Mariners 2019 season

[Shanegotyou11]

So if they are in it in july, you still want us to sell for hopes and wishes for 2021. (By in it i mean leading playoff race) That makes zero sense if you could make it now. You instead are relying for hopes and wishes instead.

yes, you still sell.. because this team as it is will not beat the Astros, Yankees, Red Sox, etal, even if they can hang with them for a bit. Sure, maybe they are a 1st wild card over a barely above average Twins team or a struggling A's team.

That's the mentality they tried the last two years and are now where they are. Repeating it doesnt make sense.

If they are still in it in June,/july.. and riding the good performances of vet players, those player's assets are now worth more. Cash them in, promote the young players who should be the ones that can take the team places for the long term.

That's actually an incentive for guys like Encarnacion and Bruce et al. If they do well for us, there's a chance they'll get traded to a legit contender at the deadline. I don't care what our record is at the half way point of the season. I want to stick with the program, which is to get our younger guys together so they can learn to play and succeed as a team. Usually, I'm not one to want to sell if there is any mathematical hope. This year, not so much. They have a plan and I'm buying in to it.

yeah, i mean unless they are on a 116 win pace and leading the division by 10, you have to.

Even then, i think you still move players like Bruce and Encarnacion on.

Astros sucked forever. So its a little different. If we are winning and winning to the playoffs im for the now. Im not for the "oh i hope this young team wins in 2021".
Every year is different.

 

[Atradees]

more Vogalbombs please.........SoDo Sluggers? Sea Bombers? I like this team. Im living in the moment. I loving Bruce, Encarcion,.......everyone.

 

[Uncle Si]

yes, you still sell.. because this team as it is will not beat the Astros, Yankees, Red Sox, etal, even if they can hang with them for a bit. Sure, maybe they are a 1st wild card over a barely above average Twins team or a struggling A's team.

That's the mentality they tried the last two years and are now where they are. Repeating it doesnt make sense.

If they are still in it in June,/july.. and riding the good performances of vet players, those player's assets are now worth more. Cash them in, promote the young players who should be the ones that can take the team places for the long term.

That's actually an incentive for guys like Encarnacion and Bruce et al. If they do well for us, there's a chance they'll get traded to a legit contender at the deadline. I don't care what our record is at the half way point of the season. I want to stick with the program, which is to get our younger guys together so they can learn to play and succeed as a team. Usually, I'm not one to want to sell if there is any mathematical hope. This year, not so much. They have a plan and I'm buying in to it.

yeah, i mean unless they are on a 116 win pace and leading the division by 10, you have to.

Even then, i think you still move players like Bruce and Encarnacion on.

Astros sucked forever. So its a little different. If we are winning and winning to the playoffs im for the now. Im not for the "oh i hope this young team wins in 2021".
Every year is different.

The mariners have sucked forever. Irs not any different. Dont disregard their process while watching your team do the same.

You can want to win now. But youre just agreeing to the same process that has cost the mariners years and years of futility while they tried to squeeze out some success from decent lineups at top 10 salary prices.

If (big if) the ms are playing this well in july... then the GM needs to be steady

 

[Crizilla]

M's we're 55-31 at one point last season. Still so many games left obviously but this is pretty fun. This offense really knows how to work the count so far. Seager is gonna have to step it up once he's back.

 

[West TX Hawk]

Super early but my gosh this offense is so enjoyable to watch. Must see TV at the moment. The big tests will be the Houston series next week and in June and the 10 game road trip at Cleveland, NY and Boston in May. While everyone expects the team to slide you just never know and have to have some semblance of hope for the sake of it.

A real positive is that when slumps inevitably happen this team is capable of manufacturing runs too. They have speed and good contact hitters that can put the ball in play on a hit and run. And they have good team chemistry that will help to battle past a losing streak. They obviously need bullpen help and hopefully Sheffield and Swanson are ready to be called up to help the rotation when needed.

