The Mariners

[Coach Owens]

Or he's unhappy with the offense available in the draft.

Pretty much. There wasn't any great prospect position players and my drafting policy has always been BAT (Best Available Talent). I'll explain it more in the June 2008 in Review post tonight!

[Coach Owens]

Cat: I guess so.

******************************
Comments So I drafted all pitcher because like I said before, my policy in BBM drafting is Best Available Talent. Not only that, but like Cat said, the draft was dominated by relievers and most of the position players had a lower peak than Duncan. There would only two that I would consider over Duncan, both with 97 peaks and both third basemen. However, they were picked with the thirteenth and fourteenth picks overall which were 8 and 9 picks ahead of my first rounder. Anyways...


June 2008 in Review

Record: 39-46 (13-16 in June, 8 GB)
Team BA: .269 (T-9th in MLB)
Team ERA: 4.79 (25th in MLB)
Team FLD%: .987 (T-10th in MLB)

Month Summary: Our pitching is horrible-at least our starting pitching is. Somehow, Carlos Silva has 10 wins. "King" Felix Hernandez is pitching like the Royal Jester, having put up a 6.70 ERA in 92.2 IP. Miguel Batista, in one whole month, has only lowered his ERA by .2 of a run, down to 7.57 forcing us to ship him off to Arizona in our first trade of the season...

Mariners send:

SP Miguel Batista (37, 77/78, 13 appearances (all starts), 3-7 record, 69 IP, 58 ER, 7.57 ERA, 6.41 DICE, 28/36 BB/K Rate with Mariners)
$500,000

D-Backs Send:

SP Randy "Big Unit" Johnson (44, 79/80, 13 appearances (12 starts), 4-3 record, 66 IP, 35 ER, 4.77 ERA, 4.05 DICE, 25/56 BB/K rate with Arizona)

League Leaders:

AL

East: Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox, both 48-35 (New York Yankees in second at 42-41 and 6 GB)
Central: Cleveland Indians, 47-35 (Kansas City Royals in second at 45-35 and 1 GB)
West: Oakland Athletics, 45-36 (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in second at 39-43 and 6.5 GB)

NL

East: Philadelphia Phillies, 52-30 (Atlanta Braves in second at 47-36 and 5.5 GB)
Central: Cincinnati Reds, 50-30 (Milwaukee Brewers in second at 42-37 and 7.5 GB)
West: Los Angeles Dodgers, 47-33 (Arizona Diamondbacks in second at 45-37 and 3 GB)

League Injuries:

TBD(R?)-Reid Brignac (SS) Broken Wrist (eight months)
SDP-Jim Edmonds (CF) Severe Elbow Tendonitis (four months)
NYY-Mike Mussina (SP) Broken Ankle (three months)
CLE-Aaron Fultz (RP) Torn Rotator Cuff (thirteen months)
FLA-Jeremy Hermida (RF) Broken Fibula (three months)

And the three biggest injuries:

CHC-Aramis Ramirez (3B) Severed Elbow Ligament (eight months)
DET-Justin Verlander (SP) Broken Hip (three months)
NYY-Robinson Cano (2B) Broken Fibula (four months)

League Trades:

CLE to TEX:

RP Matt Meyer (23, 75/84 Hasn't played in '08)
SP Jerome Williams (26, 68/80 Hasn't played in '08)

TEX to CLE:

SP Jason Jennings (29, 87, 14, 6-7, 83.2, 32, 3.44, 4.34, 34/47 with Texas)

Jennings is good, real good. Cleveland wins this one.

NYY to WSN:

SP Mark Melacorn (20, 73/81 Hasn't played in '08)

WSN to NYY:

RP Jesus Colome (30, 81, 36 (no starts), 40.2, 23, 5.09, 5.26, 21/26)

Alrighty. Good trade I guess

MIL to TEX:

RP Mitch Stetter (27, 75/82 Hasn't played in '08)

TEX to MIL:

CF Marlon Byrd (30, 81, 79, 331, 94, 7, 36, 25, 83, 4, 0, .284/.337/.414 with Texas)

Woo! Getting younger! Intangibles! Grit!

TEX to BOS:

SP Kason Gabbard (26, 81, 17 (all starts), 97.1, 53, 4.90, 4.23, 48/78 with Texas)

BOS to TEX:

RP Kris Johnson (23, 67/80 Hasn't played in '08)
SP Michael Rozier (22, 64/81 Hasn't played in '08)

Sure, why not? Boston are morons.

