M's take wacky series from Chisox

That was nuts.

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Chicago White Sox, Kyle Lewis  |   Posted on September 16, 2019 at 7:09pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Ichiro celebration weekend

As this is being written, the Mariners are in the midst of Ichiro Weekend, three days of celebrating the career and achievements of one Ichiro Suzuki. One because, well, there are many people in the world named Ichiro Suzuki—"Ichiro" translates to "first son," of which there are lots, and Suzuki is the second-most common surname in Japan—there is and will be only one Ichiro, and he played the bulk of his Hall of Fame MLB career as a Seattle Mariner.

See full post: "Ichiro celebration weekend"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Ichiro Suzuki  |   Posted on September 14, 2019 at 10:48pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Reds series shows what to expect from next year's M's

The Cincinnati Reds are not an intimidating team, but they are Major Leaguers and just a few days ago many of the Seattle Mariners were not. So taking two of three in this Interleague matchup is meaningful, in a couple of ways.

See full post: "Reds series shows what to expect from next year's M's"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Marco Gonzales, Series, Future M's, Cincinnati Reds, Kyle Lewis, Justin Dunn  |   Posted on September 13, 2019 at 1:06am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Astros embarrass Mariners in 4-game sweep

Nobody expected much. It was already a mismatch on paper, with Houston sporting one of the best records in baseball as they approach 100 wins yet again, Seattle flailing along in last place on their way to 100 losses. The Astros were 12-1 against the Mariners in the season series. They had Cy Young favorites Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole scheduled over the weekend. But, you know, it's baseball in the big leagues, upsets happen.

See full post: "Astros embarrass Mariners in 4-game sweep"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Houston Astros  |   Posted on September 8, 2019 at 10:28pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mariners mauled by Cubs at Wrigley

Though it still feels a bit weird to say, the Chicago Cubs are a very good team. Meanwhile, as we are completely accustomed to saying, the Seattle Mariners are . . . not. So it's not surprising that the Cubs swept the M's in their brief two-game set at Wrigley Field.

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Interleague, Chicago Cubs  |   Posted on September 4, 2019 at 12:02am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mariners split with Rangers instead of winning series for some reason

In what was the final series played by the Mariners in the current home of the Texas Rangers (they'll open a new retractable-roof facility next season), Seattle manager Scott Servais decided to be charitable and allow the Rangers to split the four games. At least, that's one theory.

See full post: "Mariners split with Rangers instead of winning series for some reason"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Marco Gonzales, Scott Servais, Series, Texas Rangers, Erik Swanson, Daniel Vogelbach, Mallex Smith  |   Posted on September 1, 2019 at 11:04pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's swept by Evil Empire

In three games against the New York Yankees, the Mariners were hopelessly outmatched and lost all three contests. Pitchers Tommy Milone, Yusei Kikuchi, and Justus Sheffield each served up five earned runs to the New Yorkers in their starts (or "headline game" in Milone's case), while the Yankees' starters were much sharper.

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged New York Yankees, Series  |   Posted on August 29, 2019 at 12:16am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Marco shines in series win vs. Blue Jays

The annual Canadian Invasion came down this past weekend to see the Mariners host the Toronto Blue Jays just a week after the two teams played out in Ontario. Like in that earlier series, the M's won two out of three with the rubber match featuring a brilliant pitching performance by the Seattle starter.

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Marco Gonzales, Series, Toronto Blue Jays  |   Posted on August 26, 2019 at 5:02pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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August Roster Churn

The trade deadline may have come and gone, but the roster of the 2019 Mariners continues to be fluid.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Future M's, Jake Fraley, Justus Sheffield, Cory Gearrin  |   Posted on August 23, 2019 at 4:39pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's blow sweep, but take 2 of 3 from Rays

The Mariners arrived in St. Petersburg looking for revenge, and they nearly got it.

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Marco Gonzales, Series, Jake Fraley, Tampa Bay Rays  |   Posted on August 22, 2019 at 4:36pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Kikuchi pitches shutout in series win over Jays

This was the guy.

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Yusei Kikuchi, Series, Toronto Blue Jays  |   Posted on August 19, 2019 at 12:40am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Seager clubs Tigers as M's take 2 of 3

The Mariners needed a break, and the Detroit Tigers obliged. Seattle had dropped eight of their last nine games coming into Detroit, some by rather irritating fashion, and three against the worst team in the Majors was a welcome turn of events. It wasn't a sweep, as it was when the Tigers visited the Northwest, but the M's will gladly take two wins out of three at this point of the lost 2019 campaign.

See full post: "Seager clubs Tigers as M's take 2 of 3"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Kyle Seager, Series, Detroit Tigers  |   Posted on August 15, 2019 at 10:03pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's celebrate Edgar weekend by losing three times

It was Edgar Martínez Hall of Fame weekend the last few days at the ballpark by Elliott Bay, with celebrations, giveaway goodies, and a speech by the newly-minted Hall of Famer himself on Saturday during pregame activities. The honors for Edgar were fun and, of course, well-deserved, and we look forward to next year's unveiling of the new statue of Edgar commemorating "The Double" from the 1995 ALDS that was announced on Saturday.

See full post: "M's celebrate Edgar weekend by losing three times"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Marco Gonzales, Series, Edgar Martinez, Tampa Bay Rays  |   Posted on August 12, 2019 at 5:14pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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How goes the rebuild?

This is not a good year for Your Seattle Mariners. At least, not at the big-league level, and not by the standard metric of, you know, winning. But there are other ways to gauge progress, especially when the club is in the midst of a rebuild.

See full post: "How goes the rebuild?"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Rebuild, Future M's, Jake Fraley, Justus Sheffield  |   Posted on August 8, 2019 at 9:37pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's snap losing streak, split with Padres

The Mariners returned home Tuesday and began a new homestand with two games against their ostensible/former Inerleague "natural rivals," the San Diego Padres, a team that has given them fits over the last couple of years. The teams split the two-game set, giving the M's a 1-7 record vs. San Diego since 2018.

See full post: "M's snap losing streak, split with Padres"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Interleague, San Diego Padres  |   Posted on August 8, 2019 at 2:46am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Texas Trouncing

I left town for a week, and so did the Mariners. I think I fared better overall.

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers  |   Posted on August 6, 2019 at 3:46pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Beckham suspended for rest of Mariner tenure

Another season, another Mariner infielder suspended for PED use. It was announced this morning that Tim Beckham has been caught violating the MLB/MLBPA drug policy. He has been suspended for 80 games, or the rest of this season plus 32 games to start next season, assuming he gets a contract for 2020.

See full post: "Beckham suspended for rest of Mariner tenure"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged PEDs, Tim Beckham  |   Posted on August 6, 2019 at 2:58pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Trade deadline action

Greetings from our nation's capitol, where while attending the Nationals-Braves game this afternoon grandsalami.net kept tabs on all the wheeling and dealing as today's 1:00pm PDT MLB trading deadline approached. The Mariners were involved in a couple of notable deals (one involving the Nationals, as it happens).

See full post: "Trade deadline action"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Trades, Transactions, Bullpen, Mike Leake  |   Posted on July 31, 2019 at 3:33pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's sweep worst team in Majors, feel good about it

Your Seattle Mariners were having, to be blunt, a miserable July. A week ago they were at 3-11 for the month, nearly the reverse of that blissful 13-2 opening run at the start of the season and about as fun to watch as wood rotting in the rain. But: This was a good week.It began with the badly-slumping Texas Rangers giving the M's their first series win since taking two of three in Milwaukee in June and continued with a gift from the scheduling gods, a four-game set against the Detroit Tigers, owners of the worst record in the big leagues.

