Seattle Mariners 2021 - Promotion or FIRED?

[DD Martin]

An article in the Seattle Times on July 27th caught my eye. In an opinion piece by respected and long time Seattle columnist Larry Stone offered an opinion that the current baseball duo of GM Jerry Dipoto and Manager Scott Servais should be signed to extensions (article in full below)

From the Seattle Times
July 27, 2017
By - Larry Stone

There’s magic happening at T-Mobile Park, and it’s time to reward the architects of the most unexpectedly meaningful season in recent Mariners history.

Manager Scott Servais and general manager Jerry Dipoto have been dangling with expiring contracts all season. It was prudent to see whether the burgeoning rebuild would stay on track and provide tangible evidence that the payoff was imminent.

Conversely, if the season fell apart and the Mariners flirted with 100 losses — which wasn’t out of the realm of possibility, certainly not by the projection models — then some serious re-evaluation needed to be done.
I’ve seen enough to say: Give Dipoto and Servais contract extensions, and let them see this rebuild through to the end. Two or three years with an option sounds about right to me. They’ve earned it. That would get them to the arrival of Julio Rodriguez and the pipeline of young pitching that could propel the team to championship caliber.

The Mariners on Tuesday announced the hiring of Catie Griggs, their new president of business operations to replace Kevin Mather. But under a management restructuring, her role is separate from baseball operations. Dipoto’s contract is presumably team chairman John Stanton’s call, and Servais’ contract would then be in Dipoto’s purview.

Back to the magic: Here we are, a full 101 games into the season entering Tuesday night, and the Mariners sit nine games above .500, one game behind the A’s for the American League’s second wild-card berth.

It’s a playoff chase no one saw coming, one that defies the metrics, not to mention common sense. They are winning games they have no business winning, exemplified by Monday’s electrifying win over Houston after being down 7-0. Their margin of error is razor thin, and a backslide has always seemed to be lurking just around the corner.
But you can’t deny the black-and-white reality of the standings. This team has overachieved more than any in baseball, and it’s time to stop wondering when the magic is going to run out. Yes, I’m as guilty of that as anyone. But when you sustain it for four months, it ceases to be a mirage or fluke, and instead becomes the true measure of the team.

That’s a positive reflection on Servais, who has taken a squad that’s filled with holes and has been annihilated by key injuries, and guided them past all the other wild-card contenders. They are gaining momentum, confidence and swagger as the season progresses. Few teams in baseball, even the powerhouses, are playing better baseball over the past month or so, which is amazing for a team that still ranks near the bottom of MLB in offense.

Now just one team, Oakland, stands between Seattle and the ever-elusive playoff berth, a pursuit that has become a two-decades-long mission, and eventually an obsession, for the Mariners. You can pooh-pooh a wild-card berth that might result in nothing more than a solitary playoff game, and on the road, no less. But I don’t think you can underestimate the symbolic importance for the entire organization of getting that massive stigma — longest postseason drought in major men’s American professional sports — off its resume.

These Mariners play good, sound, fundamental baseball, which is a result of the pregame work they put in under the auspices of Servais and his coaches, particularly Perry Hill.

They have fire and personality. They are likable, and seem to like each other. The camaraderie is tangible. Again, a reflection of the manager. You can always pick nits with any manager and second-guess strategic decisions. But when a bullpen has performed as consistently well as the Mariners’ has this year, the button-pushing has to be right more often than not.

As for Dipoto, the culmination of the rebuild has been a moving target, largely because the COVID-19 ramifications have thrown prospect development back a few steps. But it’s increasingly hard to argue that the Mariners aren’t moving toward the goal, which is championship contention. They are indisputably in playoff contention, which is what was once promised at this juncture but amended when the minor leagues were shut down in 2020. Yet here they are.

Certainly, some of the key pieces of the rebuild have been tenuous. Outfielder Jarred Kelenic, touted as a superstar in waiting, is still in the midst of a massive offensive struggle. It’s imperative for the Mariners’ big-picture outlook for him to figure things out — and unless every baseball evaluator is wrong, he eventually will. Kyle Lewis’ chronic knee injury is a huge concern, as is the health of first baseman Evan White. Those are three cornerstone pieces of the grand plan.

At the time the Mariners were 55-46 and closing in on one of the AL wildcard spots. They made a questionable trade that ruffled feathers in the clubhouse and dropped their next two games.

The idea of this thread will be to start a save after the trade deadline on August 1st with a live start. Based on any moves made by the deadline we will sim the rest of the season and decide if the baseball duo of Dipoto and Servais deserve a promotion.

[DD Martin]

Mariners Announce Trade
July 28th, 2021
USA Today

Like two teams in a pickup game on the sandlot, the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros swapped four players on Tuesday in the middle of a three-game series against each other.

The Astros sent infielder Abraham Toro and relief pitcher Joe Smith to the Mariners for relievers Kendall Graveman and Rafael Montero.

Unlike most deals leading up to MLB's July 30 trade deadline, this one involved two teams in the same division who are very much in contention for playoff spots. At the start of play on Tuesday, the Astros led the AL West by five games over the Oakland A's and by six over the Mariners -- with Seattle one game out of the second American League wild-card spot.

The key player in the deal is Graveman, who has been one of the best bullpen arms in the majors this season, pitching to a 0.82 ERA with four wins and 10 saves. He and Montero, who opened the season as the Mariners' closer, will help bolster an Astros bullpen that had been shaky lately.

Seattle GM Jerry DiPoto told reporters Tuesday that the deal may not make sense by itself, but the team is planning additional moves before Friday's deadline.

In Toro, the Mariners receive a promising 24-year-old third baseman who's hitting .211 with six home runs and 20 RBI in 109 at-bats -- most of them coming while starting third baseman Alex Bregman has been out with a hamstring injury.

Smith, 37, missed all of last season with a ruptured Achilles tendon. He has posted a 7.48 ERA in 27 appearances this year.

Seattle Times Article
Same Day
By Ryan Divish

Marco Gonzales stared at the concrete floor of the Mariners dugout, occasionally lifting his gaze to the field of T-Mobile Park and revealing puffy eyes red from tears.

He appeared to be listening as manager Scott Servais intently explained a decision that neither he nor his teammates wanted to believe was real and a roster move that upon first glance does little to help the Mariners in their quest to secure the first postseason appearance since 2001.

And when the conversation ended, Gonzales stalked away like a student released from detention, clearly unsatisfied with the experience and the explanation.

