Tensions boiled over in the Mariners’ clubhouse yesterday, as a physical altercation broke out and briefly spilled beyond the closed doors where the media waited on the other side, as Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times was among the many to report. According to Divish, Dee Gordon and Jean Segura may have been at the center of the quarrel after Gordon misplayed a ball in center field, though no players were willing to divulge any real details. Robinson Cano, one of the players who could be seen breaking up the skirmish, simply said following the incident that “Everybody’s good.”
Manager Scott Servais wasn’t in the clubhouse at the time but told reporters that such incidents are more common than most would think. “I played for 11 years in the big leagues and it’s almost every year with every team I’ve been a part of,” the manager explained. Seattle has fallen to 5.5 games back from a Wild Card spot as it attempts to end the game’s longest playoff drought. With a combined six games remaining against the Yankees and A’s, who currently hold those Wild Card spots, plus 10 games against the last-place Orioles, Padres and Rangers, there’s still time for the Mariners to turn things around.
More from the division…
- The Astros called up right-hander Dean Deetz as part of yesterday’s latest slate of September additions. The righty spoke to reporters about the 80-game PED suspension he served earlier this season, which will prevent him from being postseason-eligible this year regardless of how well he performs this month (link via MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart). Deetz still maintained that he never knowingly took a banned substance and went through a roller-coaster swing of emotions upon learning he’d tested positive. “I got a call literally three or four days after I got put on the [40-man roster],” he said. “I went from being really excited to the toughest news I ever heard.” Deetz, 24, pitched to a ridiculous 0.79 ERA in 34 Triple-A innings this season, averaging 13.2 strikeouts, 4.8 walks and 0.26 homers per nine innings pitched. This promotion will be his first exposure to big league opponents, and he figures to be in the mix for a bullpen spot in Spring Training next year.
- Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News looks ahead to the future of the Rangers’ rotation, delving into the possibility of the team adopting the increasingly popular “opener” trend in 2019 as well as the argument and reasoning for doing so. While there’s little in the way of certainty on the Rangers’ roster at present, Grant notes that veteran righty Edinson Volquez, who signed a two-year minor league contract last year, is progressing well in his rehab from Tommy John surgery and could be on the cusp of facing live hitters. Volquez is expected to vie for a starting job next year alongside Mike Minor and at least one young, internal option. Texas could opt to pursue a veteran piece who could develop into a trade chip this winter or could stick with internal options and focus on adding some relievers, depending on how aggressively Jon Daniels & Co. want to pursue the “opener” methodology.
Scott Servais is the absolute worst! Your team is fighting in the clubhouse because only a few players like Segura are fighting to play hard and consistent on the field. The apathetic nature of this franchise is appalling. When Wade Leblanc is your most consistent starting pitcher you are going to have issues. Can someone please put Servais out of his misery?
Servais is blamed for the front office, once again, not going after a top-flight starting pitcher? You just said it yourself with regard to Wade Leblanc.
The offense was in the bottom 5 in almost every offensive category in the month of July. This with Cruz, Haniger, Segura, Gordon, Seager, Zunino, etc and they all have been underwhelming for the most part. Haniger and Segura have been solid but I think most managers could squeeze out more than 3 runs per game out of a lineup with that much talent. It’s a fair assessment to say Servais is an awful in-game manager.
Chill bro
Haha! Another blogger who tells an M’s fan to “chill.” Myself and others are frustrated with another season of lost baseball which has now accumulated 18 straight years of non-playoff baseball. The apathy and passive aggressiveness from people in these forums is comical. This is an MLB blog where fans can voice their opinions but thank you for the productive comment
Why is baseball in Seattle?
There isn’t an issue with the Seattle area or Seattle fans. Are we going to start taking franchises away from cities because the people in charge can’t put out a good product?
Huh? It’s not the city’s or the fans’ fault that the team hasn’t contended for years. They have a nice stadium that was partially funded by taxes. There are loyal fans that come to see the team even when they’re not good.
Mariners need King Feliz back urgently. He has been the anchor of their rotation…
King Felix is more like the Jester at this point of his career
Sadly Servais and Dipoto will be around for a few more seasons. Both received extensions shortly before they collapsed. Perfect timing if you ask me.
As a non Seattle fan I would love to see them back in the playoffs, I think biggest person to blame here is cano. He screwed this team worse then anyone who underperformed with his suspension
They started winning after he was injured/suspended.
Except their slide actually started in July, before he came back, and after he left, so…
Deetz nuts
Dirty Deetz done some Peds
You tried
Bannister isn’t open minded enough or does he have the patience to have an opener. I’m still not fully on board with that strategy, but it’s worked well for the Rays… Cash should win manager of the year for having an above .500 record.
Agreed.
Of course Servais is going to act like huge fights break out in locker rooms all the time. Otherwise it looks like he’s lost control of the team. I’m not buying that at all. They’re a mess and frustrations are boiling…
Also a good manager does not air his team’s “dirty laundry” in public. If you got in a fight or argument with a coworker, would you want your boss telling everyone you deal with outside of the company all the details?
How was Servais airing any dirty laundry? If you read the linked article, you know that the clubhouse doors burst open during the fight, and reporters saw the fight going on. Of course they were going to ask Servais about it. Is he supposed to deny it happened when several reporters witnessed it? Plus, he gave no actual details about what happened. No airing of dirty laundry at all.
I never said he aired dirty laundry. In fact, I was defending him from bush’s accusation that he was minimizing what had happened. I meant that Servais was being a good manager by not going into detail. Bush seemed to think he spoke as he did to make himself look like he was on top of things.
Again, I meant the very opposite—I meant that Servais did right by not going into detail!
Can managers be fired the season of signing an extension? I was a huge Servais supporter. But, it’s not working out. For a team like the Mariners who haven’t made the playoffs since 2001, you don’t blow an 8 game playoff lead after being 25 games above .500 at a point. Come on. But Dipoto said he “can’t imagine working without Servais,” so this will be fun. Hopefully next year
Part of the problem is they were playing above their ability the first part of the season. I blame upper management and probably Dipoto for not getting better players before the trade deadline, and for not signing better free agents in the offseason.
They got good players at the deadline. That wasnt the issue. Maybe a starter would’ve been nice, but he did get good players at the deadline. They haven’t done shi* since then. And if Juan Nicasio didn’t blow 7 games in the 8th/7th inning, and Dee Gordon/Ryon Healy actually did what they have been doing in their careers, there wouldn’t be an issue.
In what baseball world would Zack Duke. Sam Tuivailala, Art Warren, and Cameron Maybin be called good players, difference makers? How many bullpen/role players can one GM acquire? To trade decent prospects such as Ryan Costello and Bryson Brigman for rentals is the reason we have no depth and legitimate seasoned prospects (assets) to trade for solid MLB talent.
The farm system isn’t very deep, making it hard to do trades. That’s on upper management, not Servais. I don’t even know if they can fully blame Dipoto for that–part of it is probably the fault of Jack Z.
Keep Big Sexy, Rangers.
Maybe Texas could sign Ryu and Richards (similar deal to Volquez. Rehab 2019, start 2020).
Ryu
Minor
Volquez
Jurado
Mendez
That would actually be a rotation with some promise. And a 2020 rotation:
Richards
Ryu
Minor
Palumbo
Hearn