See full post: "M's sweep worst team in Majors, feel good about it"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Marco Gonzales, Series, JP Crawford, Detroit Tigers  |   Posted on July 29, 2019 at 3:37am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mariners manage series win against slumping Rangers

The Texas Rangers rolled into town having lost seven in a row and losers of 12 of their last 16. The Mariners began the series having lost 15 of their last 19. It was to be a clash of ciphers, and so it was, with the M's ending up winners of two out of three on the strength of the pitching of Marco Gonzales and Mike Leake.

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Texas Rangers, Mike Leake  |   Posted on July 24, 2019 at 9:51pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Good riddance, Angels

With the merciful end of today's loss to the Los Angeles Angels, the Mariners bid adieu to their AL West rivals for the season. Due to the quirky schedules we get nowadays, there always seems to be something odd with the Angels' dates on the calendar—last year all three of their visits to Seattle were done with before the M's set foot in Orange County, for example—and this year it's that the season series is done with on July 21st.

See full post: "Good riddance, Angels"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Los Angeles Angels  |   Posted on July 21, 2019 at 10:10pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Nearly Perfect

I wasn't supposed to be at tonight's Mariners-Angels game. In my season ticket group's draft, this game went to another guy, Grant. But Grant decided to head to Cooperstown to see Edgar Martínez get inducted into the Hall of Fame this weekend, so he put tonight's tix up for grabs and I said, sure, I'll take ’em, even though it is the frickin' Angels AGAIN and not even a Marco Gonzales game.

See full post: "Nearly Perfect"...

Posted in Mariners, Columns, Around the Horn; Tagged Los Angeles Angels, Mike Leake  |   Posted on July 19, 2019 at 11:58pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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California Scars

On the heels of an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Angels down in Orange County, the Mariners were pasted good in a two-game set in the East Bay. The Oakland A's outscored the M's 19-4 in the two games, making the umpiring problem in Tuesday night's contest nothing but a footnote.

See full post: "California Scars"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Oakland A's  |   Posted on July 17, 2019 at 9:52pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Angels humiliate M's in return from break

The Mariners returned to action following the All-Star break with a three-game set in Anaheim against the Angels, and it was ugly. Not only were the Mariners swept, they were also no-hit in the first game. Mike Leake had his monthly meltdown, Wade LeBlanc served up a pair of home runs in three innings, and Matt Carasiti relieved Yusei Kikuchi and predictably allowed all inherited runners to score before Anthony Bass came in and did what he does best: put runners on and take the loss in a game.

See full post: "Angels humiliate M's in return from break"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Series, Los Angeles Angels  |   Posted on July 15, 2019 at 5:53pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Trade follow-ups

I was recently asked by friend of the site Mike Putnam (hi, Mike) for some info on how former Mariners who were traded way since last season were doing as compared to the guys they were traded for. That's a bit of an involved question, really, since by this point a few guys have been traded for other guys who have since been traded for yet other guys. So, since we're in the All-Star break, this seems a good time to do a dive into it.

See full post: "Trade follow-ups"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades  |   Posted on July 11, 2019 at 5:00am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mariners limp into the break with series loss to A's

Friday night the Mariners were undone by a defensive error and a poor relief choice. Saturday Marco Gonzales turned in a gem. And Sunday Scott Servais played with matches and gasoline again by using an "opener." So went the final series of the unofficial first half of the season, the Oakland A's taking two of three as we head into the All-Star break.

See full post: "Mariners limp into the break with series loss to A's"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Scott Servais, Series, Oakland A's, Openers  |   Posted on July 7, 2019 at 7:37pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Pitching failures turn series win into series loss vs. Cards

The just-completed Interleague series vs. the St. Louis Cardinals was a frustrating experience from before the first pitch of the first game, and not just because I was prevented from getting into the ballpark on time Tuesday night because of an electronic ticketing fiasco. In the greater Mariner fan universe, we were given yet another experiment with "the opener" Tuesday (and Thursday), which was enough to make one shake one's fist and scream into the void and diminish any expectations of things getting better.

See full post: "Pitching failures turn series win into series loss vs. Cards"...

Posted in Mariners, Site issues; Tagged Scott Servais, Bullpen, Series, St. Louis Cardinals  |   Posted on July 4, 2019 at 9:21pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's fight well in losing cause for two games, give up early in third

On the heels of their promising series win in Milwaukee, the Mariners took on the Astros in Houston for three games to remind us all why this season has been so disappointing.

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Scott Servais, Series, Houston Astros  |   Posted on July 1, 2019 at 4:29pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's preview the future with solid interleague series win

Prior to the Mariners' series win against the low-hanging fruit known as the Baltimore Orioles last weekend, the club had gone 7-11 in the month of June. Taking three of four from the awful Orioles may have given the M's a morale and confidence boost, because they just won a more challenging series, taking two of three from the contending Milwaukee Brewers for their first Interleague wins of the year.

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Interleague, Milwaukee Brewers  |   Posted on June 28, 2019 at 1:11am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's take three of four from worst team in MLB, retain semblance of self-esteem

If only the Mariners could face Baltimore pitching every day.

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Yusei Kikuchi, Baltimore Orioles, Mike Leake  |   Posted on June 23, 2019 at 9:16pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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The halfway point: how's it going?

Today's 8-4 loss to the worst team in the big leagues, the Baltimore Orioles, marks the halfway mark of the Mariners' 2019 season, at least in terms of games played. 50% through the campaign, the M's sit at a fairly unpleasant 34-47, last in the American League West at 15½ games behind division-leading Houston. On the surface, this seems like a horrid season for Seattle baseball, particularly after a surprisingly strong start that saw Seattle atop the leaderboards and nearly undefeated in the first few weeks and fall hard and fast off a cliff after the stellar 13-2 early record.

See full post: "The halfway point: how's it going?"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Jerry Dipoto, Rebuild, Minors  |   Posted on June 23, 2019 at 1:27am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's take just one of three from team with .324 winning percentage

After another opener-fueled defeat and a blowout loss behind the ever-mysterious Yusei Kikuchi, the Mariners remembered that the Royals had an eminently beatable pitching staff and teed off on KC's erstwhile ace, Brad Keller, in yesterday's series finale to reclaim a modicum of self-esteem and halt their losing streak at two.

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Kansas City Royals  |   Posted on June 20, 2019 at 5:57pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Back in California, M's win another series

The Mariners completed their latest road trip of inefficient mileage—Anaheim-Minneapolis-Oakland—at 5-4, their first over-.500 road trip since April 5-11. After taking two of three from the Angels and dropping two of three to the Twins, Seattle won the rubber match against the Athletics Sunday afternoon by a score of 6-3.

See full post: "Back in California, M's win another series"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Oakland A's  |   Posted on June 17, 2019 at 1:53am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Dipoto makes eighth trade of the season, inspires plethora of puns

Adiós to the Accidental Mariner.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions  |   Posted on June 15, 2019 at 10:07pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Opening Arguments

The "opener." The "headliner." You may have heard these terms being bandied about lately on Mariner and other Major League teams' broadcasts or read them elsewhere in the baseball press. It refers to a fad—some would charitably call it a "strategy"—that has become increasingly popular among big-league managers this season and that has infected Scott Servais and the Mariners over the past couple of weeks.

See full post: "Opening Arguments"...

Posted in Mariners, Columns, Around the Horn; Tagged Scott Servais, Bullpen  |   Posted on June 13, 2019 at 4:05am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mariners actually win a series

In a callback to happier times, the Mariners won a series last weekend. In taking two out of three from the Angels on their home turf in Anaheim, Seattle brought its win-loss record to 28-41—still rather pathetic but hey, a win's a win.

See full post: "Mariners actually win a series"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Los Angeles Angels  |   Posted on June 11, 2019 at 2:06am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Injury update, near-trade, and the bullpen shuffle

A quick roundup of Mariner roster moves and almost-moves over the past few days:

See full post: "Injury update, near-trade, and the bullpen shuffle"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions  |   Posted on June 7, 2019 at 6:40pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mariners surprisingly competitive against former Colt .45s, but shoot themselves in the foot repeatedly

No one had much hope for success in the just-completed four-game series versus the first-place Houston Astros. The M's had just dropped five straight series with an overall 3-14 record and were looking like the 1962 Mets.

