2001 Seattle Mariners-Can they recreate the Magic?

[asianinvasion]

What was he asking for that you'd drop a 22 homer hitting Gold Glove catcher?

He was asking for a 7-year deal @9 million a year and I couldn't shake him from that. Giving 7-year deals to catchers are not that good of an idea. I also have Kenji Johjima (79/95) in AAA Tacoma. He hit .352 with 26 HR's and 126 RBI's.

[asianinvasion]

2003 Amateur Draft

1. Cincinnati-Matt Cain (SP)
2. Colorado-Troy Tulowitzki (SS)
3. Tampa Bay-B.J. Upton (3B)
4. Kansas City-Corey Dangerfield (RF)
5. Milwaukee-Prince Fielder (1B)
6. Baltimore-Jonathan Broxton (RP)
7. Texas-Bruce Sherborne (C)
8. Chicago Cubs-Brian McCann (C)
9. New York Mets-Justin Moore (SP)
10. San Diego-Jeff Francoeur (RF)
11. San Francisco-James Loney (1B)
12. Detroit-Joel Zumaya (RP)
13. Florida-Matt Kemp (RF)
14. Atlanta-Blake Schlitter (RP)
15. Toronto-Ryan Zimmerman (3B)
16. Pittsburgh-Elijah Dukes (CF)
17. Arizona-Gustavo Navas (C)
18. Boston-Luis Hernandez (SS)
19. Anaheim-Joakim Soria (RP)
20. Chicago White Sox- Gabe Cholmondoley (RP)
21. Seattle-Scott Kazmir (SP)
22. Cleveland-Jensen Lewis (RP)
23. Los Angeles-Reagan Martin (C)
24. Imbert Ararante (C)
25. Montreal-Paul Segars (SP)
26. Philadelphia-Kyle Kendrick (SP)
27. Houston-J.R. Towles (C)
28. Minnesota-Alexi Casilla (2B)
29. St. Louis- Scott Olsen (SP)
30. New York Yankees-Alejandro De Aza (CF)

[asianinvasion]

2003 Seattle Draft Picks

1st Round-Scott Kazmir (SP)
Cant believe that he fell to me. Should turn out to be a staff ace or a #2

2nd Round-Tim Lincecum (SP)
Local boy from Renton, drafted him before he could go to the University of Washington. Power arm. Throws gas. Challenges you. High K/BB ratio.

3rd Round-Chase Headley (3B)
Rounded hitter with decent speed. Real poor range might hurt him in the future.

4th Round-Cesar Jimenez (SP)
Fastball, Slider, Curve pitcher. Will be a workhorse. Lefty; powerful but under control.

5th Round-Oswaldo Navarro (SS)
Fast little guy that plays great defense. Not much of a hitter. Good late round pick.

6th Round-Yusmiero Petit (SP)
May be converted to a reliever. May not even make it to the show.

[asianinvasion]

2003 Spring Training Preview

What to Watch for:
Can Kenji Johjima succeed as the starting catcher?
Can Edgar Martinez bounce back from his horrendous season last year?
Will Aaron Hill take over the Second Base job?

Position Battles:
Second Base: Aaron Hill vs. Bret Boone

Goals:
Get to the playoffs.
Build up the young talent.

[asianinvasion]

Mariners Reacquire Ron Villone

With the Mariners in need of a lefty starting pitcher, the Seattle Mariners sent Pitcher Bobby Jones and second baseman Bret Boone to the Colorado Rockies for pitcher Ron Villone and cash. With Aaron Hill emerging as an option at second base, the Mariners felt that Boone was expandable. The Rockies wanted him and took him. Jones was traded because with Villone coming, there would be no room for Jones.

