A Visualization of Team Italy

The Mariners have nine players on various World Baseball Classic rosters. I perused the names and countries without many surprises, until I came to one.

Brian Sweeney is playing for team Italy.

I had never thought of Sweeney's ancestry until this afternoon, but he piqued my interest. I simply did not expect him to be a part of any WBC roster, much less Italy's. The option wasn't within my realm of possibilities.

I wondered who else was on team Italy, and one thing led to another. Below is a map plotting the birth cities of everyone on team Italy:

View Italy WBC in a larger map

I'd think that Italy makes a horse shoe around New York city if I didn't know better. Sweeney was born in Yonkers, NY, so he fits right in.

There are 15 other nations besides Italy in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. I bet a handful of them have player birthplaces that leave similar geographic footprints.

Fun fact: Italy enters the WBC ranked ninth in the world in baseball.

Roster Purge Begins

I like to stick with Major League Baseball's etiquette and not talk about anything but the postseason while the postseason is happening, so it's time to talk about the Mariners again!

Honestly, though, we all needed a break from the Mariners after such a disastrous season. There were things I almost wrote about, but then reminded myself how uninteresting those things would be in the midst of meaningful and interesting baseball. Now the postseason is over though, meaning every team is relevant again, even the Seattle Mariners.

Also, the Mariners have been very busy in the few days since baseball's moratorium on news has lifted. Here are some quick-hitters on all the moves:

Serviceable Parts

With everyone paying attention to game seven of the NBA Finals, even me (gasp!...seriously, it's probably been a couple years since I've sat down to intentionally watch an NBA game), now is the perfect time for an obscure baseball post. A couple players hit waivers today that pique my interest.

The first is soon-to-be former Marlin Renyel Pinto. He is a huge lefty, listed at 6'4" and 265 pounds, and he has respectable 3.62 ERA for his career. I am quite surprised that a lefty as good as Pinto, at a rather young 28 years old, is available for anyone to claim.

There are a few buyer bewares with Pinto. First of all, over his career, his most effective pitch has been change-up. Consequently, he runs inverted splits - for his career, he has been better against righties. He certainly should not be a situational lefty. Also, Pinto's peripheral stats say his ERA should be about a run worse than it usually is.

With all that said, Pinto has a spot in someone's bullpen. The Mariners certainly should claim him, though I'll be shocked if he makes it that far in the waiver process (everyone in the NL gets a crack at him first).

The second player that hit waivers interests me even more. His name is Jayson Nix, a 28-year-old utility player. The White Sox designated him for assignment to reportedly make room for Dayan Viciedo. Nix had a pleasant surprise of a season last year, flashing moderately surprising power with pleasant defense. This year, his slash line is underwhelming, but his playing time has been limited to say the least.

Nix is what he is. He provides somewhere between solid and good defense at second base and the corner outfield slots. He also can defend shortstop and third base if needed. At the plate, Nix has enough pop in his bat to make pitchers pay for mistakes, but not enough to be a pivotal piece in a good offense. In Mariners terms, Jayson Nix is a better version of Matt Tuiasosopo.

If I were Jack Zduriencik, I would put claims in on both Pinto and Nix. The 40-man roster sits at 38 players, so there is room without booting anyone out. At the MLB level, Tui and Brian Sweeney could be sent down.

Nix and Pinto are far from franchise or season savers, but they would make several teams better, including the Mariners.