Mariners need new skipper
The still-mighty forests of the Pacific Northwest are echoing with the call of the local wildlife: ?Fire Mike Hargrove!?
The Seattle Mariners have made a bad habit out of losing. Despite significant upgrades in player talent during the last two years under general manager Bill Bavasi, the M?s just can?t seem to get it right. They currently sit in last place in the American League West Division at 25-33, falling six games behind the first-place Texas Rangers and depriving supporters of 10.3 units in earnings.
The onus has fallen squarely on the shoulders of Hargrove, who may have been relieved of his duties by the time you read this. The calls for his dismissal grew especially loud after a recent three-game sweep in Minnesota by the Twins that saw Seattle commit a number of baserunning errors, fueled by Hargrove?s ?small-ball? approach. That was part of a six-game losing streak that left the Mariners in the AL West basement. Their ensuing split at home against the lowly Kansas City Royals is doing little to provide Hargrove any job security.
The new baseball wisdom suggests that managers don?t really have much positive impact on the result of a game ? they can only screw it up by calling for the wrong plays at the wrong time. And the wrong plays, according to seamheads, are the very fundamentals that typify small-ball: the bunt, the steal and the hit-and-run. All three do more harm than good. Bunts create outs, stealers get caught, and the hit-and-run is a double play waiting to happen.
It would be one thing to attempt these plays in the National League, where the bottom of the order is overpopulated by non-hitters. It?s another thing to ask the hottest second-baseman in the majors to bunt in three at-bats in a row after hitting a home run. That?s what Hargrove did with Jose Lopez on May 28 against the Twins. Lopez was on a tear at the time, with a slugging percentage hovering around .500. After a home run and a walk, he laid down a bunt. And another, which he popped up for a double play. Then he tried a third sacrifice in the top of the 10th before swinging and hitting a single.
The Mariners ended up losing that game 4-3 in 11 innings, thanks also in part to a failed bunt attempt by Ichiro (who only hit .371 in the month of May) and a failed stolen base attempt by Yuniesky Betancourt in the top of the ninth ? which came after a bunt by Rene Rivera. Hargrove then had struggling reliever Eddie Guardado pitch the bottom of the 11th, where he gave up the sayonara home run to Lew Ford.
In Hargrove?s own defense of his tactics against the Twins, ?When you start thinking, ?Let?s try something new? ... that?s a panic move.? Hargrove certainly didn?t panic this past Sunday in a 9-4 loss to the Royals. Ichiro?s hit-and-run attempt in the third inning caused a double play and Willie Bloomquist was caught stealing in the fourth, allowing the Royals to overcome a shaky start by pitcher Mark Redman.
As rough as things have been under Hargrove?s watch, Bavasi is not out of the woods either. Some of his signings (Adrian Beltre, Richie Sexson) are failing to live up to reasonable expectations. Others (Jarrod Washburn, Carl Everett) are delivering fairly close to what the numbers suggested they would: not that much, and certainly not enough to justify their contracts. Bavasi?s best moves have been those where he has cleverly snagged under-the-radar talent from other clubs to populate the farm system. He may not be around to see those moves come to fruition.
Next up for the Mariners is another three-game set with the Twins, this time in the friendly confines of Safeco Field. Felix Hernandez (1.54 WHIP, -2.6 units) takes the mound Tuesday for Seattle against Francisco Liriano (1.20 WHIP, 3.3 units). Hernandez? results have been less than stellar in his sophomore campaign, although his frustrations have generally been limited to the first inning, when he allows a .926 OPS. ?King? Felix settles down quite nicely after that (.756 OPS in the middle innings). The OVER is 8-3 in his starts. Liriano has been unflappable, sending the UNDER to a 2-0-1 record in three appearances since coming out of the bullpen. He?s allowed just one earned run in 16 innings. Of note, Seattle is hitting just .660 OPS against lefties like Liriano.
The Mariners are listed at ?104, with the Twins slight road favorites at ?116. Game time is 10:05 p.m. Eastern.