[Coach Owens]

July, 2008 in Review

Record: 45-65 (6-19 in July, 18 games back)
Team BA: .266 (T-13th in Majors)
Team ERA: 4.85 (28th in Majors)
Team FLD%: .988 (T-10th in Majors)

Month summary: Ugh, this month was uggggllllllllyyyyy. We won only one series out of the eight we played. We had two losing streaks of four games and two losing streaks of five games. Our starting pitching, what is supposed to be a strength, sucks. Nobody has an ERA under 4, the lowest being Erik Bedard who has a 4.01 ERA. Felix Hernandez has an ERA over 6 and Jarrod Washburn has an ERA over 5. Our best hitter, Adrian Beltre, is out for another 6 and a half months with a severed knee ligament. The only good thing is that we could get a high draft pick next year! We also made a few more trades:
(Note: Ratings are +/- 7)

To KCR:
SS Yuniesky Betancourt (26 years old, 84 overall, 86 games, 376 AB, 113 H, 7 HR, 49 RBI, 5, 30, 0, 0, .301/.310/.420 with Seattle)

From KCR:
SP Ben Hendrickson (27, 72/82, Hasn't played in '08)
SP Kyle Davies (24, 75/87, 1, 1, 5, 45.00, 22.00, 2/0 with Royals)
$2,000,000

To TBR:
C Kenji Johjima (32, 85, 109, 409, 91, 9, 44, 12, 34, 1, 4, .222/.261/.333 with Mariners)
$1,000,000

From TBR:
SP Jacob McGee (21, 69/95, 10 (3 starts) 1-4, 28, 29, 9.32, 5.29, 24/38)

To CHW:
1B/2B/DH Jose Vidro (33, 86, 90, 328, 109, 2, 21, 27, 44, 1, 2, .332/.387/.399 with Mariners)
$4,500,000

From CHW:
SP Aaron Poreda (21, 67/94, Hasn't played in '08)

To TBR:
"LF" Raul Ibanez (36, 76, 105, 370, 88, 7, 42, 39, 81, 0, 1, .238/.311/.343 with Mariners)
$6,500,000

From TBR:
SP Jeremy Hellickson (21, 64/88 Hasn't played in '08)

These four trades brought our payroll down to a little less than $88,000,000

League Leaders:

AL

East: Toronto, 60-47 (Boston Red Sox in second at 59-49 and 1.5 GB)
Central: Cleveland Indians, 60-49 (Kansas City Royals in second at 57-50 and 2 GB)
West: Oakland Athletics, 62-45 (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in second at 54-54 and 8.5 GB)

NL

East: New York Mets, 62-44 (Philadelphia Phillies in second at 61-45 and 1 GB)
Central: Cincinnati Reds, 61-44 (Milwaukee Brewers in second at 55-48 and 5 GB)
West: Arizona Diamondbacks, 65-41 (Los Angeles Dodgers in second at 61-44 and 3.5 GB)

League Injuries:

CHW-Mike Rouse (SS) Torn Achilles Tendon (seven months)
CIN-Travis Wood (P) Severe Elbow Tendonitis (four months)
NYM-Carlos Muniz (P) Severe Elbow Tendonitis (four months)
OAK-Brian Anderson (P) Severe Elbow Tendonitis (three months)
ATL-Alex Escobar (CF) Severed Knee Ligament (nine months)
LAD-Wilkin Ruan (RF) Torn Ankle Ligament (seven months)

And the biggest injury:
SEA-Adrian Beltre (3B) Severed Knee Ligament (seven months)

League Trades:

LAD to TEX:
RP Cory Wade (24, 77/84 Hasn't played in '08)
RP Zach Hammes (23, 73/81 Hasn't played in '08)

TEX to LAD:
RP Joaquin Benoit (31, 83, 35 (no starts), 2-1, 44.2, 20, 4.03, 4.63, 32/47, 1 SV, with Texas)

Argh. Texas keeps getting better.

PHI to SFG:
SP Andrew Carpenter (22, 73/83, Hasn't played in '08)
SP Edgar Garcia (20, 68/81, Hasn't played in '08)
SP Joe Savery (22, 65/85, Hasn't played in '08)

SFG to PHI:
RP Vinnie Chulk (29, 86, 42 (no starts), 0-1, 44.2, 19, 3.83, 3.78, 7/33, 1 with Giants)

Could be a good trade for the Giants if those three guys develop.