See full post: "Mariners surprisingly competitive against former Colt .45s, but shoot themselves in the foot repeatedly"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Series, Houston Astros  |   Posted on June 6, 2019 at 7:39pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Fans enjoy Edgar Martínez book signing event

Mariners great Edgar Martínez signed hundreds of copies of his new book, EDGAR: An Autobiography (co-written with Larry Stone) this evening at the Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle. The book will officially be released next week, but those at EBBC got an advance opportunity to purchase the book and have it signed by the new Hall of Famer.

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Edgar Martinez  |   Posted on June 5, 2019 at 11:10pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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"It's bad baseball."

In dropping three of four to the Angels this weekend, the Mariners continued to look more like the Bad News Bears than a Major League baseball team.

See full post: ""It's bad baseball.""...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Series, Los Angeles Angels  |   Posted on June 2, 2019 at 10:19pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Bruce trade final

The trade we reported on yesterday involving outfielder/first-baseman Jay Bruce was completed today, with Bruce headed to join the Philadelphia Phillies. To take Bruce's roster spot, outfielder Braden Bishop was recalled form Triple-A Tacoma.

See full post: "Bruce trade final"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions  |   Posted on June 2, 2019 at 8:57pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Dipoto nearing seventh trade of the season

Outfielder/first-baseman Jay Bruce may be headed to Philadelphia. According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Mariners and Phillies have been discussing a trade of Bruce; Passan had indicated the deal would be completed this weekend, but more recently has amended his report to say that nothing has been formally agreed to.

See full post: "Dipoto nearing seventh trade of the season"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions  |   Posted on June 1, 2019 at 5:42pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Edgar Martínez's autobiography

GrandSalami.net is pleased to promote the pre-release book-signing event at Elliott Bay Book Company next Wednesday evening with the Mariners' own Edgar Martínez. The Seattle sports icon will be signing copies of his new memoir, EDGAR, several days in advance of the book's official release date of June 11, 2019.

See full post: "Edgar Martínez's autobiography"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged website, Edgar Martinez  |   Posted on May 31, 2019 at 7:58pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's drop another series but look less bad

The Mariners' latest homestand opened with something we hadn't seen in Seattle for a good while now: a well-played baseball victory. It was, sadly, a one-and-done phenomenon, as the next two contests against the visiting Texas Rangers went into the loss column, but in all three games there were positive take-aways to mitigate yet another series defeat.On Monday we saw the beginnings of the rebirth of center fielder Mallex Smith. Throughout the series, Smith has been the player the M's thought they were getting when they shipped Mike Zunino and Guillermo Heredia to Tampa Bay last fall: a leadoff man...

See full post: "M's drop another series but look less bad"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Series, Texas Rangers, JP Crawford, Mallex Smith  |   Posted on May 30, 2019 at 12:45am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Last-place Mariners continue descent into bottomless pit

The Mariners ended their latest road trip with a whimper today, spoiling a decent start from Mike Leake by failing to hit baseballs against the Oakland A's. Though they fell behind early on a couple of Oakland home runs, the game was close for most of it, with a score of 3-1 in the top of the seventh inning before the bullpen let it get away; it's just that the Mariners can't score runs without hitting balls over the fence.

See full post: "Last-place Mariners continue descent into bottomless pit"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Scott Servais, Series, AL West, Oakland A's  |   Posted on May 27, 2019 at 1:04am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Swept again

The Mariners are a bad team. If we didn't know it already, getting swept in this three-game series by the Texas Rangers let us know.

See full post: "Swept again"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Series, AL West, Texas Rangers  |   Posted on May 23, 2019 at 2:59am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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More roster juggling

The Mariners today made several more changes to their active roster. Infielders Dee Gordon and Ryon Healy have been placed on the 10-day injured list—Gordon due to lingering pain from being hit by a pitch in New York two weeks ago and Healy due to a lower back strain—reliever Parker Markel has been optioned down to Triple-A Tacoma, utilityman Dylan Moore has been activated from his stint on the injured list, and infielder Shed Long and pitcher Tommy Milone have been promoted from Tacoma to the big-league club.

See full post: "More roster juggling"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions, Dee Gordon, Bullpen, Ryon Healy  |   Posted on May 21, 2019 at 4:56pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Dipoto makes sixth trade of the season

When reliever Anthony Swarzak entered a game against the Twins last week in Seattle, an encouraging cheer was heard in the upper deck of the ballpark by Elliott Bay: "Swarzak! Raise your trade value!"He didn't, really, despite his one scoreless inning of work, but he was nevertheless traded today. Swarzak will head to Atlanta, where he'll join a similarly middling bullpen for a team that has some potential. In exchange, the Braves are sending left-handed reliever Jesse Biddle to the Mariners.Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto has a tendency to seek out potentially undervalued players and reclamation projects, and Biddle fits that profile.

See full post: "Dipoto makes sixth trade of the season"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions, Bullpen  |   Posted on May 20, 2019 at 6:42pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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OK, we can give up hope now

Remember back when the Mariners were taking baseball by storm, the early surprise in the Majors with a 13-2 record that was this close to being 15-0? Yeah, fun times. It might seem now like those days were back in 2018, but really it was just a little over a month ago. Mariner fans were riding high, thinking this whole "step back," "sort-of-rebuild year" thing was just unwarranted pessimism.

See full post: "OK, we can give up hope now"...

Posted in Mariners, Columns; Tagged Contention, Series, Minnesota Twins  |   Posted on May 19, 2019 at 11:51pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Roster juggling redux

The Mariners made yet more roster moves today, recalling pitchers Matt Festa and Ryan Garton from Triple-A Tacoma. Both will be available in the bullpen immediately. To clear space for them, southpaw reliever Zac Rosscup has been designated for assignment and alleged starting pitcher Erik Swanson was optioned to Tacoma.

See full post: "Roster juggling redux"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions, Bullpen  |   Posted on May 17, 2019 at 7:04pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Roster juggling

The Mariners' active roster has seen a lot of additions and subtractions since Opening Day in Tokyo, with players seemingly coming and going several times a week, and we're due for some more before today's game versus the Twins.

See full post: "Roster juggling"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Felix Hernandez, Transactions, JP Crawford, Mallex Smith  |   Posted on May 16, 2019 at 3:30am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mini-sweep of A's slows plunge into sadness

The Mariners returned home from a dismal road trip that saw them drop eight of ten games to the Indians, Yankees, and Red Sox and slip under the .500 mark for the first time this year. They were outscored 57-41, lost some badly and lost some barely, shot themselves in the foot a few times and were bludgeoned others. It was enough to make one wonder if these M's could ever win another series.

See full post: "Mini-sweep of A's slows plunge into sadness"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Series, Oakland A's  |   Posted on May 15, 2019 at 5:44pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Weekend musings

A few thoughts on the first two games of the Boston series . . .

See full post: "Weekend musings"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Felix Hernandez, Series, JP Crawford  |   Posted on May 11, 2019 at 9:58pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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The JP Crawford era begins

Infielders Dee Gordon and Dylan Moore both had to come out of yesterday's game against the New York Yankees due to injury, leaving the under-benched Mariners in the position of having to play someone at second base who had never played the middle infield. Moore has been placed on the 10-day injured list, Gordon has not (for the moment), but the upside of this misfortune is that Seattle's shortstop of the future can now become Seattle's shortstop of the present.

