Mariners Update:

There have been a few changes to the Mariner team recently that has injected some excitement into the team. And with the trade dead line looming this month I thought I would join the fun and write a little about what I see and what I think may or may not happen in the next month.

Player Moves:

Nick Franklin aka The Werewolf. As I wrote in a previous post, when most people wanted Franklin to come up and replace Brendan Ryan at short stop I thought he should come up and replace Dustin Ackley instead. Which I am glad he did. I think Franklin’s best position is at second base.  As we have seen, he has started out very well. But usually when guys first come up they get a lot of fastballs and if they show they can handle them then the off speed pitches start coming more frequently. I think Franklin is at this stage now. Let’s hope he makes the proper adjustment to seeing more off-speed pitches. We are already seeing his strike outs going up and his walks going down. Also, I think the scouting report on him as being a better left handed hitter than right is accurate. In the end I think he will make the needed adjustments and be a productive second baseman moving forward. The werewolf just seems to have that inner strength and confidence to get it done.

Brad Miller aka Crazy Legs. I hope he can stick at short stop because I believe that is where his best value to the team will be. I think so far he is doing a good job defensively. If he can make the routine play and the occasional great play I will take that. Although I don’t think he has a great arm, from what I’ve seen it’s good enough. One thing I have observed is that he has a tendency to tap his glove once before he throws the ball. This is going to be a problem on close plays. I do think this can be fixed but it is a flaw mechanically none the less. I really like his approach at the plate. When he sees a pitch he likes, he goes after it aggressively. His swing is level with a slight downward tilt which will produce many line drives. One thing I see as a concern already though is that he has the tendency to swing at the high fast ball. That can be a problem. But he has proven he can hit the fast ball in the strike zone so now he is going to start seeing more off speed pitches. He too will have to make the needed adjustments to this. I hope he can, but we shall see.

Dustin Ackley being moved to the outfield. In my opinion this move is irrelevant because I think he is destined to be a utility player. I was never on the Dustin Ackley bandwagon. If the Mariners think he can handle center field everyday they are mistaken. His offensive skill set profiles better in CF but his defensive skill set profiles better in LF. So what do you do? In my opinion you make him a utility player. Kind of like a poor man’s version of Mark McLemore.  Ackley doesn’t hit for enough power to be an everyday corner outfielder and he isn’t good enough defensively to be an everyday CF. Therefore, I feel they should use him as a backup outfielder, backup infielder, pinch hitter and pinch runner.  He can still be a fairly valuable piece to the ball club. Just not as a starter in my opinion.

Mike Zunino. I think it is obvious that he is overmatched at the plate at this time. But certain circumstances led to his promotion so he is with the big club but he should still be in AAA. I do think he is doing a fine job behind the plate and the experience he is getting working with pitchers at the Major League level is invaluable. You can already see his confidence growing as he is taking charge of the staff more. Now, about his offense. He is overmatched. In my opinion he is too close to the plate and is getting jammed too much. Although it did seem like he is standing away from the plate a little more the last game I saw. So I will look again next time to see if in fact he did move farther away. I hope he has because he has to get the barrel on the ball more. Like Franklin and Miller, he is going to have to adjust to the off speed pitches which he is having trouble with but that was expected. He was having trouble with them in AAA as well. I think in the end he too will be a nice player for the Mariners. I don’t think he will be the next Buster Posey like some had him pegged. But I will settle for the next Dan Wilson, with a little more power.   

Justin Smoak. We all know the circumstances that brought Justin to Seattle. We also all know the struggles he has had since arriving here. And finally we are all aware of the recent success he is having. The one reason I have optimism this time is because he has actually changed his mechanics when he is hitting. That is he holds onto the bat with two hands on his follow through as opposed to letting go with his top hand on his follow through. This has made his swing much shorter and quicker. Smoak still has a tendency to deviate from his fundamentals and try’s to hit 500 foot homeruns but for the most part he is sticking to his new mechanics. But as with Franklin, Miller and Zunino, we shall see how this turns out.           

 

Ask Cecil:

SB asks: "Should the Mariners make any moves at this time?"