PHI to WSN:
SP Travis Blackley (25, 80/90, Hasn't played in '08)

WSN to PHI:
RP Jon Rauch (29, 86, 47 (no starts), 2-3, 49.2, 22, 3.99, 3.32, 11/49, 0 with Philadelphia)

Philadelphia doesn't need Blackley, but he could make them regret it.

SFG to NYM:
SP Tim Lincecum (24, 86, 20 (all starts), 6-11, 116.2, 44, 3.39, 4.22, 52/110, 0 with Giants)

NYM to SFG:
RP Joe Smith (24, 72/82 Hasn't played in '08)
RP Eddie Kunz (21, 79/86, Hasn't played in '08)

Uh, Giants? What're you doing?

ATL to WSN:
SP Kevin Gunderson (23, 74/82, Hasn't played in '08)
SP Jeff Lyman (20, 72/87, Hasn't played in '08)
SP Chad Rogers (20, 85/93, Hasn't played in '08 with former team)

WSN to ATL:
SP Shawn Hill (27, 88/92, 15 (14 were starts), 5-5, 84.1, 32, 3.42, 2.98, 19/52, 0 with Nats.)

Possible steal of the century? I think so!

PHI to WSN:
SP Kyle Drabek (20, 50/68, Hasn't played in '08)
SP Alfredo Torres (20, 49/74, Hasn't played in '08. Also was the 173rd overall pick in the draft)
C Travis D'Arnaud (19, 53/74, Hasn't played in '08)

WSN to PHI:
C Johnny Estrada (32, 75, 93, 306, 80, 10, 41, 16, 41, 2, 1, .261/.302/.428 with Nationals)

No! Bad Washington, bad!

ATL to TEX:
SS Brent Lillibridge (24, 73/83, Hasn't played in '08)

TEX to ATL:
1B/3B Chris Shelton (28, 81, 28, 73, 22, 2, 7, 4, 18, 0, 0, .301/.338/.479 with Texas)

BRENT LILLIBRIDGE GOT FLIPPED TO TEXAS?!?! OH NOES!!!!!!1!!!11!2!!!one!

WSN to NYM:
1B Nick Johnson (29, 84, 101, 329, 99, 16, 57, 47, 74, 2, 3, .301/.405/.483 with Nationals)

NYM to WSN:
SP Adam Bostick (23, 79/86, Hasn't played in '08)

Good job guys!

KC to WSN:
LF Chris Lubanski (23, 74/83, Hasn't played in '08)

WSN to KC:
RF Wily Mo Pena (26, 80, 77, 297, 85, 10, 44, 28, 72, 1, 1, .286/.351/.461 with Nationals)

Who's the Royals GM? He sucks!

NYM to FLA:
SP Bart Marguder (18, 46/83, Hasn't played in '08. Also was the 51st overall pick in the draft)
CF Dustin Martin (23, 75/83, Hasn't played in '08)
LF Sean Henry (22, 69/80, Hasn't played in '08)

FLA to NYM:
2B Dan Uggla (28, 86, 107, 411, 102, 17, 39, 39, 107, 3, 5, .248/.332/.431 with Marlins)

The insanity continues!

MIN to FLA:
SS Trevor Plouffe (23, 69/81, Hasn't played in '08)
CF Denard Span (23, 73/81, Hasn't played in '08)

FLA to MIN:
SP Sergio Mitre (27, 83, 15 (all starts), 7-3, 92, 35, 3.42, 4.08, 31/36, 0 with Marlins)

Minnesota is dumb!

NYM to SDP:
1B Brett Harper (26, 86/93, 23, 37, 11, 1, 7, 2, 5, 0, 0, .297/.333/.405 with Mets)
2B Emmanuel Garcia (22, 74/94, Hasn't played in '08)

SDP to NYM:
RP Heath Bell (30, 93, 54 (no starts), 57, 18, 2.84, 3.42, 14/51, 0 with Marlins)

Both Harper and Garcia had better be busts otherwise it's a really bad trade for the Mets.

[Coach Owens]

August, 2008 in review

Team record: 53-83 (8-18 in August, 24.5 GB)
Team BA: .263 (T-13th in MLB)
Team ERA: 4.91 (28th in MLB)
Team FLD%: .987 (T-12th)

Month Summary: Wee! Haha! We won four of the first five games of the month, but then lost ten games in a row. After that, we went 4-7 the rest of the way. We now have the third worst record in the Majors!