See full post: "The JP Crawford era begins"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Transactions, JP Crawford  |   Posted on May 10, 2019 at 3:44pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Schizophrenic Mariners leave New York in shame

The final tallies were 7-3, 5-4, 10-1, and 3-1. But the scores don't really tell the story.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Scott Servais, New York Yankees, Series  |   Posted on May 10, 2019 at 2:29am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Dipoto makes fifth trade of the season

Seattle General Manager Jerry Dipoto made yet another trade this weekend, acquiring right-handed reliever Austin Adams from the Washington Nationals in exchange for Class-A prospect Nick Wells and cash considerations.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions  |   Posted on May 5, 2019 at 9:59pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Don't despair (yet)

Last month I said don't get happy. The hot start for the 2019 Mariners was likely a mirage, but there was still real hope that it might not be. The offense was really cooking in the first couple of weeks and the only concerns were that the bullpen would blow up and that the defense would give way too many runs. Was it sustainable? Probably not, but still...

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Posted in Mariners, Columns, Around the Horn; Tagged Contention, AL West  |   Posted on May 5, 2019 at 9:20pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Coach Ichiro

Ichiro is back again.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Ichiro Suzuki, Coaches  |   Posted on April 30, 2019 at 7:22pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Blowout Bumbling

Well. That was embarrassing.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Series, Texas Rangers  |   Posted on April 29, 2019 at 7:06pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Dipoto makes fourth trade of the season

The Mariners traded minor-league infielder Ryne Ogren to the Orioles for right-handed reliever Mike Wright today.Wright has had a spotty professional career, pitching reasonably well at the Triple-A level and poorly at the Major League level. In ten appearances this year with Baltimore, he's posted an ugly 9.45 ERA and brutal 2.025 WHIP, and last year's 5.55 ERA/1.625 WHIP in 481⁄3 innings weren't much better. At Triple-A Norfolk from 2015-2017, however, he was 17-11 with a 2.99 ERA and 1.152 WHIP (2401⁄3 IP).Perhaps GM Jerry Dipoto thinks Wright was mishandled in Baltimore and better coaching can bring his big-league performance...

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions  |   Posted on April 24, 2019 at 6:57pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Wasted efforts

Stop me if you've heard this before: The Mariners lost to the Padres.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Felix Hernandez, Losses  |   Posted on April 24, 2019 at 6:30pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Series win in SoCal

Having dropped six straight at home, the Mariners course-corrected on their just-concluded four-game series in Orange County, taking three of four from the LA Angels with a barrage of home-run power. This puts the M's back atop the American League West standings, believe it or not, as the Astros had some trouble with their vastly inferior Texan neighbors this weekend.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged AL West  |   Posted on April 21, 2019 at 8:04pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Homestand of Horrors

When the just completed homestand began, the Mariners were the talk of baseball. A surprise juggernaut that won 11 of their first 13 games and were very nearly undefeated, a powerful lineup hitting home runs and scoring at a record pace. It was a beautiful thing to behold.

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Contention, Bullpen  |   Posted on April 17, 2019 at 7:57pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Bullpen follies

In last night's game against the Cleveland Native American Stereotypes, the Mariner bullpen pulled off quite an achievement. Well, "achievement" . . . there are probably better words. But the relief corps, known from the get-go as a problem area for the Mariners this season, turned in an eighth inning for the history books.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Bullpen  |   Posted on April 16, 2019 at 5:36pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Astros sweep M's with elite pitching

The Mariners' hot start ran into a cold shower this weekend. The Houston Astros rolled into town and outslugged and outpitched the M's to a three-game sweep and dropped the Mariners' record to 13-5.

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged AL West, Houston Astros  |   Posted on April 14, 2019 at 6:40pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Dipoto makes third trade of the season

The Mariners today traded backup catcher David Freitas to Milwaukee for 23-year-old pitcher Sal Biasi, who has been playing in the Class-A Midwest league.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions  |   Posted on April 14, 2019 at 5:17pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Bullpen shuffle

The Mariners made two roster moves today, activating reliever Shawn Armstrong from the injured list and promoting fellow right-hander Ruben "R.J." Alaniz from Triple-A Tacoma. Pitchers Erik Swanson and Matt Festa were sent to Tacoma to make room.Armstrong was expected to be a significant contributor to the Seattle bullpen from the get-go, but landed on the IL just before the club opened the season in Tokyo with an oblique strain. The career reliever spent the bulk of last season with Tacoma, where he went 2-5 with a brilliant 1.77 ERA, and impressed with the big club after a promotion to...

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions, Bullpen  |   Posted on April 12, 2019 at 4:17pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Royals Flushed

With today's wild extra-inning victory over the Kansas City Royals in the books, the Mariners come home riding a six-game winning streak and an incredible overall record of 13-2. They have set a Major League record for most games with a home run to start a season; they lead the American League in runs scored, hits, batting average, on-base percentage, home runs, total bases, stolen bases, walks (and hit batters), and runs batted in; and under the radar, their pitching staff leads the league in saves and is second to Houston in quality starts.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Contention, AL West  |   Posted on April 11, 2019 at 9:12pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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More IL traffic

After pitching two innings in yesterday's drubbing of the Royals, reliever Chasen Bradford went on the injured list today with shoulder inflammation. Bradford had been one of the Mariners' more effective relievers in the early season. The injury is considered to be mild and he isn't expected to be out more than the minimum 10 days.Taking Bradford's place on the roster is right-hander Erik Swanson, one of the prospects acquired from the Yankees in the James Paxton trade. Swanson appeared in one game for Triple-A Tacoma so far, a five-inning start that saw him allow six hits and no runs.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions, Bullpen  |   Posted on April 9, 2019 at 5:18pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Don't Get Happy (Yet)

Don't look now, but Your Seattle Mariners are the best team in the American League.

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Posted in Mariners, Columns, Around the Horn; Tagged Bullpen, AL West  |   Posted on April 6, 2019 at 8:41pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Swarzak to the rescue(?)

The Mariners have activated right-handed reliever Anthony Swarzak from the injured list today, He will be available in the bullpen for tonight's tilt against the Angels.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions, Bullpen  |   Posted on April 2, 2019 at 6:36pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Dipoto makes second trade of the season

We're just six games into the season, and General Manager Jerry Dipoto has already made two trades. The first, last Friday, brought in backup catcher Tom Murhpy. Today's deal with the Texas Rangers nets the Mariners relief pitcher Connor Sadzeck (not to be confused with Anthony Swarzak).Sadzeck has had a brief taste of the big-leagues—91⁄3 innings with the Rangers last season—but has little experience above Double-A. Last season he threw 38 innings for Round Rock in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, where he was uninspiring (5-3, 4.03 ERA, 1.368 WHIP) but not terrible.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions, Bullpen  |   Posted on April 1, 2019 at 5:56pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's best Boston despite themselves

Well, this was a home-opening series for the books, wasn't it? The World Champion Red Sox come to town with their vaunted starting pitching and stacked lineup to face the don't-call-it-rebuilding-it's-just-we're-kind-of-in-between-good-years Mariners and most thought it would be an easy start for Boston; they could bank a few wins here before heading down to Oakland and feel pretty good about themselves.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Game notes  |   Posted on March 31, 2019 at 10:48pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Strickland out for weeks

After blowing a save in the second game of the Boston series, reliever Hunter Strickland was diagnosed with a grade-2 latissimus strain and will be out of action for at least eight weeks. Strickland felt discomfort while warming up in the bullpen prior to entering the game, but didn't consider it to be debilitating until he'd thrown pitches in the game. He was tagged with the loss after serving up a three-run home run to Mitch Moreland in the ninth inning.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions, Injuries, Bullpen  |   Posted on March 31, 2019 at 9:56pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Dipoto makes first trade of the season

It's not even April yet and the always-restless general manager of the Mariners, Jerry Dipoto, has made another trade. This one is small and eminently reasonable: Dipoto has dealt 20-year-old prospect Jesús Ozoria to San Francisco for catcher Tom Murphy.The Mariners began the season with defensively-challenged Omar Narváez as the primary catcher and warm body David Freitas as the backup, so a low-risk pickup for a second-string receiver is a sensible move. Whether Murphy is actually an upgrade over Freitas is yet to be determined, but this one goes into the "why not? Can't hurt" bucket.Murphy was waived by Colorado...

