Hargrove Finished For Good

I had this weird dream last night. It was about the Mariners (that's not the weird part). It started normal enough with the front office talking about how great the team is and everyone not believing them. Willie Bloomquist had this great spring training (that's the part where I knew I was dreaming). Then, once the season started, they had this whole series snowed out in Cleveland, which made them play games for two months in a row. Then, Ken Griffey Jr. returned and hit some homers, and then the Mariners started winning lots of games and lots of fans kept coming to Safeco Field every night, and then Mike Hargrove quit!

Oh wait, never mind about the dream. For two and a half years Hargrove's moves as manager have been questioned, but thanks to a seven-game winning streak and admirable managing of the bullpen through the brutal stretch caused by the snow-outs, he was getting some credit for the M's success. Apparently, the questioning had ceased for too long, so Dudley made an unprecedented move in Major League history - he benched himself, or I guess more literally un-benched himself, in the midst of a long winning streak. Simply put, he said he had "lost the passion."

Understandably, many are questioning Hargrove's true motives. Quite literally no manager has ever left a team as hot as the Mariners. Really, how could anybody lose their passion watching this team right now? The whole fan base has been energized by the recent surge, but apparently the man pushing all the buttons just didn't get nearly as enthused. Something just doesn't add up. Really, Mike? You just lost your passion?

This is such a baffling move that I think there's only one logical conclusion: we've got the whole story. There are no secrets or hidden scandals. This man really just did not want to manage any more. As bizarre as this story is, it's what Hargrove says happened, and it does make the most sense.

Mike Hargrove has been in baseball for over 30 years. He has seen a lot and experienced a lot. He's been to game seven of the World Series, and he's been axed by a moribund franchise like the Orioles. Hargrove knows when things are good, and when things are bad. I've doubted his problem-solving methods as a manager, but he does know when times are good and when they are bad.

Apparently, Hargrove went to Bavasi two weeks ago and told him that he felt a loss in his passion to manage. Given that Bavasi has stuck with Grover this long, it wasn't surprising that he wanted him to stick around. The M's were on a six-game losing streak at the time, so it was quite plausible that once they got back Hargrove would feel just fine again. Of course, the Mariners rebounded and proceeded to catch fire. Dudley knew that things were really good right now, but his feelings still hadn't changed. Even though the plan was apparently to wait until the All-Star Break, he was smart enough to realize that if this homestand didn't pump him up, nothing was going to.

No doubt, this will stand as the oddest move Mike Hargrove made as Mariners manager. However, I think it will stand as his best. There's no glory in walking away from such a great thing. There was no friction forcing Hargrove out either (in fact, all indications are that quite the opposite was true). This is the story of a man who knew with all his heart that he was done, because nothing besides that strong of conviction would have taken him away from the current situation. So, I really have to applaud the man for being true to himself. Thanks to his integrity, he'll be a happier man, and the Mariners will be a better organization. As tempting as it is to keep things status quo when they are so good, the situation would have quickly turned sour with a manager that doesn't want to manage. Plus, it doesn't hurt that John McLaren is a great replacement (I'll save talking about Mac for tomorrow though).

Hargrove couldn't have found an odder way to leave. It is perfect timing though. Though Dudley made many wrong decisions as the M's skipper, this one without a doubt was right.

M's Roster Taking Shape

Today the Mariners announced that they had re-assigned one player to minor league camp (RHP Aaron Small), and sent four others to AAA Tacoma (RHP Sean Green, LHP Eric O'Flaherty, C Rene Rivera, OF Jeremy Reed). Though the Mariners had made several cuts before today's round, no one was cut before today that was thought to have a shot at making the ballclub. Especially with the four optioned to AAA out of the picture, the opening day roster has begun to take shape. As of now, the Mariners have 33 players in camp and must be down to 25 in a matter of days. Here is who is still left (* = a player not on the 40-man roster):


POSITION PLAYERS
Kenji Johjima (C)
Jamie Burke (C)*
Richie Sexson (1B)
Ben Broussard (1B/LF/RF)
Jose Lopez (2B)
Jose Vidro (2B/DH)
Yuniesky Betancourt (SS)
Gookie Dawkins (SS/3B)*
Rey Ordonez (SS)*
Adrian Beltre (3B)
Raul Ibanez (LF)
Ichiro (CF)
Adam Jones (CF)
Jose Guillen (RF)
Willie Bloomquist (IF/OF)
Mike Morse (IF/OF)


