Season Previews: Seattle Mariners

With Spring Training well underway, it's time for one of our favorite things in all the world: Season Previews. Five years ago, they began as a semi-serious analysis and ended up as half-assed haiku. We're just gonna go with what we know. Continuing our preview of the American League West, here is our version of the 2012 Seattle Mariners.

Felix Hernandez
Vargas and Iwakuma
Hector Noesi too

Brandon League will close
Wilhelmson and Camp relieve
With Kelley and Kuo

Ichiro in right
Got mad hits like Rod Carew
He's Hall of Fame bound

Mike Carp in left field
Gutierrez in center
Robinson and Wells

Justin Smoak at first
Brendan Ryan at short stop
Ackley at second

Chone Figgins at third
Alex Liddi backs him up
He's the infield bench

Miguel Olivo
Is the starting catcher and
Montero's DH

Prince Fielder Still a Homeless Free Agent, Where Will He Play in 2012 and Beyond?

It's a little odd that Prince Fielder is still out there on the free agent market. We thought for sure he'd be signed some time during the winter meetings, either before or after the Albert Pujols hoopla. When that didn't happen, we figured he was just being choosy.

A few different teams have been named in the rumor mill, which is full of speculation and lies. We love it.

The Texas Rangers, who clearly have the money to spend after flaunting $51.7 million for rights to negotiates with Yu Darvish and his Nippon Ham Fighters, might be a good fit for the free agent first baseman. First off, The Ballpark in Arlington is a hitter's paradise and Fielder has a huge baseball bat. Second, Mitch Moreland is not Prince Fielder.

Watch Out Everyone, the Prince Fielder Sweepstakes Have Officially Begun

Poor Prince Fielder. After all of the hooting and hollering over Albert Pujols, Jose Reyes, and C.J. Wilson, we almost forgot about our chubby free agent first baseman. Let's turn our attention to him for a little bit.

The former Milwaukee Brewers slugger and his agent Scott Boras are open for negotiations now that all the other big fish have been reeled in. However, they seem to be searching for a suitor who's willing to spend $200 million over seven or eight years, which is going to be tough to find since most teams out there won't be into the idea of give Fielder more than a five year contract, even though he's apparently only 27.

It's speculated that either the Miami Marlins or St. Louis Cardinals could afford to sign him, considering the ridiculous contracts both teams offered Pujols. However, the Texas Rangers might want his services to help with the imminent battle against their division rival Angels, who are about to dominate the hell out of the American League West. Count on it.

Rest in Peace, Greg Halman

Update: Police are now saying that loud music may have escalated an argument between the brothers. However, they are still trying to piece together the events of that night. We'll keep this post updated as the news comes.

Update: Prosecutors have reported that Jason Halman will be detained for another two weeks on suspicion of murder or manslaughter of his brother.

Sad and shocking news for the Seattle Mariners club this morning: outfielder Greg Halman was stabbed to death in The Hauge, Netherlands, and his 22-year-old brother has been arrested as a suspect.

Police and paramedics were called to a home in the port city early Monday morning to find the 24-year-old Dutch player bleeding from an apparent stab wound. Unfortunately, they were unable to resuscitate him.

No charges have been filed in the case and Rotterdam Police spokeswoman Patricia Wessels declined to give any further details about their relationship. However, she did issue this short statement regarding the investigation into the death of the promising young player:

Rangers Keep AL West Crown, Sip on Ginger Ale

While the Milwaukee Brewers and Arizona Diamondbacks soaked each other in champagne after clinching their respective division titles at home Friday night, the Texas Rangers did no such thing.

Upon winning the American League West for the second straight season, the Rangers sprayed ginger ale all over the clubhouse, saluting their non-alcoholic beverages in the air in respect to their alcoholic teammate, Josh Hamilton. Now that's love.

Texas did their recovering buddy the same solid last season after winning the ALDS before eventually heading to the World Series, where they lost to the San Francisco Giants, who totally blew it recently.

Mariano Rivera Earns 600th Save for New York Yankees

Mariano Rivera earned his 600th career save Tuesday night, slamming the door on his New York Yankees' 3-2 win over the Seattle Mariners.