Less than 24 hours after an improbable 11-8 come-from-behind victory over the Houston Astros, which included overcoming a 7-0 deficit in the third inning, a go-ahead grand slam from Dylan Moore and the benches nearly emptying after J.P. Crawford was hit by a pitch, all the good feeling from the best win of the season was replaced by confusion, anger and frustration at the Mariners front office.

Early Tuesday afternoon, Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto completed a trade with those same Astros, sending closer Kendall Graveman, who pitched the eighth inning and got the win Monday night, and reliever Rafael Montero, who was recently designated for assignment, to the opposing clubhouse. In exchange, the Mariners received infielder Abraham Toro and veteran right-handed reliever Joe Smith.

Public reaction has been mixed on local sports talk and with fans in the stands. Many wonder what exactly the Mariners are up to.
The Mariners promptly drop the final two games of the homestand against the Houston Astros on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon and see their record drop to 55-48.

[DD Martin]

Thursday July 29th was an off-day for the Seattle Mariners. While they had just completed the hiring of the new club President of Business Operations, they still have decisions to make on GM Jerry DiPoto and Manager Scott Servais.

They also made a trade to acquire a new closer from Tampa Bay.

From 710 ESPN Seattle
By Shannon Drayer

The picture of what was to come that Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto spoke of following Seattle’s trade of Kendall Graveman to the Astros became more clear Thursday afternoon, as the Mariners acquired Rays closer Diego Castillo in exchange for reliever JT Chargois and prospect Austin Shenton.

O’Neil: Graveman trade the kind of move Mariners should be making

“We loved Gravy, he did a great job while he was here,” said Dipoto on a Zoom call with the media after the trade for Castillo on Thursday. “The fact is he was due to hit free agency at year’s end and Diego Castillo is due to hit arbitration and remains under club control for another three years. That’s a big part of this. We are a young team, we are growing. Additions like Diego Castillo and Abraham Toro really help us (moving forward).”

According to Dipoto, the Mariners were down the road in trading for Castillo when the Graveman deal, which included fellow reliever Rafael Montero going to Houston and brought Toro and reliever Joe Smith to Seattle, had to be made. The timing of the trade has been a hot topic, and the deal was clearly unpopular in the Mariners’ clubhouse and with a large portion of the fan base. Tampa had yet to agree to a second player from the Mariners in the deal for Castillo on Monday while the clock ticked down on Montero, who had been designated for assignment last week and was a player the Astros wanted.

“Monday’s deal had to be made on Monday because Rafael Montero needed to be placed on waivers by Tuesday,” said Dipoto. “There was no way to execute that deal on any day other day than Monday.”

If Montero had been placed on waivers before the deal with Houston was finalized, the Mariners then would have had to cease the trade talks with Houston and would only have been able to negotiate a Montero deal with the first team to put a claim on him.

“It felt wonky, I feel badly for that, but it had to be done that day if we were going to do it and this was the next part of it,” Dipoto continued. “Today it really picked up (with the Rays) and we were able to get to the right marriage on a second player and ultimately we arrived at Austin Shenton, which was painful for us. We really like Austin, he can really hit and he’s a great kid, but you have to give to get.”

Dipoto has been clear in his intention to attempt to augment the current club as it pushes for the postseason while continuing to add players that will help in the future. Some of the moves were right out of the Dipoto playbook. Trade for upside, club control and in some cases – as he pointed out on 710 ESPN Seattle’s Jerry Dipoto Show with Danny and Gallant on Thursday morning – good players who are blocked in their organizations.

“It’s a big deal,” said Dipoto. “He’s been in really the hottest fire there is in leverage innings against real lineups and I guess lived to tell the tale. He’s just 27, he throws strikes, he strikes them out. He’s surprisingly athletic for a big guy – I think he’s actually played the outfield, which is something that seems very Tampa Rays. He seems to be a wonderful guy in my first interaction, so he will fit in very well in what I think is a super clubhouse here.”

[DD Martin]

This is where our story begins......

(Thursday evening as the team travels to the Dallas area for a weekend series.)

As the Mariners head to Texas to face the Rangers for 3 games on this weekend, Seattle owner John Stanton is meeting with a consultant away from Safeco Field at his home for dinner. Stanton who took over the club several years ago has seen the team continue a postseason drought that dates back to 2001 and is the longest running post-season drought currently in the Big 4 sports (Baseball, Football, Basketball and Hockey). He also had the embarrassing issue with former Club President Kevin Mather. While the furor of that issue has died down, the lack of a post-season appearance is still daunting on him and the fans. The club has surprised this year and most Mariner fans have seen this every 5 years or so, but they have often found ways of falling short and then regressing the next season. He also has a fan base that is getting pretty fed up to deal with as well.

He has a major decision to make with regard of the future of the club with GM Jerry DiPoto and Field Manager Scott Servais. He has secretly hired Tim Herman to act as a consultant to aid him in the decision process he has to make. Needless to say, if the club makes the playoffs he likely brings everyone back. But if they do not is it time to change course again?

[DD Martin]

Trade Deadline Winners and Losers
CBS Sports

Loser: Jerry Dipoto
Earlier this week the Mariners didn't just trade ace reliever Kendall Graveman. They traded him to the rival Astros, and Mariners players were understandably upset. "It never changes. They don't care about winning. How do you trade him and say you care about winning? And you trade him to Houston? It never changes," one player said anonymously.

"We are certain to be very active in the hours and days ahead as we remain committed to making moves that will enhance our chances over the season's final 60 games and hopefully beyond," GM Jerry Dipoto said after the trade. Seattle was indeed active this week, and their deadline haul was ... Tyler Anderson and Diego Castillo? Dipoto was in excuse-making mode following Friday's deadline:

A literal "we tried" from the general manager of a team that enters Friday only 2 1/2 games out of its first postseason spot in a generation. Unbelievable.

I understand Dipoto doesn't want to endanger his long-term plan, but good grief man, you have to do better than this. The Mariners are playing way over their head -- they are 55-48 despite a minus-58 run differential -- and may not hang in the race all season, I get that, but the fact is the Mariners are only 2 1/2 games out of a spot. They're in it. "We tried" is not good enough.

SI.com
Losers

Seattle Mariners: Seattle’s playoff hopes never looked especially good—this is a cardboard castle built on one-run wins—but its lack of deadline action still might have felt frustrating. The Mariners moved closer Kendall Graveman earlier this week in a trade that reportedly infuriated the clubhouse and promptly replaced him with Diego Castillo. Then they did … nothing. Which, sure, it wouldn’t have been smart to go in on rentals. But for players with a year and a half of team control, or more, this could have been a great chance to consider going in, and fans have every right to feel disappointed (again).

