Analysis: What a healthy James Paxton could mean for the Mariners’ starting rotation

James Paxton and Blake Snell stood chatting near the D1 gate of Sea-Tac airport, early Monday morning, waiting to board their flight to Phoenix. Neither the mass of people waiting in the boarding area nor the swarms of snow-stranded travelers shuffling by had any idea that two of baseball’s most talented left-handed pitchers were conversing.

Then again, only diehard baseball fans might have recognized them without the required masks. And with masks? Not so much.

While they share so many similarities – left arms seemingly touched by lightning bolts, blazing fastballs, devastating breaking pitches and unhittable stuff when healthy – the juxtaposition of where they are in their careers and where they are going beyond their immediate mutual destination of the Peoria Sports Complex for COVID-19 testing is palpable.

Snell, 28, was headed to the Padres’ side of the complex as the biggest acquisition in an offseason filled with them for San Diego. When we last saw him on a mound, he was dominating the Dodgers before being prematurely pulled by Kevin Cash in Game 6 of the World Series, which the Rays would ultimately lose. With a talented young Padres team, Snell still has great seasons ahead of him with the possibility of one more big contract possibly in his future as a free agent at age 31.

Meanwhile, Paxton, 32, is returning to where it all began for him – the Mariners’ side of the complex – where much has changed in the two seasons he was gone, other than the postseason drought. It was there on March 4, 2011 when he showed up as an awkward and overwhelmed 22-year-old, having just ended a protracted holdout for a larger signing bonus after being selected in the fourth round of the 2010 draft. A whole baseball career was still ahead of him.

Maulbert wrote:Can't wait for them to be 10 games out by June.

Hey, Si, I'm a Mariners fan, and I'm allowed to be realistic. Just putting that out there before you get pissy with me for being honest again.

chris98251 wrote:

Maulbert wrote:Can't wait for them to be 10 games out by June.

Hey, Si, I'm a Mariners fan, and I'm allowed to be realistic. Just putting that out there before you get pissy with me for being honest again.

True, but the Mariners lead the league in Fan appreciation night collector items.

Maulbert wrote:

chris98251 wrote:

Maulbert wrote:Can't wait for them to be 10 games out by June.

Hey, Si, I'm a Mariners fan, and I'm allowed to be realistic. Just putting that out there before you get pissy with me for being honest again.

True, but the Mariners lead the league in Fan appreciation night collector items.

If they really appreciated the fans, they wouldn't have felt threatened by a potential NBA franchise on their back porch.

Sports Hernia wrote:

Maulbert wrote:

chris98251 wrote:

Maulbert wrote:Can't wait for them to be 10 games out by June.

Hey, Si, I'm a Mariners fan, and I'm allowed to be realistic. Just putting that out there before you get pissy with me for being honest again.

True, but the Mariners lead the league in Fan appreciation night collector items.

If they really appreciated the fans, they wouldn't have felt threatened by a potential NBA franchise on their back porch.

Yep. If you run your business the right way you will be successful and won’t have to worry about the competition.
With the Kraken and the Sonics (potentially coming back), the M’s are forced to up their game and the quality of the product on the field.

SeatownJay wrote:Did the M's do anything this past offseason to address their abysmal bullpen?

When the regular season ended last September, the Seattle Mariners made it a priority to seek out fresh arms to give their troubled bullpen a needed boost.

Seattle’s relievers finished last season as the worst bullpen in the American League, posting a collective 6-13 record and 5.92 ERA.

The numbers were even more worrisome than the season before, when the Mariners ended with the fourth-worst bullpen ERA in the league at 4.77.

So, general manager Jerry Dipoto set out to amend the club’s biggest area of concern.

sutz wrote:Was thinking of doing it myself. I started it last year IIRC. You beat me to it.

And in important news this week: The Big Maple is back.

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/mar ... -rotation/

Analysis: What a healthy James Paxton could mean for the Mariners’ starting rotation

James Paxton and Blake Snell stood chatting near the D1 gate of Sea-Tac airport, early Monday morning, waiting to board their flight to Phoenix. Neither the mass of people waiting in the boarding area nor the swarms of snow-stranded travelers shuffling by had any idea that two of baseball’s most talented left-handed pitchers were conversing.

Then again, only diehard baseball fans might have recognized them without the required masks. And with masks? Not so much.