The 41-year-old closer, who's enjoyed 12 All-Star considerations over his 17-year career, entered the game with a one-run lead in the ninth inning. He struck out pinch hitter Wily Mo Pena before Ichiro Suzuki blooped a single into left field. Kyle Seager then went down on strikes before Ichiro busted for second with Dustin Ackley at the plate. Russell Martin was having none of that though, and threw a perfect strike to Derek Jeter to end the game.

CC Sabathia is a Big Fat Strikeout Machine

CC Sabathia, or Captain Cheeseburger as we so fondly call him, was an absolute beast on the hill Tuesday.

The New York Yankees left-hander struck out a career-high 14 Seattle Mariners in his team's 4-1 victory, providing the Mariners with their 17th straight loss and himself with his 15th win on the season.

Sabathia flirted with perfection, not allowing a base runner until Brendan Ryan singled with one out in the seventh inning. And he fanned seven guys in a row at one point... just filthy dirty. Then he got a little tired I guess, cause he walked the first three batters of the following inning before being lifted for David Robertson... who struck out four more Mariners.

Can the Mariners Get their Crap Together?

We mentioned last week how much the Seattle Mariners were sucking at baseball, and after an entire weekend, that is still the case.

Generally, records and milestones are pretty awesome accomplishments. In the 43-58 Mariners' case, the record they set on Sunday is rather embarrassing. The club suffered a franchise-worst 15th straight loss upon a 12-8 rout by the Boston Red Sox that afternoon, etching this particular team's name into the Seattle Museum of Suckdom.

What's that Sucking Sound? Oh, it's Just the Mariners

While the Texas Rangers just finished enjoying a nice 12-game winning streak, the Seattle Mariners are on the complete other side of the spectrum.

The Mariners lost their 11th straight game Wednesday night at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 11-6, their 15th loss in 20 games. This marks their longest skid since back in 2008 when they dropped 12 consecutive games... which isn't looking like it's going to be the record.

Things were looking up right away in the first inning when the M's loaded the bases off Brandon Morrow with no one out, but of course, failed to score. They've managed five runs in back-to-back games now for the first time since June 2 and 3 - both of which they won against the Tampa Bay Rays - but it apparently wasn't enough against the Jays.

Let's see if Seattle can manage to halt this streak of suckiness, or tie their all-time record for consecutive losses. I'm gonna go with the latter this afternoon, only because Doug Fister is on the hill against Ricky Romero, who's had career luck against everyone in the order other than Ichiro... which goes without saying.

[Sweet Spot]

Don't Look Now but the Nationals are Playing .500

This may not seem like a cause worth celebrating to many teams, but when you're the Washington Nationals, it's a pretty big deal.

After their 10th win in 11 games in which they beat the (also-.500) Seattle Mariners 2-1 Wednesday, the Nationals have found themselves at a nice even .500 record on the season.

Fan Rushes Safeco Field to Shake Ichiro's Hand

I'm not sure when people are going to learn, but this guy obviously didn't get the memo about the amazing security at Safeco Field.

Of the four fans who ran onto the field at different times Sunday during the Seattle Mariners' 7-1 loss to the New York Yankees, the (third) dumbass made it almost all the way to Ichiro Suzuki in right before getting laid out. Plus, this guy was fully clothed, so I don't see the point.

[Sports Overdose]

And I Got Mad Hits Like I Was [Ichiro] Rod Carew

On the 10th anniversary of his big league debut, Ichiro Suzuki nailed a ninth-inning RBI single to become the Seattle Mariners all-time hits leader.

During his team's 5-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics Saturday, the All-Star right-fielder tied the mark on an infield single in the third inning before his milestone hit in the ninth off Brian Fuentes.

King Felix: Better Luck Next Time... Guy

If I had an epic arm like Felix Hernandez, I would totally cheat at Carnival games too. Among other things.

Season Previews: Seattle Mariners

With Opening Day just around the corner, it's time for one of our favorite things in all the world: Season Previews. Four years ago, they began as a semi-serious analysis and ended up as half-assed haiku. We're just gonna go with what we know. Moving right along with our preview of the American League West, here are the Seattle Mariners.

We think Ichiro
Is a first-ballot entry
He's such a badass

Let's see if Bradley
Can stay out of the slammer
For a month or two

Good luck Mike Saunders!
Franklin Gutierrez is
The center fielder

Wilsons and Ryan
Up the middle making plays
Either Jack or Josh

Miguel Olivo
Strained his groin the other day
Feeling better now

Justin Smoak at first
And TOO'-ee-AH'-so-SO'-poh
Behind Chone at third

Happy Trails Ian Snell

How great would it be to retire before the age of 30?

