Raw Power in Peoria

Johermyn Chavez

The Mariners finished up their second game of the spring this afternoon, both being against the San Diego Padres. Seattle won the first game in 10 innings on a walk off hit by Josh Bard in the bottom of the 10th inning. Today’s game ended in a 6-6 tie after 9 innings. We all know about the Mariners lack of power last season. That has been the story all offseason. Well help just may be on the way!

There have been three Mariners’ homeruns this spring thus far. The first was a mammoth shot by Carlos Peguero in the bottom of the 9^th to tie the game. Today, there were 2 more homeruns. The first by Greg Halman in the 5^th, and the second by Johermyn Chavez in the 9^th. So we have 3 homeruns by three different players and only 30 major league plate appearances between the three (Greg Halman with all 30 of those appearances last year).

These players are all pretty similar: big, powerful outfielders with loads of raw power. In the Baseball America Top 30 Mariners’ Prospects, Chavez, Halman, and Peguero ranked 7^th, 11^th, and 25^th respectively. Each put up huge power numbers last year. Chavez with 32, Halman with 33, and Peguero with 23. That is a lot of power that will hopefully continue as they advance through the system.

Obviously these guys have huge power potential but there is one drawback that seems to be present in almost every raw power minor leaguer. That flaw is high strikeout numbers and low averages. If these guys can improve their approach at the plate and make more contact, then they will really help the club out.

Of the three guys, the one with the best chance to be on the big league roster this season is Greg Halman. He spent a large majority of the season at AAA Tacoma and he received a taste of the big leagues with a September call-up. Carlos Peguero seems to be the next closest as he finished 2010 at AA. He could start the 2011 at AA but I think the more likely situation is that he is playing for Tacoma. Chavez, who was the highest ranked on the Baseball America list, finished 2010 at High A. He spent all of 2010 there and he should start the year at AA where he will receive a much bigger test.

It would be great if even one of these players translated this power in the minors into the majors but we will have to wait and see.

Make sure you check out the scores and notable performances from the Mariners spring training games by clicking on the tab at the top of the page titled “Mariners’ Scores”

There is a Birthday Today

Today is Dustin Ackley’s birthday. The Mariners top prospect will be turning 23 today. As we all know, the Mariners are down in Peoria getting ready for the season. The first game is on Sunday against the San Diego Padres. I am sure the guys will be doing something fun with Mr. Ackley especially some of the veterans. Maybe they will have a special surprise for him?

Everyone loves to have a birthday wish and what do you think Ackley will be wishing for today? One would assume his biggest wish would be being on the opening day roster, but many have projected that this will not happen. Then what else should he wish for? Defense, he should wish on continuing to improve his defense. He has been working very hard at second base and he has come a long way. His defense is not bad but there is always more that can be polished and that is what the Mariners want.

Let us all wish a very Happy Birthday to the Mariners future second baseman and hope for a  great, healthy 2011 season.

A-Rod's Best War Seasons

Alex Rodriguez is a touchy subject for Mariners fans. There are many people that would love to speak their mind to A-Rod but one thing is certain, A-Rod is and has been a very good baseball player. His total WAR of 107.4 ranks 21^st in baseball history. He also has the highest total WAR among active players.

One thing that might make Mariners fans feel a little bet better is that the Mariners received two of A-Rod’s top 3 WAR seasons. In 1996, he had a WAR of 9.8 which is tied for the highest in a single season of his career. In 2000 he posted a 9.6 WAR which is his second highest. If that looks good, then it gets even better.

If you think about what Rodriguez is being paid now (highest paid player in all of baseball) then the Mariners obviously got a huge bargain. In the 1996 season, he was receiving only $442,334. In 2000 he received $4,362,500. Developing star players in the system really pays off and saves you money at the beginning. After that season though, the rest is history.

Alex Rodriguez’s Top 5 WAR Seasons

WAR	Season/Club	Salary
9.8	1996/Mariners	$443,334
9.8	2002/Rangers	$22,000,000
9.6	2000/Mariners	$4,363,500
9.4	2005/Yankees	$26,000,000
9.2	2007/Yankees	$22,708,525

It is crazy to think A-Rod was once making $443,334 and in that season, he posted some of his best numbers.

Jeff Cirillo: What Happened?

I was playing around on Fangraphs, looking at a variety of individual Mariners’ players stats. One click led to another and the next thing I knew I found myself looking at Jeff Cirillo’s stats. For Mariners fans, this would be depressing to look at, but for sabermertic fans, you would find some interesting things. I found myself stuck in the middle.