While they share so many similarities – left arms seemingly touched by lightning bolts, blazing fastballs, devastating breaking pitches and unhittable stuff when healthy – the juxtaposition of where they are in their careers and where they are going beyond their immediate mutual destination of the Peoria Sports Complex for COVID-19 testing is palpable.

Snell, 28, was headed to the Padres’ side of the complex as the biggest acquisition in an offseason filled with them for San Diego. When we last saw him on a mound, he was dominating the Dodgers before being prematurely pulled by Kevin Cash in Game 6 of the World Series, which the Rays would ultimately lose. With a talented young Padres team, Snell still has great seasons ahead of him with the possibility of one more big contract possibly in his future as a free agent at age 31.

Meanwhile, Paxton, 32, is returning to where it all began for him – the Mariners’ side of the complex – where much has changed in the two seasons he was gone, other than the postseason drought. It was there on March 4, 2011 when he showed up as an awkward and overwhelmed 22-year-old, having just ended a protracted holdout for a larger signing bonus after being selected in the fourth round of the 2010 draft. A whole baseball career was still ahead of him.

I'm excited about the return of Paxton. Could be a big boost to the rotation if he's healthy and back to his pre-Yankees form.

Sports Hernia wrote:At the risk of sounding like a broken record (sorry Si) I hope they don’t play arbitration games with Kelenic.
If he is as good as he is supposed to be the arbitration years get bought out anyway.

He needs to be starting up here from day 1 IMHO. You can wait on J-rod who is coming off an injury and is only 20.

Flyingsquad23 wrote:The mariners being mariners again. Just read the article about Mather, if he isn’t fired but the end of the day then kiss any playoff chance away. The bad karma from this dude is thick and it will stick to the organization like the smell on the WFT.

The worst part of this situation was summed up in the article, this isn’t just the mindset of one executive it is an organization mindset. And quite frankly probably the reason they have sucked a bag of d...’s the last 20 years.

This is a 5 alarm fire and we haven’t even made spring training.

Flyingsquad23 wrote:The M’s blow it again. They let him resign and then Stanton thanks him for his service...I have lost all faith in this organization. Pathetic

sutz wrote:

Flyingsquad23 wrote:The M’s blow it again. They let him resign and then Stanton thanks him for his service...I have lost all faith in this organization. Pathetic

Meh, firing someone that high in the organization is a messy business. This is the best and quickest way. Frankly, I think you lost faith in the M's many moons ago.

IndyHawk wrote:I wasn't trying to beat you to it..I was waiting a while for someone else lol.
Anyway I too love Pax being back and we have a decent Starting rotation
hopefully the BP is good and we can hit ..I'm excited this year

sutz wrote:

Flyingsquad23 wrote:The M’s blow it again. They let him resign and then Stanton thanks him for his service...I have lost all faith in this organization. Pathetic

Meh, firing someone that high in the organization is a messy business. This is the best and quickest way. Frankly, I think you lost faith in the M's many moons ago.

Hawk-Lock wrote:Another bad look for an awful franchise. I pay very little attention to this team now, can someone update me on what other trouble the front office has ran into? Didn’t they have some sexual harassment allegations? What else am I missing.

Just my opinion, but I think they should hire either a woman or a minority to take his place.

sutz wrote:Was thinking of doing it myself. I started it last year IIRC. You beat me to it.

And in important news this week: The Big Maple is back.

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/mar ... -rotation/

Analysis: What a healthy James Paxton could mean for the Mariners’ starting rotation

James Paxton and Blake Snell stood chatting near the D1 gate of Sea-Tac airport, early Monday morning, waiting to board their flight to Phoenix. Neither the mass of people waiting in the boarding area nor the swarms of snow-stranded travelers shuffling by had any idea that two of baseball’s most talented left-handed pitchers were conversing.

Then again, only diehard baseball fans might have recognized them without the required masks. And with masks? Not so much.

While they share so many similarities – left arms seemingly touched by lightning bolts, blazing fastballs, devastating breaking pitches and unhittable stuff when healthy – the juxtaposition of where they are in their careers and where they are going beyond their immediate mutual destination of the Peoria Sports Complex for COVID-19 testing is palpable.