Grading the Mariners at the trade deadline depends on how you feel about Jerry Dipoto’s rebuilding plan
Seattle Times
July 31st 2021
By Larry Stone

Once the chaotic lead-up to Friday’s MLB trade deadline ended without any more deals by the Mariners, a reality emerged.

Simply this: Your reaction to the three trades the M’s made this week — and even more to the point, the numerous ones they could have, but didn’t — will boil down to your belief in the grand plan of general manager Jerry Dipoto.

And, your level of confidence that Dipoto is leading them to the huge payoff that will make all the intermittent pain worthwhile. That has been the selling point all along, after all. But the timetable very likely was pushed back one more season by Dipoto’s insistence on remaining dedicated to the rebuild rather than risk sacrificing any of the future for immediate gain.

It will no doubt remain a tough sell in the Mariners’ clubhouse, as Dipoto recognized. The frustration of this week, I am quite certain, only grew as the Mariners watched one established star after another switch teams Friday while the Mariners stood pat. It would have been far easier to buy in if a Trea Turner, Jose Berrios or Whit Merrifield was coming their way.

In a moment of particular honesty shortly after the deadline expired with no Mariners trade, Dipoto said, “The team’s done a wonderful job. And we do feel like we added to our major-league club. There’s no question about that. Whether it’s deemed enough in the scope of things, I don’t know. A lot of teams around us got a lot better today.”

Indeed, the three teams in direct competition with the Mariners for the second American League wild card — the Yankees, Blue Jays and A’s — all loaded up. The Mariners’ path to the playoff berth that has eluded them since 2001 is far more daunting than it was four days ago. If players feel management didn’t have their backs — and that’s still the prevailing mood — the bitterness will be pervasive, and damaging.

The Mariners made three moves of far more incremental advancement. After the first one, the roundly reviled (at least in the Mariners clubhouse) trade of closer Kendall Graveman and designated-for-assignment reliever Rafael Montero to Houston for infield prospect Abraham Toro and struggling 37-year-old reliever Joe Smith, Dipoto said he was working on more deals that would help relieve the in-house angst over that trade.

I highly doubt he accomplished that. Dipoto traded two lower-level prospects to Pittsburgh for pending free-agent starter Tyler Anderson, who fills a big void in their rotation. And he dealt a better prospect, Austin Shenton, as well as reliable reliever J.T. Chargois, to Tampa Bay for its erstwhile closer, Diego Castillo, who brings impressive numbers and four more years of club control.

The abysmal timing of the Graveman trade, coming as the Mariners pulled within one game of Oakland in the wild-card race after an exhilarating win, will be hard to overcome. It led to as big a 24-hour mood shift as I’ve ever experienced in three-plus decades around the game.

Here’s what Dipoto said when I asked if the moves in totality will help the players understand his thinking:

“I think that way, but you know, again, they have their own opinions, and they’re people; they deserve to have that. So I can’t tell you what they should feel. But, logically, I feel like we just made the team better in the present. And we feel like we made the team considerably better for the future.

“That’s always been the line that we’re trying to walk. And the sensitive position of that is, I guess, juxtaposed to pouring at all in for a run as a wild-card threat in a division where we trail the leader by a considerable amount.

“But we couldn’t be irresponsible in what we were doing here. That just would have been the wrong thing to do. And we had opportunities to do that. But we have to stay disciplined to the plan that we laid out. I think we’re following along that plan and running on or ahead of schedule in getting there.”

You can certainly make the case that when you put everything together, the organization, long term, is better off now than it was at the beginning of the week.

Toro has a chance to be an infield fixture, and Graveman was going to walk after the season. With Anderson, the Mariners no longer have to endure the cringeworthy starts by the bullpen or a Class AAA fill-in that have plagued their season. And Castillo has been dominant at times this year.

But I’m not sure it’s enough to warrant the disruption of the always-delicate chemistry that had developed over the course of the season. I think you can make a strong case that the Mariners would have a better chance to make a successful playoff run this year if they had passed altogether on the Graveman deal and instead made only the other two.

Which comes back to your evaluation of Dipoto: If you believe that his eye for talent is keen enough to trust that, in particular, Toro will provide a long-term payoff that justifies the temporary disruption of morale, then you applaud the move.

I think you can point positively to previous acquisitions such as Mitch Haniger, Ty France, J.P. Crawford and Chris Flexen, all of whom were correctly identified by Dipoto and his staff as breakout candidates. Toro could conceivably be the next one that moves the Mariners closer to their long-term goal.

But there is an ancillary question hanging over the week to add to the ones I posed before: Does aggressive pursuit of a playoff berth right now warrant potentially mortgaging any part of the future?

This is where I would veer off track from Dipoto, who said he steadfastly turned back repeated attempts this week from GMs to raid the Mariners’ farm system.

“We were resistant to trading our top prospects for short-term gain. As I’ve said, throughout, we were willing to consider roughly anything, if it allowed us to continue to build forward,” Dipoto said. “But we were unable to do that. And obviously, we didn’t make any moves today as a result.”

I believe that the Mariners were close enough to the playoffs — one game out before dropping two to Houston in the malaise that followed the Graveman trade — and that they had an obligation to push hard for this year. Even if it cost a prospect who might burn then down the road. Because it has simply been far, far too long.

[DD Martin]

Friday July 30th game vs the Texas Rangers in Arlington Texas

Mariners 9 @ Texas 5
The Mariners jumped all over the short-handed Rangers and SP Kolby Allard scoring 4 runs in the 2nd and 3 more in the 3rd to win going away 9-5. It was an important win for the Mariners against the struggling Rangers and gives them a record of 56-48 as they sit 2 games behind the A's for the AL #2 Wildcard spot.

Ok I have set up the OOTP 22 Live start game with today's (July 31st) date. The Mariners will continue their weekend series against the Rangers as they will see their first start from recent acquisition Tyler Anderson. Anderson was 5-8 with a 4.35 ERA in 18 starts with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

I have updated the game (commish mode) to adjust the rosters so that Kelenic, and Toro are on the big league roster. Dunn was not on the IL for some reason so he was placed there. Rule 5 pick Will Vest was sent back to Detroit. Released C Jacob Nottingham since he isn't in the Mariner's organization and suspended Tacoma P Hector Santiago for his 80 games. I will have no further actions and will let the AI DiPoto and Servais run the show.

