Tag Archives: Lloyd McClendon

As Trade Deadline Looms, Best Move for Mariners Is To Fire Jack Zduriencik

Leave a reply

How disappointing has the 2015 season been for the Seattle Mariners?  Think anticipation for the release of Star Wars Episode 1, The Phantom Menace.  Then think Jar Jar Binks.  Yes, that disappointing.

The Mariners currently sit with a 46-55 record, ten games behind the division leading Angels, and seven games behind the Twins for the second wild card.  Mathematically, the Mariners are still “in it.”  But by all reasonable measures, the season is over.

We all know what has proceeded to happen.  No one needs to recap what has taken place on the field by manager Lloyd McClendon’s boys of summer.  And, yes, there is blame to go all around, from Robinson Cano’s lackluster play both in the field and at the plate, to Fernando Rodney’s inability to record outs.  But despite the poor play by almost everyone not named Nelson Cruz, the wheels for what can only be described as ghastly baseball were put in motion by GM Jack Zduriencik during the offseason and shouldn’t be surprising.   

Once again, another lost season can primarily be traced back to one thing: Zduriencik’s inability to properly construct a major league roster highlighted by his failure to make contingency plans should, say, someone like Mike Zunino fails to improve upon his lackluster 2014 season or, worse yet, regresses even further.

And in the case of Zunino, when a viable catcher was acquired in the form of Welington Castillo (who could take over for the struggling Zunino) Zduriencik did the unthinkable by flipping Castillo to Arizona for Mark Trumbo, thereby doubling down on the type of player that was already plaguing the Mariners: a slow-footed power hitter, with high strike out and low on-base ratios, and whose best position is 1B/DH but would be logging the majority of innings in the outfield.

With the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline just two days away, the question lingers whether the Mariners should be sellers or buyers?  The Mariners have a few viable trade chips at their disposal should they choose to sell, namely Hisashi Iwakuma, JA Happ, and Austin Jackson.  They also have a handful of players that they could use to acquire immediate help this season and reload for next in the form of James Paxton, Taijuan Walker, Ketel Marte, D.J. Peterson, and Alex Jackson.

With the season virtually over, selling off assets would seem to make sense.  But with long-term deals given to Cruz, Cano, Seager and Hernandez in what has transformed into a “win now” game plan, there is an argument that acquiring players for a second half playoff push this season who can also be contributors for next season is the better move rather than acquiring B-level prospects who would not help in the foreseeable future.

Whichever road one believes is best to take, the bigger question to ask is whether Zduriencik can be trusted to execute a deal that would be to the Mariners benefit, whether for this season or for the future?  After seven years of botched trades, failing to develop a young core, and questionable free agent acquisitions, allowing Zduriencik another shot at “fixing” this team’s ailments very well could be the worst move of all.

Instead, a better move would be for the Mariners to stand pat, let the rest of the season play out, and then excuse Zduriencik from his GM duties at the conclusion of the season.  Then, to bring in someone with a high baseball pedigree to tweak this roster into a playoff contender.

After three lackluster prequels, even Disney was smart enough to remove George Lucas from the director’s chair and, instead, bring in the more capable and relevant JJ Abrams to lead the next cinematic installment of the Star Wars franchise.

After seven years of mostly disappointment, it’s well past time for the Mariners to do the same.  

Assessing the Mariners’ Offseason Additions

Leave a reply

This past week marked the first full squad workouts for the Mariners this Spring Training, and unless you live off the grid, or are still mired in a post-Super Bowl depression, you know by now that most baseball news outlets and experts have Lloyd McClendon’s boys of summer playoff bound for 2015. In a rare moment of togetherness, the Mariners have traditionalists and statisticians both jumping on the Mariner bandwagon and picking them as the trendy team to make some noise this upcoming season.   For example, Fangraphs projects the Mariners being the best team in the American League in 2015. ESPN has them as the second best team.   Baseball Prospectus foresees the Mariners as the third best team. Those certainly are lofty predictions – the kind the Mariners haven’t seen since the days of Pat Gillick and Lou Piniella.