Mariners Get:

SP Ron Villone
Cash

Rockies Get:

SP Bobby Jones
2B Bret Boone

[asianinvasion]

2003 Season Preview

Lineup

1. LF Ichiro Suzuki (87)
2. SS Carlos Guillen (90)
3. 1B John Olerud (84)
4. RF Juan Gonzalez (84)
5. CF Mike Cameron (88)
6. DH Edgar Martinez (82)
7. 3B Bill Mueller (80)
8. C Kenji Johjima (79/93)
9. 2B Aaron Hill (79/92)

Bench

IF Desi Relaford (79)
C Jaime Burke (75)
IF Scott Spiezio (77)
OF Dave Roberts (77)
OF Jeremy Reed (77/85)


Rotation

1. Freddy Garcia (93)
2. Brett Tomko (86)
3. Ron Villone (85)
4. Joel Pineiro (84/92)
5. Cha Seung Baek (83)

Bullpen

CL-JJ Putz (93)
SU-Rafael Soriano (90/83)
SR-Arthur Rhodes (86)
SR-Sean Green (78/87)
MR-Brian Fuentes (77)
LR-Clint Nageotte (81)

[asianinvasion]

April 2003
19-5 1st Place AL West

Good:
We are in first place.
Carlos Guillen: Hitting .400 with 4 HR's out of 2 hole.
Bill Mueller: Hitting .354 with 5 HR's
Juan Gonzalez: Already has 10 homeruns. On pace for 73.
Freddy Garcia: Proves why he is the ace and why he got the contract with a 3.08 ERA

Bad:
Ichiro: Hitting .191 to start season.
The Youngsters: Johjima is hitting .204 and Hill is hitting .254.
Middle of Rotation: Tomko and Villione both have ERA's above 5.50
Brian Fuentes: Seems to have dropped off the map. Has a 5.58 ERA. Could be demoted to AAA.

[asianinvasion]

May 2003
39-14 1st Place AL West

Good:
Hitters are heating up
Edgar Martinez: Hitting .315 with 11 HR's. Way to comeback
Kenji: He's getting that average to .300. Right now its at .297
Juan Gonzalez: In 103 games with the M's, he has 37 homeruns
Freddy Garcia: Now 7-0 with a 2.58 ERA

Bad:
Ichiro and Hill: Both of them are still hitting around .245.
Ron Villone: ERA is still at 6+
Brian Fuentes: Been really bad so I sent him to AAA to straighten things up. Sean White has been called up to take his spot.
Injuries: Cha Seung Baek broke his finger and is out for 7 more days. Clint Nageotte and Bobby Madritch have filled in nicely.

Ha ha, I now have a Sean Green and a Sean White on my roster. Now I have to find a Sean Black to complete my colors set.

[asianinvasion]

June 2003
50-28 1st Place AL West

Good:
Still in first place
Gonzalez and Martinez are pacing the team.
Emergence of Sean Green: 1.87 ERA in 47.1 innings
Putz: 22 saves already

Bad:
Injuries: Both Guillen and Pineiro hit the DL. Both wont be back until the All-Star break.
Ron Villone: ERA is still high but it is dropping.
Ichiro: Only hitting .250 and has a OBP of .288

[asianinvasion]

M's, Kid reunite

Cincinnati offered the Mariners a deal that they could not resist. The Mariners will pick up Ken Griffey, Jr from the Reds for minor leaguer Sean White. The Reds approached the Mariners with this offer and the M's jumped. Griffey will replace Mike Cameron in Centerfield. Cameron was hitting .255 with 115 K's in 91 games.

In other news, Carlos Guillen is off the DL.

[asianinvasion]

Four M's head to Detroit for All-Star Game

Four Mariners are headed to the All-Star Game. They are outfielder Juan Gonzalez, pitchers JJ Putz, Arthur Rhodes and Freddy Garcia. Gonzalez started in Left Field and was 1-4. None of the other Mariners got into the game.

National League All Stars at American League All Stars
July 12, 2003

                     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 +  R  H  E
      All Stars (NL) 1 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0    5  9  0
      All Stars (AL) 1 2 6 0 0 5 0 0 x   14 16  0

NATIONAL LEAGUE      ab  h bb  r hr bi  k sb     avg
B. Giles (LF)         5  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .333
 T. Glavine (P)       0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .000
 B. Lawrence (P)      0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .000
 R. Ankiel (P)        0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .000
P. Polanco (2B)       5  2  0  0  0  0  1  0    .354
A. Pujols (1B)        5  1  0  1  0  0  2  0    .298
L. Berkman (DH)       5  1  0  0  0  0  0  0    .320
C. Jones (3B)         2  1  3  2  1  1  1  0    .304
A. Jones (CF)         2  1  2  1  0  1  1  0    .330
J. Edmonds (RF)       4  0  0  0  0  0  1  0    .311
J. Lopez (C)          4  1  0  1  1  3  2  0    .269
R. Aurilia (SS)       4  2  0  0  0  0  0  0    .316
TOTALS               36  9  5  5  2  5  8  0