Will the M's make the playoffs and save the jobs of their GM and Manager????

[DD Martin]

John Stanton and his baseball consultant Tim Herman are watching the Friday evening game from Texas against the Rangers.....

John - Tim I really appreciate you coming in here and helping me with this.

Tim - It's a big decision John, one you waited during last off-season with all the issues around Covid-19 and just where the club is.

John - Yes I hated to have lame duck situations, I am really not a fan of that but both Jerry and Scott were ok with it considering the circumstances.

Tim - Well they really didn't have a lot of choice in it did they. I mean the overall record coming into this season was 349-359 in 5 seasons. The best finish was in 2016 when the club finished 2nd and 9 games out of first.

John - Well the mistake under the previous club chairman was to try and quickly build on the 2015 season, but the club didn't have a lot of assets at the time.

Tim - And DiPoto tried to make something out of a mess and crashed in 2017.

John - Yes but now he has built one of the top farm system in baseball and the club is on the rise this year. We could break that playoff drought this year. Based on that, you saw the article in the Seattle Times. Larry Stone made a public pitch for them to be brought back.

Tim - Yes I read the Times column and Stone is a very good baseball writer. Has been for 30 years, but I'm not sure if I were you I'd be awarding any participation trophies or contract extensions based on 2/3 of a season. I mean honestly if the season ended today, it would be another year without playoffs in Seattle and how is that any different than any other year since 2001?

John - But this year is going well.

Tim - So let it play out a little bit farther. Look if the team looks like it can get into the playoffs then my consulting job here will be short. But based on the statistics of the team and the fluky extra innings record of 10-1 and the 1-run record of 24-11, this team has been very fortunate to be where they are at. In fact I would suspect a below 500 team based on general performance statistics.

And let's talk about the farm system a bit. Right now the club has 4 very good prospects all rated in Baseball America's top 20. Two of the 4 are in the big leagues right now, while Julio Rodriguez the #4 overall prospect is in AA. (Jared Kelenic #14 and SP Logan Gilbert is #18). The other top 20 guy is SP Emerson Hancock who is in AA and likely a season or two away. After those 4 guys there is a big drop off in my mind. SP George Kirby is the clubs #5 prospect at #111 overall. #6 SS Noelvi Marte is #133. #7 OF Taylor Trammell (#157) is with the big league club and has hit for some power but is struggling hitting around 170.

The club has 5 more top 500 prospects ranked between #240 and #466. So while yes the top of the minor league system is flush and gives the team a #2 ranking there is not a lot behind those 4. Good pieces yes at the top but 2 have already debuted and then what.

John - So you don't think the future is so bright?

Tim - It has a chance to be, but I'm not convinced the right guy is driving the ship. But we will see.

John - But the club could break the playoff drought this year.

Tim - Yeah it could, they are within striking distance but there were a lot of assets that were available and the team really didn't go out of its way to acquire much. If I were a betting man, I would bet that the team finishes the season with around a 500 record and its huge run in extra inning and 1-run games slows down. And 500 doesn't get you into the playoffs.

John - So your advice is to wait and see. But if they make the playoffs you think extensions are in order?

Tim - Yes continue to be patient. Let the season play out and yes if the club makes a serious run and somehow manages to win 90 even without making the playoffs, then you should give them both 3-year contract extensions.

[DD Martin]

John Stanton and his baseball consultant Tim Herman are watching the Friday evening game from Texas against the Rangers....

John - Tim I really appreciate you coming in here and helping me with this.

Tim - It's a big decision John, one you waited during last off-season with all the issues around Covid-19 and just where the club is.

John - Yes I hated to have lame duck situations, I am really not a fan of that but both Jerry and Scott were ok with it considering the circumstances.

Tim - Well they really didn't have a lot of choice in it did they. I mean the overall record coming into this season was 349-359 in 5 seasons. The best finish was in 2016 when the club finished 2nd and 9 games out of first.

John - Well the mistake under the previous club chairman was to try and quickly build on the 2015 season, but the club didn't have a lot of assets at the time.

Tim - And DiPoto tried to make something out of a mess and crashed in 2017.

John - Yes but now he has built one of the top farm system in baseball and the club is on the rise this year. We could break that playoff drought this year. Based on that, you saw the article in the Seattle Times. Larry Stone made a public pitch for them to be brought back.

Tim - Yes I read the Times column and Stone is a very good baseball writer. Has been for 30 years, but I'm not sure if I were you I'd be awarding any participation trophies or contract extensions based on 2/3 of a season. I mean honestly if the season ended today, it would be another year without playoffs in Seattle and how is that any different than any other year since 2001?

John - But this year is going well.

Tim - So let it play out a little bit farther. Look if the team looks like it can get into the playoffs then my consulting job here will be short. But based on the statistics of the team and the fluky extra innings record of 10-1 and the 1-run record of 24-11, this team has been very fortunate to be where they are at. In fact I would suspect a below 500 team based on general performance statistics.

And let's talk about the farm system a bit. Right now the club has 4 very good prospects all rated in Baseball America's top 20. Two of the 4 are in the big leagues right now, while Julio Rodriguez the #4 overall prospect is in AA. (Jared Kelenic #14 and SP Logan Gilbert is #18). The other top 20 guy is SP Emerson Hancock who is in AA and likely a season or two away. After those 4 guys there is a big drop off in my mind. SP George Kirby is the clubs #5 prospect at #111 overall. #6 SS Noelvi Marte is #133. #7 OF Taylor Trammell (#157) is with the big league club and has hit for some power but is struggling hitting around 170.

The club has 5 more top 500 prospects ranked between #240 and #466. So while yes the top of the minor league system is flush and gives the team a #2 ranking there is not a lot behind those 4. Good pieces yes at the top but 2 have already debuted and then what.

John - So you don't think the future is so bright?

Tim - It has a chance to be, but I'm not convinced the right guy is driving the ship. But we will see.

John - But the club could break the playoff drought this year.

Tim - Yeah it could, they are within striking distance but there were a lot of assets that were available and the team really didn't go out of its way to acquire much. If I were a betting man, I would bet that the team finishes the season with around a 500 record and its huge run in extra inning and 1-run games slows down. And 500 doesn't get you into the playoffs.

John - So your advice is to wait and see. But if they make the playoffs you think extensions are in order?

