Merry Christmas, Mariner fans.

Yesterday, Jack Zduriencik made his first trade of the offseason, swapping No. 2 starter Jason Vargas for the Angels’ first baseman and designated hitter Kendrys Morales.

Over 33 starts in 2012, Jason maintained a 3.85 ERA over 217.1 IP, his lowest since 2010. Vargas struggled to keep the ball in Safeco Field, accounting for 35 home runs in what was once a pitcher’s park. When he was good, he was very good, finishing the season with a sparkling seven inning performance against Oakland, granting the soon-to-be playoff contenders five hits, a run, and seven strikeouts. When he was bad, things got ugly—for instance, his season-low performance in Arizona, where he sent the Mariners spiraling after giving up nine hits, ten runs, five home runs, and two walks in just 4.1 IP.

In Kendrys Morales, the Mariners find the missing middle-of-the-order hitter they had hoped to secure with the Michael Pineda-Jesus Montero trade last winter. Morales has somewhat successfully bounced back from two injury-laden seasons, caused in part by his new home team.

“That injury occurred when he landed awkwardly while jumping into a group of teammates at home plate after hitting a walk-off grand slam off Mariners closer Brandon League in Anaheim on May 29, 2010.” — Greg Johns, Mariners.com

Last season, Kendrys batted .273/.320/.467 in 522 PA with 22 home runs and a .339 wOBA. Morales peaked in 2009, with a .306 average, 4.0 bWAR, and fifth place in the MVP award voting. According to Greg Johns’ wrap-up, the 29-year-old has fared well in Seattle so far, managing seven home runs, a .292 average, and .904 OPS over 34 games. One can only hope that the shortened fences will work in his favor, while Jason finds the spacious dimensions of Angel Stadium more to his liking.

By this time next year, both Vargas and Morales will be free agents. Last season, Vargas fed on a $4.85M contract, while Morales topped out at $2.98M.

With a potential power hitter gracing the Mariners’ lineup, the team turns to its rotation once again. Rumors cropped up early in the offseason, hinting that Jack Z put another starter on his Christmas wish list. Today, it is a pressing need, lest we see Eric Wedge throw Hector Noesi back in the mix. Although much remains to be tested and proven in the months to come, Jack and Wedge are looking at a rotation captained by King Felix and followed by a combination of Hisashi Iwakuma, Erasmo Ramirez, Danny Hultzen, Taijuan Walker, James Paxton, or Brandon Maurer.

Jack may still have a few more surprises up his sleeve this winter, but at least through the holiday weekend, Mariner fans can finally sleep peacefully.

While the annual BBWAA awards briefly distract us from Shiny (Potential) Free Agent Signings, the Seattle blogosphere has created some awards for the Mariners themselves.

Jesus Montero For 2012 AL Rookie Of The Year — Mike Trout? Please. The real hero of the American League was none other than the Mariners’ backstop, DH, and someday-superstar Jesus Montero.

Collateral Damage — Corey Dawkins and Stephani Bee examine the impact of injuries on the 2012 AL West, ranking them by Total Adjusted WARP Lost.

M’s Payroll, Free Agent Predictions — Steering away from rumors for the moment, Prospect Insider’s Jason Churchill lays out the Mariners’ current commitments and payroll flexibility.

After hiring Bob Engle, Dodgers fill international staff with ex-Mariner scouts — The team of scouts that brought you Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda has now relocated to Los Angeles. Bob Engle, newly-appointed VP of international scouting, committed to four former Seattle scouts: Pat Kelley, Patrick Guerrero, Jamey Storvick, and Eugene Grimaldi.

The Best Bunts of 2012 — The Mariners are on both ends of this one, with Erick Aybar’s bunt off of Brandon League falling under “Best Overall Bunt”, and Chone Figgins’ bunt off of Fernando Rodney meriting “Best Bunt Not Involving a Run Scored.”

What have you read this week? Share it with us on Twitter or in the comments below!

After a short three-game stretch at home following the All-Star break, the Mariners take their show on the road with their first stop in the city that hosted the All-Star festivities – Kansas City.

Current record: 38-49

Last game: vs. White Sox. The Royals lost a tough 2-1 ballgame to Chris Sale, who boosted his W-L record to an impressive 11-2 for a second year starter. While the Royals were able to rack up 11 hits, going 2-12 with runners in scoring position isn’t quite the way to seal a victory, a fate that Mariners fans are all too familiar with this year.

The Royals are now 3-8 in July. The Mariners are 3-7.