League Leaders:

AL

East: Tampa Bay Rays, 76-60 (Boston Red Sox in second at 74-61 and 1.5 GB)
Central: Cleveland Indians, 76-60 (Minnesota Twins in second at 72-64 and 4 GB)
West: Oakland Athletics, 77-58 (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in second at 71-54 and 6 GB)

NL

East: New York Mets, 76-57 (Atlanta Braves in second at 74-59 and 2 GB)
Central: Cincinnati Reds, 78-54 (Milwaukee Brewers in second at 70-62 and 8 GB)
West: Los Angeles Dodgers, 80-53 (Arizona Diamondbacks in second at 79-54 and 1 GB)

League Injuries:
WSN-Jordan Zimmerman (P) Broken Neck Vertebra (seven months)
OAK-Rob Bowen (C) Broken Fibula (three months)
PIT-Freddy Sanchez (2B) Broken Tibia (three months)
ATL-Jairo Cuevas (P) Broken Fibula (four months)

[CatKnight]

Lessee, you're on track to win 63 games....

I bow to your...uhm...skill.

Seriously, what do you think is happening? Are your key players just not producing?

[MarinerMan]

Think you could post up a SS of how your current lineup looks like w/ their current stats?

[Coach Owens]

CatKnight: It's our pitching. Of course Raul and Kenji hitting so poorly didn't help matters much!

MarinerMan: Maybe, I'll see what I can do.

******************************************
September 2008 in review

Team Record: 63-99 (9-16 in Sep., 3rd place, 28 GB)
Team BA: .265 (11th in MLB)
Team ERA: 5.00 (T-29th in MLB)
Team FLD%: .986 (T-17th in MLB)

Month Summary: Yay! Another losing month! A four game losing streak along with a three gamer later in the month were the real kick in the stomach. Possibly the only good news to come out of this is that we had the 3rd worst record in baseball and will have the #3 overall pick in next year's draft!

League Leaders:

AL

East: Tampa Bay Rays, 94-68 (Boston Red Sox finish in second at 90-72 and 4 GB. They also won the AL Wild Card)
Central: Cleveland Indians, 92-70 (Minnesota Twins finish in second at 83-79 and 7 GB)
West: Oakland Athletics, 91-71 (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim finish in second at 86-76 and 5 GB)

NL

East: New York Mets, 97-65 (Atlanta Braves finish in second at 92-70 and 5 GB)
Central: Cincinnati Reds, 92-70 (Milwaukee Brewers finish in second at 83-79 and 9 GB)
West: Arizona Diamondbacks, 100-62 (Los Angeles Dodgers finish in second at 97-65. They also win the NL Wild Card.)

League Injuries:

TOR-David Eckstein (SS) Broken Ankle (three months)
LAA-Matt Sweeney (3B) Severed Knee Ligament (eight months)
LAD-Scott Procter (P) Severe Elbow Tendonitis (three months)

And the biggest injury:

LAD-Rafael Furcal (SS) Broken Fibula (four months)

