2016/2017 Seattle Mariners offseason thread

[Uncle Si]

Drew Smiley

https://marinersblog.mlblogs.com/marine ... .lw549p6jc

Very good work there...

 

[KitsapGuy]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/RyanDivish/status/819289272402460684[/tweet]

 

[Glasgow Seahawk]

Just saw this tweet: 'The best way I can describe Drew Smyly to you is he's basically what Erik Bedard would have been if Erik Bedard wasn't a bitch.'

Bedard was before my time...is it accurate?

 

[hannibalking]

From what I remember Bedard was one of those robots that showed no emotion, never wanted to talk to the media and would take himself out of games at certain pitch counts. Or at the least he looked bored and unwilling to put in extra work. I could be misremembering though.

 

[Sports Hernia]

Bedard was a "5 and dive" guy. Which meant he only wanted to pitch 5 innings and be done.
A crappy attitude.

Doesn't bother me that he didn't want to talk to reporters, I wouldn't either.

 

[Glasgow Seahawk]

Is Shae Simmons any good?

 

[Atradees]

Yay Drew Smiley.

Will Miranda start over gallorado?sp I'm sure.

 

[hannibalking]

Bedard was a "5 and dive" guy. Which meant he only wanted to pitch 5 innings and be done.
A crappy attitude.

Doesn't bother me that he didn't want to talk to reporters, I wouldn't either.

Not sure that bothers any fan, but I bet the media hated him for it.

 

[pcbball12]

Just saw this tweet: 'The best way I can describe Drew Smyly to you is he's basically what Erik Bedard would have been if Erik Bedard wasn't a bitch.'

Bedard was before my time...is it accurate?

Ya, it is not a bad comparison but not great either I don't think. Bedard had legit #1 type of stuff. He was a complete puss though. Would only pitch 5 innings and would take himself out after a certain pitch count. Always hurt, kind of just took the contract and did his bare minimum....had zero guts. I don't think Smyly has the same kind of stuff, but he has good stuff and is a very good middle of the rotation arm. Taylor made for this park and new acquired outfield.

 

[Hasselbeck]

Smyly should be real solid pitching at Safeco.

I hate the Rays so much for being cheaper than a $2 hooker.

 

[Hasselbeck]

The 2017 Mariners will be a speedy, hitting & fielding team. If our starters can improve - a lot - upon last year's performance, we are going to threaten for the division title at long last.

I love the direction Dipoto has taken this team. Hopefully Felix gets back into his #1 starter form.

They're finally building the team to fit the strengths of their ball park. Novel concept.

 

[Sports Hernia]

Bedard was a "5 and dive" guy. Which meant he only wanted to pitch 5 innings and be done.
A crappy attitude.

Doesn't bother me that he didn't want to talk to reporters, I wouldn't either.

Not sure that bothers any fan, but I bet the media hated him for it.

Oh they did. Ian Furness would go on a weekly tantrum about it.

 

[Sports Hernia]

The 2017 Mariners will be a speedy, hitting & fielding team. If our starters can improve - a lot - upon last year's performance, we are going to threaten for the division title at long last.

I love the direction Dipoto has taken this team. Hopefully Felix gets back into his #1 starter form.

They're finally building the team to fit the strengths of their ball park. Novel concept.

That's exactly right.! They are making moves like JS/PC did with the Hawks when they first arrived.

 

[West TX Hawk]

Smyly should thrive in Safeco and Simmons is a power arm to compete for setup duty. Dipoto is on a roll right now. The roster is coming together.

 

[LoneHawkFan]

I think this team is very competitive this year and pushes for a pennant.

We will go with essentially two #2's and three #3's for the rotation. R-L-R-L-R. Smyly and Gallardo are just what we need in the Safe. Big upgrade with Miranda and others to battle for the 5? Hell yes.

Upgraded bullpen. Simmons is a great addition. Diaz all season. Let's hope he has the stones for the closer but if not Cishek and others will be available.

Our lineup is filthy, period. No stress on our rookies to do anything except have solid ABs and maybe they'll be able to develop a little better than the Ackleys and Romeros and Saunders of 2010. We will have the best 1-6 in baseball. It will require something cataclysmic for us to be out of the top3 in runs this year. Lethal on the bases and deadly at the plate with grinders in there at 3-4-5.

For the same reasons I'm excited about the top of the order...our outfield is greatly improved as well. Should have no less than 2 top-tier defensive OFs in the field essentially every night.

I honestly think we win the west this season. 93-98 wins. Mark it.

 

[gowazzu02]

I think this team is very competitive this year and pushes for a pennant.

We will go with essentially two #2's and three #3's for the rotation. R-L-R-L-R. Smyly and Gallardo are just what we need in the Safe. Big upgrade with Miranda and others to battle for the 5? Hell yes.

Upgraded bullpen. Simmons is a great addition. Diaz all season. Let's hope he has the stones for the closer but if not Cishek and others will be available.

Our lineup is filthy, period. No stress on our rookies to do anything except have solid ABs and maybe they'll be able to develop a little better than the Ackleys and Romeros and Saunders of 2010. We will have the best 1-6 in baseball. It will require something cataclysmic for us to be out of the top3 in runs this year. Lethal on the bases and deadly at the plate with grinders in there at 3-4-5.

For the same reasons I'm excited about the top of the order...our outfield is greatly improved as well. Should have no less than 2 top-tier defensive OFs in the field essentially every night.