PITCHING STAFF
Felix Hernandez (RHP)
Jarrod Washburn (LHP)
Miguel Batista (RHP)
Horacio Ramirez (LHP)
Jeff Weaver (RHP)
Cesar Jimenez (LHP)
Arthur Rhodes (LHP)*
George Sherrill (LHP)
Jake Woods (LHP)
Jon Huber (RHP)
Justin Lehr (RHP)*
Mark Lowe (RHP)
Julio Mateo (RHP)
Brandon Morrow (RHP)*
J.J. Putz (RHP)
Chris Reitsma (RHP)
Sean White (RHP)


With Rene Rivera being sent down today the Mariners have only two catchers remaining in camp, which means Kenji Johjima (of course) and more surprisingly Jamie Burke will be on the ballclub by process of elimination. Sexson, Lopez, Betancourt, Beltre, Vidro, Ibanez, Ichiro, and Guillen are all locked in as starters on the club, and Willie Bloomquist was a shoo-in as a reserve at the start of the spring, but he has removed any doubt with his performance as well. So, that is a total of 11 position players with spot on the squad, and since it looks like the M's are going to carry 12 pitchers, 2 vacant reserve positions remain. Since the Mariners would probably like one of these guys to bat left-handed, Ben Broussard has likely made the ballclub because he is the only left-handed hitter among those that are not already on the ballclub. Between him and Willie Bloomquist, the Mariners have all the defensive positions covered, so they have the luxury of selecting the best player out of the pool remaining. If I were them, I would go with Mike Morse because he has the best bat of everyone left, the most versatility of anyone left, and he also is already on the 40-man roster.


Now on to the pitching staff. Hernandez, Washburn, Batista, Ramirez, and Weaver are the starting five for sure. However, the bullpen is very much up for grabs. Jake Woods figures to return to the long-relief role he filled so well last year, Chris Reitsma will be the set-up man, and Dudley-favorite Julio Mateo is sure to pitch in some crucial inning when better options are available (though I should say Mateo has looked good this spring, and I anticipate a good year from him). J.J. Putz would be a lock to make the team as well, but the Mariners may opt to put him on the DL to start the year if he is hurt bad enough. I think they won't though, so I will lightly pencil him in on the opening day roster. So, 9 of the 12 pitching spots are taken, leaving 3 to be decided between 8 hurlers. Mark Lowe can be eliminated because he is still hurt, so really there are only seven competing. Arthur Rhodes and George Sherrill should be on the club, because Hargrove really wants three lefties, especially since one (Woods) fills the long-relief role. That leaves only one position up for grabs among Jon Huber, Justin Lehr, Brandon Morrow, and Sean White. Of this quartet, Lehr has probably been the most unimpressive (though Huber is right there with him), and he is also a non-roster invitee. So, his chances of making the Mariners are slim to none.


That leaves Huber, Morrow, and White. Huber was impressive in his September call-up last year, but he has been roughed up a couple times this spring. Brandon Morrow has been dominant, and he's got the best stuff of this trio. However, he has virtually no professional experience and he's also not on the 40-man roster. As for Sean White, he has also looked good this spring and if the Mariners don't keep him they will have to return him to the Braves, since he was a Rule 5 draft pick. The last bullpen spot is easily the toughest decision the Mariners have to make, but if I were making the call I would go with Sean White, because he and Huber are relative equal in my eyes but Huber can be sent down; and also because I would prefer to see Brandon Morrow develop as a starter in the minors (plus adding Morrow would kick another guy off the 40-man roster).