Familiar Faces: Yuniesky Betancourt is the lone member of the Royals that used to play for Seattle, but his presence likely doesn’t instill fear in any Mariner fan. Once a top prospect, Yuni broke into the majors with Seattle in 2005 and started out as a decent shortstop, hitting .284 over his first three years with mediocre defense. Over his time in Seattle, however, he quickly declined both offensively and defensively, leading the Mariners to ship him to Kansas City in 2009 for two minor leaguers, neither of whom panned out.

Miguel Olivo played for the Royals in 2008 and 2009 and his stats wouldn’t shock anybody. Over 198 games he hit 35 homeruns… while only putting up an OBP of .286 (although Mariners fans would do anything for kind of production from him at this point).

Last series against Seattle: September 8 – September 11, 2011. The Mariners and Royals played four games in September that I honestly don’t remember anything about, looking at the box scores. They split the series 2-2 and both teams remained in fourth place in their respective divisions. It turns out the series saw Michael Pineda’s last start in Safeco Field – a start in which he went eight innings and gave up three runs with an impressive eight strikeouts to go along with one walk. Because the Mariners’ offense was his support, he took the loss. » Continue reading “Series Preview: Kansas City Royals”

This afternoon, the Mariners face off against the Detroit Tigers, defending ALDS champs and home team to Mariner-wannabe Prince Fielder.

Current record: 10-6

Last game: vs. Rangers. Texas clinched the four-game series with a 3-2 win, when Detroit closer Thad Weber entered the 11th and loaded the bases, handing a bunt single to third baseman Alberto Gonzalez for the tie-breaking run.

Last series against Seattle: June 9 – 12, 2011. Seattle split the series 2-2, managing only a single run in each loss. Three of the four games were started by former Mariners—Michael Pineda, Erik Bedard, and current Tiger Doug Fister.

Over two road trips and one homestand, the M’s went 6-4 against the Tigers: 5-2 at Comerica Park, and 1-2 in Safeco Field.

Toughest player: Prince Fielder. He may not be the most formidable at the plate, but with a shiny 9-year, $214M contract, he bought the spotlight for this series. To date, he’s 19-for-68 with a 0.55 BB/K rate and 4 extra-base hits.

Weakest link: Ryan Raburn. Batting a weak .073/.174/.098 through 14 games, he has gone 3-for-41, hitless since April 17 and unable to reach base in his last three games. Although Raburn made late-inning replacements in the past two match-ups against the Rangers, he hasn’t seen a plate appearance since the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.

Expected result: This week, my concern lies more with the Mariners’ four-game losing streak than the Tigers’ power-hitting corner infielders. Seattle’s offense looked slightly more competent on Sunday than it did on Saturday (of course, anything is an improvement over being no-hit), but whether they can successfully channel that frustration into sufficient production at the plate remains to be seen.

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For up-to-date news on the Tigers, check out Motown Lowdown.

Final score: Mariners 4, Athletics 0

Last night the Mariners were embarrassed by the Oakland Athletics, putting up a measly three hits and zero runs en route to a 4-0 drubbing that seemed like it was actually even worse than that. The Mariners looked absolutely incapable of playing like a Major League ballclub should and a lot of the buzz surrounding the team’s unexpected hot start (if you can call a 4-4 record a hot start) was all but erased.

If you were to look up the dictionary definition of the word ‘opposite,’ you just might see a picture taken from today’s game. The Athletics were the team that couldn’t muster any offense and the Mariners ended up getting the 4-0 win. Last night the Mariners had five baserunners and tonight the Athletics had seven. Last night the Mariners struck out six times and left ten runners on base. Tonight Oakland struck out seven times, stranding eleven. Baseball is a funny game.

After being (understandably) roughed up by the Rangers’ lineup in Texas, Hector Noesi was hoping to have a better outing in his Safeco debut and his night could not have gone much better. His pitches were working all night long and he was able to last eight innings, scattering five hits and not giving up a single run. His battery mate was Jesus Montero, fellow ex-Yankee  who came over in the offseason trade for Michael Pineda and Jose Campos. Montero looked adequate behind the plate and the fact that Miguel Olivo seems to be the clear favorite backstop of Eric Wedge is mind-boggling.

In addition to his impressive second night as catcher, Montero continued to show why he has been constantly listed as one of the top hitting prospects in the country. After what seems like months (but in reality has only been nine games), Montero hit his first homerun as a Mariner, a shot to centerfield that gave the Mariners their first run of the game. When Montero came up again in the bottom of the sixth with the bases loaded, he lined a double to right field, scoring two more runs. Montero now has an 8-game hitting streak, the longest in the majors, and has raised his batting average to .323.