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions  |   Posted on March 29, 2019 at 5:17pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game 3: Yard Sale

Oh, man, you may have thought. The M's have to face Chris Sale in the home opener? Well, yes, they did, and they tattooed him. Sale may have struck out the side in the first, but he'd be gone after three innings, three homers, and seven earned to give him an early-season ERA of 21.00. What else was interesting today?

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Game notes  |   Posted on March 29, 2019 at 1:20am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Second Opening Day

The Mariners have already played their first games of the season, having defeated the Oakland A's in two contests in Tokyo, but tomorrow they resume action when the other 28 Major League teams open their seasons. The home opener begins a four-game series with the Boston Red Sox, the only visit of the year for the defending World Series champs.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Opening Day  |   Posted on March 27, 2019 at 3:50am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Changing the rules

Major League Baseball is once more tinkering with its rules. Is that a good thing? Bad? Just weird? Grandsalami.net's Erik Lundegaard and Tim Harrison try to sort it all out.

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Posted in Mariners, Columns; Tagged MLB, Rules, Rob Manfred  |   Posted on March 23, 2019 at 9:00pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game 2: Curtain Call

We didn't know when the game began that Ichiro was calling it quits. That news came a few innings in. Kyodo News had the story and those of us keyed in to Twitter started getting the alerts. The ESPN broadcast caught up to us a bit later, and for half the game or so half the drama was how was Ichiro going to leave the game.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Ichiro Suzuki, Opening Day  |   Posted on March 21, 2019 at 11:44pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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One Down, 161 to Go

Konbanwa, baseball fans. Are you ready to pull another all-nighter for Game 2 from Tokyo tonight/tomorrow morning (game time 2:35am PDT)?

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Opening Day  |   Posted on March 20, 2019 at 9:20pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Next Year is Here

Winter is over. Well, not technically, but hey, it was nearly 80 degrees today in Seattle (in your face, Miami!) and tonight the Mariners take the field for the first official game in the 2019 championship season. Or tomorrow night, or tomorrow morning, based on your time zone. It's complicated. Temporal mechanics and all. Anyway, come 2:30am PDT the Tokyo Dome will be abuzz with excitement when the Oakland A's take the field as the "home" team against our Seattle Mariners.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Opening Day  |   Posted on March 19, 2019 at 8:03pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Meet the Mariners

With Opening Day only ... let's see, carry the one ... 27½ hours away in Tokyo, it's time to get familiar with the 2019 Seattle Mariners. Who are these guys? With so much change form the 2018 roster will we recognize even a handful?

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Opening Day, Players  |   Posted on March 18, 2019 at 10:55pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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What should we call the home ballpark?

Though officially dubbed T-Mobile Park, here at GrandSalami.net we've chosen not to refer to the Mariners’ home field by that name. What should we call it instead? Thoughts?

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Posted in Mariners, Site issues; Tagged Safeco Field  |   Posted on March 14, 2019 at 10:43pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Shameless Commerce Department

Grandslami.net is now featuring prints of Mariner player portraits in the store. Four players currently available, with others to be added as the season progresses. If your favorite Mariner isn't yet in the mix, sound off in the comments and put in a request!

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Posted in Mariners, Site issues; Posted on March 7, 2019 at 10:58pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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The New Staff

We all know the Mariners have churned their player roster something fierce this offseason, but what might have escaped notice is the turnover among the coaches. Aside from manager Scott Servais, only two of Seattle's 2018 coaches are returning this season, Manny Acta and Chris Prieto. Everyone else is new.

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Coaches  |   Posted on February 26, 2019 at 1:14am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Change of Clothes

Looking at the Mariners' new spring training duds and the new uniform set the Marlins have this year got me to thinking about the Mariners' history of sartorial styles. The current uniform concept is, aside from some minor tweaks in the wordmark and number outlining and an early addition of the compass rose on the road jersey, unchanged since it was introduced in 1993. Which isn't bad. It's a nice design, and light-years better than what came before it. But might it be time for something new?

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Posted in Mariners, Columns, Around the Horn; Tagged Uniforms  |   Posted on February 24, 2019 at 5:18am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's Trivia Challenge

While we wait for spring training to gear up in force, let's take a walk down memory lane and see how well we know our Mariner history. Take the GrandSalami.net Mariners Quiz! When you've reached the end, you'll be brought back here and you can let us know what you thought. Onward!

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Posted in Mariners, Spotlight; Posted on February 21, 2019 at 2:53am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's unveil new Spring unis

At a media event yesterday, the Mariners showed off new uniforms that they will wear in spring training. Instead of the northwest green jerseys and inverted trident "M" caps worn last spring, the new outfits consist of "powder blue" jerseys and a capital "M" against a four-pointed compass on the caps. The caps will also be worn for batting practice throughout the season.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Uniforms, Spring Training  |   Posted on January 25, 2019 at 3:13pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mariners sign free-agent Strickland

Right-handed reliever Hunter Strickland, last seen in the uniform of the San Francisco Giants, today signed a one-year contract with the Mariners. Financial details were not yet available, but the contract value is estimated to be in the neighborhood of $2.5 million. Strickland, 30, is still shy of the six years of service time needed for unrestricted free agency, so even though the deal is for one year, the M's still have team control through 2021 via arbitration.Released by the Giants last November, Strickland has a career record of 14-14 with a respectable 2.91 ERA over four-plus seasons in San Francisco.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions, Bullpen  |   Posted on January 24, 2019 at 1:55pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Ichiro officially returns

The Mariners announced today that they have re-signed franchise icon Ichiro Suzuki to a minor-league contract with an invite to spring training.It was an expected move, telegraphed all the way back in May, when the team moved Ichiro off the active roster and into a non-player role with the title of "special assistant to the chairman," an invented position that allowed Ichiro to train and travel with the club but not suit up for games. At that time it was clear that Ichiro was not retiring as a player and intended to try to play again the following year.The contract...

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Ichiro Suzuki  |   Posted on January 23, 2019 at 5:53pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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"Thank you, sir"

He had to wait 10 years, often with low vote totals, before a push of SABRmetric dudes, the Mariners organization and its fans, and, maybe most importantly, the pitchers who faced him...

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Posted in Mariners, Columns, Caught Looking; Tagged Edgar Martinez  |   Posted on January 23, 2019 at 3:38pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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No one in the wings

If Edgar Martinez worked a corporate 9-to-5 job he’d be the guy who arrived early, performed, excelled, was slapped on the back by the boss, and when the time came for that big raise or promotion … someone else would get it.

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Posted in Mariners, Columns, Caught Looking; Tagged Edgar Martinez  |   Posted on January 22, 2019 at 12:00am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Where are they now?

Updated 3/1/19

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Trades, Transactions  |   Posted on January 21, 2019 at 2:15pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mariners sign different infielder Beckham than last year's infielder Beckham

The Mariners signed two free agents yesterday to Major League contracts, infielder Tim Beckham (not to be confused with veteran Gordon Beckham, who spent the last two years bouncing back and forth between the M's and their Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma) and relief pitcher Cory Gearrin.Beckham, who will be 29 later this month, came up with the Tampa Bay Rays and spent the last season and a half with Baltimore. Primarily a shortstop, he's also logged plenty of innings at both third base and second base.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions  |   Posted on January 11, 2019 at 10:08am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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An odd reunion

In a weird but no-risk move today, the Mariners signed Dustin Ackley to a minor-league contract with an invite to spring training.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions, Dustin Ackley  |   Posted on January 9, 2019 at 9:15pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Yusei Kikuchi signing official

The Mariners have officially signed Japanese free-agent pitcher Yusei Kikuchi to a multi-year contract. The former Saitama Seibu Lions star was posted for Major League teams' consideration at his request by the Nippon Professional Baseball club last month and chose Seattle after meeting with representatives of several MLB teams in December.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions, Yusei Kikuchi  |   Posted on January 1, 2019 at 9:59am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Kikuchi deal coming?