                                                   

While I am not one to make early season moves just because the Mariners string together some bad games I do think we are far enough along into the season and have seen enough trends to be thinking about making some moves to better the ball club.

 So with that said, here are a couple moves I would make right now.

First, I would send Jesus Montero down to AAA and bring up Jesus Sucre. (Zunino is not ready). Sucre is not the answer, but this is about getting Montero right and not about Sucre. I would tell him his catching days are over. I have seen enough of his poor framing of pitches, using the wrong fundamentals when receiving throws to home plate like Brendon Ryan’s throw last week and the other teams running at will against him (although more often than not they are stealing off the pitcher) none the less he has terrible fundamentals when attempting to throw out runners.

I think it was too much to ask for a 23 year old to learn how to catch and hit at the major league level. Montero’s value to this team is going to be with his bat. And that bat right now is none existent. He needs to go down and clear his mind and concentrate solely on his hitting and maybe work out some at first base but mostly learn to be a DH. One hitting tip I would give Montero is that he has to generate more backspin on the ball, as I mentioned in one of my previous posts on him last winter. I describe Montero’s swing as kind of “picking the ball” with his bat and hitting the top of the ball. That is why you see him weakly grounding out to the short stop so often. He needs to drive down on the ball to create that back spin, which in turn will make the ball go farther. One thing I suggested last winter and I still believe would benefit him, would be to let go of the bat with one hand on his follow through. This type of swing, along with swinging down on the ball, keeps the bat through the strike zone longer thus creating that all important back spin. Conversely, I like how Smoak is keeping two hands on the bat on his follow through. But that is for another post at another time.

My last thought on Montero, which might be the most frustrating, is his total lack of focus when he comes up to bat. He constantly smiling, looking in the other dugout and chatting with the opposing catcher. Sure, when you are an established player in the league you can exchange pleasantries some when you come to bat. But not when you a struggling young hitter who clearly has focus problems and has been hovering around the Mendoza line all year.

Montero needs go to AAA, forget about catching, work on his hitting mechanics and for crying out loud go up to bat with the intent and look on his face that he is going to do serious damage to the ball.

The second move I would make at this time is sending Dustin Ackley down to AAA and call up Nick Franklin to play second base and short stop a couple times a week. I realize many people want Brendon Ryan out which is another post for another time. This is about getting Ackley fixed and giving Franklin a chance to see if he is ready for the major leagues. Footnote. I do believe Franklin’s eventual position is going to be at second base. But I digress.              

Ackley has batted .227 since the start of last year, with a bad OBP and his current slash line is .224/.284/273. While I think he has done a very nice job of playing second, even though he is as mechanical as hell when he fields and throws the ball, I have to give him some credit there. I do not think he should go to the outfield. His value is at second base and that value would go way down if he is moved to the outfield, or first base for that matter. With that being said, he came here with the reputation as a hitter and he has not done that. Like Montero, Ackley needs to go down and concentrate on his hitting. I do like his new, new stance (he has changed it twice) since last year. He needs to work on hitting the ball the other way, hitting with more authority and get that OBP up. And where did his stolen bases go? Is he still hurt? If he is truly going to be part of the core for the Mariners moving forward, he has a long ways to go.

As far as Franklin goes, from all indications he is ready for a call up. As I said earlier I think eventually he is going to be a second baseman and this will give him a chance to play there and at the same time get some starts at short stop. If he shows he can play short, great, call up Ackley when and if he gets his hitting straightened out and you have your middle infielders for the foreseeable future. If Franklin proves he is a better second baseman than Ackley, then you have your second baseman moving forward.

It’s time the Mariners make people earn their positions and playing time. Something neither Jesus Montero nor Dustin Ackley have done yet. As Jack Zduriencik says, “nobody is on scholarship here” and it’s high time to play the best players regardless of their draft position or minor league hype.     

Ask Cecil:

Now that the season has started I thought it would be fun to answer some questions from some of my readers. So here it goes. 

Big John: What will be the fate of Jack Zduriencik if the M’s have another bad season?