Tim - Yes continue to be patient. Let the season play out and yes if the club makes a serious run and somehow manages to win 90 even without making the playoffs, then you should give them both 3-year contract extensions.

[DD Martin]

Now we will sim the rest of the season generally 1-week at a time but if we get into a interesting series down the stretch we will do fewer games and cover the big series.

Saturday and Sunday vs the Rangers in Arlington

Today we get to see Tyler Anderson's first start in a Mariner uniform as his acquisition from the Pittsburgh Pirates. While Anderson wasn't spectacular, he was steady and kept his team in the game going 7.1 IP allowing 8H with 4 runs (all earned) striking out 5 and walk none.

The Mariner offense got after Texas SP Wes Benjamin chasing him after 4.1 IP and hitting 4 solo home runs (Shed Long 5th, Mitch Haniger 26th, Tom Murphy 9th, and Taylor Trammell 9th). Despite all the long balls the game was tied after 6 innings at 4-4.

In the top of the 7th inning LF Taylor Trammell hit a 1-out single but wasn't able to advance on Mitch Haniger's fly out to center. Trammell then stole 2B on a 1-0 to Abraham Toro. On a 2-2 pitch Trammell hit a line drive to left and Trammell hustled around to just barely beat the throw from LF David Dahl to give the Mariner's a 5-4 lead.

Heading to the bottom of the 9th newly acquired closer Diego Castillo was called on to protect the 5-4 lead. Adolis Garcia led off with a bloop single and was scarified to 2nd by Brock Holt. Things were looking good as David Dahl groundout to third on a 2-0 pitch and Garcia wasn't able to advance to 3rd. Light hitting 2B Eli White came up and on the first pitch bashed a down the line which scored Garcia and tied the game at 5.

In the 10th the Mariner's managed to get Toro on base when he walked, but Jared Kelenic struck out swinging for the first out. Kyle Seager then bounced into a FC forcing Toro at 2B and suddenly there were 2 outs. Seager advanced to 2B on an errant pickoff throw, but was stranded there as JP Crawford struck out swinging on a 3-2 pitch to retire the side.

Bottom of the 10th as Castillo comes back out. He gave up a leadoff single to Leody Taveras, who was then sacrificed to 2B by Nick Solak. Castillo then intentional walked Nate Lowe so there were runners at 1st and 2nd and just 1 out. Castillo then got ahead of Sam Huff 1-2 but managed to squirt a ball past a diving Shed Long at 2B and taveras came around to score the winning run.

Rangers win 5-4 (10 Innings)

Sunday's Game vs the Rangers
Marco Gonzalez 3-5 5.24 vs John King 7-5 3.35

Bad news for the Mariners in the bottom of the 2nd inning. SP Marco Gonzales was injured throwing a pitch and had to come out of the game. The early indication is it is some sort of elbow injury and the Mariner's have to hope it is not serious.

After that it didn't go well for the Mariner's on this Sunday as Ryan Weber gave up a 2-run home run to Adolis Garcia and SP John King pitched 5 innings of 6 hit 1 run baseball.

The Mariner's would go on to lose this very winning game and series vs the Rangers by a 4-2 count.

Ranger's win 4-2
The Mariner's 56-49 remain in 3rd place in the AL West (9.5 GB of Houston) and also remain 1.5 games behind the Oakland A's for the 2nd Wildcard spot in the AL.

Next Week - The Mariner's travel to Florida to take the AL East leading Tampa Bay Rays 64-42 for 3 games and then head to the Bronx to take on the always dangerous New York Yankee's 55-49 who are just a half game behind the Mariner's in the Wild Card Standings.

This could be a very big week for this Mariner club. We will give word on the status of SP Marco Gonzalez who will be given an MRI tomorrow

[DD Martin]

Week of August 2nd through August 8th 2021
Record since Trade Deadline 1-2

The Seattle Mariners 56-49 continue on their 10-day road trip after a disappointing weekend series against the Texas Rangers were they dropped 2 out of 3 games. They arrive here in Tampa Bay to take on the 1st place Rays in a 3-game series before heading to New York for a big 4-game series with the New York Yankees.

The injury news on SP Marco Gonzales is not good. Today after his MRI he was placed on the disabled list for 2 months with "acute elbow soreness". It is estimated that he will be out of action for 2 months which means he will not be available for basically the rest of the regular season. While there is a slight chance he could be back, he will not likely be ready after a 2-month layoff to start one of the final 3 games of the year against the LA Angels Oct 1-3. Replacing Gonzales on the big league roster is P David Huff and it looks like P Eric Swanson for now has been put into Gonzales spot in the rotation.

In another move (and there were a flurry of "interesting" moves both up and down, the Mariner's surprised everyone and promoted RF Julio Rodriguez and he will make his debut today against Tampa batting 3rd in the lineup.

Monday August 2nd
Seattle Mariners 6 @ Tampa Bay Rays 3

RF Julio Rodriguez had a successful big league debut going 2-4 and scoring a run and 2B Dylan Moore hit a club 2-run home run in the Mariners 4 run 7th to break a 2-2. SP Chris Flexen (10-5) continues to perform well going 6 innings giving up 6 hits, and a walk with 8 K's. Diego Castillo faced his former teammates and picked up the save, his first with the M's. Mitch Haniger (27th) and Jared Kelenic (4th) both hit home runs for the M's who made the most of the 5 hits in the game.

After the game the Mariner's continued their chaotic roster moves and have placed poor Abraham Toro on the light rail train between Seattle and Tacoma as he was optioned for the 2nd time since joining the club late last week. P Ryan Weber seems to be on the same plan so those guys must be getting some great frequent flyer benefits flying from Dallas to Sea-Tac to Tampa and back to Sea-Tac.

(note that if a real GM acted the way the AI GM for the Mariners is acting they would be fired simply for wasting money on travel).

Tuesday August 4th
Seattle Mariners 3 @ Tampa Bay Rays 9

Mariner SP Yusei Kikuchi (6-7 4.49) was blasted by the Rays for 7 runs (all earned) in just 2 innings of work. Kikuchi who had issues with his control walked 4 and also gave up 4 hits as the M's were out of this game by the end of the 2nd inning. 1B Ty France hit his 10th home run of the season in the 6th and 20-year-old rookie DH Julio Rodriguez went 2-4 and kept his average at 500 for the season. Former Mariner C Mike Zunino was the star of the game hitting a 2-run homer in the 3rd to put the game completely out of reach. Zunino was 2-4 with 2 runs and 3 RBI's

After the game GM DiPoto was active again (maybe he has stock or ownership in a travel company). OF Jake Bauers was added back to the 40-man roster just several days after having been DFA. P Asher Wojciechowski who was just claimed last week was DFA. C Jacob Nottingham (who I took off the roster and made a FA prior to letting the sim go after the trade deadline) was signed to a minor league contract by the Mariner's and assigned to AA Arkansas.