   2B:  P. Polanco, R. Aurilia 2, L. Berkman
   HR:  J. Lopez, C. Jones

                   ip  h bb hr  r er  k pit    ERA
       R. Ankiel  4.1  6  7  1  7  7  2 146   2.74
      T. Glavine  1.0  4  0  1  2  2  0  30   3.12
     B. Lawrence  2.2  6  0  1  5  5  1  42   2.81
          TOTALS  8.0 16  7  3 14 14  3 218

AMERICAN LEAGUE      ab  h bb  r hr bi  k sb     avg
C. Beltran (CF)       4  3  1  2  0  0  0  1    .324
 J. Parque (P)        0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .000
 B. Koch (P)          0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .000
 M. Mulder (P)        0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .000
C. Koskie (3B)        5  2  1  1  0  0  0  0    .270
M. Tejada (SS)        5  1  0  1  0  0  1  0    .355
J. Thome (1B)         3  2  2  2  0  1  0  0    .340
F. Thomas (DH)        4  1  1  2  0  1  1  0    .357
I. Rodriguez (C)      5  3  0  3  0  2  0  0    .307
T. Salmon (RF)        3  2  0  2  2  5  0  0    .308
 P. Konerko (P)       1  1  0  1  1  4  0  0    .292
 R. Winn (P)          1  1  0  0  0  0  0  1    .320
J. Gonzalez (LF)      4  0  1  0  0  0  0  0    .274
C. Febles (2B)        4  0  1  0  0  0  1  0    .299
TOTALS               39 16  7 14  3 13  3  2

   2B:  I. Rodriguez 2, J. Thome, C. Koskie, C. Beltran
   HR:  T. Salmon 2, P. Konerko

                   ip  h bb hr  r er  k pit    ERA
     F. Castillo  2.2  6  3  1  4  4  2  73   2.95
       J. Parque  3.1  1  1  0  0  0  4  52   3.01
         B. Koch  1.0  1  1  1  1  1  1  23   2.25
       M. Mulder  2.0  1  0  0  0  0  1  30   2.73
          TOTALS  9.0  9  5  2  5  5  8 178

     WP: J. Parque
     LP: R. Ankiel

     Temperature: 73F
     Wind: 3 MPH (right to left)
     Attendance: 45,936
     Time: 4:09

[asianinvasion]

July 2003
63-42 1st Place AL West

Good:
Still maintaining lead
Ken Griffey: Hitting .600 as a Mariner
Juan Gonzalez: 28 homeruns and 85 RBI's
Garcia and Pineiro: Combined for a record of 21-5
Bullpen: A bullpen ERA of 3.19
Ichiro: Got that average up to .276

Bad:
Hill and Johjima: Both are struggling but they are young.
Bill Mueller: After a strong start, the third baseman is hitting .249. May be looking for options.

[asianinvasion]

Guillen, M's agree to 5-year extension

The Seattle Mariners and Infielder Carlos Guillen agree to a 5-year $30 million extension which will run til the 07 season. The Mariners decided to lock Guillen up before arbitration.
They also lock Ichiro up until the 09 season with a 7-year $22 million extension.
The Final deal was with Brett Tomko. Tomko agrees to a 3-year $14.7 million extension through the 2005 season.

[asianinvasion]

August 2003
80-53 1st Place AL West

Good:
Guillen has hit well since coming back from injury
We locked up some of our core pieces.
Pitchers: They continue to dominate.

Bad:
Offense: The O has not produced that well this season.
Ichiro is at .275
Mueller is at .240
Johjima is at .260
Hill is at .240
Edgar is at .258

[asianinvasion]

September/October 2003
96-66 1st Place AL West

Good:
Back to the playoffs.
Ichiro ended up at .288 with 208 hits
Gonzalez, Griffey and Martinez all had at least 20 homeruns
Pitching: Garcia and Pineiro will start games 1 and 2. Together they were 32-12
Bullpen: One of the Best in the League.

Bad:
7-8-9 hitters: Not producing. Hope they wont hurt us in playoffs.