That is a good question BJ. While it is still very early in the season it’s never too early to speculate on what may happen in the future if certain things take place. My guess is if the M’s have another bad year, which would be something like another below .500 record, play uninspired ball, end up in last place or close to it, then there could be some major changes at seasons end.

If all those things happen this is what I would like to see take place. First, I would not like to see Jack Z fired. I know he has made some not so great trades, signed some less than productive free agents but he has done a nice job in resurrecting the minor league system. Although we still haven’t seen any of his draft picks hit the big time, the system is being lauded around baseball as one of the best.

Instead of firing Jack Z I would restructure the front office. Since the Mariners like to bring back ex-Mariner players like Griffey (which was a mistake by the way. But that is a whole other post), Olivo, Ibanez and Morse just to name a few. Why not bring back the man that led the organization during its most successful run. Pat Gillick lives in the Seattle area and has said he would be open to returning to baseball in some capacity but not as a General Manager. And at the age of 75 that probably wouldn’t be prudent anyway. I would change the dynamics of the traditional General Managers position. I would think a little outside the box. For example, I would keep both Jack Z and Tom McNamara to run the draft and player development. But I would hire Gillick to handle all the decisions made at the major league level like trades and free agent acquisitions. This way Gillick and Jack Z get to do what they do best. And, when it comes time for Gillick to retire then you could elevate Jack Z back the GM position if you wish. You would have to think that working under Gillick, Jack Z would learn some valuable things when it comes to making the major league team better. 

I just think it is a shame that we have one of the best, if not the best GM in the history of baseball living in our own back yard and we are not taking advantage of his expertise. Say what you want about how he left the minor league systems when he left his GM jobs, but he always won at the major league level, and quite frankly that is the most important thing to an organization isn’t it? And besides, that is why we retain Jack Z and McNamara, to maintain the minor league system. With the expected influx of money coming in to the organization from the new TV deal the Mariners signed, I think this organization would bounce back quickly under the guidance of Pat Gillick and the continued work of Jack Z and Tom McNamara. With Gillick heading the charge, I can guarantee you that the Mariners wouldn’t finish last under his watch. And would even challenge for the AL West title sooner rather than later.

Hot Topic Break: Seattle Mariners General Manager

General Manager: Jack Zduriencik

Since the baseball winter meetings are starting Monday I would like to detour from my position by position look at the Seattle Mariners and talk about Jack Zduriencik. There was a good article written on him by Jason Churchill the other day and I would like to follow up with a few things as well.

I don’t need to rehash all of his trades and free agent signings. They are all well documented. Some worked and some didn’t. For this post I would like to focus more on what kind of job it is to be the GM of the Seattle Mariners and not past transactions made by the Mariners.  Would a lot of people jump at the chance to be a major league GM? You bet. There are only 30 of those jobs in the world. But within those jobs, being the Seattle Mariners GM has to be one to the toughest in the league. While we enjoy a nice city and a beautiful ballpark, all be it one that hitters hate, it’s just difficult to get players to sign with the Mariners. I remember years ago when Hugh Millen said that Seattle just isn’t high on the list of young athletes to sign with. There are more exciting cities out there for these players to go to, he said. And I believe that. Seattle is tucked away up in the NW corner of the country, making travel the most of any major league team. And as we are all painfully aware of, we have been a losing franchise, save for a couple of playoff appearances. The ballpark has been a hindrance in trying to sign free agent hitters. I tend to believe the players that have actually played at Safeco and an overwhelming majority have said they do not like to hit here. Believe that or not but it’s the truth. Hopefully the new dimensions of the ballpark with help in this regard.   

Now, can we get good free agents to play in Seattle? Sure you can. I am just saying it is very difficult. Pat Gillick had great success signing FA’s which helped tremendously with our most successful run as a franchise from 2001-2003. Gillick by the way still lives in the Seattle area and has stated he would be interested in becoming the President of a Major League team. Gillick and Zduriencik would form a great team. But do we take advantage that? No, we prefer to keep a guy that has been just receiving a paycheck for like 25 years in our organization. In addition, can you imagine if someone like Bill Bavasi was our GM when Griffey pouted his way out of town the first time? We would have gotten a AA second baseman in the deal if he was in charge. Thank god we had Gillick at that time.

