2016/2017 Seattle Mariners offseason thread

[gowazzu02]

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.

LOL Yup it was a Wed Ill always remember cause I took a month sebatacle before starting a new job. Wife text me that morning, too bad you started work M's have a day game today, would of been fun to go to......

Next thing you know,,, history.

 

[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.

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.

Is Dyson an every day guy? He never was an every day guy with KC. Lord I hope we get another healthy year out of the big three. 2 of the 3 of them are getting up there in years and losing either would severely hurt us.

Is Segura an upgrade defensively?

I really hope Felix bounces back, almost think we should disable the radar gun when he's out there. Don't want him looking at that, rather he focus on the movement and painting the black.

Hope springs eternal anyway...

 

[Chapow]

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

Not even that. We only missed the playoffs by a game or 2 last season.

I agree with you though. The M's have been heartbreakingly close to the playoffs 2 out of the last 3 years, but just couldn't quite get there. I think they see the postseason this year.

 

[mbtitleist]

LOL Yup it was a Wed Ill always remember cause I took a month sebatacle before starting a new job. Wife text me that morning, too bad you started work M's have a day game today, would of been fun to go to......

Next thing you know,,, history.

I had to listen to it on the radio at work. Sadly I didn't have it on DVR either so I didn't get to go home and watch it. The only reason I remember that it was on a Wednesday is because I play in a golf league on Wednesdays after work and that's all we could talk about while we were sitting around enjoying a few beers before the round started.

It wasn't all bad though. Listening to it on the radio meant I was able to listen to Rizzs instead of Simms.

 

[SeatownJay]

From the About Friggen Time Dept., the Mariners will be retiring the #11.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/1854 ... nez-number

 

[Hawk-Lock]

As usual, I'm cautiously optimistic with the M's. Every time they have a good season, they completely fold the next season. Two years ago we nearly made the playoffs only to follow up the next year with a bad season.

I do like the direction Dipoto is taking this team though. I think it really comes down to the starting pitching. Do we get good Felix? Can he still be an ace? What kind of production do we get from Smyly, Iwakuma, Gallardo, and Miranda?

 

[Josea16]

As always I'm optimistic that this will be the year the Mariners finally go to the World Series. It could happen you know?

 

[Sports Hernia]

I'm glad they are finally retiring #11. It needed to happen.
Met him and his family by accident about 8 years ago when they came into my part time job at the time.
Even though he was retired for a few years the guy still looked like he could play, still built like a brick shit house.

He couldn't have been a more humble and nicer man, his wife was beautiful and just as genuinely nice and his kids were cool and very well behaved. A real nice family. I told him he should be in the HOF and he was very gracious and thankful.

He didn't have to be nice or cool, as there was no one else around except for me and his family.

You hear about pro athletes that are jerks or phonies, this isn't the case with Edgar.
One of the genuinely nicest guys you could ever meet.

Edgar deserves to have his number retired and to be in the MLB HOF.

 

[Sports Hernia]

As always I'm optimistic that this will be the year the Mariners finally go to the World Series. It could happen you know?

That would be cool. I think they need to do it as I believe they only have a 2 year window with the current team as it stands.

 

[Josea16]

As always I'm optimistic that this will be the year the Mariners finally go to the World Series. It could happen you know?

That would be cool. I think they need to do it as I believe they only have a 2 year window with the current team as it stands.

Well Kansas City did it twice in two years (RIP Ventura. ) and the Cubs won the whole enchilada after 70 years? Why not us? Dipoto has put a good team together that matches Safeco. I worry the pitching isn't enough though. I love baseball but it's been a few years to find a reason to chat about my favorite baseball team.

 

[gowazzu02]

I heard the am radio guys talking about it. We are in a good position, but we still have a few needs. Specifically bullpen. Last years post season really opened my eyes about how the game is changing. Cleveland got all the way to game 7 of the WS with 5 innings from their starter then 2 each of Miller and Allen.

Diaz fell apart any time they tried to stretch him a second inning. So we another dominant arm to put out there with him at minimum.

 

[Largent80]

Yup Bull pen is huge in the modern pitch count game.

 

[m0ng0]

This guy was the throw in on the Segura deal, colour me intrigued

http://m.mariners.mlb.com/news/article/ ... potential/

 

[xgeoff]

Overall I'm not a fan of the roster re-work. The first move that I feel really hurt the team was the Mike Montgomery trade for Dan Vogelbach at the end of last year. I would have made Montgomery a core piece of my bullpen. Having a lefty middle reliever who could also give you quality starts when a starter gets injured is an amazing asset. To give him up for a platoon 1b who is a defensive liability is foolish.

Moving on to the rest of the needs that the Mariners had, I would have put them in this order:
-- 1b
-- starting pitching depth
--Corner Outfielder

I don't think Danny Valencia and Dan Vogelbach are the answer. I'm not even sure they are an upgrade over last year's platoon.