Much of the ballyhoo stems from an off season that – on paper –has propelled the Mariners from just-not-quite-good-enough to one of the best in the league. Heck, even Robinson Cano has caught the “on paper” bug. But are all the accolades deserved and well placed?

Below is a quick run through of the Mariners’ major off season acquisitions; the hope for each player as seen through the eyes of the Mariners; and the red flags that each player brings with them that the Mariners hope don’t rear their ugly head.

Nelson Cruz, DH. Signed to a 4/$57M contract.

The Hope: Cruz led the A.L. in homeruns last season with 40, and provided potent cleanup hitter production with a .859 OPS and a 140 OPS+.   That type of production compelled Jack Zduriencik to commit four years to the to-be 35 year old to bat behind Cano. Moving to the power suppressing chamber known as Safeco Field, Zduriencik and McClendon surely do not expect Cruz to replicate those numbers. But 25 homeruns and an .800 OPS would be a huge and welcomed upgrade at a position that yielded a paltry .190/.266/.301 from 16 players last season.

The Red Flag: The knock on Cruz has been that his career numbers are propelled by playing in hitter friendly ball parks. The criticism bears merit, especially when looking at his overall numbers in pitcher friendly A.L. West ballparks where Cruz owns a career .749 OPS at Safeco, a .571 OPS at Oakland Coliseum, and a .654 OPS at Angel Stadium.   Those stadiums will be home to roughly 60% of Cruz’s games in 2015, and if his numbers in those parks remain near his career averages, the Mariners will have spent a lot of money for production they could have received by merely moving Michael Saunders to DH.

Seth Smith, RF. Acquired from San Diego for Brandon Maurer  

The Hope: After the perplexing Saunders saga and trade, and then the inability to sign Melky Cabrera, Zduriencik acquired Smith to be the everyday right fielder against RHP. Smith is not the defender that Saunders is, but he ostensibly brings a few key upgrades to right field, namely the ability to stay healthy, a career .800 OPS, a career .839 OPS against RHP, and the proven ability to hit in a spacious ballpark (.841 OPS hitting in Petco Park last season).

The Red Flag: The past three seasons, Smith has displayed some fairly concerning first/second half splits. Consider the following:

2014 – First Half:  .895 OPS, Second half:  .685 OPS

2013 – First Half:  .742 OPS, Second Half:  .659 OPS

2012 – First Half:  .789 OPS, Second Half:  .702 OPS

This penchant for tailing-off in the second half should be worrisome and could end up being problematic for a team relying on Smith to produce in order to contend for a playoff spot.   Smith seemingly represents an upgrade over the .721 OPS they received out of right field a year ago, but it should be noted that Saunders’ second half numbers the past three years have trumped those of Smith. Which begs the question: would one rather have an above average defensive player who starts off slow, finishes strong, but ends the year with average overall numbers? Or a below average defensive player who gets off to a hot start, fades badly in the second half, but still finishes with above average overall numbers?  According to advanced metrics, it seems the answer would be the former, as Saunders’ rWAR the past three seasons matches that of Smith’s (5.8) but tops Smith’s fWAR during this same time (5.3 to 4.9).

Justin Ruggiano, OF. Acquired from the Chicago Cubs for Matt Brazis.

 The Hope: Ruggiano’s acquisition was premised on one main attribute: his ability to mash left handed pitching. Over his career, Ruggiano owns an .836 OPS against southpaws. The Mariners hope Ruggiano continues that trend helping to form a potent platoon with Smith in right field. Defensively, Ruggiano has been adequate across all three outfield positions and will backup Dustin Ackley in left and Austin Jackson in center.