As to playing for this year versus ‘21 there’s been some good arguments on both sides. One thing to look at is IF the team is actually in 1st in July and have won series against the Astros and won or split the 4 game May series at NY you have to consider if they’ve been given a gift horse—don’t kick it away. You just never know that with a few more pieces, this year could actually end up being their best chance to contend for awhile. If they’re just in a wlldcard position in July though then it’s certainly not worth it to go all-in this year and if they dip back into mediocrity then expect many moves by the deadline.

If the team continues to defy the odds and keeps winning, to actually contend this year though you have to call up Justus or Swanson as soon as Felix inevitably goes to crap. When Seager comes back limit him to a platoon role. Trade Encarnacion and/or Bruce (make Vogelbach full time DH) for relief pitching help. Call up Altavilla, option/DFA Rosscup and Gearrin. Hope Bautista contributes in a 7th inning role when he returns. And stay healthy with our crafty starters having a combined ERA of 4 and the lineup continuing to mash.

Of course Jerry could stay the course for ‘21, trade all the vets including Beckham, Leake, LeBlanc, Gordon, Encarnacion, Healy and Bruce and hope the young prospects are better in 2 years than this group right now. How confident is everyone though that JP Crawford (who’s hit .243 in 4 years in AAA) is going to have a better year in ‘21 than Beckham is having now? Or Shed Long will be more valuable than Gordon is this year? Who in Tacoma do you have that’s going to be dropping bombs in ‘21 better than this club already has? Are there really any can’t miss prospects you could net in deadline trades this year? How many FA sluggers will actually be on the market in ‘21 that would want to come here?

Maybe the long plan will work and is still the best course but based on this surprising success so far I think Jerry is in wait and see mode for what he does in July. Time will tell.

 

[getnasty]

I don't know if the 2021 prospects will turn out to be anything but i do know the more you have the better the chances are that you hit on some. I also know that this team doesn't have the pitching to be a real contender and to pick up another starter and a ton of bullpen help is going to cost you some of those prospects.

 

[Uncle Si]

I don't know if the 2021 prospects will turn out to be anything but i do know the more you have the better the chances are that you hit on some. I also know that this team doesn't have the pitching to be a real contender and to pick up another starter and a ton of bullpen help is going to cost you some of those prospects.

Thats the thing... their are a half dozen prospects in Tacoma who already look the part. Its early, though.


Still, if the Ms are still competing in july, youd hope its not on the backs of Bruce and EE. or Leake and Seager. Those players have ready made replacements and the possibility their production is equalled is better than relying in them through October.

Players like Beckham and Haninger are the ones where the real dilemma will be.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Well, they were supposed to be average at best. Clearly this is a good team, don't care how early it is. I still worry about the bullpen, but damn they can crush the ball.

 

[Hawk-Lock]

I'm struggling to figure out this Mariners team. Just looking at the schedule, I think we will know by mid May where this team is. Hard to measure them right now, because their first two games were in Japan. They took care of business against the Red Sox, but they look like they have a hangover from the WS. White Sox and Royals are suppose to be awful this season. But after that they have to play some tough competition in the Astros, Indians twice, Cubs and Yankees.

I just don't think scoring nearly 8 runs per game is sustainable. At some point that number is going to come down. It's very early, we are 11 games into the season, lets see where they are in about a month.

 

[sutz]

I'm struggling to figure out this Mariners team. Just looking at the schedule, I think we will know by mid May where this team is. Hard to measure them right now, because their first two games were in Japan. They took care of business against the Red Sox, but they look like they have a hangover from the WS. White Sox and Royals are suppose to be awful this season. But after that they have to play some tough competition in the Astros, Indians twice, Cubs and Yankees.

I just don't think scoring nearly 8 runs per game is sustainable. At some point that number is going to come down. It's very early, we are 11 games into the season, lets see where they are in about a month.

That's the thing. It is fun to enjoy them now, but obviously the flying fickle finger of fate will hit some day with about 99% certainty, and things will go south, at least for a while. It's a streaky game. The most likely scenario is that the M's will regress to the mean and end up around a 75-85 win team, probably at best.