Final Batting Statistics, Mariners 2008

2008 Batting             Team    G   AVG    AB    H  2B  3B  HR   BB    K   SB  CS    R  RBI   SLG   OBP
Balentien, Wladimir       SEA    1  .000     1    0   0   0   0    0    1    0   0    0    0  .000  .000
Bedard, Erik              SEA    3  .000     6    0   0   0   0    0    3    0   0    0    1  .000  .000
Beltre, Adrian            SEA   90  .271   343   93  16   4  11   22   78    3   1   36   48  .437  .322
Bloomquist, Willie        SEA   53  .284   218   62   9   2   1   11   41   12   4   31   15  .358  .323
Boucher, Sebastien        SEA   47  .191   152   29   4   2   0    8   43    3   0   11    9  .243  .241
Cairo, Miguel             SEA   75  .215   205   44   6   0   1    7   30    8   3   21    5  .259  .239
Clement, Jeff             SEA   21  .260    73   19   9   0   0   14   14    0   0    8   13  .384  .379
Frazier, Jeff             SEA    3  .444     9    4   0   0   0    1    3    0   0    0    1  .444  .500
Hernandez, Felix          SEA    2  .250     4    1   1   0   0    0    1    0   0    1    0  .500  .250
Johnson, Rob              SEA   32  .287   115   33   6   0   1   11   18    5   5   13   11  .365  .349
Johnson, Randy            SEA   12  .087    23    2   0   0   0    0   10    0   0    0    1  .087  .087
LaHair, Bryan             SEA   81  .276   239   66  10   1   7   14   54    0   1   33   54  .414  .323
Lopez, Jose               SEA  128  .296   423  125  18   5  11   14   43    2   1   47   52  .440  .321
Mangini, Matt             SEA    6  .111    18    2   1   0   0    6    6    1   0    4    1  .167  .333
Morse, Mike               SEA   97  .268   276   74  23   4   3   21   54    3   4   37   39  .413  .321
Navarro, Oswaldo          SEA   62  .197   198   39   7   0   2    6   50    1   1   13   14  .263  .225
Reed, Jeremy              SEA  111  .252   318   80  16   2   3   28   51    6   5   33   25  .343  .314
Sexson, Richie            SEA  108  .243   346   84  21   1  16   39   95    1   0   46   59  .448  .318
Silva, Carlos             SEA    2  .000     3    0   0   0   0    1    1    0   0    0    0  .000  .250
Suzuki, Ichiro            SEA  162  .324   651  211  30   5   7   47   97   30   5   93   62  .418  .372
Washburn, Jarrod          SEA    1  .000     2    0   0   0   0    0    1    0   0    0    0  .000  .000
Wilkerson, Brad           SEA  138  .229   510  117  33   2  10   50  134    3   2   67   43  .361  .300

Final Pitching Statistics, Mariners 2008

2008 Pitching            Team     IP   ERA    G  GS   W   L  SV    K   BB   R/9
Barzilla, Phil            SEA    1.0  0.00    1   0   0   0   0    0    0 18.00
Bedard, Erik              SEA  209.0  4.56   35  35  11  20   0  251   57 11.89
Davies, Kyle              SEA    1.0 45.00    1   0   0   0   0    0    2 54.00
Green, Sean               SEA   92.1  4.09   78   0   4   3   0   64   42 12.87
Hernandez, Felix          SEA  184.0  5.82   34  34  10  16   0  206   77 15.36
Huber, Jon                SEA   15.1  4.11   10   0   0   0   0   13    4 17.61
Johnson, Randy            SEA  115.2  5.14   22  21   4   8   0   98   41 14.01
Kahn, Stephen             SEA    8.2  2.08    4   0   0   0   0    9   10 16.62
Lowe, Mark                SEA   65.2  3.43   41   0   0   2   0   72   34 13.16
McGee, Jacob              SEA   28.0  9.32   10   3   1   4   1   38   24 19.93
Morrow, Brandon           SEA   86.1  6.25   62   3   4   5   1   99   67 16.78
O'Flaherty, Eric          SEA   73.2  4.15   77   0   1   3   0   43   29 13.07
Putz, J.J.                SEA   44.0  4.50   50   0   1   6  35   44   15 11.86
Rowland-Smith, Ryan       SEA   86.2  4.15   68   0   2   3   0   85   43 11.94
Silva, Carlos             SEA  217.1  4.39   33  33  15  14   0   92   35 12.22
Washburn, Jarrod          SEA  212.2  5.59   35  35  12  15   0  104   68 13.29
Woerman, Joseph           SEA    4.0 11.25    1   0   0   0   0    3    3 22.50

[asianinvasion]

20 losses for Bedard? Wow thats tough. A 11.25 team ERA, what's going on? You need a defensive catcher and move Clement to First.

[Coach Owens]

20 losses for Bedard? Wow thats tough. A 11.25 team ERA, what's going on? You need a defensive catcher and move Clement to First.

We actually had a 5.00 team ERA. That 11.25 is Joseph Woerman's ERA.

[Coach Owens]

2008 Playoffs

ALDS 1, Cleveland Indians (AL Central winner) V. Boston Red Sox (AL Wild Card Winner)

Game 1, at Cleveland
Red Sox win 6-3

Game 2, at Cleveland
Indians win 8-6

Game 3, at Boston
Red Sox win 8-6

Game 4, at Boston
Indians win 3-2 (14)

Game 5, at Cleveland
Indians win 12-4

The Cleveland Indians move on to the ALCS!