Prior to arriving in Seattle, Cirillo was putting up very good numbers. From 1996-2001, Cirillo averaged a WAR of 4.8 per season including a 6.8 WAR in 1998 with the Brewers. Year after year he was amongst the league leaders in average and he was consistently one of the games top fielding third baseman.  In 2001, the Mariners acquired Cirillo via trade from the Rockies and things went downhill. Cirillo completed two seasons with Seattle in which he posted a 1.6 WAR and a -0.4 WAR. Seattle was able to trade Cirillo and his overpriced contract to the Padres where he continued to disappoint.

Well what could have happened to Cirillo? He could have very possibly become a victim of the “Safeco Field Effect”.  While he never posted terrific homerun numbers, he had a good ISO and that took a huge dip once he arrived in Seattle. There were some unfavorable splits in Cirillo’s ISO statistics that did not appear in some of his best seasons.

Cirillo showed promise but he seemed to have hit a wall. While thinking about his stats, it got me thinking back to another third baseman that hit a wall. That third baseman is Eric Chavez. In an article by Dave Gershman over at Beyond the Box Score, he used a WAR graph comparing Chavez to Derek Jeter and it is shocking. 

What happened to Cirillo is very similar to Chavez.

It is always interesting/disappointing to think about what a player could have been. Unfortunately for Mariners fans, Cirillo was one of those players.

Where Are They Now: Brian Sweeney

From the Mariners to the Padres, with a little bit of Japanese baseball mixed in and then back to the Mariners, Brian Sweeney has had a very long baseball career. The right-handed pitcher will now be calling Arizona his home.  

Sweeney began his professional career in 1997 at the age of 23 with Lancaster, the Mariners High A affiliate at the time. He spent 8 long years playing in the Mariners minor league organization before he finally made his major league debut. In 2003, his rookie season, he actually did pretty well in the small amount of time. The reliever had a 1.93 ERA in 9.1 innings. During that 2003 season, Sweeney was traded to the Padres along with Jeff Cirillo.

In 2004, Sweeney spent time at both AAA and the big league level. In his major league stint with the Padres that year, he had a 5.65 ERA in 14.1 innings. Sweeney spent all of 2005 in the minors but in 2006, he saw his most action in a single season at the big league level of his career. In 56.1 innings, Sweeney had a 3.20 ERA and 2 saves. Those are valuable numbers to have in any bullpen. That proved to be Sweeney’s last season with the Padres, as he decided to test is stuff in Japan.

From 2007-2009, Sweeny played for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of the Japanese Pacific League. His stats were nothing special, a 4.10 ERA in 390.2 innings pitched. He pitched primarily as a starter, 63 of his 70 appearances were starts. Sweeney got a chance to play with Yu Darvish, one of Japan’s top starting pitchers who is only 24 years old.

After a long journey, Sweeney returned to Seattle when he signed a minor league contract prior to the 2010 season. In the middle of the season, he was called up to replace Ian Snell who was designated for assignment. Sweeney performed pretty well at the big league level last year. He had a very solid 3.16 ERA in 37.0 IP.

At the beginning of this offseason, the Mariners announced that the Arizona Diamondbacks claimed Sweeney off of waivers. He is now 36 and he will be competing for a job in Arizona as a non-roster invitee this Spring Training. He has a shot to compete for a job in Arizona’s bullpen and he could be decent relief depth. Yes he is 36, but his career numbers at the big league level are pretty surprising. He has a 3.38 ERA in 117 IP. You would think with those numbers he would have seen more time at the big league level. He does not have good strikeout numbers at all but what he does offer is good command. He has a career 1.93 BB/9 which is well below the league average.

Best of luck to Brian Sweeny as he looks to continue his long professional baseball career.

Mariners 2010 Unsigned Draft picks

The 2011 college baseball season kicked off yesterday which paves the way for the MLB season to get underway. There are a lot of guys that could have been Mariners in the 2010 draft but they decided to continue/begin their college careers. I have put together a list of all unsigned players and what they will be doing this year. 