Anyway, back to GM Jack. I think this is the first year that it’s all on Zduriencik to make the Mariners a winner again. In addition to the inherited disadvantages of being the GM in Seattle, he had been hand cuffed with the wasted 18 million a year contract for our singles hitting Right Fielder the last 4 years. Not only did he take up a power position but he took up a bulk of our payroll. Now both are available for Jack to use.

GM Jack said he does have some payroll flexibility for free agents but also talked up the younger players on the team and in our organization. Basically saying he is looking aggressively at the free agent market but also hedging his bets just in case he doesn’t make a big splash. But he has to talk like that because it is difficult to get players to sign here. People say, why we don’t sign Nick Swisher and Zack Greinke. Well, it doesn’t work like that, especially in Seattle. I know people don’t like to hear that excuse but unfortunately it’s not an excuse, it’s a fact. I believe GM Z will do all he can to sign an impactful free agent this winter but “at the end of the day” to take one of Jacks favorite quotes, the player has to want to come to Seattle.  

I have been a Mariners fan since they started and I too get frustrated with our team and the organization just like the next guy but I try and put myself in the GM’s shoes and be open minded about what he is trying to do and more importantly what he is “able” to do. Now with that said, it is time for GM Jack to earn his money. Let’s hope he can get something done to make us proud and excited for Mariners baseball again!         

Article By:

Cecil
Cecil's Corner   

Our continued look at the Mariners position by position. Today: Shortstop

Shortstop:

I am looking forward to writing this post because as a former mediocre college Shortstop I have a passion for the position. But at the same time I don’t regard the position as a top priority when building a major league team. 

Many people say that Shortstop is one of the most difficult positions to fill. Well, I both agree and disagree.  Yes, finding a great SS is very difficult. There are very few Alex Rodríguez type SS’s out there. And if you have one, then you thank your lucky stars because they only come around perhaps every 25 years or so. But finding a decent SS is not that difficult. There are a lot of guys out there that can field the position well and according to many people that is the most important thing for a SS to do. I’m sure you have heard of the saying, “If you shake a tree a 1000 gloves fall out but only 1 bat”. Well that is the theory here. You can get away with a light hitting Short Stop but you can’t get by with light hitters in more traditional power positions as we have witnessed for the last 12 years in Right Field.  

This brings us to Brendan Ryan. He has solicited a great deal of debate amongst Mariner fans this year. I have never seen a #9 hitter garner so much attention. Let’s go over a few of the facts. First, he is cheap, only costing about 1.7M this year and probably around 2.5-3M next year thru arbitration. Second, he is one of the best if not the best fielding SS in baseball. Third, he can’t hit well, which is why he bats 9th.  That's not bad for the cost and contribution he makes defensively.

The problem this year was not Brendan Ryan. If you are relying on your #9 hitter to be a major contributor offensively then you have more problems than you think. Yes, it would have been nice if he could have hit at least .250, which he is capable of, but he basically played to his ability and for a cheap price. No, the problem this year was the disappointing seasons from the hitters that we were relying on to hit in the middle of our lineup like Justin Smoak, Dustin Ackley and Mike Carp etc. If these guys would have hit anywhere near what they are capable of the Mariners would have won a lot more games.

So when it comes to pointing fingers as to why the Mariners failed so badly offensively this year let’s at least point them at the correct players. In my opinion, we should sign Ryan to a one year deal and hope that someone can develop in the minors this year that will be ready to take over at Shortstop after next year. If not, then I wouldn’t be opposed to signing Ryan again, at the right price. In my opinion when a Shortstop's salary gets too high, you get rid of them and find another good fielding SS that doesn't cost too much, unless again if you have a Tulowitzki type player.      