In terms of pitching depth, I was vehemently against the Taijuan Walker trade. This gave us a huge hole in the rotation and although I like Jean Segura, I am not convinced he will replicate his numbers from last year. If he doesn't, then he's not a huge upgrade over Marte and O'malley. I would have stuck with O'Malley, personally. The kid brought great energy to the team, made things happen on the base paths and was excellent defensively.

The Smyly acquisition is ho-hum to me. I see him as this year's nathan karns. Gallardo has more potential in my opinion. Is also a wait and see. All in all, I am very worried about the backend of the rotation. I think Felix will bounce back, Kuma will be steady, Paxton should excel. The rest, I'm worried about.

On the corner outfielders, I like Jarrod Dyson. I think that was a great trade. Karns was a huge disappointment and the fact we got a quality outfielder for him was a steal. Haniger looks good, but does not look differentiated from from Ben Gamel and Guillermo Heredia to me. So I love that we now have 5 fast defensive outfielders but not at the expense of the starting rotation. And we still need help at 1b.

Catcher has been a bit baffling to me. Frankly, I was pretty excited about how well Jesus Sucre played at the end of last year. Pairing him with Zunino would be a good combo IMO, at least as good as Iannetta and Zunino last year. And better than that piece of crap Clevenger. And better than Carlos Ruiz as well. Sometimes I just shake my head at what the Mariners do, and getting Ruiz and optioning Sucre is one of those moves.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[sutz]

Interesting read on Dyson.

Manager Scott Servais said he welcomes the “edge” he expects Jarrod Dyson to bring to the Mariners, and Dyson said, in turn, that he knows exactly what that entails.

Maybe the Mariners have been just a little too comfortable to play against. Sure, you’ve got those elite power bats in the middle of the order, but no one who struck fear with their ability to cause havoc on the bases, and who made the other manager fret about what might be coming next.

“I want us to be uncomfortable to other teams,’’ manager Scott Servais said. “That’s the goal here.”

And just maybe, the Mariners have been a little too comfortable in their own clubhouse. That’s not to say they don’t have leadership, or effort. But not necessarily someone to agitate, challenge, nurture and coerce — and in the process help will the ballclub to the next rung of achievement.

 

[gowazzu02]

Overall I'm not a fan of the roster re-work. The first move that I feel really hurt the team was the Mike Montgomery trade for Dan Vogelbach at the end of last year. I would have made Montgomery a core piece of my bullpen. Having a lefty middle reliever who could also give you quality starts when a starter gets injured is an amazing asset. To give him up for a platoon 1b who is a defensive liability is foolish.

Moving on to the rest of the needs that the Mariners had, I would have put them in this order:
-- 1b
-- starting pitching depth
--Corner Outfielder

I don't think Danny Valencia and Dan Vogelbach are the answer. I'm not even sure they are an upgrade over last year's platoon.

In terms of pitching depth, I was vehemently against the Taijuan Walker trade. This gave us a huge hole in the rotation and although I like Jean Segura, I am not convinced he will replicate his numbers from last year. If he doesn't, then he's not a huge upgrade over Marte and O'malley. I would have stuck with O'Malley, personally. The kid brought great energy to the team, made things happen on the base paths and was excellent defensively.

The Smyly acquisition is ho-hum to me. I see him as this year's nathan karns. Gallardo has more potential in my opinion. Is also a wait and see. All in all, I am very worried about the backend of the rotation. I think Felix will bounce back, Kuma will be steady, Paxton should excel. The rest, I'm worried about.

On the corner outfielders, I like Jarrod Dyson. I think that was a great trade. Karns was a huge disappointment and the fact we got a quality outfielder for him was a steal. Haniger looks good, but does not look differentiated from from Ben Gamel and Guillermo Heredia to me. So I love that we now have 5 fast defensive outfielders but not at the expense of the starting rotation. And we still need help at 1b.

Catcher has been a bit baffling to me. Frankly, I was pretty excited about how well Jesus Sucre played at the end of last year. Pairing him with Zunino would be a good combo IMO, at least as good as Iannetta and Zunino last year. And better than that piece of crap Clevenger. And better than Carlos Ruiz as well. Sometimes I just shake my head at what the Mariners do, and getting Ruiz and optioning Sucre is one of those moves.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

As a Mariner fan who has seen everything not work for almost two decades now I understand the jaded attitude.

Im not sure what DP saw in Vogelbach, I hope he can rake. We need a 1b that can actually hit.

I think you're underselling Smyly a bit. He has great stuff. I think putting him in Safeco is going to turn him into a border line 2.

I think the outfield "run prevention" is something people aren't giving credit to. Last year how many times did Aoki or Smith mis play a ball? For as much work as Leonis did the other 2 outfielders were sub par. Now all 3 are elite athletes. That should help alot.

Also hopefully Segura is a better defender then Ketel? Who seemed to shrink when the lights were their brightest. Who had the perfect game late that he screwed up with a easy play boot???