3^rd Round: Ryne Stanek. Right-handed pitcher, 6’4”180lb. He will be attending the University of Arkansas as a freshman

4^th Round: James Paxton. Left-handed pitcher, 6’4” 220lb. Last year was his final year at the University of Kentucky but he did not play

11^th Round: Jon Keller. Right-handed pitcher, 6’5” 230lb. He will be attending the University of Nebraska as a freshman

14^th Round: Tyler Linehan. Left-handed pitcher, 6’0” 220lb. He will be attending Fresno State University as a freshman

21^st Round: Luke Guarnaccia. Switch-hitting catcher, 5’1” 195lb. He will be attending Palm Beach State College as a freshman.

27^th Round: Nick Fleece. Right-handed pitcher, 6’3” 235lb. He will be attending Texas A&M University for his senior season.

29^th Round: Jonathan McGibbon. Left-handed Firstbase/Outfield, 6’1” 210lb. He will be attending Clemson University as a freshman

33^rd Round: Douglas Peterson: Right-handed thirdbaseman, 6’0” 190lb. He will be attending the University of Mexico as a freshman.

49th Round: Colton Keough. Right-handed centerfielder, 6’2” 185lb. I was not able to find info on what Keough will be doing this year. Graduated from Tesoro High School in California last year 2010.

50^th Round: David Holman. Right-handed pitcher, 6’4”170lb. I was not able to find info on what Holman will be doing this year. Attended a junior college in 2010.

Aardsma's Job Security

David Aardsma went under the knife on January 3^rd to repair a torn hip labrum. It was originally thought that Aardsma would begin to throw 4 weeks after the surgery and that he would be ready by opening day. If things went as planned, Aardsma would have begun to throw about two weeks ago. Well Aardsma was still hobbling around on crutches when he arrived in Peoria yesterday and he will remain on crutches for about another week.

Manager Eric Wedge told Aardsma, “Don’t worry about time. Focus on your health, on how you feel.” The 29 year old reliever will be easing back in to things to assure he returns 100% healthy.

There are two questions to now ask; what happens with Aardsma and who fills in while Aardsma is out? Aardsma will miss a large majority of Spring Training and it appears that he will be returning about mid-April but as Aardsma has stated, there is no real timetable. As for possible closer candidates there is a mixture of non-roster invitee veterans, current players on the roster, and a couple of prospects. The list includes Chris Ray, Manny Delcarmern, Dan Cortes, Josh Lueke, and Brandon League.

It appears that Manager Eric Wedge is leaning towards one of the veteran relievers to fill Aardsma’s role as opposed to rookies Josh Lueke and Dan Cortes. That leaves League, Delcarmen, and Ray as the leading candidates. It will be interesting to see how things turn out because there are no front runners for the job at this point. I believe that Wedge won’t make a decision until right before the season starts.

What happens when Aardsma finally returns in mid-April? Does he automatically get the job? My thoughts are that what if the team’s current closer, whether it is Ray, Delcarmen, or League, is off to a terrific start. Does the team go with the hot hand or the returning Aardsma?

I think it would be best for the club to go with the hot hand and wait it out to see how it goes. If the said closer continues to be dominant then Aardsma could be a solid set-up man, or as we all know, trade bait. If the closer goes into a slump, then Aardsma will be waiting there for the job.

What are your guys’ thoughts on the situation? If the team’s closer gets off to a great start would you rather see Aardsma automatically get the closing job or stick with the current closer? Again this is all speculation but it could very possibly happen. Please comment on the post and let me know that you think!

Mariners Hire Griffey

The Mariners announced today that Ken Griffey Jr will be hired as a special consultant for the organization. The greatest Mariner in franchise history will now be spending his time behind the scenes with the ballclub. 

Mariners President Chuck Armstrong talked with Kevin Calabro of 710 ESPN Seattle about the new hiring and they discussed what Griffey will be doing with the club. Griffey will be involved in pretty much everything. He has really expressed his desire to help the club and he wants to do a lot. The job will be very open ended and he will help where ever he is needed. The job position will always be always-evolving and Griffey could be doing something different everyday.

I think he will really fit in well while working with the Mariners community. Griffey is an icon and fan-favorite in Seattle and therefore he will be able to establish a great bond between the club and fans. With his new job title, Griffey has also stated a desire to reach out to the minor league affiliates. He wants to talk to the young players and potential future stars about what it means to be a Mariner. Many of these players in the lower minors grew up watching Griffey and he is a role model to many of them. Getting the opportunity to talk to and work with Griffey could go a long way with these minor league players. Another thing that Griffey wants to do, that stood out to me, is that he wants to work in the broadcast booth. Armstrong talked about working Griffey into the current broadcasting rotation from time to time. It would be very fun for Mariners fans to hear one of the greatest players in baseball history call and analyze the game. 