ALDS 2, Tampa Bay Rays (AL East Winner) V. Oakland Athletics (AL West Winner)

Game 1, at Tampa Bay
Rays win 4-2

Game 2, at Tampa Bay
Rays win 11-3

Game 3, at Oakland
A's win 12-0

Game 4, at Oakland
A's win 8-7

Game 5, at Tampa Bay
A's win 5-4 (10)

The Oakland Athletics move on to the ALCS!

NLDS 1, New York Mets (NL East Winner) V. Los Angeles Dodgers (NL Wild Card Winner)

Game 1, at New York
Dodgers win 14-3

Game 2, at New York
Mets win 11-3

Game 3, at Los Angeles
Dodgers win 4-1

Game 4, at Los Angeles
Mets win 4-2

The New York Mets move on to the NLCS!

NLDS 2, Arizona Diamondbacks (NL West winner) V. Cincinnati Reds (NL Central winner)

Game 1, at Arizona
D-Backs win 5-2

Game 2, at Arizona
D-Backs win 7-2

Game 3, at Cincinnati
Reds win 9-0

Game 4, at Cincinnati
D-Backs win 8-4

Game 5, at Arizona
D-Backs win 1-0

The Arizona Diamondbacks move on to the NLCS!

ALCS, Cleveland Indians V. Oakland Athletics

Game 1, at Cleveland
A's win 6-3

Game 2, at Cleveland
A's win 8-4

Game 3, at Oakland
Indians win 5-3

Game 4, at Oakland
A's win 4-2

Game 5, at Oakland
A's win 2-1

The Oakland Athletics are the AL Champions!

NLCS, Arizona Diamondbacks V. New York Mets

Game 1, at Arizona
Mets win 3-1

Game 2, at Arizona
Mets win 6-3 (11)

Game 3, at New York
Mets win 8-2

Game 4, at New York
Mets win 5-1

The New York Mets are the NL champions!

World Series, New York Mets V. Oakland Athletics

Game 1, at Oakland
Mets win 10-2

Game 2, at Oakland
A's win 12-1

Game 3, at New York
Mets win 5-2

Game 4, at New York
Mets win 5-0

Game 5, at New York
A's win 3-0

Game 6, at Oakland
Mets win 4-1

The New York Mets are the 2008 World Series Champions!

[Coach Owens]

The post you've all been waiting for!

