive i am just saying.