Griffey knows that Jack Zduriencik is calling the shots and he has stated that he will not be doing anything that Zduriencik disapproves of. This is a great move by the Mariners to bring Griffey in. I truly think he will make an impact, both big and small.

Article previously posted for http://nwps12.com/

Projected Opening Day Active Roster

Spring training begins tomorrow and I cannot wait. I wish that I could make the trip to Peoria this year, but instead I will be at home, constantly updating twitter for the latest Spring Training News. Pitchers and catchers will be reporting tomorrow, February 13^th, and the position players will be reporting on the 18^th. The first game for the Mariners is on Sunday, February 27^th against the San Diego Padres. The Spring Training games will conclude on March 30^th as the Mariners take on the Dodgers. March 31^st is the deadline for teams to reduce their roster to 25 players. The Mariners will open the 2011 season April 1^st in Oakland and they will make their home debut on Friday, April 8^th against the Cleveland Indians.

Earlier this offseason I put together a projected lineup and rotation. It did not include a bullpen projection. There have been a lot of additions since then so here is my updated projected active roster for opening day.

Lineup:

1.      Ichiro Suzuki, Right field

2.      Chone Figgins, Third Base

3.      Justin Smoak, First Base

4.      Jack Cust, Designated hitter

5.      Franklin Gutierrez, Center Field

6.      Michael Saunders, Left Field

7.      Miguel Olivo, Cather

8.      Jack Wilson, Shortstop

9.      Brendan Ryan, Second Base

Bench:

• Milton Bradley, Designated Hitter/Left Field

• Adam Moore, Catcher

• Adam Kennedy, Infield

• Jody Gerut, Left Field

Rotation:

1. Felix Hernandez, RHP
2. Jason Vargas, LHP
3. Doug Fister, RHP
4. Michael Pineda, RHP
5. Erik Bedard, LHP

Bullpen:

·         CL: David Aardsma, RHP (If ready by opening day)

·         SU: Brandon League, RHP

·         SU: Dan Cortes, RHP

·         Mid: Manny Delcarmen, RHP

·         Mid: Garret Olson, LHP

·         Mid: Chris Ray, RHP

·         LR: Luke French, LHP

Analysis:

In regards to the lineup projections, I think those are the guys that we will see in the starting lineup. There may be some differences in the batting order, but the group of guys should be the same. The bench could go a few different ways. Mike Carp could earn a spot as a back up first baseman or corner outfielder. We should also watch for Greg Halman, Ryan Langerhans, Matt Mangini, Matt Tuiasosopo, and Gabe Gross to earn a spot on the bench.

As we move to the rotation, this is when things could get crazy. I believe the only 3 locks for the rotation are Felix, Vargas, and Fister. After them, who knows how things will turn out! From prospects to non-roster invitees there a lot of candidates for the number 4 and 5 spots in the rotation. I currently think Pineda and Bedard will earn these last spots but there are a lot of factors involved with that. Pineda will need to have a very strong spring and Bedard will also need to perform well but more importantly, show that he is healthy. The other candidates to watch for are Nate Robertson, Luke French (who I have listed in the bullpen), David Pauley, and maybe even Mauricio Robles as a dark horse candidate.

The bullpen is always a messy subject. There are so many candidates that could emerge and spring training performances will really answer these questions. The Mariners have A LOT of candidates. Every pitcher that the Mariners have as a non-roster invitee this year (there are 13), could compete for a job in the bullpen. There are also a good mix of prospects and veterans in the organization to compete for a job as well. If you notice I do not have the Mariners Rule V draft pick Jose Flores on the active roster. I don’t see him impressing enough people to earn a spot in the bullpen and I think that the Mariners will offer him back to the Indians. Other strong candidates that I did not list in my projected bullpen are Denny Bautista, Josh Lueke, David Pauley, Royce Ring, Chris Seddon, and Justin Miller. Obviously there are a lot more guys with a shot to be in the bullpen but we will have to wait for Spring Training to see who steps up above the rest. One more thing to note is that if David Aardsma is not ready by opening day due to his hip, then I believe that Denny Bautista will be in the bullpen and Brandon League will be the closer.

Looking Ahead:

As we all know, the Mariners are in a rebuilding process. This has seemed to be the most used word this offseason. There are a lot of young guys in the minors that will start to get their first taste of big league action this year.