The Red Flag. Zduriencik has gone on record stating that Ruggiano is not just a part-time platoon player, but someone who could play every day if needed. That’s a fairly big leap of faith for someone who has played more than 91 games in a season just once. And when he did (128 games in 2013) Ruggiano struggled greatly against RHP, slashing a .210/.283/.347 in 322 plate appearances.

Rickie Weeks, Utility. Signed to a 1/$2M contract.

 The Hope: Weeks brings another right handed bat to the Mariners, one that has produced a career .834 OPS against lefties including an .865 OPS last season. Although never having spent a moment in the outfield, Zduriencik and the Mariners envision Weeks platooning with Ackley in left field, as well as providing a right handed alternative at 3B, 2B and 1B if needed.

The Red Flag: Did we mention that Weeks has never played the outfield before during his career? In addition, Weeks will turn 33 in 2015 and has been nothing short of a below average to poor defensive second baseman the past three seasons due to his declining ability to get to balls put in play. Those are not good signs for someone who is expected to log most of his time in left field.

J.A. Happ, SP. Acquired from Toronto for Michael Saunders.    

The Hope: An obvious need for the Mariners during the offseason was acquiring starting pitching depth, and the Mariners believe Happ’s addition adds just that. Despite being used as a reliever at times last year, Happ managed 26 starts going 11-11 with a 4.12 ERA, 1.307 WHIP, and averaged close to six innings per start.  Projected as this year’s fourth starter, the Mariners would be happy to receive that type of production from Happ again.

The Red Flag: Happ represents more of a replacement for the departed Chris Young than he does added depth. More concerning, however, is Happ’s injury history. Happ missed significant time in 2012 and 2013 due to injuries including a skull fracture suffered in 2013 after being struck in the head by a line drive. A sore back then landed Happ on the disabled list to the start of 2014. With the rotation likely featuring two inexperienced rookies (James Paxton and Taijuan Walker) coming off arm injuries, and their only other viable starter (Roenis Elias) also coming off arm injury, the Mariners will need Happ to stay healthy to provide “depth” and rotation stability.

Mariners on Verge of Playoffs, McClendon Possibly Manager of Year

Leave a reply

With one game remaining in the regular season, the Mariners find themselves still in the fight for playoff contention.  With last night’s 2-1 extra inning victory over the Anaheim Angels, coupled with the Oakland Athletics’ 5-4 loss to the Texas Rangers, Seattle sits just one game behind the A’s for the second wild card.  A Seattle win today along with an Oakland loss will force a one game playoff between the two teams to see which one goes on to play the Kansas City Royals in the wild card loser-out game.

What once looked like a plausible – perhaps even likely -playoff appearance by a red hot Mariners club fresh off a 17-10 August, quickly dissipated as Seattle sputtered down the stretch to a 13-13 September.  But after losing 2 of 3 games from the Houston Astros and then the first 3 of 4 games against the Toronto Blue Jays last week – all but eliminating any hope of the playoffs – the Mariners rattled off three straight wins to keep alive their mathematical chance of extending their season into October.

And despite his team fading down the stretch faster than bleach on denim, manager Lloyd McClendon is garnering Manager of the Year recognition, with some forecasting that he may, in fact, even win it.

And why not?  All McClendon has done is guide the Mariners to an 86-75 record, a 17 game improvement in the win column from just a year ago.  Which, to say, is pretty remarkable considering the Mariners entered the season with only two proven starting pitchers, a questionable bullpen, and a lineup void of a legitimate center fielder, a leadoff hitter, and one more needed middle of the order bat to compliment  Robinson Cano and Kyle Seager.   And if that wasn’t enough, starting pitchers Hisashi Iwakuma, Taijuan Walker and James Paxton, along with sluggers Corey Hart and Logan Morrison, all spent significant time on the disabled list during the early part of the year.

And yet, despite all the setbacks, the Mariners find themselves on the cusp of making the playoffs for the first time since 2001.

