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Here is the mlb.com recap on the M's signing of two hot Latin prospects. The M's announced the contracts like the moment the signing period opened, so you do the math. Julio Rodriguez has been praised as having a "loose trigger" and a liking for 3-iron shots to all areas of the ballpark, as well as an "everyday right fielder" D-skillset. I'd be curious to know where G-Money would slot the 18-year-old among the M's current prospects.
Here is a YouTube of Rodriguez on a luxurious (Caribbean?) baseball field. The swing at 0.35 is worth a look.
They say the same things about SS Juan Querecuto that they said about Carlos Triunfel, that his vision of the game is unpossible for a 10th-grader. Not that 100 Carlos Triunfels are all going to give you "babies" when you draw at the deck. Nothing wrong with comparing to a prospect who didn't work out.
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Moe Dawg updates us on our fave Royal minor leaguer:
Jeremy Gwinn, son of our own Gentleman Jeff Gwinn, has had pretty decent outings, the last two times he's taken the hill for the Idaho Falls Chukars. This after a tough afternoon in his first start. But, nose to the grindstone, he put that one behind him.
On June 26th, again getting the start, JW struggled out of the gate, giving up a 3-run homer and 5 hits in the 1st inning, vs. the Grand Junction Rockies. Then he rallied with aplomb, limiting the Rocks to just 4 hits and one more run over 5 more innings; the run courtesy of a solo jack in the 6th. He allowed only 1 BB and racked up 7 K's. Atta bounce back baby!
On July 1st, pitching out of the pen, Jeremy threw 3 shutout innings, allowing 2 hits, 1 BB and notching 1 K. He's red hot and rollin'!
Buy your tickets to the 2022 MLB All-Star Game now. 2022 will be see the 60th anniversry of Dodger Stadium. MLB might just bring the Stars to LA. We will all have to schedule a road trip to catch Jeremy!!
You go kid! He gets his good looks from his mom and his athletic ability from........................................his mom.
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The Mariners happened to notice what the Mainframe did about Max Povse - imagine that?! - and farmed him out after a good outing. His fix, getting accustomed to 3-deck stadiums, is a very very short term one. Dr. D is a BIG fan of Max Povse. This guy has MANY things that separate him from quality AAA starting pitchers. And his template is very bread-and-butter, leading to a high % chance of his MID projection. Nice, nice prospect, probably our best upper-minors pitching 'spect not counting Andrew Moore.
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Jeff Sullivan laughed about the idea of the Nationals dealing for the White Sox' top three major league relievers. It's not that farfetched; remember Varitek for Timlin and Splojaric? The M's bullpen is a strength already, but David Robertson out there in front of Edwin Diaz would allow the M's to "shorten the games." That would come in very handy with Andrew Moore, certainly with Gaviglio or whoever the #5 starter was, and obviously with Hisashi Iwakuma. I've got a real inkling for a 5-and-dive Iwakuma down the stretch with a killer bullpen behind him.
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G-Money advised us to think of Kyle Lewis as a better Adam Jones. He homered yesterday. As cluttered as the M's young outfield is, it camoflages the fact that the "pure center fielder" position is not that 5-year projectable.
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Yardbarker has a surprisingly readable little opinion on the M's trade prospectus in the rotation. Santana is the only SP mentioned, among seven, that makes no sense. Alex Cobb and Sean Manea are fresh ideas (for this chat space). Fortunately, the 70s Reds/Mariners have already added two starters for the second half. One of them goes tonight. This episode brought to you by the word Poise.
Enjoy,
jemanji
I think the Mariners should concentrate on relievers TBH. We have four very good SP already with the fifth slot 'open' to takers.
If and when Gaviglio flames out (and he will...sorry...I love the guy, but he doesn't have swing and miss stuff) Povse, Whalen, Iwakuma...there are plenty of draws there.
If you want to deal for a SP, go big or go home.
We need bullpen depth VERY badly.
I like the sound of that :- )
If I don't believe Kuma's coming back, I'm still quite happily looking at Paxton-Felix-Moore-Miranda. We could weather a rotation in slot 5... so lets get a solid #2 or better if we make a non-depth move. Save the cookies (otherwise) for the second coming of Putz.
M's shut down his throwing program. Ugh. Shoulder inflammation, injections, conservative return projection would be mid-August.
http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/mariners/mariners-shut-down-hisashi-iwakumas-throwing-program/
Some people within the Mariners organization think he might not pitch again for Seattle this season, which isn’t an unfair assessment of the situation. The Mariners are certainly at the point where they’ve stopped expecting him to return and contribute. Unlike with Drew Smyly, who is scheduled to undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery in the coming days, there is no immediate closure for the situation.
Cool!! We're being sponsored by adult undergarments. And who says The Main Frame hasn't hit the big time?
The YouTube video link for Rodriguez doesn't seem to work; a shame, I was looking forward to the scenery. =) And good for Jeremy! I hope to be dreaming up ways to get the M's to acquire him soon...
Povse A.) back soon and B.) in the 2018 rotation (even if only by mid-season) are encouraging prospects. I share the Mainframe's optimism!
I'm bearish on Kuma's health all of a sudden. Is it just the Smyly effect? I'm worried we really NEED one of those YardBarker rumors to pan out, if we're going to make a run. I can't see us going injury-free in the rotation the rest of the way, all of a sudden. And I'm not sure Bergman (or Povse) get us there in 2017. Manaea's not a bad idea in the world where we don't get Gray... kinda liking the Santana move, actually, so long as we're not paying for the 2017 version without considering the history.
Kyle Lewis as Jones+? Slap me silly! Yeah, let's erase the Bedard move from our collective consciousness, please...
Lewis being a Jones comp, and where he stands at the same age, G isn't going to get it wrong. Do Not Doubt Him on this. He's not going to get that kind of prospectus thiught wrong.
Doesn't mean that I personally would make keeping him an absolute, because any developmental player can have things go wrong. Up to and including Mitch Haniger. But the new SSI visual, a Btter Adam Jones, is pretty sweet isn't it?
This is the icing on the cake for me, the confirmation that I've got my chips where I should. I like O'Neill, but I'd trade him IN A HEARTBEAT to make the club better on a multi-year timetable. Lewis though, I'd hem and haw and hold back; it'd have to be a spectacular return to get me to let him go.
JeDi may still pull some trigger. But until such a time as that... I've got my eye on Kyle. Dyson's not coming back next year... there will eventually be a hole, when Lewis is ready.
To get to 88 wins, a reasonable Wild Card target, we have to go 47-32 the rest of the way. We're talking 59.5%.
It's doable. But if we stand at 50-50 in three weeks, then we have to win 61% of the remaining games.
To some degree, guys, our clock is ticking. Time to get hot. This is the best rotation we've had all season and we're bat healthy, minus the Cruz tweak. He remains out today. If we go buy a pitcher, I agree, we should go big.
over a shorter stretch isn't a radical request. They're *capable* of more ...
Thrilled that no team has taken control. Keep the projections comin' mate :- )
Thanks Doc! Thanks Moe! Kind words regarding Jeremy. Baseball is a grind mentally and through the aches and pains. Thankful Jeremy now gets to learn from Jeff Suppan in Idaho Falls.
And special thanks to Bat!!! What a guy! He went to Jeremy's first start in ID and then took him out for a much appreciated steak after the game.
Doc, there is a lot of you in that! We all appreciate your insight regarding our beloved baseball but you do it with such a touch of class that you have a great group of readers and writers. Thank you Bat!!! That was really appreciated!
Thanks everyone!
I hear those minor leaguers are more used to PBJ's than steaks :- )
Edgar would give Bat a huge thumbs up! PBJ? That was the pre-game meal for rookie ball in AZ. I think is missed now!!! LOL!
There's a reason I love this group (starting with the fact that they're good enough people to give me a second, third, fifth, fiftieth chance)...
A gentleman and a scholar, Bat!
So, since you alluded to the M's' disastrous 1997 trading deadline- I thought I'd provide some historical color, as wellas a slight correction.
In the days (weeks? months!) leading up the TD, we understand Sweet Lou Pieiella was beseeching/imploring/berating GM Woody Woodwood to find him some @#$%^& relief pitching! The Mariners had a good-looking young rookie left fielder named Jose Cruz- whose father had patroilled the OF for Houston for many years. My son and I were watching the M's play in Fenway Park on July 27th (Randy Johnson vs. Tim Wakefield, an extraordinary pitching matchup) when Cruz was inexplicably pulled from the game in the 6th inning. ("Inexplicably", except I said to my son "I think I know what this means... and it's NOT GOOD!) Sure enough- the next day we read in the papers that the aforementioned trade had more or less b een puled off: Cruz for Timlin and Spoljaric, arguably the Blue Jays' two most effective relievers (who seemed to become rather less effective once they donned teal.) Btw: that game went to the Sox 4-0, but featured an 8th-inning catch by Jay Buhner (thank goodness HE didn't get traded!)- that many Red Sox fans call the greatest defensive play in Fenway history. He went up and over the low fence in right-center field to take a home run away from that great former Coug, Scott Hatteberg, somersaulting on the way down but coming up showing the ball in his glove.
Unwilling to leave not-so-well-enough alone, however, Woodwood spent the night patrolling the phones, looking for someone who would take more of his rookies off his hands. The following day he announced he had swapped the future Red Sox captain, Jason Varitek, and their 20-game winner Derek Lowe, for a broken-down relief pitcher name Heathcliff Slocumb (affectionately referred to already in the Boston 'papers as "Slothcliff Hokum"). If Hokum, or Slocumb, recorded as many as ten saves in a Mariners' uniform, I'll... be surprised.
Woodwood, of course, was a great provider of talent for the Red Sox: later in his Mariners-GM tenure he traded a young Dominican hitter named David Arias to the Twins for a two-month third-baseman, Dave Hansen. Arias, of course, changed his name to "Ortiz", was claimed off waivers by the Sox in 2003, and went on to become perhaps the greatest Boston icon of his era (and definitely the second-greatest DH of all time!)
Thanks, Doc, for the excursion down memory lane!
The Cruz Jr for Timlin/Splojaric deal made sense to me; the '97 team was a HOF-laced squad that was doomed by its bullpen. And neither I nor the Mariners ever saw Cruz Jr as a future MVP candidate.
The Slocumb trade was way over the top in any case, as you note, and the Ortiz trade an alltimer.
Excellent flavor text also :- )