The key will be how they respond when the wheels start to come off. Everybody is scouting everybody, and teams on a hot streak get a lot of attention as upcoming opponents start to figure out how to counter tendencies. How will the young guys that we're counting on in a couple of years respond to that? As always, how they perform when struggling will show what kind of character they have.

It's been a great start, but there are probably some ugly times ahead. We had a couple of clean games with no errors. Did all of our defensive players all of a sudden become all-stars? Seems unlikely.

I'm just enjoying the now, and hope the bad times coming can be weathered...not so much in a "win the division" way, but in a "how do they look for the long term" way.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Yep, there will always be that part of me that has that "same old M's" thing going on, it's a natural feeling with this team.
I laugh at the people who tell others "it's early" like they don't like other people enjoying themselves. Just my own opinion, but shoot....enjoy the ride. I still suspect they finish under .500, but I hope to continue to be wrong about this team. I hate feeling that way, but it's hard after 17 years of this to not just feel like they will choke down the stretch. The future is clearly bright with this team though.

 

[Uncle Si]

Yep, there will always be that part of me that has that "same old M's" thing going on, it's a natural feeling with this team.
I laugh at the people who tell others "it's early" like they don't like other people enjoying themselves. Just my own opinion, but shoot....enjoy the ride. I still suspect they finish under .500, but I hope to continue to be wrong about this team. I hate feeling that way, but it's hard after 17 years of this to not just feel like they will choke down the stretch. The future is clearly bright with this team though.

This teams not built to ein so anything they do can be turned into a positive.

For me, "its early" focuses more on the players and who is actually good (and what they may net in a trade, or a future salary) than anything to do with wins and losses.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

It's gonna' be interesting when they have their first losing streak. Most teams go thru it. Shoot, look at the Red Sox......

 

[Chapow]

Right now I don't really care about who can be traded for what and how prospects are going to look in 2021 or whatever. I'm also not the least bit concerned about this team coming back down to earth or whatever. I'm too busy enjoying the hell out of watching this team knock the ball around all over the place.

For everyone that's so concerned and focused on what's going to happen in the future, whether it's a couple months from now or a couple years from now, don't forget to enjoy the here and now. This team is really fun to watch right now.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

They truly are. And holy hell can they smash the ball.

 

[Uncle Si]

Right now I don't really care about who can be traded for what and how prospects are going to look in 2021 or whatever. I'm also not the least bit concerned about this team coming back down to earth or whatever. I'm too busy enjoying the hell out of watching this team knock the ball around all over the place.

For everyone that's so concerned and focused on what's going to happen in the future, whether it's a couple months from now or a couple years from now, don't forget to enjoy the here and now. This team is really fun to watch right now.

Doubt people would be posting about the Mariners on a Seahawks board if they werent enjoying them play

 

[Chapow]

Right now I don't really care about who can be traded for what and how prospects are going to look in 2021 or whatever. I'm also not the least bit concerned about this team coming back down to earth or whatever. I'm too busy enjoying the hell out of watching this team knock the ball around all over the place.

For everyone that's so concerned and focused on what's going to happen in the future, whether it's a couple months from now or a couple years from now, don't forget to enjoy the here and now. This team is really fun to watch right now.

Doubt people would be posting about the Mariners on a Seahawks board if they werent enjoying them play

Seriously?

You might want to review the 2018 Mariners Regular Season thread starting about end of last June. Many, many posts from people clearly not enjoying watching them play.

 

[Uncle Si]

Im saying right now man. Come on.

 

[Largent80]

Man, Vogelbach is making the most of his chance. I live in Texas and it's hard to see the M's but since I moved I've always followed, what a great start. Of course it's a long season but dang, it's fun right now, just don't be dicks when things go different.

 

[Sports Hernia]

They truly are. And holy hell can they smash the ball.

Yep, I’ll bask in the first place glory as long as it lasts. :2thumbs: