Mariners 2018/19 offseason thread...

South of Heaven, apparently!

Uncle Si":lax7qh3r said:

Atradees":lax7qh3r said:

Hernandez just needs to go home. He is terrible. Maybe he has substance abuse problems. its time for Justice. Sheffield.

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Substance abuse?

Kinell did that come from?

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A couple seasons ago someone who worked in a club
said Felix loved his booze..
I can't remember the name but maybe that is the substance?

The real question is will there be a Kings Court this year? I sure hope not but as long as Felix is selling tickets he's gonna pitch.

getnasty":mzb4sxto said:

The real question is will there be a Kings Court this year? I sure hope not but as long as Felix is selling tickets he's gonna pitch.

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Hes #5 in the rotation this year. I'd be surprised if he starts 15 games this season.

I doubt there will be a Kings Court this season. But if there were a sports franchise to do it, the Mariners would be it. Like Ichiro playing in Japan is typical Mariners.

Hawk-Lock":1oi5oq49 said:

I doubt there will be a Kings Court this season. But if there were a sports franchise to do it, the Mariners would be it. Like Ichiro playing in Japan is typical Mariners.

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Gordie Howe played for the Red Wings in his 40s... (and 80 games for the Whalers in his 50s). The Mariners can spare a couple games for the greatest Japanese player to play in the MLB to get a couple ABs in Japan..

plus, not a bad recruiting tool.

Watch him pitch. Thats were that came from. His form is shot.

Atradees":2t3h51ra said:

Watch him pitch. Thats were that came from. His form is shot.

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Couldn't be age and injury...

He's been at it for a long time. I feel bad for the guy because he ate up innings for the M's when they weren't even close to competitive. Truly dominating stuff. Although, where some players have learned to adjust to decreasing velocity, he just seems to try throwing it like he's still throwing in the upper 90's. His age and injuries have definitely caught up with him in my opinion.

One of the best pitchers or our generation, period. But he has a ridiculous amount of innings on that arm. It's unfortunate that he seems to still think he has it, let alone being mad about not starting in the opener. But, I have nothing but great memories of the King, he was an unreal talent for a lot of years. I was at the perfect game too, I'll never forget that day.

Can we please shelve the felix talk for a second and talk about ichiro.. specifically in my eyes the most blatant and indefensible act of choosing money and marketing of winning I’ve ever seen. IMO everything else the Mariners have done, while maybe not intelligent and while maybe actually sometimes all in the name of selling tickets (ie: how we are handling Felix) could at least be sort of backed up in baseball terms.

Now how the hell do you justify not just bringing back ichiro, but starting him opening day. His age and spring training performance show that the mariners organization doesn’t give two shits about winning if they can make a dollar by whoring him out in Japan in a GAME THAT ACUALLY MATTERS it’s gross and it’s insultimg to fans... shame on the mariners organization

I think you answered all your own questions.

I really dont see the issue giving the greatest Japanese mlb player a roster spot on the team that gave him a chance to be one of the best hitters in mlb history for 2 games in japan.

I think its the opposite of an insult to many fans, who see it as a celebration.

How many times have we seen aging stars on the field way past their prime on their farewell tour who just cant play?

Its 2 games. In japan.

therealjohncarlson":b44eeh9h said:

Can we please shelve the felix talk for a second and talk about ichiro.. specifically in my eyes the most blatant and indefensible act of choosing money and marketing of winning I’ve ever seen. IMO everything else the Mariners have done, while maybe not intelligent and while maybe actually sometimes all in the name of selling tickets (ie: how we are handling Felix) could at least be sort of backed up in baseball terms.

Now how the hell do you justify not just bringing back ichiro, but starting him opening day. His age and spring training performance show that the mariners organization doesn’t give two shits about winning if they can make a dollar by whoring him out in Japan in a GAME THAT ACUALLY MATTERS it’s gross and it’s insultimg to fans... shame on the mariners organization

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Very much agreed on the Ichiro fiasco. Watching him go 0 for 6 in the 2 exhibition games should've been enough-the nostalgic Japanese fans got to see him and that's more than enough. But no the piss ass front office is going to trot him out there for 2 regular season games and all the hoopla about him on the M's website and in the Times is vomit inducing.