Dustin Ackley

As we look at who could get receive a call-up this year in terms of batters, the most notable name is obviously Dustin Ackley. Mr. Ackley is one of the biggest pieces that the organization is building around. Ackley could start the year in the majors but I think that he will most likely start the year at AAA. This will allow him to polish his defense a little more and they will avoid Super Two arbitration status which means longer team control before Ackley receives a huge raise. Another name to watch is Alex Liddi. He should start the year at AAA and if he shows some improvements from last year, he could earn a call-up at some point in the year. More names to watch are Carlos Peguero, Nate Tenbrink and maybe even Carlos Truinfel.

As we look at the pitchers in the upper minors, there are a lot of guys that could make a debut this year. As I listed above, there are guys like Michael Pineda, Josh Lueke, and Mauricio Robles. Another guy to watch for is Blake Beavan who came over in the Cliff Lee trade. Beavan is an innings eater and he could be a middle of the rotation starter. He should open the year at AAA and at some point this year, he should make his debut. There are a handful of pitchers that were added to the 40 man roster this year and they could see some opportunities in the bullpen and maybe even a spot start. The guys I am talking about are Yoervis Medina, Cesar Jimenez, Edward Parades, and Tom Wilhelmsen. There are a lot of other pitchers in the lower minors that could advance quickly through the system especially if they are pitching out of the bullpen.

The Mariners have some good pieces to build around which will help as we move forward towards the future. This season should answer a lot of questions for these guys and it will be fun to watch them develop and begin their careers at the big league level.

Where Are They Now: Guillermo Quiroz

Guillermo Quiroz never did much in a Mariners uniform. The 29 year old catcher signed with the Mariners on two separate occasions. In 2006, the Mariners claimed Quiroz from the Blue Jays off of waivers. That season he saw only 2 major league at bats in which he went hitless. He spent a majority of that 2006 season at AA and AAA in the Mariners organization.

After the 2006 season, he was granted free agency and he made stops in Baltimore and Texas before signing with the Mariners again in 2009. In 2009, he had only 14 major league at bats in which he hit .286. After the 2009 season, he re-signed with Seattle and it was the same story. Last year Quiroz saw only 7 at bats and he again hit .286. While in a Seattle Mariners jersey, Quiroz hit .261 with 2 RBI and 0 homeruns in 23 at bats.

The majority of Quiroz’s career with Seattle has been at the AA and AA levels, serving as catching depth. In 2010 at the minor league level, his average was .286. That seems to be the magic number for Quiroz! In his entire minor league career with the Mariners, he has had 732 at bats and his stats have been nothing special. An ok average with zero power and speed.

What has carried Quiroz this far in his career is his defense. He has a good accurate arm and he is a sound defender. This is always a good asset to have as a back up catcher. He has played a large majority of his career at the minor league level, so one could assume that Quiroz has learned to work well with young pitchers.

Quiroz signed a minor league contract with the Padres this offseason with an invite to major league spring training. Quiroz will compete with another former Mariner, Rob Johnson, as the back up catcher behind Nick Hundley. The think we will most likely see Quiroz at AAA for the Padres.

The once top 100 prospect will look to continue his career in a Padres jersey at the age of 29.

Where Are They Now: Ryan Rowland-Smith

In this new series of posts, “Where are they now”, I would like to talk about some of the Mariners departures this offseason and where they are now playing. First on the list is Ryan Rowland-Smith.

Ryan Rowland-Smith began his professional career in 2000 when he was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mariners. The Australian Born, lefthanded pitcher, made his major league debut in 2007 with the Mariners at the age of 24. Rowland-Smith posted solid numbers in 2008-2009 but things began to crumble apart in 2010. Between 2008 and 2009, he went 10-7 with an ERA of 3.58. It looked as through Rowland-Smith was beginning to put things together but 2010 went terribly bad. He went 1-10 with a 6.75 ERA. Rowland-Smith was placed on the DL with a back strain. After, he spent a lot of time in AAA Tacoma.  

Rowland-Smith decided to test the free agent market after the 2010 season. The 28 year old, 6’3” 240lb pitcher signed with the Houston Astros for a one year $725,000 deal. Rowland-Smith is a very cheap option for the Astros and he could be a nice surprise for them. He won’t be pitching in the friendly compounds of Safeco, which may hurt him a little, but Minute Maid Park is a pretty neutral park. We could find him in the back-end of the Astros rotation, and if not there he would be a decent lefthanded option for the Astros in the bullpen. If he gets his BB/9 back down to normal, Rowland-Smith could get back to his old-self.

