I don't mean to make people feel ignorant. I just spend an inordinant amount of time reading about proffesional baseball.. and female anatomy.

0-0 (2nd),
cds

Sounds like you need a life ?

That's what assuming will get you. I just finished the Boston Globe sports page and gotta go outside to play with the wife and kids. Life is good.

0-0 (4th),
cds

Dork!

I went to Thurs and Friday Mariners. That accounted for 2 Mariner runs. 1 each night. Frustrating is right.

It came around last night with a Grand Slam. Not the best strategy. But it worked.

Not really sure how one can think this was a stupid trade. We are going to finish at the bottom of the division. He was going to be a free agent at the end of the year and was not going to resign with us, so might as well get something in return.

bacause we got a .209 hitter out of it? I dont know ... maybe your math places that higher up the batting order than mine.

And if we wouldnt have traded him, we would have got nothing when he walked. So not sure how your math works but in my world getting one player is better than getting no player, pretty simple really

Remember the M's also got a recent 1st round draft pick pitcher who is projected as a solid mid tier starter in the not too distant future...you can sure see the scouting report on Smoak though, that kid cant hit a curve ball and the Yanks threw him nothing but almost. Actually surprised he is in the bigs this early, usually they have to show they can hit the offspeed stuff consistently before heading to the show.

I agree that a trade needed to be made, but I'm not sure they couldn't have done a bit better by waiting until the deadline. Stud starters like Lee are the key to winning in the playoffs, and I think the contenders would have been willing to put up a bit more in return if they needed to make a snap decision or else miss the opportunity to acquire Lee. I do like that they traded for prospective offense, and I hope Smoak pans out. It's about time they got past the notion that pitching and defense win games. To be sure, that's true in the playoffs, but over the course of a 160+ game season, you're going to lose a lot of games if you can't hit (as we fans know all too well). Just imagine where the Mariners might be at this point in the season if they had even an average hitting lineup....

To Chuck's point, however, hitting .209 on any club is not very impressive, and hitting .209 for the Rangers, given the amount of protection top to bottom in that lineup, is downright poor. I think the lack of protection in Seattle's lineup for most of the last decade has been the reason why so many proven hitters (and hitters who go on to prove themselves in other cities) have underperformed here. Sure, there are a few solid hitters on the team, but they are at least a bat or two short of being able to put consistent pressure on opposing pitchers, so the best hitters don't see a lot of good pitches to hit.

Smoak probably saw a lot of good pitches to hit in Texas, and he apparently didn't get ahold of many. Hopefully, that is only a symptom of youth, and he will develop into the kind of first baseman they so desperately need. Either way, it is refreshing to see an attempt to bring in people who can hit. If Ackerley develops according to schedule and guys like Fister and Vargas keep pitching well, they may be competitive in a couple of years.

Hmm, Lets see-Mariners trade for the best laft hander in the league while playing in the best left handers ballpark in the league.........And then go and trade him for a .209 hitter????

The M's are a lot closer to being competitive then most realize. Starting pitching is the hardest part of a baseball team to build. If they could only average like 1 more run a game they would be .500. Make it 2 more runs a game and they would probably be leading the league. This team is one hitter away from being good and two away from being really damn good. I would have kept him and done everything in my power to re-sign him. Power hitting first basemen are a dime a dozen and easy enough to find on the free agent market. Lefties on the other hand are not!!!

So he leaves as a free agent to the Yankee's next year. I'd rather have the Yankee's first round draft pick next year then Smoak this year! But I guess now the Rangers will get that draft pick

The whole batting average thing is a red herring. He was brought up a bit quick due the Davis' poor showing. Hell, Dustin Pedroia couldn't break .200 the first 3 months he was in the majors.
As far as Smoak vs. the 1st round draft pick goes, All that you hope to do with a 1st rounder is turn it into a high rated prospect. Smoak is a top 10 prospect.
And no, they likely could not have gotten more in a deadline trade. There aren't any big money (AL East) teams desperate for pitching. Every start he made risked injury and reduced his value as that was one less start he'd make for his new team.
The Mariners aren't a bad team, they are really horrendous. They can pitch, although the park helps, but they start 6 players per night that are below major league average.

3-2 Sox,
cds

Exactly

This is why we should have leveraged Lee's worth to grab a few good bats in trade ... not what we accepted instead. I hope they prove me wrong but statitiscally it isnt looking such yet.

If we owned Lee's contract for the next few years that would have been a possibility Chuck.

With him being a free agent next year,......not so much.

We were lucky to get what we did IMO.

Pineda will be up soon to "replace" Lee, looking forward to seeing this stud pitch. Sweeney, Kotchman, russel the love muscle, lopez and maybe another reliever will all be gone before September...we have "some" young talent coming soon ie Ackley but no doubt Safeco is where hitters go to die and its hard to say where or when Ms will get enough bats to compete...

Went and saw the Everett Aquasox yesterday, that team is good and although it is A ball you can see the seeds of Jackie Z starting to take hold.

The whole LEE trade boils down to nothing to do with LEE, it was essentially Phillip Aumont for Smoak. When its all said and done it was a good deal...

Lee was only going to be a rented player to whatever team got him in the trade and most teams were not willing to give up alot for only a guarantee of 2-3 months of Lee's pitching. We got a good prospect and will have to wait and see how it pans out.

I dont know why I am laughing so damn hard at that ... but it is hilarious

From who? What prospect are we talking about here? Smoak was by far the best player potentially available. Jesus Montero is not as good a prospect, neither is the Twins catcher. If you think that a 3 Mo. rent-a-player is worth more that Justin Smoak and 2 lower level prospects, you are mistaken. When Sabathia was traded to the Brewers the price was Matt LaPorta nad 2 lower level prospects. I think Jack knew this since he drafted LaPorta.

One this Jack Z. knows is hitters. He was responsible for the Brewers draft when they drafted the team they have now. Fielder, Hart, Braun, Escobar, Weeks are all his. They would all be better than the people they would replace in Seattle.

I think many of you think that Lee's value is greater than what it is. He only has value to handful of clubs. This is the best deal he could have gotten, and it's a really good deal. I say it's a better deal then if they signed him to a 6 or 7 year contract.

Go Sox,
cds

I'll agree with you here salmosalar. Although getting most Mariner fans, who don't understand anymore about baseball than what they see during their 11yr old kids Little League games, to understand what you are talking about is a task in and of itself.

I commend you for your efforts

.125

Hmmm