---Perry
BetWWTS
The still-mighty forests of the Pacific Northwest are echoing with the call of the local wildlife: ?Fire Mike Hargrove!?
The Seattle Mariners have made a bad habit out of losing. Despite significant upgrades in player talent during the last two years under general manager Bill Bavasi, the M?s just can?t seem to get it right. They currently sit in last place in the American League West Division at 25-33, falling six games behind the first-place Texas Rangers and depriving supporters of 10.3 units in earnings.
The onus has fallen squarely on the shoulders of Hargrove, who may have been relieved of his duties by the time you read this. The calls for his dismissal grew especially loud after a recent three-game sweep in Minnesota by the Twins that saw Seattle commit a number of baserunning errors, fueled by Hargrove?s ?small-ball? approach. That was part of a six-game losing streak that left the Mariners in the AL West basement. Their ensuing split at home against the lowly Kansas City Royals is doing little to provide Hargrove any job security.
The new baseball wisdom suggests that managers don?t really have much positive impact on the result of a game ? they can only screw it up by calling for the wrong plays at the wrong time. And the wrong plays, according to seamheads, are the very fundamentals that typify small-ball: the bunt, the steal and the hit-and-run. All three do more harm than good. Bunts create outs, stealers get caught, and the hit-and-run is a double play waiting to happen.
It would be one thing to attempt these plays in the National League, where the bottom of the order is overpopulated by non-hitters. It?s another thing to ask the hottest second-baseman in the majors to bunt in three at-bats in a row after hitting a home run. That?s what Hargrove did with Jose Lopez on May 28 against the Twins. Lopez was on a tear at the time, with a slugging percentage hovering around .500. After a home run and a walk, he laid down a bunt. And another, which he popped up for a double play. Then he tried a third sacrifice in the top of the 10th before swinging and hitting a single.
The Mariners ended up losing that game 4-3 in 11 innings, thanks also in part to a failed bunt attempt by Ichiro (who only hit .371 in the month of May) and a failed stolen base attempt by Yuniesky Betancourt in the top of the ninth ? which came after a bunt by Rene Rivera. Hargrove then had struggling reliever Eddie Guardado pitch the bottom of the 11th, where he gave up the sayonara home run to Lew Ford.
In Hargrove?s own defense of his tactics against the Twins, ?When you start thinking, ?Let?s try something new? ... that?s a panic move.? Hargrove certainly didn?t panic this past Sunday in a 9-4 loss to the Royals. Ichiro?s hit-and-run attempt in the third inning caused a double play and Willie Bloomquist was caught stealing in the fourth, allowing the Royals to overcome a shaky start by pitcher Mark Redman.
As rough as things have been under Hargrove?s watch, Bavasi is not out of the woods either. Some of his signings (Adrian Beltre, Richie Sexson) are failing to live up to reasonable expectations. Others (Jarrod Washburn, Carl Everett) are delivering fairly close to what the numbers suggested they would: not that much, and certainly not enough to justify their contracts. Bavasi?s best moves have been those where he has cleverly snagged under-the-radar talent from other clubs to populate the farm system. He may not be around to see those moves come to fruition.
Next up for the Mariners is another three-game set with the Twins, this time in the friendly confines of Safeco Field. Felix Hernandez (1.54 WHIP, -2.6 units) takes the mound Tuesday for Seattle against Francisco Liriano (1.20 WHIP, 3.3 units). Hernandez? results have been less than stellar in his sophomore campaign, although his frustrations have generally been limited to the first inning, when he allows a .926 OPS. ?King? Felix settles down quite nicely after that (.756 OPS in the middle innings). The OVER is 8-3 in his starts. Liriano has been unflappable, sending the UNDER to a 2-0-1 record in three appearances since coming out of the bullpen. He?s allowed just one earned run in 16 innings. Of note, Seattle is hitting just .660 OPS against lefties like Liriano.
The Mariners are listed at ?104, with the Twins slight road favorites at ?116. Game time is 10:05 p.m. Eastern.
---Perry
BetWWTS