I think the lineup looks good. Last year we scored runs, we just fell off the cliff in the Pen and rotation. I like the way the rotation looks right now at Felix, Paxton, Kuma, Smyly, Gallardo, Miranda

The pen is still a huge question mark, but honestly thats kinda the way the pen works in the big leagues unless you are a big spender. So hopefully some kid we never heard of that has a cannon shows himself and we can pair him with Diaz.

 

[sutz]

Overall I'm not a fan of the roster re-work. The first move that I feel really hurt the team was the Mike Montgomery trade for Dan Vogelbach at the end of last year. I would have made Montgomery a core piece of my bullpen. Having a lefty middle reliever who could also give you quality starts when a starter gets injured is an amazing asset. To give him up for a platoon 1b who is a defensive liability is foolish.

Moving on to the rest of the needs that the Mariners had, I would have put them in this order:
-- 1b
-- starting pitching depth
--Corner Outfielder

I don't think Danny Valencia and Dan Vogelbach are the answer. I'm not even sure they are an upgrade over last year's platoon.

In terms of pitching depth, I was vehemently against the Taijuan Walker trade. This gave us a huge hole in the rotation and although I like Jean Segura, I am not convinced he will replicate his numbers from last year. If he doesn't, then he's not a huge upgrade over Marte and O'malley. I would have stuck with O'Malley, personally. The kid brought great energy to the team, made things happen on the base paths and was excellent defensively.

The Smyly acquisition is ho-hum to me. I see him as this year's nathan karns. Gallardo has more potential in my opinion. Is also a wait and see. All in all, I am very worried about the backend of the rotation. I think Felix will bounce back, Kuma will be steady, Paxton should excel. The rest, I'm worried about.

On the corner outfielders, I like Jarrod Dyson. I think that was a great trade. Karns was a huge disappointment and the fact we got a quality outfielder for him was a steal. Haniger looks good, but does not look differentiated from from Ben Gamel and Guillermo Heredia to me. So I love that we now have 5 fast defensive outfielders but not at the expense of the starting rotation. And we still need help at 1b.

Catcher has been a bit baffling to me. Frankly, I was pretty excited about how well Jesus Sucre played at the end of last year. Pairing him with Zunino would be a good combo IMO, at least as good as Iannetta and Zunino last year. And better than that piece of crap Clevenger. And better than Carlos Ruiz as well. Sometimes I just shake my head at what the Mariners do, and getting Ruiz and optioning Sucre is one of those moves.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

As a Mariner fan who has seen everything not work for almost two decades now I understand the jaded attitude.

Im not sure what DP saw in Vogelbach, I hope he can rake. We need a 1b that can actually hit.

I think you're underselling Smyly a bit. He has great stuff. I think putting him in Safeco is going to turn him into a border line 2.

I think the outfield "run prevention" is something people aren't giving credit to. Last year how many times did Aoki or Smith mis play a ball? For as much work as Leonis did the other 2 outfielders were sub par. Now all 3 are elite athletes. That should help alot.

Also hopefully Segura is a better defender then Ketel? Who seemed to shrink when the lights were their brightest. Who had the perfect game late that he screwed up with a easy play boot???

I think the lineup looks good. Last year we scored runs, we just fell off the cliff in the Pen and rotation. I like the way the rotation looks right now at Felix, Paxton, Kuma, Smyly, Gallardo, Miranda

The pen is still a huge question mark, but honestly thats kinda the way the pen works in the big leagues unless you are a big spender. So hopefully some kid we never heard of that has a cannon shows himself and we can pair him with Diaz.

I'm starting to think they may have to rest Felix every 4th/5th start so he can last into Sept and hopefully Oct. Lot of mileage there. He so deserves a shot at the playoffs.

 

[Crizilla]

Spring training hats have the retro logo. Wonder if they'll change to that for their primary hat logo? I like the compass but I wouldn't mind swapping out the S logo

 

[Sports Hernia]

Spring training hats have the retro logo. Wonder if they'll change to that for their primary hat logo? I like the compass but I wouldn't mind swapping out the S logo

That original logo (the blue and gold the trident m) which I've never liked, only lasted 2 years. Seattle hosted the all-star game in 1979 and had a better logo IMHO With the trident M coming out of the star. Just one guy's opinion of course. 8)

 

[Kennedyin92]

Spring training hats have the retro logo. Wonder if they'll change to that for their primary hat logo? I like the compass but I wouldn't mind swapping out the S logo

That original logo (the blue and gold the trident m) which I've never liked, only lasted 2 years. Seattle hosted the all-star game in 1979 and had a better logo IMHO With the trident M coming out of the star. Just one guy's opinion of course. 8)

I'm not fond of the Trident either and I don't think we're alone, considering that they only used it for two years. My personal favorite (probably for nostalgia reasons only) is the gold "S" from 1987-1992.