But this isn’t to say McClendon hasn’t made mistakes along the way.  Like all managers, gaffes have occurred.  But McClendon’s miscues have not just been of the customary kind that you find all managers guilty of.  They haven’t merely been of the “leaving a pitching in one batter too long” variety, or letting a hitter swing away rather than lay down a sacrifice bunt.   Rather, they’ve been odd and unorthodox decisions that – in a tight wild card race – can make the difference between a team watching the playoffs from the couch rather than from the field.

We’ve previously covered most of the questionable early season decisions by McClendon, namely: giving rookie Abraham Almonte the starting center field and lead off jobs at the start of Spring Training, believing Justin Smoak was the next coming of Mark Grace at first base, and choosing to play Logan Morrison over Michael Saunders in right field. The negligible offensive production and diminished defensive capabilities resulting from those decisions would contribute to the team’s tepid 11-14 start.

After displacing Almonte with fellow rookie James Jones in center field, and replacing Smoak at first base with Morrison, the Mariners would find their groove, going 62-48 over the next four months and inserting themselves into the playoff conversation.  McClendon was quick to deflect all credit to his players, repeatedly describing his managerial style as a hands-off, game by game “players make out the lineup card” approach.

But come the middle of August, that style would change.  Come mid August, McClendon would begin to tinker.

The hands-off approach that worked miracles to get the Mariners into playoff contention suddenly was replaced by “managing for October,” McClendon’s plan of resting his starting pitchers by skipping starts and using spot-starters to fill in.   Despite admitting that juggling his rotation in this manner could have an ill-effect on the routines of his pitchers, McClendon was adamant doing so would keep his pitchers fresh for the end of September stretch drive, and (as a side benefit) align his pitchers accordingly for the playoffs.

Now, rotation maneuvering of this kind is not uncommon, and is usually a smart thing to do.  That is, a smart thing to do for teams already having secured a spot in the playoffs.  But with nearly six weeks of the season remaining and both wild cards still up for grabs between five teams, managing with an eye fixated so far down the road is, well, puzzling.  Some might even say it breaks one of the basic tenets of managing.

At first, the plan seemed to work.  McClendon pushed back Hernandez to face the wild card contending Blue Jays on August 11th, and used Erasmo Ramirez to spot-start against the White Sox.  Despite a shaky four innings from Ramirez, the Mariners would defeat Chicago, and Hernandez would dominate Toronto and spark a three-game sweep of the Blue Jays.

But McClendon’s fears about the extra days rest began to bear fruit.

Despite the win, Hernandez would fall into a slump over his next three starts, going 0-2, allowing 10 earned runs in 17.1 innings, and a .948 OPS against.

Hernandez’s struggles didn’t stop McClendon from juggling his rotation once more, pushing Hernandez back to face the Nationals on August 29th and, again, using Ramirez to spot-start against the Rangers.   Unlike before, however, Seattle would lose both games.  Compounding matters, Chris Young would labor with his release point in the proceeding series opener against the Athletics, lasting less than an inning in route to a 6-1 loss, and Iwakuma would go winless in his next four starts, allowing 18 earned runs in 17.1 innings and attributing his poor pitching to feeling “off-balance” with his mechanics.

McClendon’s tinkering wasn’t just limited to his starting rotation.  The September call-ups saw the return of Smoak, Jones, and Stefan Romero to the big leagues.  All three players had been demoted to Class AAA earlier in the season: Smoak for losing his starting job to Morrison, and rookies Romero and Jones for showing neither was ready to face major league pitching.  Yet, shortly after being recalled, Smoak, Jones and Romero would find themselves in the starting lineup, raising eye brows among many as to how three players previously not worthy enough to be on the 25-man roster were now starting in the heat of the playoff chase.  The decision failed to pay dividends as all three remained offensive liabilities, and an offense that had scored an average of 4.6 runs per game in August slipped to 3.5 runs per game in September.

As Bert Lance famously stated, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”  And that probably would have been sage advice for McClendon to have followed with merely 6 weeks remaining in the season and his team playing its best baseball of the season.  Arguably, several of McClendon’s atypical decisions cost his team wins they could not afford to lose.