Rowland-Smith is certainly a hard worker and I assume he has been working very hard this offseason. He is a great guy and it would be great to see him get his career back on track. He was a fan favorite in Seattle and he received many emotional good byes from Mariners fans on Twitter. Seattle is wishing you the best of luck, Hyphen.

Revisiting the Jarrod Washburn trade

On July 31, 2009, The Mariners traded lefthanded pitcher, Jarrod Washburn to the Detroit Tigers for two young leftys. The Mariners received Luke French and Mauricio Robles in the deal. Prior to the trade, Washburn held an 8-6 record with a 2.64 ERA in 133.0 innings pitched.

Why, might you ask, am I revisiting this trade? We are in prospect season and I have been seeing Mauricio Robles’ name appearing high on a lot of peoples Mariners’ prospect lists. I want to show just how good this deal has worked out for the Mariners.



Washburn



Prior to the trade, Washburn was in the middle of a breakout year for the Mariners. He was posting fantastic numbers and was amongst the league leaders in ERA. This all changed once he arrived in Detroit. He was rocked in his first start with the Tigers, giving up 6 earned runs in 5.1 innings. This trend would continue through out the rest of the season. Washburn’s stats with the Tigers that year were a totally different story compared to what he did with Seattle earlier in the year. His 7.33 ERA and 1.558 WHIP while pitching for Detroit raised a lot of eyebrows in regards to the deal in Detroit. The Mariners sure traded him at a good time. They got rid of him before things started going downhill and they received two young pitchers in return.

French

The first guy that has made an impact thus far from the trade was Luke French. Many people think French is pretty similar to Washburn. A lefthanded pitcher with a high hr/9, doesn’t strikeout a lot of guys, and has pretty good command which is the key to him being an average pitcher. When French first came over in the trade, he went 3-3 with a 6.63 ERA in 38 IP. Those aren’t impressive numbers at all, but they were still better than that of Washburn’s. In 2010 he really settled down. He tore up AAA Tacoma with a few decent appearances mixed in at the big league level in the first half of the season. He found a permanent spot in the rotation in August. His ERA from last year was 4.83 in 87.2 IP. French has proved he can be a pretty decent back of the rotation starter and he is still young at the age of 25. The 6’4” 220lb lefty has posted stats very similar to those of Washburn early in his career. The Mariners very potentially received a younger and very cheaper Jarrod Washburn. Not to mention Seattle has 4 more years of team control over French!

Robles

The other guy in the deal, Mauricio Robles really sweetened the deal. When he first came over in the deal, he was at the age of 20 and was assigned to High A. In the hitter friendly league, he had an ERA of 2.78 with 34 strikeouts in 32.1 innings pitched. Robles has continued posting good stats over the course of his career and he finished 2010 in Tacoma. Last year he played a majority of time in AA West Tennessee but was called up to AAA towards the end of the season. His 9.47 K/9 at AA ranked second in the Southern League behind Alex Cobb of the Rays. His overall stats from last year were a 3.99 ERA with a 9.8 K/9 in 143.0 IP. At the time, the Mariners didn’t know too much as to what they were getting in Robles due to his little experience and he was still so young. He has emerged as one of the team’s top prospects and has a fantastic changeup which is the best in the system. His potential is higher than that of Luke French and he could find himself in the middle of Seattle’s rotation soon. Look for him to make his debut very soon as he will be starting the year at AAA and is on Seattle’s 40 man roster.

More Changes to Cheney Stadium?

More Changes to Cheney Stadium

What Cheney will look like

In 1960, a new era of baseball was born in Tacoma, Washington. At the time, many local businessmen had been working very hard to bring a team to Tacoma. The time finally came when the San Francisco Giants announced that they would move their AAA team to Tacoma if they could build a stadium. In 1959 the work began and in 1960 Cheney Stadium made its debut as the home stadium for the Tacoma Giants. Cheney Stadium has served home to the Tacoma Giants, the Tacoma Cubs, the Tacoma Twins, the Tacoma Yankees, the Tacoma Tugs, the Tacoma Timbers, the Tacoma Tigers, the Cheney Studs, and the Tacoma Rainiers. Despite a variety of different teams coming and going, Cheney Stadium has always been home to a Pacific Coast League team.