According to Yahoo! Sports, the Mariners are close to signing Japanese southpaw Yusei Kikuchi to a multi-year contract. Details are sparse, but due to the rules of the posting arrangement with Nippon Professional Baseball, Kikuchi must sign by January 2nd or forfeit is right to leave NPB for 2019.Kikuchi had reportedly been open to signing with any Major League team when his posting became official early in December and has met with several clubs.An eight-year NPB veteran, all with the Saitama Seibu Lions, Kikuchi holds a career record of 74-48 with a 2.81 ERA and 1.177 WHIP to go with...

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions, Yusei Kikuchi  |   Posted on December 30, 2018 at 11:20pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Dipoto deals another

Mariner General Manager Jerry Dipoto has made another trade, this time with the Milwaukee Brewers. The trade sends outfielder Ben Gamel and 22-year-old minor-league pitcher Noah Zavolas to Milwaukee in exchange for outfielder Domingo Santana.Santana—not to be confused with first baseman Carlos Santana, whom the M's recently dealt to Cleveland—is a right-handed batter, offering some platoon balance to an outfield that had been overstocked with lefties. Since breaking into the Major Leagues with the Astros as a late-season callup in 2014, Santana has produced a career batting line of .261/.349/.458, mostly as a part-time player.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions, Ben Gamel, Domingo Santana  |   Posted on December 21, 2018 at 5:50pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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So Long Santana

Well, that didn't take long.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions, Jerry Dipoto  |   Posted on December 13, 2018 at 6:55pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Winter Meetings

Jerry Dipoto is bored.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Jerry Dipoto  |   Posted on December 11, 2018 at 9:23pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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How did we get here?

It's not exactly standard procedure for a team that won 89 games to go straight into a massive rebuild. When you just barely miss the postseason, you typically look to improve on one or two areas that could put you over the top, not declare defeat and look to try again in three years. So WTF, you might ask of the Mariners, why are they blowing up the team?

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Transactions, Jerry Dipoto, History, Free Agents  |   Posted on December 5, 2018 at 9:28pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Trades are official

The deals are done, and the Mariners are no longer the team of Robinson Canó, Edwin Díaz, or Jean Segura.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions  |   Posted on December 3, 2018 at 9:08pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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The Demolition Continues

Another day, another big trade for the Mariners. Well, "big"; the word has a lot of room for interpretation. It's big in that General Manager Jerry Dipoto is dealing away another big name, All-Star shortstop Jean Segura. It's maybe not so big in what he's getting back. Or maybe it is, this one's hard to project.The deal isn't final yet, and what the whole package will include isn't known. What is expected is that Segura will be traded to Philadelphia and that in return the M's will get young Phillies shortstop J.P. Crawford and not-so-young first baseman Carlos Santana.

See full post: "The Demolition Continues"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Jean Segura  |   Posted on December 3, 2018 at 4:13am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Who's Left?

With General Manager Jerry Dipoto on another of his trading benders, the Mariners' roster is undergoing some stark change. Though Dipoto is by no means done tinkering—as we'll see, there are still some holes to fill—if games had to be played tomorrow, how things would look on the field?

See full post: "Who's Left?"...

Posted in Mariners, Columns, Around the Horn; Tagged Trades, Transactions  |   Posted on December 2, 2018 at 2:12am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Trader Jerry ships Colome to Chisox

While the giant trade of Robinson Canó and Edwin Díaz to the Mets is still pending, Mariner GM Jerry Dipoto did trade a closer today. Reliever Alex Colome, who came to Seattle in an in-season deal with Tampa Bay last May, was dealt to the Chicago White Sox for catcher Omar Narvaez.Trading Colome leaves the Mariners without an established closer (presuming the deal with the Mets goes through), but adding Narvaez gives the M's a starting catcher, something they're in dire need of after trading Mike Zunino last month.Narvaez, who will be 27 in February, hit .275/.366/.429 in a part-time...

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions, Jerry Dipoto, Alex Colome  |   Posted on November 30, 2018 at 8:26pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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End of the Canó era?

Reports are flying around the Interwebs (sourced to Joel Sherman of the New York Post and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic) that Mariner General Manager Jerry Dipoto is close to unloading second baseman Robinson Canó and his giant contract onto the New York Mets.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Robinson Cano, Jerry Dipoto, Edwin Diaz  |   Posted on November 29, 2018 at 5:19pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Voice of the Mariners

This interview originally appeared in the August and September 2008 issues of The Grand Salami.

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Dave Niehaus, The Way-Back Machine, Interviews  |   Posted on November 27, 2018 at 10:54pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Pulling the Thread of a Trade

With so many similarities in the recent trade of James Paxton to the hated New York Yankees to the 1998 trade of Randy Johnson to the Houston Astros, we thought we'd look back on that RJ trade and see what became of it for the Mariners over time. Sure, the initial deal was Johnson for three then-Triple-A players, but what were the ripple effects? How'd those guys do for Seattle?

See full post: "Pulling the Thread of a Trade"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Trades  |   Posted on November 25, 2018 at 1:49am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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By Any Other (Corporate) Name

We've known for a while now that the Mariners' home field would get a new name by next season. Safeco Insurance's deal for naming rights to the stadium expired at the end of the 2018 season and they were up front about not being interested in extending their association with the facility, so the speculation began in earnest last spring: Which corporate behemoth would step up to replace Safeco and brand their identity all over our beautiful ballpark?

See full post: "By Any Other (Corporate) Name"...

Posted in Mariners, Columns, Around the Horn; Tagged Safeco Field  |   Posted on November 23, 2018 at 1:55am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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More trades coming

More Mariner players may soon be on the move.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades  |   Posted on November 20, 2018 at 7:31pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Big Maple to Big Apple

Prompting memories of 1998’s trade of Randy Johnson to the Astros, today Mariner General Manager Jerry Dipoto dealt his team's ace left-hander to an already-upper-echelon team: James Paxton is now a New York Yankee.Much like the Johnson deal made by then-GM Woody Woodward, Paxton was traded for three relatively-unknown minor leaguers, two pitchers and one position player. One of them, left-handed starter Justus Sheffield, may be ready for the bigs as soon as next season. The other pitcher, righty Erik Swanson, has a chance to crack the bigs but will likely play in Tacoma next year, while the position player,...

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, James Paxton, Transactions  |   Posted on November 19, 2018 at 10:53pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mariner Makeover Begins

Seattle General Manager Jerry Dipoto began rebuilding the Mariners for 2019 this afternoon, making a big trade with his favorite trading partner, the Tampa Bay Rays.Addressing one of the bigger questions of the offseason—do the 2019 M's try again with the 2018 plan of Dee Gordon in center and Robbie Canó at second, or do they get a new CF to play full time?—the Mariners acquired outfielder Mallex Smith from the Rays in exchange for defensive wizard and strikeout artist Mike Zunino and reserve outfielder Guillermo Heredia.Smith played all three outfield positions for Tampa Bay last year, most often in center.

See full post: "Mariner Makeover Begins"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades  |   Posted on November 7, 2018 at 9:58pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's are done, but 2018 continues

It's over.