So, here is who I think the 2007 Mariners will be:


STARTING LINEUP
Kenji Johjima, C
Richie Sexson, 1B
Jose Lopez, 2B
Yuniesky Betancourt, SS
Adrian Beltre, 3B
Raul Ibanez, LF
Ichiro, CF
Jose Guillen, RF
Jose Vidro, DH


BENCH
Willie Bloomquist
Ben Broussard
Mike Morse
Jamie Burke


STARTING ROTATION
Felix Hernandez
Jarrod Washburn
Miguel Batista
Horacio Ramirez
Jeff Weaver


BULLPEN
Jake Woods, Long Relief
Sean White, Long Relief
Julio Mateo, Middle Relief
George Sherrill, Specialty Lefty
Arthur Rhodes, Left-Handed Set-Up
Chris Reitsma, Right-Handed/Primary Set-Up
J.J. Putz, Closer


In this scenario, two non-roster invitees make the squad, so two players must be removed from the 4o-man roster. To open up one spot I would put Mark Lowe on the 60-day DL, and for the last one I would designate Sean Green for assignment. If J.J. Putz starts the year on the DL, I would call up Jon Huber, but my feeling is that the Mariners will choose Morrow instead. If Morrow is added to the roster, my guess is Travis Blackley is designated for assignment. I've often criticize Bavasi and Dudley for how they have handled the roster, but so far I like what I see. I'm scared they are going to kill Morrow's future (though I think he would be a solid reliever), but I'm even more scared they are going to keep either Rey Ordonez or Gookie Dawkins around. The M's are due for a brain freeze at some point this spring.

Job-Saving Victory?

The Mariners' recently completed road trip was almost a total disaster. On the road trip the Mariners had a triple play turned against them that was really caused by lackadaisical baserunning, an alarming amount of sacrifice bunts and caught stealings, multiple shutouts, a walk-off home run in extra innings, grand slams hit in back-to-back games, and Raul Ibanez was ejected from a game for the first time in his career. Also, the road trip clinched the Mariners fourteenth consecutive losing month, a dubious achievement to say the least. In light of the downward spiral and obvious frustration surrounding the ballclub, I thought that if the Mariners were to lose yesterday Mike Hargrove might be fired. The scenario was too perfect: If the Mariners were to lose, Seattle would have had a winless road trip, giving ample reasoning to fire Hargrove. In addition, the off-day today would allow the team and media to absorb the major news without the pressure of a ballgame to prepare for in the evening. To top things off, the new manager could start off at home against the worst team in baseball.

However, Seattle showed plenty of spark yesterday and finished the dismal road trip on a higher note than even the most optimistic of fans could imagine with a 14-5 rout of the division-leading Rangers. The win must have made the flight back home much more enjoyable for the ballclub, and provides momentum through the off-day and into the weekend series against the hapless Kansas City Royals. The momentum is good for the ballclub, and may have saved Hargrove's job for the time being, but Mike is far from out of the woods yet. In fact, yesterday's win may have just delayed the inevitable another four days.

I think the Mariners absolutely have to win this upcoming series against the Royals for Mike Hargrove to keep his job. As regular readers of this blog know, Kansas City is incredibly bad, probably the only team in the American League right now that is clearly worse than the Mariners. Furthermore, Kansas City is literally as bad of a road team as Major League Baseball has ever seen (their 3-22 start on the road this year tied the worst start in MLB history) but just took two out of three in Oakland, so they come in on a little bit of a hot streak. Still, if the Mariners lose two or three against Kansas City (or what if they get swept?!) on the heels of such a dismal road trip, I do not see how Hargrove can avoid being fired. The pressure is on.

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There Goes the Streak

I recommended watching the Pistons and the Heat tonight, and I should have taken my own advice. Instead, I decided to watch the Mariners to see if they could win their fifth straight, something they never accomplished in 2005. Going into the game I was getting excited for the Mariners. With last night's win the pulled to .500 on the season at home and were only three games out of first place. Richie Sexson was showing signs of coming out of his season-long slump and the middle infield combo of Yuniesky Betancourt and Jose Lopez was continuing to be better than advertised. Even better, the Mariners looked like they had caught a break tonight as the scheduled starter for the Orioles, Hayden Penn, had to have an emergency appendectomy. In his place would be a hodgepodge of relievers, "highlighted" by John Halama.

The good times lasted for four batters. Then, Ramon Hernandez stepped up to the plate and tattooed a Pineiro offering out of the park to give the Orioles a three-run lead before the M's could even bat. The Orioles ended up sending all nine hitters to the plate in the first inning and also tacked on another run to make the score 4-0 as Ichiro entered the box for the first time. He got a hit to extend his hitting streak, and as it turns out, that was the highlight of the night.