Snell, 28, was headed to the Padres’ side of the complex as the biggest acquisition in an offseason filled with them for San Diego. When we last saw him on a mound, he was dominating the Dodgers before being prematurely pulled by Kevin Cash in Game 6 of the World Series, which the Rays would ultimately lose. With a talented young Padres team, Snell still has great seasons ahead of him with the possibility of one more big contract possibly in his future as a free agent at age 31.

Meanwhile, Paxton, 32, is returning to where it all began for him – the Mariners’ side of the complex – where much has changed in the two seasons he was gone, other than the postseason drought. It was there on March 4, 2011 when he showed up as an awkward and overwhelmed 22-year-old, having just ended a protracted holdout for a larger signing bonus after being selected in the fourth round of the 2010 draft. A whole baseball career was still ahead of him.

I'm excited about the return of Paxton. Could be a big boost to the rotation if he's healthy and back to his pre-Yankees form.

‘It feels like just yesterday’: Mitch Haniger returns to Mariners lineup for the first time since injury in 2019



By Ryan Divish
Seattle Times staff reporter

PEORIA, Ariz. — Nine hundred, eleven thousand, five hundred, fifty minutes … how do you measure what was lost in almost two years?

In days?
In games?
In innings?
In at-bats?
In salary?
In sleepless nights?

With apologies to “Rent,” there is no uplifting song to be sung for Mitch Haniger’s “seasons of loss.”

But when he appeared from the dugout of Peoria Stadium with his Mariners teammates on a bright, but windy Sunday afternoon, jogging to his customary position of right field before the top of the first inning of the Cactus League opener against the Padres, the moment meant just a little more to him than his teammates.

It was the first time that he stepped on a baseball field to compete in a baseball game of any sort since June 6, 2019, when the Mariners played an afternoon getaway day game against the Astros at a sun-drenched T-Mobile Park.

sutz wrote:Good write up in the Times on Haniger, the forgotten man.

‘It feels like just yesterday’: Mitch Haniger returns to Mariners lineup for the first time since injury in 2019



By Ryan Divish
Seattle Times staff reporter

PEORIA, Ariz. — Nine hundred, eleven thousand, five hundred, fifty minutes … how do you measure what was lost in almost two years?

In days?
In games?
In innings?
In at-bats?
In salary?
In sleepless nights?

With apologies to “Rent,” there is no uplifting song to be sung for Mitch Haniger’s “seasons of loss.”

But when he appeared from the dugout of Peoria Stadium with his Mariners teammates on a bright, but windy Sunday afternoon, jogging to his customary position of right field before the top of the first inning of the Cactus League opener against the Padres, the moment meant just a little more to him than his teammates.

It was the first time that he stepped on a baseball field to compete in a baseball game of any sort since June 6, 2019, when the Mariners played an afternoon getaway day game against the Astros at a sun-drenched T-Mobile Park.

I hope he can get back to his 2018 form. He was being mentioned in All Star talk that year.

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/mar ... y-in-2019/

Sports Hernia wrote:The Mariners have potentially 4 stud outfielders in the near future with Lewis, Kelenic, J-rod, and Trammel (sp?)
The first 3 can all play CF, not sure about Trammel.
You can play 3 in the field and rotate the 4th into the DH slot, and keep everyone fresh.

Haniger is a FA in 2023 so that’s about when J-rod, and Trammel should be ready.

If they all light up the minors and Mitch has a good healthy season this year, you might be able to flip him (Haniger) for a solid arm or 2.

Hawk-Lock wrote:Anyone else agree with my sentiment this is a make it or break it season? Not that we need to make the playoffs, but the team needs to show some promise. Ideally the young guys play well, we improve upon last season.

My expectations this season is that we build a foundation to compete the next season.

Thepeelsessions wrote:

Sports Hernia wrote:The Mariners have potentially 4 stud outfielders in the near future with Lewis, Kelenic, J-rod, and Trammel (sp?)
The first 3 can all play CF, not sure about Trammel.
You can play 3 in the field and rotate the 4th into the DH slot, and keep everyone fresh.

Haniger is a FA in 2023 so that’s about when J-rod, and Trammel should be ready.

If they all light up the minors and Mitch has a good healthy season this year, you might be able to flip him (Haniger) for a solid arm or 2.

Remember when the Ms outfield of the future was Mitch Haniger, Ben Gamel, and Guillermo Heredia? Those were the days.

Thank goodness Lewis was in the farm to bail that out.