But McClendon has guided his team beyond expectations, and the fact the Mariners remain in contention on the final day of the season speaks volumes towards the job he has done in his first year at the helm.   At the same time, however, his unorthodox managing – especially down the stretch – may have cost his team a chance at playing in October.  And that, rightfully so or not, may prevent McClendon from taking home the hardware for Manager of the Year.

It’s Time for the Mariners to End the Almonte Experiment

Leave a reply

Last Wednesday, the Mariners finally ended their eight game losing streak by defeating the Houston Astros 5-3 on a dramatic bottom of the ninth inning 3-run homerun by Kyle Seager. The win prevented the free falling Mariners from being swept at home by the worst team in baseball, and sent the reported 13,739 fans in attendance home with a bit of long forgotten joy.

But lost in all the excitement of the Mariners’ victory and Seager’s heroics, was the continuation of another streak that has become an impossible-to-ignore predicament.  At least to anyone not named Jack Zduriencik and Lloyd McClendon, that is.

Last night saw an all too familiar performance this season – a box score line of 0 for 4, two strikeouts, and no walks by Abraham Almonte. The two strikeouts marked the 11th time in 21 games that Almonte has struck out multiple times in a game, and added to his league leading 33 strikeouts this season, which are nearly double of what he totaled last season after his first 21 games.  And if the strikeouts weren’t bad enough, Almonte is now slashing a .213/.255/.326 with an OPS+ of 68. His walk rate has dropped to 5.3%, while his strikeout rate of 35.1% ranks fourth worst in all of baseball.   In the series against Houston alone – against some fairly mediocre pitching – Almonte went 2 for 12 with six strikeouts and no walks.

To be fair, Almonte’s struggles shouldn’t be unexpected. Up until last year, Almonte was a fringe prospect whose career minor league numbers were average at best. After being acquired from the Yankee’s in exchange for reliever Shawn Kelley, Almonte caught fire in the Pacific Coast League, slashing a .314/.403/.491 in 94 games. That would result in a late season call-up with the Mariners where he produced a respectable .264/.313/.403 in 25 games.   Such a performance was enough to lead many to believe Almonte could possibly vie for a backup outfielder role with the Mariners in 2014. But in 23 Cactus League games, Almonte struggled to a .178/.256/.301 to go with some shaky defense.   It was the kind of performance that would normally result in a reassignment to minor league camp.  But, somewhere within the mist of Spring Training underachievement, Zduriencik and McClendon decided Almonte would be the starting center fielder and leadoff hitter. A surprising decision, to say the least, considering the fact that returning center fielder, Michael Saunders, who overcame an early season injury in 2013 to post a .790 OPS in the second half, continued his hitting with a .296/.375/.407 in 22 Cactus League games.

And while Michael Saunders has been relegated to the bench this season in favor of Logan Morrison, Stefen Romero, Nick Franklin and presumably the recently promoted Cole Gillespie, the struggling and ineffective Almonte continues to get the everyday call in centerfield and as the leadoff hitter.

Despite his offensive malaise, Almonte’s play in centerfield has been passable, which perhaps explains his prolonged tenure in the starting lineup. Despite committing three fielding errors and some precarious routes taken on fly balls, Almonte’s defensive metrics – albeit a limited sample size – come in at average to above average with a 3.9 UZR in 184.2 innings. This would certainly account for why his fWAR is at 0.3 and not below replacement level. But for a player who is contributing nothing offensively, Almonte should be putting up gold glove caliber defense in centerfield – or around a 15.0 UZR – in order to justify his continued use as a poor hitting everyday player.

For comparison, Juan Lagares put up an astounding 21.5 UZR for the Mets last season. But at the plate, he produced only a .242/.281/.352, markedly below the league average of .261/.328/.402 for center fielders.   As brilliant as Lagares’ defense was, his offensive shortcomings had the Mets, and baseball pundits alike, questioning whether he was anything more than a serviceable fourth outfielder.

So if a 21.5 UZR isnt enough to quell questions over a .242/.281/.352, what are we to think about a 3.9 UZR and a  .213/.255/.326?

All this isn’t to say that Almonte cannot become an average to above average everyday player. He probably will never be a gold glove caliber center fielder, and right about now, a .242/.281/.352 from him seems like it would be considered nothing less than a triumph. The Mariners would be happy to get above average defense and average hitting out of Almonte, and one day that may be the case. But right now, Almonte is what he is, and that’s an average defender and poor hitter. And that just isn’t good enough to justify consistent playing time, especially when the better all-around player in Saunders is available on the bench.

It’s time for the Mariners to do the right thing and end the Almonte experiment in center field and at leadoff.

 

Three Weeks Down, Mariners’ Progress Report 04/19/14

Leave a reply

The Seattle Mariners are nearly three weeks into the 2014 season, and what began as a promising 6-3 start that found the Mariners sitting at the top of American League West standings roughly one week ago, has quickly dissolved into a 7-9 record, fourth place in the American League West, and four games back of the division leading Oakland Athletics. The season is only 16 games young, so it’s far too early to be conclusive about anything. As we all know, the MLB regular season is a marathon, not a sprint. But 16 games are enough to get a feeling for what’s working, and what is not.   Below is a quick look at what’s been good, what’s been bad, and what’s been downright ugly for the Mariners thus far in 2014.

The Good:

Dustin Ackley. Ackley is off to his best start since his initial call to the big leagues in 2011. Through 16 games this season, Ackley is leading the team in batting average (.291) and on-base percentage (.328), is tied for 1st in runs batted in (9), and is 3rd in hits (16), slugging percentage (.455) and on-base plus slugging (.782). In addition to his hitting, Ackley has played a steady left field, reassuring management’s decision to move him from second base to the outfield.

Mike Zunino. After just 52 games in Class AAA Tacoma last season where he posted a paltry .227/.297/.478, Zunino was (surprisingly) called up by the Mariners to take over the team’s starting catching duties. While his defense and handling of the staff was solid, Zunino showed that he wasn’t ready to hit major league pitching. Over the next 52 games and 193 plate appearances, Zunino slashed a .214/.290/.329. Such a season had many thinking (including Mission Mariner) that Zunino needed more time to hone his hitting at Tacoma, and acquiring a starting catcher for 2014 should be on the to-do list. However, Zunino is proving otherwise.   Although he has drawn only one walk in 51 plate appearances, Zunino has emerged as one of the team leaders in hitting through the early season, ranking 1st for the Mariners in slugging percentage (.540), tied for 1st in runs batted in (9), and 2nd in batting average (.280) and on-base plus slugging (.834).

Roenis Elias. With Hisashi Iwakuma and Taijuan Walker saddled on the disabled list to begin the season, the rotation was a major concern for the Mariners. Let’s not be fooled, it still is, especially with James Paxton having now joined Iwakuma and Walker on the DL. But from the patchwork of arms assembled by GM Jack Zduriencik, Cuban rookie southpaw Elias has taken advantage of the window of opportunity granted to him by the rash of injuries and has helped keep a depleted rotation somewhat afloat. In his three starts thus far, Elias has pitched 16.2 innings with a 2.16 ERA, and a 1.020 WHIP. He’s held opposing hitters to a .196/.286/.304 and hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs or five hits in any start. Elias most likely won’t be able to keep up this kind of pace, and will certainly regress closer to the mean. But he may have shown enough to keep him in the rotation once Iwakuma, Walker, and Paxton all return from injury.

Felix Hernandez. Felix is good. Really good. It’s pretty much a lifetime given, so it may be redundant and unnecessary to mention him here. But the thing is, Hernandez if off to the best early season start of his career. Through four starts, he is 3-0 with a 1.91 ERA while leading the league in WHIP (0.741), strikeouts (39) and strikeouts per 9 innings (12.4). Hernandez is also holding opposing hitters to a .171/.209/.305 and has walked a mere three batters. As great as we all know Hernandez to be, such a start to 2014 is worth tipping our cap to.

The Bad:

The Top of the Batting Order. Finding a centerfield and a leadoff hitter were two areas of need for the Mariners entering the offseason. Somewhere along the way, Mariner management decided that rookie Abraham Almonte was the answer to fulfilling both of these wants. When that occurred exactly is difficult to pin-point. Spring training would be the logical guess, but Almonte’s play didn’t really support such a decision. Manager Lloyd McClendon praised Almonte’s speed and ability to put solid wood on the ball, but speed and making contact doesn’t account for much if the result is a failure to get on base. And all the spin in the world can’t cover the fact that Almonte failed to get on base, scuffling to a .178/.256/.301 in 23 Cactus League games. And with the start of the regular season, he hasn’t done much better, slashing a .246/.297/.377 while putting up a walk rate of 6.8% and a strikeout rate of 33.8%. Not exactly what you want in a leadoff hitter, let alone in the starting lineup. Following Almonte in the batting order is last season’s leadoff hitter, Brad Miller. Although Miller did an admirable job leading off in 2013 after being called up mid-season – slashing a .265/.318/.418 – this year has been a different story. Miller has struggled right out of the gate, putting up a .203/.247/.377 to go along with a 2.7% walk rate and a 26.0% strikeout rate.

Stefen Romero: Romero probably should be in the “ugly” category, but I just can’t get myself to place him there seeing how Romero is only on the 25-man roster due to the fact that Zduriencik rolled the dice on Franklin Gutierrez staying healthy, and neglected to acquire any other viable right-handed hitting outfielders. But Zduriencik did, and Gutierrez couldn’t, and Romero – who should be marinating down at Tacoma for another season – found himself as the starting right fielder against left handed pitching. The result: a .158/.200/.211, with one extra base hit, no walks, and a 30.0% strikeout rate.  

Erasmo Ramirez: Ramirez began the season looking like he was a legitimate #2 pitcher rather than a temporary fill-in for the injured Iwakuma. In his first start, Ramirez bested the Angels by going seven innings and allowing only six hits, two earned runs, with six strikeouts and no walks. Since then, however, Ramirez lost all three of his ensuing starts. Reverting back to his old habit of not being able to locate his pitches consistently, Ramirez was abused by opposing hitters to the tune of a .383 batting average and a 1.124 OPS. Unable to go deep into games, Ramirez totaled just a mere 11 innings pitched, while allowing 18 hits, 8 walks and posting a 10.64 ERA.

The Ugly:

Logan Morrison.   Zduriencik’s acquisition of the recovering-from-knee-surgery 1B/DH Morrison was odd considering the fact that just hours before, the Mariners had just signed another recovering-from-knee-surgery(s) 1B/DH in Corey Hart. The plan seemingly was for Morrison to provide a left handed power bat off the bench to compliment the right handed power hitting Hart at DH, and the right handed power hitting outfielder that was sure to be acquired. That power hitting outfielder, as we know, was never acquired. And despite his defensive liabilities, Morrison somehow garnered the majority of innings in right field, posting a lowly .150/.227/.150, with no extra base hits, before landing back on the disabled list, this time with a right hamstring injury.

Kyle Seager. Over the last two years, Seager has been the one constant in the Mariners lineup, providing a solid bat in addition to passable defense at third base. Among the handful of young Mariner prospects rushed up to the major leagues since 2010, Seager has been the only one to make the necessary adjustments and provide consistent production at the major league level. However, so far in 2014, that has not been the case. Through the early going, Seager is slashing a .170/.302/.245, with no homeruns and just two runs batted in. However, Seager’s walk rate is up to a career high 14.3%, and his BABIP is at a career low .225, indicating that perhaps Seager’s slow start may be the result of bad luck rather than bad hitting.

Lloyd McClendon. As former Seattle Seahawks head coach Chuck Knox used to say, you have to play the cards you’re dealt. And that’s exactly what McClendon has been doing. Except, he has been playing the wrong cards. For whatever inexplicable reason, McClendon relegated Michael Saunders to the bench as the fourth outfielder, and gave Morrison the starting right fielder’s job. With Saunders arguably the better hitter, defender, and base runner, the decision to take at-bats away from Saunders in favor of the slow footed and defensively challenged Morrison is, for lack of a better word, incomprehensible. As if that wasn’t enough, McClendon’s continuous use of the struggling Almonte and Miller at the top of the batting order has been just as puzzling. As noted above, Almonte and Miller are producing respective on-base percentages of .297 and .247. And after three weeks of play, their continued inability to get on base leaves little reasonable argument as to why one, or both, shouldn’t be dropped lower in the batting order. Meanwhile, Ackley has been one of the Mariners’ top hitters, yet continues to find himself buried at the bottom of the order.  If that isn’t enough, we could address a handful of questionable non-pitching moves made by McClendon as well. But, as they say, enough is enough, and we think enough has already been said.

 

Lloyd McClendon Announces Coaching Staff

Leave a reply

Today, Lloyd McClendon announced the remainder of his coaching staff for 2014.  A common theme with a majority of his hirings – four of the six – is their prior work with the young Mariners who are expected to play a significant part in the team’s 2014 campaign.  Whether this is any indication as to whether the Mariners are going to be serious players in free agency, or are going to rely on in-house options to fill needs, that still remains to be seen.  But judging from McClendon’s newly formed staff, surrounding the M’s young players with the coaches who have worked with them during their minor league ascension to the big league ballclub appears to have been a priority.

Joining previously named bench coach Trent Jewett, bullpen catcher Jason Phillips, and batting practice pitcher Scott Budner, McClendon has added the following to his staff:

Howard Johnson, hitting coach.  The former NL all-star spent the 2013 season serving as the Tacoma Rainiers hitting coach, where he spent time tutoring Brad Miller, Nick Franklin, and Mike Zunino.  Prior to working in the Mariners organization, HoJo spent 11 seasons in the Mets organization, including three seasons as their big league hitting instructor from 2008-2010.

Rick Waits, pitching coach.  Waits has spent the last three seasons working as the Mariners Minor League Pitching Coordinator, where he worked extensively with top pitching prospects Taijuan Walker, James Paxton, Danny Hultzen, and Erasmo Ramirez.  Prior to coming to the Mariners, Waits worked in the Mets organization, spending 15 seasons in Player Development, and one season as the Mets Bullpen Coach.

John Stearns, third base coach.  Stearns spent 2013 as Seattle’s Minor League Catching Coordinator, as well as Manager of the Tacoma Rainiers, during which time he worked with many of the Mariners top prospects now on the big league club.  Prior to working in the Mariners organization, Stearns spent two seasons with the Mets serving as the team’s third base coach and catching instructor.

Chris Woodward, infield coach.  Last season, the former Mariner big leaguer received his first coaching job as the organization’s Roving Minor League Infield Coordinator.  In this capacity, Woodward spent a majority of his time working with many of the organizations top infield prospects including Franklin and Miller.

Andy Van Slyke, first base coach.  McClendon adds another former NL all star, gold glover, and fellow teammate to his roster in Van Slyke.  Away from baseball the last four seasons, Van Slyke comes to the Mariners having last coached alongside McClendon with the Detroit Tigers in 2009, serving as the team’s first base coach.

Mike Rojas, bullpen coach.  McClendon dips into the Tigers’ current coaching staff, hiring the Tigers’ bullpen coach the past 2 ½ seasons to fulfill the same duties with the Mariners.  Rojas also served time as the Tigers’ Director of Player Development, as well as Minor League Infield Coordinator.