Ian Snell decided to do just that, calling it quits at age 29 after the St. Louis Cardinals sent him to the minors.

The right-hander signed a minor league deal back in January after a not-so-great 2010 season with the Seattle Mariners in which he went 0-5 with 6.41 ERA in 12 games, including eight starts.

Snell pitched in one game this Spring with the AAA Memphis Redbirds, lasting two innings and allowing two runs on March 3. He then appeared in two B-squad games, the last on Monday when he surrendered two runs in one inning against Atlanta.

Over seven big league seasons, Snell was 38-53 with a 4.80 ERA. His best season came in 2006 when he enjoyed a career-high 14 victories for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Have a nice retirement, buddy.

[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

Surprise! Milton Bradley Arrested in California

I would hope by now that most of you are well aware of the fact that Milton Bradley is a bit of a loose cannon. In fact, he's what many would consider a total nut job. He's like five beers short of a six pack. One stamp short of postal. About four cents short of a nickel. You get the idea.

In case you would like some back story, here is a neat little timeline of all the crazy crap he's done. We had quite a bit of fun putting that together last Spring. Actually, it took forever.

Eric Wedge Gets a Shot in Seattle

After a year away from baseball, which he probably needed after those terrible last couple of seasons with the Cleveland Indians, Eric Wedge is back in the game.

The 42-year-old has filled Don Wakamatsu's shoes as the Seattle Mariners seventh manager since 2003. He has a tough job ahead too: attempting to rebuild a once-flourishing franchise who was actually supposed to be pretty good in 2010. Turns out, they sucked their way to 101 losses.

Wedge was the Indians' skipper for seven years until they canned him with just six games left in the 2009 season as the team fell to last place in the American League Central.

Babes Love Baseball Greats: Ken Griffey, Sr.

While waiting in line for airport security, Ken Griffey, Sr. took the time to chat on the phone with Babes Love Baseball. No, I'm not kidding. The three-time All Star and two-time World Champion is pretty busy these days. He's not only a batting coach for the Reds single-A affiliate Dayton Dragons, but he's also joined Depend in spreading awareness about prostate cancer.

And now, for your reading enjoyment, I bring to you my attempt at interviewing a baseball great without completely shrieking like an excited 4-year-old. Enjoy.

Babes Love Baseball: Mr. Griffey, tell me a bit about the Depend campaign against Prostate Cancer.

Ken Griffey, Sr.: As a five year prostate cancer survivor, I've been doing work with Depend to raise awareness, to get people screened early, and to increase their chances of survival. I've been doing this for about three years now.

Jose Bautista Launches No. 50, 51, 52

On a historic day for Ichiro Suzuki and the Seattle Mariners, Jose Bautista had to go and steal the thunder at the Rogers Centre, not to mention spoil an outstanding pitching performance by an American League Cy Young candidate.

That's just how he rolls.

The Toronto Blue Jays slugger crushed a 2-1 fastball over the left field wall off Mariners ace Felix Hernandez for his 50th home run of the season. This not only gave his team a 1-0 lead, but proved to be the only run of what turned out to be quite a pitcher's duel.

While King Feliz allowed just two hits and a run throughout his complete game, the Mariners couldn't manage to string anything together off Shawn Hill and four Toronto relievers.

And I Got Mad Hits Like I Was Rod Carew

Congratulations to Ichiro Suzuki on tying a major league record with his 10th 200-hit season.

The Seattle Mariners right fielder entered Thursday with 198 hits before collecting no. 199 with a third-inning double down the left-field line and a base hit two innings later in his team's tough 1-0 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, which was highlighted by an outstanding performance by Felix Hernandez, which was crushed by Jose Bautista's 50th home run of the season.

Until today, the 200-hit record was all Pete Rose's since back in September of 1979.

Ichiro is officially the first and only player to record 200 hits in 10 consecutive seasons to extend his own record. He's also the youngest guy to hit the mark, since Rose was 38 years old in his 17th big league season and Ty Cobb, who had only nine 200-hit seasons, was 37 when he last hit the milestone in his 20th and final season in the majors.

Ichiro, clearly one of the best hitters ever, will be 37 on October 22, and is polishing off his 10th season in the bigs. Way to go buddy!

[MLB Video]