What's wrong with David Aardsma?

UPDATE! The ship was righted. Aardsma gave up a leadoff double to Jack Cust but then locked it up getting Suzuki and Sweeney to pop out before stiking out Powell. Told you guys not to worry.

Abandon ship! Our closer sucks! He's blown two saves in the last two weeks!

That's the feeling I get from some of the people around Seattle. Here's the deal, Aardsma is not a great closer. He's been effective this year and hell, has put together a nice little season considering he has 28 saves for the Mariners. You throw in the fact that Brandon Morrow took away 6 saves in 8 chances early in the season and it's not too far out of the realm of reality to think Aardsma could have 36 saves right now.

So, he's blown 4 saves. Get over it. I mentioned in a previous post that it's guaranteed Aardsma will walk 1, give up a long fly ball and strike out 2. Well, when the first batter is Aardsma's walk and you're holding on to a 1-run lead...get ready for a bumpy ride.

Aardsma walked Carlos Guillen last night and Miguel Cabrera promptly hit a double to put runners in scoring position with nobody out. Aardsma had to walk Magglio Ordonez to put the force out at home in effect. The next ball in play was the long fly ball I was talking about...this scored the tying run.

There's nothing wrong with David Aardsma, he's still pitching the way he has all year. Unfortunately, when he walks the leadoff batter and is unable to follow it up with an out, the game is instantly in jeopardy. So, keep your chins up Mariners fans! Don't get distracted. Aardsma is not always going to walk the first batter, he's not that bad. Plus, look on the bright side. At least Morrow is down in AAA working on his curveball so he can be a starter and Aardsma is up here finishing the games!

How I spent my Monday Night

So, by now you should have all heard. the Mariners signed their first overall pick, Dustin Ackley just minutes before the 9:00 p.m. PT deadline on Monday night. Here is a text message account Garbs and I had leading up to the deadline.

Aug 17, 2009 8:59 p.m.
Noah: Dude WTF Ackley? Sign already!
Garbs: Not going to happen...fucking boras

Aug 17, 2009 9:00 p.m.
Noah: It's 9. Let's hope for the best
Garbs: Is it 9:09? The deadline?
Noah: 9:00
Garbs: Eff I don't like it.

Aug 17, 2009 9:25 p.m.
Noah: Ackley signed
Garbs: How much? Like 8?
Noah: 9.5 with a major league contract, whatever that means. Assume it means he's added to the 40 man roster.

Obviously, not truly exciting stuff. I just felt it was pretty ridiculous that I could waste 30 minutes of my time so concerned whether or not a 20-year-old baseball player signs for millions of dollars when it's not even certain he'll be any good.

So, what do I think of the deal? Regardless of the money and the fact that it's a major-league contract this deal needed to get done. If the Mariners are truly serious about competing in 2011 they need Ackley on their team. He instantly became the M's best prospect and we should see him break the club by 2012...2011 if we're lucky.

Here's to the future!

Every guy's worst nightmare

So...um...yeah...Adrian Beltre doesn't wear a cup. I mean, he only plays a position in Major League Baseball that has the hardest hit balls hit to. No biggie. But in the extra inning thriller against the Chicago White Sox, Beltre took a hard grounder straight to the nads off the bat of Alexi Ramirez. Ryan Divish at the Tacoma News Tribune does a better job explaining it than I can cause...let's be honest, I just don't have the stomach to even read about it...let alone describe it with words. Oh...Beltre played 5 innings following the injury and scored the game winning run. Unfortunately, on the downside, his testicles now bleed.

So, for all those little leaguers who somehow miraculously read The Bush Leagues without their parents knowing...this is why we all wear a protective cup...well except Beltre apparently.

Mariners Social Media Night at Safeco

Tonight the Mariners Marketing Department hosted their first-ever Social Networking Happy Hour. Fans who signed up ahead of time were able to listen to a panel discussion from some of the area's leading Twitter users. Among the panelists were Mike Salk from ESPN Radio, Jenni Hogan from KIRO 7 and Mariners Twitter user Ryan Rowland-Smith. It was a really cool idea and it was a privelege for me to be there representing both The Bush Leagues and my company. I even got to bring home a Ryan Rowland-Smith "I follow hyphen18" t-shirt. Don't believe me? Look at the picture below.

With admission to the panel came a ticket to tonight's game. I was more than impressed with Doug Fister. He had his pitches working for him as he threw a 1-hit shutout with 4 Ks. Fister is the definition of a pitch-to-contact pitcher and he was able to locate his pitches very well. The trick here will be his next start when a team has a chance to look at tonight's game and do their homework.

Here are my thoughts from the game:

1) Miguel Batista is done. The guy threw twice as many balls as he did strikes and walked three batters. He was the beneficiary of a Jack Wilson double-play but without that he wouldn't have gotten a single batter out. The guy looks like he has no confidence on the mound to where he can throw a strike and I've lost all confidence in him to be able to hold a lead.

2) Jack Wilson has OCD. I noticed this during Friday's game and spent a good 20 minutes watching it. After ever pitch Jack Wilson walks behind the pitcher toward second base. Of course the meaning of this is for him to back up the throw in case it gets back to the pitcher but in addition Jack will take off his glove, hold it in his throwing hand and smooth out the dirt with his foot. He does it after every pitch, and he smooths out the same exact spot or at least very close to the same exact spot. Next time you go to a game look for it. I was pretty entertained and watched that more than I watched the action at the plate. If that's not enough for you, Garbs pointed out on Sunday that after the grounds crew drags the infield he'll walk over to the second dark green spot in the outfield and draw an "X" with his cleats. It's much like he just has a routine but comes off as OCD.

3) David Aardsma flirts with disaster nearly every game. I tell Garbs all the time that Aardsma is good for one walk, a LONG fly ball out and two strike outs in save situations. Tonight, unfortunately he didn't get some of the strike calls to get him the two strike outs needed after he gave up a deep fly ball to Konerko hauled in at the wall by Gutierrez. Unfortunately, this is Aardsma's make-up and as good as he's been this year he has benefitted tremendously from pitching in cavernous Safeco Field and having a great outfield defense behind him. If Aardsma is going to be a shut down closer he'll need to improve his command, limit the walks and keep the ball down.

Oh yeah...one more thing. Ozzie Guillen is full of s***. Over the weekend such a big deal was made about Guillen's comment that he'll bean an opposing batter for every time one of his are plunked. Well, tonight Gordon Beckham was hit by a pitch and there was nothing from the White Sox. Granted, it was Doug Fister's first start and that may have been cause for hitting Beckham. But I'd be lying if I didn't say I was expecting some fireworks at Safeco similar to the Red Sox/Tigers brawl.

Also, speaking of that brawl...did everybody see Rick Porcello pancake Kevin Youkilis? I haven't seen a throw like that since high school wrestling. Not to mention it was very fitting after Youkilis threw his helmet at Porcello. I remember last year when Richie Sexson took a lot of heat for doing the same thing against the Texas Rangers. Let's see if anyone says anything about Youkilis and whether he acted like a coward using the helmet as a weapon. But what do you guys think? Are you ok with hitters throwing helmets at pitchers after getting hit?

Apparently the M's almost traded The King

Per Baker, the M's were close to a deal that would have sent Felix Hernandez to Boston in a three team trade involving the Red Sox, San Diego Padres and Seattle. Of course this hasn't been confirmed and never will, but according to one of Baker's "sources" the deal would have netted the M's first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, pitcher Clay Buchholz and a couple other prospects (probably similar to the ones gained in the Washburn deal).

I'm not quite sure what I would have felt if the M's made this trade, if it was in fact under consideration. Let's take a look at what the entire trade would have looked like.

Boston gets:
Felix Hernandez (From Seattle)

Seattle gets:
Adrian Gonzalez (From San Diego)
Clay Buchholz (From Boston)
Minor League Players

San Diego gets:
Brandon Morrow (From Seattle)
Philippe Aumont (From Seattle)
Carlos Triunfel (From Seattle)
Prospects (From Boston)

Now, according to the story, the reasoning for declining the trade was Jack Z felt he could have leveraged a similar package for Felix next year and because of that, felt there was little need to pull the trigger. Here's what I think, the players in the deal didn't absolutely wow Z like they would need to in order to deal Felix. Don't get me wrong, Adrian Gonzalez might be the most dominant young left-hitting first baseman in the majors. But he's the only player who has proven himself in the majors. Buchholz, while good, does not have the experience to guarantee he won't bust.

Not to mention...look at what the Mariners would have been giving up to get Gonzalez and Buccholz. Two 1st round draft picks and the top prospect in the M's organization in Carlos Triunfel. Would this have helped the organization in the longer term? I don't think so, we would have given up three of our most prized pitching prospects. That would have killed our pitching staff for 2011. Now, who's to say whether this same deal won't get made next year, cause it could very much happen. But at this moment, I'm glad Jack held off on this one.