It didn't look like that would be the highlight for most of the game though. The Mariners got to Halama in the third inning and pretty soon Sam Perlazzo seemed to be throwing any reliever he could find at the Mariners in hopes of preserving the lead. His tactics worked, as the Orioles led 5-3 going into the bottom of the 8th.

The eighth started off very promising with a lucky single off the bat of Carl Everett. Then, Adrian Beltre stepped up to the plate and actually put a charge into a ball for a change. He drove a LaTroy Hawkins offering deep to right center and Corey Patterson was not able to catch it, allowing Everett to score and Beltre to make it all the way to third. Suddenly, Seattle was down only a run, the closest they had been the entire game, and the tying run was on third base with no outs! It looked as if the comeback not only could happen, but would happen.

Ah, but these are the 2006 Mariners and they are managed by Mike Hargrove. First up was Kenji Johjima, who has been everything the Mariners could have asked for both at the plate and behind it. Unfortunately, he left plenty to be desired this at-bat as he popped up to first base. Due up next was Willie Bloomquist but Hargrove decided to pinch hit Roberto Petagine in his place. This would have been a great move - except that Petagine's last appearance was as a pinch-hitter an entire WEEK ago in Oakland. It is absolutely ludicrous that Hargrove is not using Petagine more, especially considering how badly Richie Sexson has struggled. Even worse, when Hargrove finally does use him, he puts him in an extremely pressure-packed situation. Petagine was set up for complete failure and that's exactly what happened as he popped up to third base. There were now two outs in the inning and Yuniesky Betancourt was due up. Once again, Hargrove went to the bench and this time sent up Jeremy Reed. Hargrove likely made the move to set up the classic lefty-righty mismatch that managers absolutely love, but I really did not like the move for two reasons. First of all, I am not convinced that Reed is a better hitter than Betancourt. Though it is true Reed has heated up recently, Betancourt is in the midst of the longest hitting streak in his young career and Betancourt's numbers over the season are better than Reed's. Also, Seattle had to put someone else at shortstop for Betancourt in the ninth since they pinch hit for him, which greatly weakens the infield defense. The move seemed destined to harm the team. Sure enough, once Reed was announced as the pinch-hitter, the Orioles brought in their closer Chris Ray and it took him only four pitches to strike out Reed and preserve Baltimore's lead.

It felt like the Mariners may have blown their chance at winning the game in the eighth, but in the end it may not have mattered as the bullpen completely melted down and allowed nine runs in the top half of the ninth, highlighted by Ramon Hernandez's grand slam. Somehow, the Mariners found a way to squander a close game and get blown out in it at the same time, making this loss exotically painful.

Aside from the atypical bullpen meltdown, this game was painful because it pointed out how poorly Mike Hargrove has used the bench this year. It started back in mid-April when Seattle designated Joe Borchard for assignment just to keep Matt Lawton, supposedly because he was so valuable to the bench. That move backfired miserably as Borchard was snatched up by the Marlins and Matt Lawton is no longer with the ballclub because Hargrove never used him. In Lawton's place is Mike Morse, or as Mike Hargrove called him, "the infielder we've been looking for all year." Looking for all year? He's been sitting in AAA all year, just waiting to be called up. Did you forget about him? Maybe you did because he was only batting .227 and striking almost exactly once out of every four at-bats against AAA pitching. Please Mike, is this really the infielder you've been looking for? How does this make Hunter Brown feel, who plays every infield position and has clearly outperformed Morse this year in Tacoma? Brown is nothing special, but he would make a great utility infielder because he can play all over the diamond and you won't feel too guilty about not getting his bat in the lineup on a regular basis. On the other hand, hitting is supposedly Morse's strength, so if he is not getting to the plate (which he won't) he's a wasted commodity, kind of like Roberto Petagine right now. I got spoiled watching Lou Pineilla use a bench to perfection, but I expect more out of Mike Hargrove, especially now that he's got the infielder he was looking for. I really should have watched that Heat/Pistons game.

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