Wednesday August 4th
Seattle Mariners 6 @ Tampa Bay Rays 0

Just when his teammates needed them the most a pair of rookies helped propel the Seattle Mariners to a shutout victory over the Rays and win the series 2-1. SP Logan Gilbert (6-2 3.67) really stole the show tossing a 2-hitter over 6.1 innings, walking 1 and striking out 7. RP's Drew Steckenrider and Daniel Zamora closed out the shutout. RF Julio Rodriguez was again 2-4 but hit his first big league extra base hit with a double and drove in the first 3 RBI's in his big league career.

After the game a smiling manager Scott Servais quipped "We looked pretty good up and down today".

After the game the team quickly went to the airport to fly into New York for the 4-game series against the Yankees. I won't bother to go into any moves after the game, they are all very similar and have been repeated already.

Heading to New York to face the Yankees who are 55-52 and looking to make up ground in the AL Wildcard race this weekend.

Thursday August 5th
Seattle Mariners 4 @ New York Yankees 5

The Mariner's were down 5-0 heading into the 7th inning where they decided to stage a bit of a comeback when (you guessed it) RF Julio Rodriguez hit his first big league home run. The 2-run shot cut the deficit to 5-2. OF Jake Fraley followed suit in the 8th with his own 2-run home run and suddenly we had a 5-4 ballgame heading into the top of the 9th. Enter Ardolis Chapman who shut the Mariners down 1-2-3 in the 9th to earn his 22nd save of the season. Yankee SP Jameson Taillon picked up the win (8-4 4.00) going 7.1 IP and giving up just 2 runs.

After the game.....a first. NO MOVES

Friday August 6th
Seattle Mariners 3 vs New York Yankees 2 (10)

Continuing their extra inning magic the Seattle Mariners, LF Taylor Trammell earned a 1-out walk and stole 2nd base. He was moved over to 3rd base on a groundout by Dylan Moore. With 2 outs in the 10th, with the game on the line up came rookie DH Julio Rodriguez. The youngster battled into a 3-2 and on the 8th pitch of the at-bat hit a flyball to CF which looked like a sure out. Except CF Joey Gallo (CF really) lost the ball in the lights and managed to not catch it which allowed Trammell to score. RP Diego Castillo pitched 2 scoreless innings to get the win as the Mariner Magic continues.

After the game the Mariners GM Jerry DiPoto made another head scratching move signing 34-year-old Juan Carlos Perez to a minor league deal with a $60,000 signing bonus. Perez who was last seen in the major leagues in 2015 with the San Francisco Giants has reported to the Mariners DSL team (

Saturday August 7th
Seattle Mariners 3 @ New York Yankees 4

After the Mariners had plated 3 runs in the top of the 2nd inning to take a 3-1 lead on an error by Yankee 3B Gio Urshela. The Mariners and SP Chris Flexen (10-6) coughed up that lead in the bottom of the 4th when Clint Frazier hit a 2-run home run to give the Yankees back the lead. NY SP Andrew Heaney made his 2nd start with the Yanks picking up his first win since coming over from the Angels at the end of July. While Heaney has given up a total of 6 runs in his 11.1 IP since the deal, he has yet to give up an earned run in pinstripes.

After the game....silence in the M's clubhouse and from GM DiPoto who must have left his iPad away from the stadium and didn't make any moves after the game.

Sunday August 8th
Seattle Mariners 6 @ New York Yankees 4

LF Taylor Trammell was the hero that salvaged a 500 road trip for the Mariners (5-5) as he hit a 2-run home run (10th) to break a tied game in the top of the 7th as the Mariners won 6-4. After the game Trammell stated "I'm a big believer in luck. the Harder we work, the more we have of it".

RP Anthony Misiewicz picked up the win with 2.2 IP or relief of SP Kikuchi. Diego Castillo picked up his 2nd save with a scoreless 9th.

The Week in Review
Mariner's go 4-3 on the week and up their record to 60-52 (3rd place AL-West and 8GB of the Astros). They remain a 1 1/2 behind the Oakland A's for the 2nd Wildcard spot with the Yankees now falling back to 4 games behind the A's

After the game the Mariners outright released RP Joe Smith who they had picked up from the Astros as part of the Graveman trade just last week. Smith threw just 1 scoreless inning in Seattle before he was sent packing.

The team also made another minor league free agent signing, as they shore up their rookie team in Arizona with 30-year-old LF Joey Rickard for $60,000. Rickard has been home in Las Vegas all season waiting for the call. Enjoy Peoria Joey! who paid immediate dividends going 2-4 with a double and an RBI in his rookie league debut

With an off-day on Monday the club will travel home to face the Texas Rangers who they need to really sweep at home and then the Toronto BlueJays who are just behind the Yankees by a half game in the Wildcard standings will try to make up some ground coming to Seattle. As many Mariner fans are aware, when the Blue Jays come to town they generally bring with them a lot of Canadian fans from North of the Border. But with the US-Canada border still closed, maybe the M's will actually have a home field advantage for once at T-Mobile Park

[pauwoo]

Thumbs up! I’m digging this.

[DD Martin]

Originally Posted by pauwoo

Thumbs up! I’m digging this.

Thanks I am enjoying your daily M's playthrough as well.

Week of August 9th through August 15th
Record since Trade Deadline 5-5

The Mariners were off on Monday prior to a 3-game series against the Texas Rangers 41-71. These were really must win games for the club so John Stanton again is meeting with his baseball consultant Tim Herman at lunch down in Tacoma at Cloverleaf Pizza in the back family room that isn't open to the public yet. Herman has his laptop out as the men begin to sit down and discuss business.


Tim Herman - Well Jerry is at it again.

John Stanton - What do you mean, the trade deadline has passed?

Tim Herman - It just came across the transactions page that the Mariner's have signed 34-year-old veteran OF Alex Guerrero for a $60,000 signing bonus. Guerrero last played in the big leagues for the Dodgers in 2015 and since has bounced around the minor leagues, the Japan leagues and the Japan minor leagues. Doesn't the organization have enough players on hand to fill out the Dominican and rookie league teams without adding these guys. Anyway enough of that, let's talk about where we are.