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Posted in News, Mariners; Tagged Playoffs  |   Posted on October 1, 2018 at 2:50am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Damn Yankees

The Yankees are here for a weekend series, and Salami contributor and world's only sensitive Yankee fan Bill Abelson brings us the goods on the Bronx Bombers. The Friday night matchup is a beaut, with Japanese star Masahiro Tanaka facing off against The Big Maple. Saturday will feature former Mariner J.A. Happ taking on Felix Hernández, while the Sunday afternoon affair has C.C. Sabathia scheduled for New York and a question mark for the M's. It's possible Marco Gonzales will be activated for that one, or Erasmo Ramírez could take the hill.

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged New York Yankees, Series  |   Posted on September 7, 2018 at 5:22am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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When a series win instills the air of defeat

The Mariners just finished a three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles, winning two of the contests and finishing the season series with the Orioles at 6-1. Pretty good, right? A series win after some trying times in this second half is something one might think would lift the flagging spirits of Mariner fandom.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Posted on September 6, 2018 at 9:48pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Expanded Rosters

It's September, which means Major League roster limits expand from 25 to 40 for the rest of the regular season. Who have the Mariners added? Well, today we saw a number of moves:

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions  |   Posted on September 1, 2018 at 5:48pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Dodger Blues

I didn't go to any of the three Dodger games at Safeco Field this past weekend. I had other things going on and no affinity or special dislike of the Dodgers, plus I knew the ticket pricing would be exorbitant, so I skipped the series. This turned out to be a good choice.

See full post: "Dodger Blues"...

Posted in Mariners, Columns, Around the Horn; Tagged Contention  |   Posted on August 20, 2018 at 3:14am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Signs of Life

After dropping three of four to the underachieveing Blue Jays and two of three in frustrating fashion to the Rangers, the Mariners have somehow come back to take the first three of a four-game series in Houston against the first-place Astros. It's been a huge lift for the club and, frankly, for a fan base that was all but giving up on what has been a tremendous season until the past month or so.Credit manager Scott Servais for trying something different and shaking up his lineup for the Houston series.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Posted on August 11, 2018 at 9:32pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Updates

In addition to the standard update to the page for the current opposing team, player profiles for Felix Hernández, Denard Span, Zach Duke, and Ryon Healy have been updated/added. Others are still out of date and need attention, I know. If anyone wants to volunteer their help with that, I'm open to it...

See full post: "Updates"...

Posted in Mariners, Site issues; Tagged Updates  |   Posted on August 10, 2018 at 2:06am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Texas Meltdown

Well, that was ugly.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Felix Hernandez, Marco Gonzales, Scott Servais, Bullpen, Kyle Seager  |   Posted on August 9, 2018 at 1:58am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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The streak is over

The Mariners were on a winning streak (technically). Now they're not. The sad post-Independence Day fall from grace continues. There's still time for a recovery, but getting thumped by the Rangers is depressing.

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Posted in Mariners; Posted on August 7, 2018 at 9:46pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Two in a row is a start(?)

The Mariners are on a winning streak. Not an impressive one, sure, but two games is technically a streak. And with the way the M's have performed since they broke their last actual win streak—eight games—on July 4th, two in a row feels like a notable achievement. We all hope this is the beginning of the resurgence Seattle needs to reclaim its playoff standing, but a win like tonight's doesn't do much to calm the nerves of the Mariner still-for-now-but-for-how-much-longer-faithful.

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Posted in Mariners, News, Columns, Around the Horn; Tagged Contention, Adam Warren, Zach Duke, Ryon Healy, Ben Gamel  |   Posted on August 7, 2018 at 1:49am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Are the Mariners collapsing?

With yesterday's loss to the woeful Toronto Blue Jays, The Mariners have been overtaken by the Oakland A's in the Wild Card race. The M's had held either first place in the division or a Wild Card position from May 18th through August 1st, but after their fantastic June—when they won 19 out of 28—they stumbled badly, playing under .500 for the month of July (10-13) and they've now dropped the first two games in August. Meanwhile, Oakland has surged, going 18-8 since July 1st, and the Astros and Yankees have held their own to hold onto their playoff positions.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Contention, History  |   Posted on August 3, 2018 at 6:30pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mariners trade for Maybin

As today's 1:00pm trading deadline approached, GM Jerry Dipoto was, naturally, still working the phones. His efforts landed the Mariners one more piece as we head into the dog days of August, outfielder Cameron Maybin.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions  |   Posted on July 31, 2018 at 4:51pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mariners trade for more relief help

The Mariners made two more trades today, bolstering their bullpen with two veteran rental pieces.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions  |   Posted on July 30, 2018 at 6:23pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Trade Winds Pick Up

Now that the All-Star Game is behind us, July Trade Season begins in earnest. Manny Machado has finally been traded (to the Dodgers, for five minor-leaguers) and serves as an unofficial starting gun; let the wheeling and dealing begin!

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades  |   Posted on July 19, 2018 at 1:12am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Marcomania

When the Royals were last in town, I was offered a ticket to my choice of one of the three games in that series. I looked at the schedule, saw that the Saturday game had the fun "Turn Ahead the Clock" promotion and nearly picked that one, but then I looked at the pitching rotation and saw Marco Gonzales' name for the Friday game. "Friday," I told my friend with the ticket connection, "no question." The King still reigns and Big Maple is the undisputed ace, but the guy I want to see pitch is Marco.

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Posted in Mariners, Around the Horn, Columns; Tagged Marco Gonzales  |   Posted on July 13, 2018 at 5:00am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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All-Star Snubs

So, the fans, the players, and the Commissioner's office have spoken. Only three Seattle Mariners have been selected for the 2018 AL All-Star team: Edwin Díaz, Mitch Haniger, and Nelson Cruz. Something is broken.

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Posted in Mariners, Columns, Around the Horn; Tagged All-Star Game  |   Posted on July 8, 2018 at 10:39pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's lose Zunino to DL again

Mike Zunino was getting the day off on July 4th. Chris Herrmann started at catcher and Z was kicking back in the dugout. But then the Mariners mounted a threat against the Angels and Z was asked to pinch-hit and finish out the game. He walked and singled in his two plate appearances, a very good sign after he spent a good deal of pre-game time working on his batting mechanics with Edgar Martínez and Minor League field coordinator Mike Micucci, but rolled his ankle while running the bases.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Mitch Haniger, Mike Zunino, Injuries  |   Posted on July 5, 2018 at 6:19pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Midsummer Classics

It's All-Star season once again, and the 2018 contest in Washington, DC, should have plenty of Mariner representation. Jean Segura, James Paxton, Mitch Haniger, Edwin Díaz, Nelson Cruz, and perhaps Dee Gordon and Marco Gonzales are all deserving of a spot on the AL squad, and in the Mariners' best years they've sent a hefty contingent to the All-Star Game.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged All-Star Game  |   Posted on July 3, 2018 at 11:55pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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The Halfway Mark

Even though the All-Star break traditionally marks the start of the second half of the season, in terms of games played, the Mariners are there now. Having swept the Baltimore Orioles, the M's are now 51-31, 82 games into the 162-game campaign.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged First place, Contention, Playoffs  |   Posted on June 29, 2018 at 2:19am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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First-place(!) M's begin homestand on a roll

It was looking bleak for Your Seattle Mariners not too long ago. On a Sunday afternoon in Detroit, Robinson Canó was hit by a pitch and left the game with a broken hand, and fans began to wonder how the M's would manage without him for perhaps a month or more. Then it was revealed that Canó had also flunked a PED test, so he'd actually miss half the season. Their third-place hitter and MVP candidate gone for half the year?! How could they survive?!

See full post: "First-place(!) M's begin homestand on a roll"...

Posted in News, Mariners; Tagged First place  |   Posted on June 10, 2018 at 8:57pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Cast your ballot

All-Star voting season is upon us. Sadly, you can no longer vote in person at the ballpark; gone are the days of whiling away the between-innings time by amusing your fellows with ballots filled out for the "all-disabled list team" or "worst-stats-ever team" along with your real choices, consigned to history are seating areas littered with little paper ballot chads.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Mitch Haniger, All-Star Game, Dee Gordon, Jean Segura  |   Posted on June 2, 2018 at 11:27pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Is this for real?