It’s safe to say that, as of right now, the Mariners are the clear winners of the Pineda/Montero swap, as Pineda remains on the disabled list after a strange spring training. Pineda arrived out of shape and pitched injured while not telling anybody. Noesi and Montero have both been impressive for Seattle and look to be locks for the future. (Just out of curiosity I checked to see what Jose Campos’ numbers have been like in the Yankees’ farm system so far – apparently he is 2-0 in two starts and has given up a total of one hit in eleven innings. Yikes.)

The Mariners are back to .500 and look to regain a winning record in a Sunday afternoon game. They’ll send Blake Beavan to the mound against Graham Godfrey, who I’ve never heard of before. Apparently he is a 27-year-old righty who is 1-3 in five career starts. More importantly, there were rumblings on the ROOT Sports broadcast that John Jaso is scheduled to catch. Hopefully this is more than just a timeout for Miguel Olivo.

Next game: vs. A’s | April 15 | 1:10pm

Credit: Mike H/Flickr

Prior to departing for Japan this afternoon, the Mariners announced their 30-man travel roster. They will cut it down to 28 players before next Wednesday’s game against Oakland, then trim it to 25 before April 6. Several players who are expected to make the 25-man roster will not be traveling to Tokyo, including starting pitcher Kevin Millwood.

Three non-roster invitees are still on the list: backup catcher Guillermo Quiroz, infielder and #1 Ichiro fan Munenori Kawasaki, and right-hander Erasmo Ramirez. For a detailed explanation of roster moves and the complete travel list, check out Jim Evans’ post on the Mariners’ official blog.

Yesterday, Eric Wedge revealed his starting five-man rotation for this season: Felix Hernandez, Jason Vargas, Hector Noesi, Blake Beavan, and Kevin Millwood. Right-handed starter Hisashi Iwakuma will begin the year in the ‘pen. Via Greg Johns:

“Quite frankly, I think that’s the best way to transition him this year with the history he had last year with the health and what not, introducing him to this game and helping him get off to a good start,” Wedge said.

Felix and Vargas are obvious shoo-ins for the rotation, as is Blake Beavan, who emerged from Tacoma in July 2011 and started 15 games in Seattle.

Millwood was acquired over the offseason, with a split 2011 season between the Yankees and Red Sox Triple-A teams and the Rockies’ major league club. He started 9 games, picking up 4 wins, a 4.30 FIP, and 1.51 WHIP in 54.1 IP. This spring, he contributed 2 wins, 12 Ks, and a 3.21 ERA in 4 appearances. From Greg Johns’ blog:

“He made this ballclub,” said Wedge. “He made the decision for us just by the way he pitched and competed.”

Noesi came over in the Jesus Montero-Michael Pineda trade, and cracked the Yankees’ 40-man roster after five seasons in their minor league system. In 28 relief appearances and 2 starts, he put up a 4.09 FIP and 1.51 WHIP in 30 starts and 56.1 IP. He started 2 Cactus League games this month, pitching 5.0 innings to strike out 2 batters and finish with a 1.80 ERA.

Next week, Noesi will start the first exhibition game against the Hanshin Tigers. Iwakuma is slated for the second exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants, while Hernandez and Vargas split the opening series against Oakland.

Aww, Michael. (Credit: Keith Allison/Flickr)

Yesterday, I spent a good ten minutes or so adding articles to this list. I spent several days trying to find the best links to promote, the funniest blogs. I thought, I can’t wait to post this on Wednesday. And then Wednesday came and went, and I forgot to publish it. And of course, all of this is a long-winded way to say: Here is my overdue post. Enjoy.

Mariners blow out Padres 13-7; Eric Wedge says not concerned by Iwakuma’s early exit — I worry too much about Iwakuma; Geoff Baker and Eric Wedge do not. Also, I know it’s easy just to read Baker’s titles because they’re so long, but click on the link. I promise there’s much more to his post (and a video!).

Forgotten Prospects — Bryant Bartlett has a list of some prospects we shouldn’t forget about. Or, prospects we should forget about. Either way, not many have landed in the major league Spring Training camp this year, so it may be a while before we see them.

Pineda withstands first NY rip job, pitches well in Yankee debut — Although this news is as welcome as a photo of your ex with his new girlfriend, it’s nice to see Michael Pineda flourishing in New York. You know, just as long as he forgets how to pitch in Safeco Field or something.

Positional Power Rankings: Center Field — Fangraphs’ Wendy Thurm is here to talk about center fielders. I believe the general consensus is that we could really use Franklin Gutierrez.

40-man, Player by Player: Felix Hernandez — Felix is slimming down. He’s bringing back his slider. He’s here to stay. Click on the link to read the other 987 words of this article featuring Seattle’s best.

Rick Rizzs Catches Up With Ken Griffey Jr. — Rizzs shares his favorite moments with “The Kid.”