The A's are off as well today, so are the Blue Jays. The Yankees have a 7-2 lead heading into the 7th inning in Kansas City so they will likely move to 3 1/2 behind Oakland and we are still 1 1/2 games back.

John Stanton - So nothing has changed, we are still outside the playoff race looking in.

Tim Herman - Yes but there is no one in between Seattle and Oakland which is good and the M's need to keep it that way. Honestly this is a big series against a bad Texas team. We can not afford another 1-2 series against them. With Toronto coming in behind them, they play a doubleheader tomorrow and have 4 games against the Angels. So depending on how that goes their bullpen may be a little taxed which could work to our advantage. With 50 games left, the Mariners play 26 games here where they have gone 33-22 at home and 24 on the road where they have gone 27-30. I figure that it will take at least 30 wins to secure the #2 Wildcard spot.

John Stanton - So 30-20 and you figure we get in?

Tim Herman - Yes but that is not easily done. Here is the upcoming schedule

Aug 10-12 (3) vs Texas 41-71 (Season Record 8-5 vs Texas)
Aug 13-15 (3) vs Toronto 56-54 (Season Record 2-1)
Aug 17-19 (3) @ Texas 41-71
Aug 20-22 (3) @ Houston 68-44 (Season Record 4-6)
Aug 23-24 (2) @ Oakland 61-50 (Season Record 6-3)
Aug 26-29 (4) vs Kansas City 49-62 (No games played yet)
Aug 30-Sep1 (3) vs Houston 68-44
Sep 3-5 (3) @ Arizona 34-79 (No record)
Sep 6-8 (3) @ Houston 68-44
Sep 10-12 (3) vs Arizona 34-79
Sep 13-15 (3) vs Boston 67-47 (Season Record 2-2)
Sep 17-19 (3) @ Kansas City 49-62
Sep 20-23 (4) @ Oakland 61-50
Sep 24-26 (3) vs LA Angels 55-57 (Season Record 8-5)
Sep 27-29 (4) vs Oakland 61-50
Oct 1-3 (3) vs LA Angels 55-57

So you have 10 games vs the Oakland A's and so far this year the Mariner's are 6-3 against them. The bad news is 6 out of the 10 games are in Oakland where they are 33-26 so far this season. The only good news is the A's don't draw well so it won't be too hostile a crowd there, plus with the stadium issues the fans are disenchanted a bit.

John - So what are our odds?

Tim - Vegas says about 25% chance, but what do they know.

John - Maybe we should have done more at the deadline. Ok thanks Tim let's meet again next week but I will be in touch. And you are right, this is really good pizza here.

[DD Martin]

Week of August 9th-15th Part 2
Record Since Trade Deadline 5-5 (1 1/2 games behind Oakland in Wild Card Race)

Monday - Off Day

Pitching Matchups for Texas Series
Texas Rangers 41-71 vs Seattle Mariners 60-52
Anibal Sanchez (Season Debut) vs Logan Gilbert (6-2 3.67)
Jeff Samardzija (Rangers Debut) vs Tyler Anderson (5-9 4.59)
Dane Dunning (4-8 4.22) vs Eric Swanson (0-0 1.69)

Tuesday August 10th
Texas Rangers 5 vs Seattle Mariners 10
The Mariners fell behind early 5-2 after 2 innings and things didn't look so good. But they team tied the game at 5 in the bottom of the 5th on a 3-run homerun by Mitch Haniger (28th) and then took the lead for good on CF Jake Fraley's 8th inning 3-run homer (9th) to win the game. RF Jared Kelenic hit his 5th home run of the season as well. RP Paul Sewald picked up his 7th win of the season (7-2 2.02 ERA).

Wednesday August 11th
Texas Rangers 5 vs Seattle Mariners 12
Again the home team fell behind early trailing 5-0 after 4 innings as Texas SP Jeff Sarmardzija was sailing along with a 5-hitter. Over the 5th-7th innings the M's managed to tie the game at 5 heading into the 8th.

In the 8th the M's pounced on Texas RP's Wes Benjamin (0-4),Matt Bush and Brett Martin for 7 runs and 2B Dylan Moore who went 3-4 with a home run and a double was voted the Star of the Game. RP Drew Steckenrider pitched an inning and 2/3's to pick up the win (4-2).

Thursday August 12th
Texas Rangers 1 vs Seattle Mariners 4

The Mariner's and SP Eric Swanson took care of business in this afternoon tilt at T-Mobile Park as the M's swept the Rangers in the 3-game series. Swanson pitched 5.1 innings but didn't get credit for the win. He gave up just 4 hits and 1 run, but the M's didn't push across the winning run until the bottom of the 6th. That made a winner out of RP Casey Stadler who picked up his first win of the season.

After the game....The M's didn't make any significant moves during the 3 games against Texas and didn't suffer any injuries. The only moves were the continued shuttle back and forth of players RP Daniel Zamora, 3B Abraham Toro, RP David Huff and RP Ryan Weber. We found out the 4 are actually staying with the team in a hotel and have a huge card game going on, looks like Rummy.

The good news for the Mariners is they took care of a team they should in winning all 3 against Texas to run their record to 11-5 vs the Rangers. They will met one last time down in Arlington next week.

Now the Toronto Blue Jays are coming to town and without a horde of Canadian fans with them as usual. They come to town after having split a 4-game series with the Angels in Anaheim and are now trailing the A's in the Wildcard by 5 games. The Mariners have crept to within 1/2 game of the A's for that all-important #2 wildcard spot in the AL.


August 13th through 15th
Toronto Blue Jays 58-56 vs Seattle Mariners 63-52
At T-Mobile Stadium, Seattle WA

Pitching Matchups
Toronto Blue Jays vs Seattle Mariners
Hyun-Jin Ruy (10-6 3.40) vs Chris Flexen (10-5 3.62)
Tyler Chatwood (1-3 6.10) vs Yusei Kikuchi (6-7 4.59)
Jose Berrios (9-5 3.27) vs Logan Gilbert (6-2 4.11)

Friday August 13th
Toronto Blue Jays 0 vs Seattle Mariners 1

What a pitching gem turned in on this night by Seattle SP Chris Flexen. Flexen went 8 IP and gave up just 3 hits to the Blue Jays as the Mariners managed to make Ty France's 2nd inning home run (12th) hold up. Diego Castillo came in and threw 13 pitches in a 1-2-3 9th for his 4th save since being acquired. Toronto SP Hyun-jin Ryu was the tough luck losing pitcher giving up just 4 hits in his 5 innings of work.