I honestly think we win the west this season. 93-98 wins. Mark it.

Love the optimism but i've seen too much Mariners baseball to get too excited.

What is your thoughts on the lineup?

Catcher still scares me, as does 1b. do we have one on the roster?

Can Felix bounce back?

Does Kuma have another year?

Was Gallardos garbage year an anomaly or a trend.

Was Seguras year an outlier (Beltres contract year) can he transition to the AL, and Safeco?

What's the plan WHEN Paxton hits the DL?

How will the psyche of Mariners fans handle Walker turning into the top of the line cy young candidate we know he will now that he's gone.

 

[FalconsFanNW]

The 2017 Mariners will be a speedy, hitting & fielding team. If our starters can improve - a lot - upon last year's performance, we are going to threaten for the division title at long last.

I love the direction Dipoto has taken this team. Hopefully Felix gets back into his #1 starter form.

They're finally building the team to fit the strengths of their ball park. Novel concept.

Yeah I like the changes the Mariners have made... and I do 100% support the Mariners and have since they became my local team in 2011. I'm a Braves/Mariners fan.

My biggest regret as as Mariners fan was in August 2012 I was gonna go to the game on Sunday to see Felix pitch... but the weather was so good I decided to go hiking instead.

I'm on my way back from Mt. Rainier and heard that he threw a perfect game.

 

[Glasgow Seahawk]

Just make the play offs. I worry about how big of a mental hurdle this becomes, the more years we go without play offs appearances. We could have extremely talented teams but they might not deal with the pressure of that hurdle.

With the Seahawks it pretty much feels like nothing to make the play offs, its more about play offs win. Where as a team like the Bills are in a similar situation to the M's.

Once we make the play offs and that monkey is off our back, anything is possible during that season and future seasons.

 

[mbtitleist]

The 2017 Mariners will be a speedy, hitting & fielding team. If our starters can improve - a lot - upon last year's performance, we are going to threaten for the division title at long last.

I love the direction Dipoto has taken this team. Hopefully Felix gets back into his #1 starter form.

They're finally building the team to fit the strengths of their ball park. Novel concept.

Yeah I like the changes the Mariners have made... and I do 100% support the Mariners and have since they became my local team in 2011. I'm a Braves/Mariners fan.

My biggest regret as as Mariners fan was in August 2012 I was gonna go to the game on Sunday to see Felix pitch... but the weather was so good I decided to go hiking instead.

I'm on my way back from Mt. Rainier and heard that he threw a perfect game.

Except he threw his perfect game on a Wednesday.

 

[LoneHawkFan]

I think this team is very competitive this year and pushes for a pennant.

We will go with essentially two #2's and three #3's for the rotation. R-L-R-L-R. Smyly and Gallardo are just what we need in the Safe. Big upgrade with Miranda and others to battle for the 5? Hell yes.

Upgraded bullpen. Simmons is a great addition. Diaz all season. Let's hope he has the stones for the closer but if not Cishek and others will be available.

Our lineup is filthy, period. No stress on our rookies to do anything except have solid ABs and maybe they'll be able to develop a little better than the Ackleys and Romeros and Saunders of 2010. We will have the best 1-6 in baseball. It will require something cataclysmic for us to be out of the top3 in runs this year. Lethal on the bases and deadly at the plate with grinders in there at 3-4-5.

For the same reasons I'm excited about the top of the order...our outfield is greatly improved as well. Should have no less than 2 top-tier defensive OFs in the field essentially every night.

I honestly think we win the west this season. 93-98 wins. Mark it.

Love the optimism but i've seen too much Mariners baseball to get too excited.

What is your thoughts on the lineup?

Catcher still scares me, as does 1b. do we have one on the roster?

Can Felix bounce back?

Does Kuma have another year?

Was Gallardos garbage year an anomaly or a trend.

Was Seguras year an outlier (Beltres contract year) can he transition to the AL, and Safeco?

What's the plan WHEN Paxton hits the DL?

How will the psyche of Mariners fans handle Walker turning into the top of the line cy young candidate we know he will now that he's gone.

I've see the Mariners a lot, too. Last few years they have been very close to the post season twice.

Here's why I'm optimistic: our Cano-Cruz-Seager core is extremely durable and consistent. Career average years from all three is not unreasonable to expect...only this year we have the speed at the top of the lineup that we didn't have last year. Remember all of the bad baserunning? All of the errors at SS? Seth Smith playing outfield? All of that is gone, replaced by very fast, very athletic ballplayers. Our 3rd OF and 1B will be inexperienced...but they won't need to be studs at the plate and hopefully will develop properly without all of the pressure.

The speed is the big thing. Segura and Dyson are both dynamic, high impact top-of-the-line base runners. Safeco was made for guys like these- I think they'll transfer just fine. Speed travels on the road as well...And Leonys at the 9? Please.

Smyly and Gallardo are both ideal pitchers for Safeco. They allow the defense to make plays, which we will be vastly improved at this season. Smyly can make guys miss when he needs to as well. Gallardo will bounce back.

I think Felix will have a better year again. Not saying he'll be back up to his 93-94 lots of Ks form, but he'll be a better pitcher than he was last year. He'll have to learn to use his command more than his power if he wants to stay in the league anyway.

All we need to do is win 5-6 more games than we did last season. I think we do it.