While we are on the subject of Shortstops I would like to touch a little on how I would build a team. Most people say you build up the middle, meaning Catcher, ShortStop, Second Base and Center Field.  I look at it a little differently. I think you build a stronger team from the outside in. Meaning First Base, Third Base, Left Field and Right Field. I can find decent players to fill the positions up the middle at reasonable prices more easily than I can fill the coveted and more important power positions. Again, if a Ken Griffey Jr. or a Robinson Cano fall your way, then again, thank your lucky stars and you can get by with a David Bell at Third Base. But there aren’t too many lucky stars out there so you better build your team correctly and allocate your money accordingly.

Power hitters and front of the rotation pitchers are the most difficult things to find in baseball. Therefore, those are the positions you should be paying big money for. There is a reason why power hitters and ace pitchers get big money and not slap hitting Right Fielders (Ichiro) or weak hitting short Stops (Ryan).    

Article By:

Cecil

Cecil's Corner

About Dustin Ackley's hitting

Ackley has hit his whole life and at every level so it’s difficult to change someone’s hitting style that has had the success Ackley has had. Well, it’s time to change his hitting style. Any player that has ever played in the major leagues will tell you that it’s a game of adjustments, especially for a hitter. Ackley has a nice level swing, which keeps his bat through the strike zone for a long time which allows him to stay on pitches. When he barrels the ball up he hits it hard and with surprising power. With that being said, he has some real problems he needs to fix.

Despite his level swing, he strikes out way too much, especially for a top of the lineup hitter. He swings at balls outside the strike zone, which is a result of poor pitch recognition and technique. When he does decide to swing, he lunges forward, this in turn bends his front leg, which in turn moves his head up to a foot towards the pitcher. Wade Boggs is the only hitter I can remember that had been a good hitter with this style of “broken leg” hitting.

Ackley needs to learn to hit with a more firm front leg and to the opposite way. He has turned into basically a pull hitter. He doesn't hit for enough power to be a dead pull hitter and if he wants to remain at the top of the batting order he needs to make these adjustments. Let’s hope he does because the Mariners need all the offense they can get. Not only that, but he has Nick Franklin along with a host of other middle infielders in the Mariner system waiting for a chance at the major league level. 

Here is an example of Ackley's "broken front leg" swing:

Here is an example of Chase Utley's (Phillies) "firm front leg" swing, which is what Ackley needs to look like:

Article by:

Cecil

Cecil's Corner

Our continued look at the Mariners position by position. Today: Second Base

Second Base:

Before I continue my off season analysis of the Mariners I would like to touch on a few things. We all know this is a very important offseason for Jack Z. not only because it’s about time the Mariners put a good team on the field but it’s also the last year of Z’s contract. Therefore, nobody on this team is off limits when it comes to possible trades. The only exception I see is Felix Hernandez. I don’t see ownership signing off on a trade of its franchise player.

Ok, on to second base. I was surprised to see that Dustin Ackley was in the running for the Gold Glove Award. I don’t know if this is a reflection of the lack of good defensive second baseman in the American League or Ackley’s ability to play second base. I know there are many sabermetric calculations that measure a player’s ability and Ackley registered high on some of these calculations. But when I apply the eye test I see a very mechanical and not too athletic second baseman. But I also see a guy who made most of the routine plays, although very few spectacular plays and turned the double play well. That’s pretty good for a guy who has only been playing second base for a couple years.

Now when I compare him to how Kyle Seager plays second base I see two different players. Seager is much more fluid, natural, looks more comfortable and turns the double play better. Yes I know Seager has played second base more in his life than Ackley but for this post I am merely comparing the two.

If I could include Ackley in a package to get a third baseman or an outfield power bat I would. I would prefer Seager playing second and another legitimate player at third.

But as it stands now I think Ackley will be our second baseman and Seager our third baseman next year. We do however have a multitude of middle infielders on their way so that is one more reason to not rule out a trade. One last thing on Ackley. I would not move him to the outfield. He does not hit for enough power. His value is at second base and Jack Z. was smart enough to know this from the beginning. Besides we have had enough outfielders with no power over the years, most notably a certain right fielder we had for the last 12 years.       

Article By:

Cecil

Cecil's Corner