Comments on: Mariners Open Up to the Fans

By: sirsean

sirsean — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:46:37 +0000

Yeah, it’ll help that Ibanez is gone. He just murdered us.

By: Erica

Erica — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:39:47 +0000

It would be nice if they were still bad for the first week, at least. A sweep of the M’s would be a good way for the Twins to open up 2009. And Ibanez is gone to Philly (I believe), so that should help.

By: sirsean

sirsean — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:34:48 +0000

Santana would be TERRIBLE in Texas. You really don't want homer-prone pitchers if your stadium is like that.

Actually ... maybe I'm overreacting a bit. Everyone thinks the Dome is a pitcher's park, except that it was always a hitter's park until the Twins' pitching got good.

Now there are 81 games played at the Dome, and in 100% of them there's at least one team with good pitching and awful hitting. Does anyone else think those park-neutralization methods need some work to account for that?

But yes, Texas will always be a slugging team as long as their stadium works the way it does. No matter what Nolan Ryan says.

By: FunBobby

FunBobby — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:22:38 +0000

While the back end of Seattle’s rotation is terrible, Felix and Bedard (assuming he is finally healthy) should win them some ball games. They got Gutierrez (I think that is his name) from Cleveland to solidify their outfield defense, they have a good young catcher. I think that entire division will be down, and the winner will probably have around 90 wins. Maybe even less. Every year Texas “adds some pitching” problem is the way that ball park is built, “adding some pitching” won’t help unless its Johan Santana. Remember a few years back when Kevin Millwood won the era title in Cleveland, and then was terrible the following year in Texas? I don’t ever see the rangers becoming a multi-dimensional team. Didn’t Seattle do a good job of beating us too? I guess it was technically Ibanez, but still. I remember us losing to them way too many times, for how terrible they were. I think having a bunch of new people in charge will help this team forget why they were so bad last year.

By: sirsean

sirsean — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:43:45 +0000

The Angels won't be that great this year.

They greatly overperformed their Pythagorean record (by the most that any team has EVER overperformed, actually).

They don't have a first baseman. Vlad is old as shit. Willits is the love child of Punto and Tyner. Gary Matthews Jr is, well, Gary Matthews Jr. Juan Rivera is slow, injury-prone, and useless.

What they have going for them is a good rotation (who should come back to earth a little this year), a good bullpen (which should come back to earth a little this year -- AND no K-Rod), and a good manager.

I wouldn't be shocked to see them finish third in the West.

By: Erica

Erica — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:40:25 +0000

I don’t see how the Mariners can have a good season in ‘09. The Angels will be good, the A’s made a lot of moves to get better, and the Rangers might actually add some pitching. The Mariners won’t be cellar dwellers forever, but I think they will need a year or two to recover, and I would bet the Mariners FO used this conference to give the fans a reason to show up at the ballpark.

By: sirsean

sirsean — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:21:33 +0000

I don't see it as a desperate move.

If it's a one-time thing, it's probably more of a "come get to know the new guys" thing, rather than a desperate ploy.

And the Mariners do have hope for 2009 -- they regressed badly in 2008, but they underperformed their expectation by as much as they overperformed in 2007. They could be a .500 team in 2009, and they don't need to panic.

I suppose we'll see if the Mariners do this again a year from now -- I certainly hope they do, since that's a trend I'd like to see popularized.

By: Erica

Erica — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:03:04 +0000

The Mariners desperately needed some kind of action to keep fans interested after such a colossal failure last season and little hope for this year. This is a keep-the-faith rallying cry (or last hurrah before all the losses begin, maybe).

Since the Twins were mostly successful last year, they don't need to make any desperate moves like this- and giving away the business model probably isn't prudent, as you said.

By: sirsean

sirsean — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:13:03 +0000

I've also never attended, but from the recaps I've heard it's more of a "come out and support the team, we're not going to give you anything in return" type of deal.

More like a political campaign fundraiser than a sports team.

By: FunBobby

FunBobby — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:43:13 +0000

Has anyone ever participated in the Twins Winter Caravan? Don’t they usually have question and answer sessions at that. I have never been since apparently it only takes place in towns of about 20,000 people. Since it is organized by the team, my guess is there isn’t too much transparency, but its better than nothing, I guess.