Do we have a problem?

I was able to go to the Mariners game on Friday night. The stadium was full of buzz as Cliff Lee was set to make his debut as a Seattle Mariner. He certainly did not disappoint as Rangers hitters looked seemingly lost against the Cy Young winner. He finished the night after pitching 7 innings of 3-hit ball with 8 strike outs and no walks. If any of you have the opportunity I say go see this guy live. It's really amazing to watch him work.

But for all the happy feelings I had from my first Cliff Lee experience, the joy was quickly ruined by the Mariners anemic offense and some questionable decisions from our manager Don Wakamatsu. Let me begin by saying I like Don Wakamatsu. I think he's done an unbelievable job not only bringing a clubhouse together but also performing his duties as a field manager. Unfortunately, on Friday night he made some decisions that I just can't agree with and regardless whether or not they led to a positive outcome, I had been questioning.

1) I believe it was in the tenth inning, but with the bases loaded and one out, Jack Wilson was stepping up to the plate. Jack Wilson is not a very good hitter but I have faith in him that he could at least avoid hitting into a double play. All he had to do was hit the ball into the outfield and we could go home happy Mariners fans excited about the prospect of our new pitcher. Instead Wakamatsu pinch hit Wilson with Mike Sweeney. The significance of this switch is two-fold; Sweeney, like Wilson, does not hit the ball well and once Wilson is out of the game we don't have a major league caliber backup shortstop. Sweeney immediately hit into a 6-4-3 double play and the threat was over. That next inning, Matt Tuiasosopo took over for Wilson at shortstop and actually factored in the outcome of the game as a 12th inning throwing error put the a Ranger runner on 2nd base.

2) After a leadoff single in the 11th inning by Ichiro Suzuki, Chone Figgins beat out a sacrifice bunt for a single. Runner now stood on 1st and 2nd with our best hitter, Franklin Gutierrez stepping to the plate. I thought a sacrifice bunt was possible, however considering the absolute lack of offense from anyone not hitting in the 1st or 3rd spot in the order, highly unlikely. Sure enough Wakamatsu had the sacrifice in effect and Gutierrez took two quick strikes before striking out. If any other batter had been at the plate I would not have thought twice about the decision, as it is, nobody on this team, outside of Ichiro and Gutierrez are even hitting the ball. Let's watch Guti excite the Safeco crowd.

This is only one game, and like I mentioned earlier, I'm a fan of what Wakamatsu has done with this team. But I'm hearing increasing rumblings about his mis-use of the bullpen and how he builds his lineups. Wak has one of the most difficult jobs in the majors, every day he has to decide who is going to DH and often that decision is between Griffey and Sweeney. There's obviously no reason to panic, but I'll definitely be keeping my eye on how Wak manages the lineup a bit more as games continue to be played.

The Bush Leagues, Episode 11

Its that time again. Spring is in the air, the weather is starting to warm up, and the 2010 Mariners season is about a week and a half away!


In episode 11 of TBL, our good friend Dan Walters joins us in discussing the biggest story lines of the spring, including Jose Lopez and Chone Figgins swapping spots on the diamond, Cliff Lee's injury woes, and the tricky situation that is Mike Sweeney.


They say three is a crowd, but we had a blast talking M's baseball with Wally, so thanks go out to him. Also, want to thank Cam Schwartz for being our producer today, helping set up mics and telling Noah to stop slamming the table.


Thanks for listening, folks.


Episode 11

M's sign King Felix!!

Reports from ESPN's Keith Law are that the Mariners and Felix Hernandez have agree to a contract extension in the neighborhood of 5 years, 80 million. Let me just start with Wholy Crap!!! We just signed the best young pitcher in baseball until he's 28 for a pretty decent discount, considering we bought out his next two years of arbitration. I couldn't be more excited about this move. And since we saved some money on Felix, who's to say we can't be in the conversation to sign Lee to an extension also? Probably a long shot, but fun to ponder. What I can say is that we are going to be unstoppable if we get the chance to grace the American League playoffs in the fall.

You gotta hand it to Jack Z. He just continues to succeed and make our team better, and its a delight to watch.

***Edit: Just read that Benji Molina has resigned with San Fransico***
Also, Buster Onley tweets that Benji Molina (catcher) has turned down the Mets' Arbitration offer and that the team that makes the most sense to sign him is your home town 9.

Benji Molina's 2009 Line:
.265, 20 HRs, 80 RBI's .285 OBP .442 Slg in a 132 games with the Giants.

They say we need a right handed bat, and I would love to see this guy helping out Adam Moore. Could be interesting.

Garbs.