Mariners World Series 2012 — It’s not often that I recommend an entire blog (in fact, I think I’ve yet to do so), but this is well worth your time. Hat tip to Lookout Landing for the link.

What are you reading this week? If you have a killer Mariners blog, or know someone who does, tell us all about it in the comments!

Credit: Mark Sobba/Flickr

As we wait for the Mariners-Padres game to commence, another squad of Mariners is taking on the Reds in Goodyear for this year’s first B Game. Both Danny Hultzen and Taijuan Walker had a pair of scoreless innings, while Luis Jimenez put the M’s up 1-0 with an opposite-field home run. For live updates, swing by From the Corner of Edgar & Dave.

Today’s A-squad lineups:

Seattle: 2B Ackley, SS Ryan, RF Ichiro, 3B Smoak, LF Wells, 3B Seager, C Olivo, DH Peguero, CF Saunders, RHP Iwakuma.

San Diego: CF Blake Tekotte, 2B Orlando Hudson, 3B Chase Headley, LF Carlos Quentin, 1B Yonder Alonso, C Nick Hundley, RF Mark Kotsay, DH James Darnell, SS Andy Parrino, RHP Dustin Moseley.

This will be the first Spring Training start for Iwakuma, who last pitched two innings in the Mariners’ third intrasquad game, retiring the side in the 1st and allowing 2 walks, 3 hits, and 3 runs in the 2nd.

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For live game coverage, listen to the broadcast on MLB.com and catch every pitch with Gameday. If you have a MLB.TV subscription package, I’d also recommend watching a little of the Yankees-Phillies game this morning, as Michael Pineda makes his first start for New York!

Credit: WordOfMouth/Flickr

On the heels of a not-so-distant Mariners-Yankees trade for Michael Pineda and Jose Campos, New York has also picked up former Mariner David Aardasma.

In a tweet from YES Network’s Jack Curry:

“Yanks signed David Aardsma, who had Tommy John surgery last July. Cashman said Aardsma may be able to pitch in ’12 but more of move for ’13.”

Aarsdma spent two full seasons with the Mariners after the Red Sox traded him for LHP Fabian Williamson in 2009. He finished with a .290 ERA and 1.16 WHIP, striking out 129 batters and earning 69 saves over 121.0 IP. In 2011, he was optioned to the Tacoma Rainiers, where he spent four months before undergoing Tommy John surgery.

He accepted a $500,000 contract, with performance bonuses for innings pitched and games finished and a similar option for 2013. When asked about his time in Seattle, Aardsma had this to say (via Geoff Baker):

“He [Wedge] stood behind me, with Wak (manager Don Wakamatsu) and said ‘You have the stuff, you just have to believe in yourself.”’

You can follow David on Twitter at @TheDA53.

Credit: @Mariners

Today is the day you’ve been waiting for: Mariners 2012 Commercials Day! Judging by the players’ reactions so far, we’re in for a lot of laughs—and, I hope, another appearance from Larry Bernandez.

Major Moves

In this week’s musical chairs, Alex Liddi will see more time at first base, Kyle Seager is also stuck at first for pitchers fielding practice, and Vinnie Catricala will be jumping between third base and the outfield.

Three players made special impressions on the staff so far this week: LHP James Paxton, RHP Erasmo Ramirez, and utility infielder Munenori Kawasaki. In a piece from Geoff Baker, pitching coach Carl Willis picked up on Paxton’s consistent delivery, reminiscent of Michael Pineda’s techniques:

“Willis said Paxton understands the game more than a lot of young pitchers he’s seen. He said he grasps the need to learn the changeup and understands what it will do for his career if he can master it like he has his fastball and curve.”

Of course, there’s no sense getting too excited too early—after all, Willis has only observed two bullpen sessions from Paxton. Much of Spring Training remains.

Willis also had positive things to say about Nicaraguan hurler Erasmo Ramirez, who despite his short stature, is making large strides in camp so far. Via Greg Johns:

“I saw him in Low A ball when I first came here as coordinator. He’s a plus strike thrower, He’s deceptive because of his size, with the velocity he can get. He creates some angle. He has such a good feel for his secondary stuff for a young kid.”

Finally, Munenori Kawasaki showed up early to camp for some extra practice before the rest of the team reports on Saturday. Greg Johns, Eric Wedge, and Fernando Alcala have noted the infielder’s high energy and enthusiasm, akin to the vibe Brendan Ryan brings to the field.

After declining his option to Tacoma and becoming a free agent, Johns speculates that Chris Gimenez may opt for the Pirates after his signing deadline today.

Top Tweets

Today, both tweets come courtesy of Mariners potential third baseman, Vinnie Catricala: