Tag Archives: Justin Smoak

Mariners Winning!? Yes They Are!

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Week 10 Recap

Date Away Team Score Home Team Score Result
6/2 Mariners 10 Yankees 2 W
6/3 Mariners 7 Braves 5 W
6/4 Mariners 2 Braves 0 W
6/5 – – – – –
6/6 Mariners 0 Rays 4 L
6/7 Mariners 7 Rays 4 W
6/8 Mariners 5 Rays 0 W

If the season ended today, the Seattle Mariners would be participating in a one game Wild Card playoff against the California Anaheim Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Los Angeles. We’re into mid-June and the Mariners are playing playoff caliber baseball. The last time we we’re this many games over .500 at this point in the season was 2007. That team featured Jose Vidro, Jose Guillen, Yunieski Betancourt, Miguel Batista, and Jeff Weaver. It was also a year before Bill Bavasi was fired and the “success” of the team in 2007 led to a number of failed decisions in 2008 (one name, Bedard). Who knows if 2014 will be Jack Zdurencik’s version of 2007. Maybe this will be the start of a long and healthy run of success for the Mariners. Maybe it’s all a mirage and we’re going to come crashing down in July and August. All I know is that the Mariners are winning and its been really fun to watch.

  • According to FanGraphs, the Mariners playoff odds sit just over 33%. 1 in 3? Sounds good to me!
  • The only two current Mariners who were on that 2007 team: Felix Hernandez and Willie Bloomquist. We’ve come so far.
  • The Mariners rode a 5 game winning streak until losing on Friday. Those five wins were against the Tigers, Yankees, and Braves, all competitive teams with playoff aspirations. After the single loss on Friday, we beat the Rays twice in a row over the weekend.

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Spring Training 2014, Infield Preview

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Spring Training is in full swing and there’s just two weeks until Opening Day! The Mariners enter the 2014 season after handing out the largest contract to the top free agent during the offseason. Personally, it feels like the Mariners have turned a corner from rebuilding mode to win-now mode. Whether it was the right time or not is up for debate but I’m excited to see where this takes us. Just like last year, I’ll be offering my thoughts on the projected roster, broken up by position group. I’ve simplified the amount of data I’m presenting–just a personally built 2014 projection. I trust that you’re able to look up historical data on your own.

First up, the 2014 Seattle Mariners infield. A bunch of young guys out to prove themselves surround a star who will be counted on to lead this team back to the promised land. The signing of Robinson Cano brought a lot of fanfare but three of the five positions in the infield will be held by players drafted and developed by the Mariners. This organization has been able to identify and develop strong talents across the infield and this position group is now one of the strengths of the team.

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Mariners Busy on Day Three of Winter Meetings

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The Mariners had a busy day today, adding two players, one via free agency and one via a trade with the Miami Marlins. First baseman/outfielder Corey Hart, previously of the Milwaukee Brewers, was signed to a one year contract worth up to $13 million and RP Carter Capps was traded to the Marlins for first baseman/outfielder Logan Morrison. Both of these players have high upside and high risk/reward but their overall cost is fairly low so they shouldn’t be a burden to this team. Both Corey Hart and Logan Morrison are coming off of fairly significant knee injuries, Hart lost the entire 2013 season to his injury and Morrison has only played in 178 games the past two seasons. They’re both healthy now but caution should be used when projecting them to be in the lineup everyday. They join Justin Smoak in a trifecta of first basemen now on the roster.

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Mariners Future is Now!

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Week 13 & 14 Recap

Date Home Team Score Away Team Score Result
6/24 – – – – –
6/25 Mariners 4 Pirates 9 L
6/26 Mariners 2 Pirates 4 L
6/27 – – – – –
6/28 Mariners 5 Cubs 4 W/10
6/29 Mariners 3 Cubs 5 L/11
6/30 Mariners 6 Cubs 7 L
7/1 – – – – –
7/2 Rangers 2 Mariners 9 W
7/3 Rangers 2 Mariners 4 W/10
7/4 Rangers 5 Mariners 4 L
7/5 Reds 2 Mariners 4 W
7/6 Reds 13 Mariners 4 L
7/7 Reds 1 Mariners 3 W
  • After taking a week off, here’s my recap of the last two weeks of Mariners action, and it’s been an eventful couple of weeks. The Mariners dropped a five game home stand to end the month of June, losing to the Pirates and dropping two of three against the Cubs. That Cubs series was a fun one to watch as all three games went down to the wire, two of them in extra innings. The Mariners started the month of July with two road series against the Rangers and the Reds and surprisingly won both of them.

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Mariners Now on the Cusp of Second Place

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Week 6 Recap

Date Home Team Score Away Team Score Result
5/6 – – – – –
5/7 Pirates 4 Mariners 1 L
5/8 Pirates 1 Mariners 2 W
5/9 – – – – –
5/10 Mariners 6 Athletics 3 W
5/11 Mariners 3 Athletics 4 L
5/12 Mariners 6 Athletics 1 W
  • During this short week, the Mariners won three of five games and launched themselves to within half a game of second place in the AL West and just two games under .500. The results were pretty predictable, Felix and Hisashi Iwakuma won their games and Joe Saunders won his, but only because he was pitching at home. Overall, another solid week.

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