I walked into the Press Room at Safeco shortly before the press conference was to start. I sat down in the small folding chair set down in front of the long table decorated with a simple long white sheet. I glanced behind me at the large background with the Mariners logo all over at and then towards the door again. To the right of me sat Howard Lincoln, the CEO and Chairman of the Mariners and to the left sat Chuck Armstrong, the Mariners President and COO. Two seats over was Bill Bavasi the current-and soon to be ex-General Manager and Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations, Bill Bavasi. I glanced at my watch, the press conference was to start at 12:00 PM sharp, it was 12:59 and 57; 58; 59 seconds. Exactly right when both the hands reached the 12, Lincoln stood up. He introduced us, one by one, starting with himself, then Armstrong, Bavasi and, finally, me. When he announced my name, I stood up and acknowledged the press-there was maybe 30 or so of them-and, nervously, and as a bunch of flashbulbs went off, sat back down. Lincoln stood back up, cleared his throat and said "Once again, welcome. As you know, we have called this press conference to announce the letting go of Bill Bavasi and the hiring of this young man, Will Thompson, as our new General Manager and Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations. Bill was hired five years ago after the sudden resignation of Pat Gillick. We hired Bill, the sign of long time MLB executive Emil Joseph "Buzzie" Bavasi, with the hope to continue our success we were having at that point and once again reach the playoffs. Unfortunately, and no fault of Bill's that has not happened. We came close last year, in 2007, winning 88 games and leading the AL Wild Card as late August 28. We then, to the disappointment to our Front Office, our players and, most of all, our fans, faded down the stretch, finishing both 6 games back of the West-winning Los Angeles Angeles of Anaheim and the AL Wild Card-winning New York Yankees. We started this season with high hopes, with the February trade for Erik Bedard from the Baltimore Orioles supposed to bring an ace that we could combine with young Felix Hernandez to create one of the best 1-2 punches in baseball. This failed however, along with the rest of the pitching and the hitting, as Bedard went 11-20 with a 4.56 ERA and Hernandez went 10-16 with a 5.88 ERA. We finished this season with the third-worst record in all of baseball. Sadly, this had to be the final chance for Bill. We wish Bill the best of luck with whatever he attempts next." Lincoln sat down and gestured to Bill. Nodding, Bill stood up and addressed the reporters "I just wanted to thank Howard and Chuck and the rest of the Seattle Mariners ownership for giving me this chance and the many chances to bring this ballclub back to contention. I apologize deeply to the devoted fans of this franchise-the greatest fans in all of professional sports-and take full responsibility for our inability to get back to the playoffs. Thank you." Bill sat down again, pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and dried his eyes. It was my turn. I stood up and looked at the crowd. My knees were rattling and, dear god, I hope they didn't notice it. I cleared my throat. "I'd like to start off by mentioning the enormous amount of respect I have for Bill. This job is not easy by any means and even with the growing impatience and hostility by some of the fans, he stood in there and tried his best for five seasons to right this ship. I'd also like to offer him a job in the Front Office as an assistant. I think his experience could really help the rest of the executives and especially me, his successor. I was born here in Seattle 26 years ago. I grew up with the Mariners and followed them through the bad years, until I was 14, during the miraculous 1995 season, and through the good years, 2000-2003, and now the bad years and through college and law school. I can not express my happiness and gratitude towards Howard and Chuck for giving me, somebody fresh out school, who will be the youngest General Manager in the history of the MLB, the chance to right the ship to my hometown and favorite team, the Seattle Mariners. Thank you." The reporters, having to listen to the three of us for the last 15 or so minutes finally exploding with the questions they had been prepared to ask at the very beginning. I smiled, this was the fun part. I saw Geoff Baker, the beat reporter for the Seattle Times, and decided "Hey, why not?" I pointed at him to ask the first question and the rest of the reporters fell silent. "Uh, yes, two questions. First, you're likely going to rebuild for a couple of years right, since you have a fresh start to do what you want? My second question is who is the top target for you guys on the free agent market this year." I nodded "Yes, Geoff, first off I plan to rebuild. No offense to Bill, but that trade for Bedard almost emptied the pitching part of our farm system and it's in dire need of repairs, the draft, of course, is the best way to do so. The answer to your second question?" I smiled again and paused. Hoping my dramatic pause wasn't annoying to anyone. "Miguel Cabrera."

[asianinvasion]

Its about ****in time!!!

[CatKnight]

Oh no. The Mariners are doomed!

[petrel]

Nooooooo! You need pitching! Stop the bleeding!

--Pet

[Coach Owens]

Asianinvasion: You got that straight!
Cat: You got a problem with me, hombre?
Pet: In good time, my friend.

****************************************

I walked into my new office Sunday morning, the day after the press conference. The door still read "L Asi" as the guy who was supposed to finish changing it had yet to come in. I sat down in the big chair behind the desk with a heavy sigh and pulled some notes from a folder I had. Right as I sat down, Bavasi, who had taken me up on my offer for him to be an assistant, burst into the room. He seemed excited, more excited than usual. "Just had your coffee?" I asked. "Yeah, but that's not all." He replied. "I just got a call, shortly before you came in, from Fernando Cuza, the agent for Miguel Cabrera. He said he saw that you said Cabrera was going to be your top free agent target this offseason and wanted to try and negotiate a deal. I told him you'd call him back once you came in." He handed me a card with Cuza's name, office address and office phone number. "Really?" I asked, surprised. "Already? Alright then, I'll give Cuza a call." I picked up the phone on my desk and dialed the number. After a few rings, I heard the phone being picked up and a man's voice on the other line. "Hola, Fernando Cuza que habla. How may I help you?" "Fernando? This is Will Thompson, the new GM for the Seattle Mariners. My assistant told me that you wanted to negotiate a deal with us for you client Miguel Cabrera?" "Oh yes, Mr. Thompson." He said, "Miguel has expressed interest in joining your club-for a price of course." "Of course." I replied, smiling faintly, there's always a price. "What exactly does Miguel want?" I asked him. "5 years, 12.5 million per. With a no-trade clause." I smiled at the offer. That's less than what we were paying Sexson. "Deal. I'll fax over the paperwork right away." I said. "Good." He replied, "I'll tell Miguel." I hung up the phone and turned to Bill who was still standing by my desk. "Bill. Call a press conference for two days from now to announce the signing of Miguel Cabrera."