 2010 marked a big year for the Rainiers organization. They won the 2010 Pacific Coast League Championship and it was the last year for Cheney Stadium. On September 7^th, of last year, work began and the much needed renovations were being started. The 50 year old stadium certainly needed the $30 Million renovation. There had been other renovations in the past but this was the first major one. Many parts of the stadium were certainly old but the new stadium will be everything but that.

Lewis Kamb of the Tacoma News Tribune discussed the new renovations when the news was announced:

"The public display of the chosen design for the 50-year-old ballpark’s first major renovation detailed a long list of new amenities, including new field-level, bleacher and outfield “berm” seating that will add about 1,000 seats, said officials for the winning design-build team headed by Mortenson Construction.

Other features include a third-tier business suite level with expandable meeting spaces and a restaurant; a wider concourse with new and more concessions and restrooms; and new bullpens, dugouts and locker rooms for the hometown Tacoma Rainiers and visiting clubs.

But the chief attribute that stood out in architectural renderings was the ballpark’s prominent grandstand. Rendered in concepts as a modern-looking, boxy structure with timbered siding and stunted roof overhangs, the design drew both warm and tepid responses."

Whether you are driving down highway 16 or south 19th street, you can continuously see the progress being made on the stadium. It will be ready by opening day and fans are very excited.

Talks are going around that a local High School, Henry Foss of the Tacoma Public School district, may be closing soon due to the lack of funds in the district. How does this affect Cheney Stadium? Well for those of you that don’t know, Foss High school is directly next to Cheney Stadium. The two facilities share a parking lot and you can often find people watching free baseball up from a hill on the High School’s campus. As you look at the Google satellite image you can see how close the stadium is to the school.

Key (Line Type)

·                         Parking Lot owned by Cheney Stadium

·                         Property Owned by Foss

·                         Parking Lot Shared by both Cheney and the School

Nothing is certain or verified or anything along those lines, but I have heard rumors that the Rainiers organization is interested in buying the lot. The new stadium will be bringing in a lot more fans and it will also have more seats. So where will all these people park? If they bought the high school campus, they would have a lot more room for parking. It can be hectic enough to find parking/get to the parking lots here and more fans will make this even harder,. Adding more space would certainly make a difference!

Not only could they add more parking but they could add a very nice complex for the players. They could possibly have a training facility for injured players to rehab. A rehab facility here would much closer for The Mariners, Everett Aqua Sox (Short Season), and obviously the Rainiers as opposed to traveling to Arizona.

This situation is still a very big IF but you never know. It would be great for fans to have more parking and great for players to have a nice training facility. There are still a lot of schools in the area for students of Foss High School, so they do have somewhere to go. Stay tuned for more information on the situation and if anything more unfolds.

One last thing to leave you with is an image from the live construction cam. The stadium is looking great!

Baseball America Top 30 Mariners' Prospects

I just received my copy of the Baseball America Prospect Handbook. This is my first time ever buying the book, and I can now say that I will be buying it for life. It features the top 30 prospects for each club with loads of info on each player. Not only does it include the top 30 prospects for each club it analysis the best tools, top players at each position, and A LOT more. Also, if you pre-ordered it (Which I did) you received an additional prospect for each team. (The team’s 31^st overall prospect) It also features their top 50 prospect list and a lot of other information. I highly recommend it to all baseball fans.

For the Mariners fans out there, I wanted to provide you guys with the top 30 prospects in the Mariners’ organization, according to my trusty handbook. I will be providing you with only the list of names, so if you want to read more, check out the book!

1. Dustin Ackley
2. Michael Pineda
3. Nick Franklin
4. Taijuan Walker
5. Guillermo Pimentel
6. Mauricio Robles
7. Johermyn Chavez
8. Marcus Littlewood
9. Kyle Seager
10. Dan Cortes
11. Greg Halman
12. Josh Lueke
13. Alex Liddi
14. Ramon Morla
15. Rich Poythress
16. Carlos Triunfel
17. Blake Beavan
18. Matt Mangini
19. Esteilon Peguero
20. Phillips Castillo
21. Stephen Pryor
22. James Jones
23. Jordan Shipers
24. Josh Fields
25. Carlos Peguero
26. Tom Wilhelmsen
27. Steve Baron
28. Erasmo Ramirez
29. Mickey Wiswall
30. Yoervis Medina