Don't look now, but Your Seattle Mariners are just one game out of first place. On Memorial Day. While their arguably-best player is out on suspension and their other arguably-best player (really, there are several guys you could argue for) on the DL with a broken toe. After a week when the offense couldn't scratch out more than 2.7 runs per game. It's...unsettling.

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Posted in Mariners; Posted on May 28, 2018 at 12:42am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Trader Jerry Strikes Again

General Manager Jerry Dipoto made his first in-season trade of the year earlier today, acquiring relief pitcher Alex Colomé and outfielder Denard Span from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor league pitchers Andrew Moore and Tommy Romero.Colomé led the American League in saves last year with 47, but won't be asked to close in Seattle so long as Edwin Díaz remains effective. Instead, he will slot into a setup role, where Juan Nicasio has struggled.But the big piece of this deal, at least in the short term, appears to be Span.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Jerry Dipoto, Transactions  |   Posted on May 25, 2018 at 5:37pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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You Get Nothing!

Because of a rainout in Detroit last week, the Mariners needed to bring up someone from Triple-A to make a spot start against Texas this past Wednesday afternoon. To make room, the M's designated reliever Erik (don't call him Eddie) Goeddel for assignment.This move struck me as problematic. Goeddel had been very effective in his short time with the Mariners and would certainly be lost to the organization with the DFA; meanwhile, other pitchers had been, shall we say, bad, and probably ought to be cut anyway.Today Goeddel was claimed off the waiver wire by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

See full post: "You Get Nothing!"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions  |   Posted on May 18, 2018 at 2:23pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Canó Suspended for PED violation

On Sunday, Robinson Canó was hit by a pitch and broke his right hand. Today he was handed down an 80-game suspension from Major League Baseball for violating policy on performance-enhancing drug use. He is not having a good week.

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Posted in News, Mariners; Tagged Robinson Cano, PEDs  |   Posted on May 15, 2018 at 11:50pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Peak Paxton

I think I can lay my concerns about James Paxton to rest now. In is first start of 2018, Pax looked bad, allowing six runs to the Indians without getting out of the fifth inning. He had three pretty good starts following that, but not great, and then another bad one in Texas. Was there something wrong? Had the Big Maple been cut down to size?

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Posted in Mariners, News, Spotlight; Tagged James Paxton  |   Posted on May 8, 2018 at 8:37pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Ichiro No More

Well, it's happened. Sort of.As rumored earlier this week, Ichiro Suzuki has hung up his spikes, at least for the remainder of this year. He is not officially retired, according to his agent, but for all practical purposes, the future Hall of Famer's Major League career ended last night, when he played all nine innings in left field for the Mariners in their loss to the Oakland A's.The Mariners are reporting the Ichiro will "transition" to a front office role currently defined as Special Assistant to the Chairman.

See full post: "Ichiro No More"...

Posted in Mariners, Spotlight; Tagged Ichiro Suzuki  |   Posted on May 3, 2018 at 4:53pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Irasshaimase! Tokyo Welcomes Mariners back to Japan

Major League Baseball has announced that the Mariners and Oakland Athletics will once again open the season in Japan in 2019. The two games will be held in the Tokyo Dome and the A's will serve as the "home" team. As was the case the last time MLB opened in Japan—also with the Mariners and Athletics, in 2012—the opening series will be held a week in advance of the rest of the league starting the campaign to allow for the M's and A's to readjust to the time difference between Japan and North America (Japan is 17 hours ahead during...

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Japan  |   Posted on May 1, 2018 at 6:26pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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RUMOR: Ichiro may retire THIS WEEK

This is unconfirmed. To my knowledge, this remains informed speculation on the part of Root Sports' Brad Adam, based on a text exchange he had with Ichiro. But the scuttlebutt is that Ichiro may call it a career after this week's homestand.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Ichiro Suzuki  |   Posted on May 1, 2018 at 3:36pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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State of the M's: April

Don't look now, but Your Seattle Mariners are a playoff team.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Game notes  |   Posted on April 30, 2018 at 9:40pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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The Return of Roenis Elias

Following the 2015 season, the Mariners traded one of their promising young starting pitchers, Roenis Elias, to Boston along with reliever Carson Smith, for more seasoned starter Wade Miley. (Miley has since been traded himself, for pitcher Ariel Miranda.) Elias only made four appearances with the Red Sox after that, spending the majority of his time with Boston's Triple-A affiliate in Pawtucket, and had a lengthy stint on the disabled list with a strained oblique. This week the Red Sox traded Elias back to the Mariners in exchange for either a player to be named later or cash considerations.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Roenis Elias, Trades  |   Posted on April 25, 2018 at 3:41am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mid-Road Trip Exam

The Mariners are halfway through their current road trip through Dallas-Ft. Worth, Chicago, and Cleveland, having taken the series with the Rangers two games to one and split the first two with the White Sox. How has it gone? Let's examine.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Mitch Haniger  |   Posted on April 25, 2018 at 3:16am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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It's a Beautiful Day for an Off Day

Thank the schedulemakers that today is a bizarre Friday off-day for the Mariners. After the last two games, a blowout loss to San Francisco and a fall-from-ahead defeat at the hands of the Twins, this team needs a breather, a chance to reflect on their performance. It's not that the M's lost two straight. That's not that big a deal, and it's going to happen again—I daresay more than once—during the course of the season. It's the squandering of opportunities. The Mariners left 21 runners on base in those two games, going 3-for-29 with runners in scoring position.

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged LOB, Fundamentals  |   Posted on April 6, 2018 at 6:28pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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San Fran Split

Random thoughts on the just-completed San Francisco series...

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Game notes  |   Posted on April 4, 2018 at 11:04pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game One: Random Thoughts

Game 1 of 162 is in the books, and it was a nailbiter win for Your Seattle Mariners against the Cleveland Ethnically Insensitive Caricatures. Some random observations:

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Opening Day  |   Posted on March 30, 2018 at 2:39pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mariners Figure to Extend Streak in 2018

In all of the major sports, what team has gone the longest without appearing in a playoff game? That's right, your Seattle Mariners, who haven't tasted the postseason since 2001.

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Posted in Mariners, Spotlight; Posted on March 28, 2018 at 5:31pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Marjama the Man

New catcher Mike Marjama is the subject of the latest mini-documentary from LeBron James' UNINTERRUPTED. In the eight-minute film, Marjama details his struggle with body image and masculinity, which manifested as an eating disorder in his teen years. "I was going to be a man," he says.Professional sports has long been a domain rife with machismo, and whether that's a good thing or not I'll leave to your own sensibilities. But one thing is certain: It takes courage and guts—or, if you prefer the coarse macho language of the locker room, balls—to confront a personal demon like this, persevere, and...

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Mike Marjama  |   Posted on March 27, 2018 at 9:16pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Ichiro's Return

Some Mariner fans are elated. Some are skeptical. And some are disgusted. Whichever camp you may find yourself in, the fact of the matter is that, at age 44, Ichiro Suzuki is a Mariner once more. Personally, I am in the first camp. I have always loved watching Ichiro play, and I'm delighted to get the chance to see him in person once again at Safeco Field. That Ichiro has the opportunity to continue his Major League career at all is satisfying, and getting to see him climb up the hits leaderboard back in a Mariners jersey is a sweet,...

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Ichiro Suzuki  |   Posted on March 27, 2018 at 5:34pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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How Much is a Mariners Game Ticket?

Determining the price of a Mariners ticket is a complicated matter these days.

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Posted in Mariners, Columns, Around the Horn; Posted on March 23, 2018 at 4:53pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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