He's taking away ABs from deserving players and that's inexcusable at this point when you're trying to develop young prospects.

And the Felix situation is just as bad. He got rocked in 4 innings against the frigging Yomiuri Giants and walked 3- his spring era including this game is 13.50 and yet he'll be in the rotation til June as the front office doesn’t have the balls or common sense to release his ass. And his damn bitching and complaining the last 2 years has revealed his true character. He's become a whining distraction and needs to be let go- they're on the hook for 27 mil regardless so just move on!

Uncle Si":1l70xj2s said:

I think you answered all your own questions.

I really dont see the issue giving the greatest Japanese mlb player a roster spot on the team that gave him a chance to be one of the best hitters in mlb history for 2 games in japan.

I think its the opposite of an insult to many fans, who see it as a celebration.

How many times have we seen aging stars on the field way past their prime on their farewell tour who just cant play?

Its 2 games. In japan.

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Disagree because Ichiro was given that opportunity for the 2 exhibition games. Tokyo got to celebrate him, watch him go 0 for 6, make a catch and that's more than sufficient for a farewell. When you're developing prospects they need all the ABs they can get and Ichiro will be taking away such ABs from more deserving players.

And it doesn't matter that this is a rebuild-you want to put the best product out on the field, particularly for the opening series and Ichiro has proven this spring and last year he doesn't belong on a major league roster anymore.

If he wants to continue playing I'm sure a team in the Atlantic League would employ his services and fans of his could stream his play online.

I dont think he has any interest in playing past these two games.

Its ceremonial. Nothing more... and something we have seen dozens of times with soon to be hall of famers in this league.

If hes taking ABs from young (healthy... remember this team is having an injury crisis with its up and comers) in late April, then sure, indignation for all.

Uncle Si":2vf84hll said:

I dont think he has any interest in playing past these two games.

Its ceremonial. Nothing more... and something we have seen dozens of times with soon to be hall of famers in this league.

If hes taking ABs from young (healthy... remember this team is having an injury crisis with its up and comers) in late April, then sure, indignation for all.

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But I'm kind of confused.. wasn't last year before he worked in the front office the "farewell tour"? I already feel this concept is sort of dumb. I can understand if the player is just to the point of getting too old to play. But a guy like Ichiro is way past his prime. Imo at a certain point it just becomes an insult to the team and the fans to throw him out there. I believe we have passed that point already.

If the season wasnt starting in japan he wouldn't be on the team.

I think thsts the major difference here. I think this is as much, if not more, for the japanes fans than anything else. It is marketing, and paying respect to one of the franchises best players.

Maybe it will prove to be something more... and worse.

But ive no issues with him taking a roster spot (on an expanded roster) for 2 games.

If hes eating up ABs against Boston... yeah thats an issue.

The way Ichiro and Felix have been handled over the last year have put about the worst possible taste in my mouth when it comes to the Mariners. What a joke of a franchise.

I don't really care that Ichiro is playing in Japan because this team isn't suppose to contend. I wonder what would have happened if we decided to go for it this year and not rebuild. He probably still would have played, maybe not start the game.

But it says a lot about Mariners the culture of this franchise. As a young up and coming player, why would I want to play for a team that plays washed up old guys over young guys? I think it sends the wrong message. It's the opposite of a competition. The Mariners are probably one of the few franchises that would do this, but that's also why the Mariners are one of the worst major sports franchises in our country. I'm fine with Ichiro playing because if he gets a hit, it will probably be the highlight of our season. At the same time, I think it could lead to some problems later on in the season.

Id agree with this except alot of the up and comers arent traveling due to injury or they arent quite ready.

Ichiro isnt stealing anything from the future.. yet. Lets hope the club makes this ceremonial appointment just that and leaves it in japan