After the game... the Mariner's promoted veteran players Alex Guerrero and Juan Carlos Perez to AAA Tacoma and veteran Joey Rickard to AA Arkansas as the moves to sign those veterans was obviously done to boost the Rainiers and Travelers chances at the minor league playoffs.

Saturday August 14th
Toronto Blue Jays 5 vs Seattle Mariners 7

The Mariner's interrupted the long running card game by actually activating and playing Abraham Toro as the DH on Saturday. Toro showed no ill effects from card shuffling for over a week as he went 2-3 with 2 home runs on the day and in the 7th inning against RP Brad Hand he hit a 3-run homer to break a 4-4 tie and send the crowd home happy. Toro's home run made a winner out of RP Anthony Misiewicz (5-3) and RP Paul Sewald picked up his 5th save on just 6 pitches in the 9th to record 3 outs.

After the game....Toro was celebrated and even Jerry DiPoto came up and congratulated him. Of course when all the fanfare was over, Jerry let him know his seat at the card table was back and that he was being optioned to Tacoma. The guy has hit 4 home runs and driven in 10 RBI's in 22 at-bats but the genius of Jerry sends him down again. Even Scott Servais was kind of shocked at this...again.

The team had a 6 game winning streak heading into the series and home stand finale against the Blue Jays who are quickly playing themselves out of the wildcard race.

Sunday August 15th
Toronto Blue Jays 3 vs Seattle Mariners 4 (12)
Mariners Walk It Off in 12th for 66th Win of the Season

It took almost 4 hours (3:59) and 12 innings, but the Mariners managed to sweep the home stand as Kyle Seager game winning single in the 12th. Seager who had a pretty forgettable day prior to the game winning heroics went 1-5 with a walk and the winning RBI. SP Logan Gilbert continues to pitch well and notched another quality start going 7.1 IP giving up 3 runs. RP Drew Steckenrider was again the right man on the mound at the right time to pick up his 5th win (5-2 1.93) of the season.

With the win the Mariner's moved into the #2 wildcard spot by 1/2 game over the Oakland A's as the hometown 9 won its 7th straight game.

After the game....The Mariners DFA RP Yohan Ramirez and in his place purchased the contract of LF Alex Guerrero? Apparently Guerrero had shown somebody enough in his 3 games at rookie level ball (hit 500 with a double and RBI) and his 1 game in Tacoma (0-3 with a walk) that the M's felt he would be immensely helpful. So now instead of just the $60,000 signing bonus he has a MLB contract now. Anyway this probably means that Abraham Toro will not be back until September so maybe he will actually get a few at-bats in Tacoma instead of the seat at the card table.

Despite the interesting moves, the Mariners have won 7 in a row and have an after trade deadline record of 11-5

Next Week - The team goes on the road for a Texas 2-step with 3 against the Rangers and 3 against the first place Houston Astros. It will be an important week of road games as the following Monday they will be in Oakland for the first 2 of 10 games down the stretch against the A's.

[DD Martin]

Week of August 16th through 22nd
Record Since Trade Deadline 11-5
Currently #2 in the AL Wildcard race by 1/2 over Oakland

The Mariners capitalized last week on being at home sweeping both the Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays and going 6-0. Can they keep the momentum going on the road. The team is 11-5 versus the Rangers this season, and these are the last 3 games for the year against the floundering Rangers. But just 2 weeks ago the Mariner's were here in Arlington after the trade deadline and dropped 2 of 3. Can they reverse that this week and then hang with the AL West leading Astros in Houston? We shall soon find out.

Moves on Monday (off-day) The Mariners optioned LF Taylor Trammell to AAA Tacoma to make room for the recently signed Alex Guerrero

Seattle Mariners 66-52 (2nd AL West) @ Texas Rangers 42-76 (5th AL West)
3-game Series Tuesday August 17th-19th
Arlington, Texas Globe Life Park

Pitching Rotation
Seattle Mariners @ Texas Rangers
Tyler Anderson 0-1 8.01 vs Jeff Samardzija 0-0 7.11
Eric Swanson 0-0 1.69 vs Dane Dunning 4-8 4.10
Chris Flexen 11-6 3.62 vs Kolby Allard 2-10 5.06


Tuesday August 17th
Seattle Mariners 2 @ Texas Rangers 8

Maybe it was the travel? Maybe it was the day off? Maybe it was the brillance of Texas P Jeff Samardzija (doubtful but he was good on this day)? Whatever it was last week's 6-0 mark went straight out the window as the Mariner's still appeared to be basking in the glow of last weeks home stand sweep as the fall feebly to the Rangers today 8-2. The Mariner bats picked up just 5 hits off the 37-year-old Ranger SP, while the Mariner's trade deadline addition in SP Tyler Anderson continues to look lost since the trade (0-2 8.72 in 4 starts).

With the A's winning Monday but getting blasted Tuesday 13-0, the two teams remained tied for the 2nd and last AL Wildcard spot.

Wednesday August 18th
Seattle Mariners 1 @ Texas Rangers 8
2nd straight day the club didn't pitch, hit or field very well. Just a very poor game all around and the first poor start for P Eric Swanson who didn't get out of the 4th. The M's will try and salvage a game in Texas.

After the game - The Mariners claimed SS Wilmer Difo off waivers from Pittsburgh and also recalled LF Taylor Trammell from Tacoma. Difo was placed on the 40-man roster today and will fly to Texas for tomorrows game against the Rangers.

Thursday August 19th
Seattle Mariners 5 @ Texas Rangers 3
SP Chris Flexen (12-6) continues to pitch well and deep into games and 3B Kyle Seager's 24th home run in the 2nd lifted the Mariner's and avoided what would have been a devastating sweep against the Rangers.

After the game ..... The team boarded a plane and headed off to Houston for an even more important 3-game series. With the club's poor performance here against the sagging Rangers, they have put enormous pressure on themselves to win the series in Houston.

The club moved P James Dunn to the 60-day DL but he will be eligible to return when he is ready which is expected to be around the end of next weekend. The club also recalled P Daniel Zamora and shipped off P's Ryan Weber and David Huff to Tacoma. 2B Sam Haggerty also optioned to Tacoma.

Seattle Mariners 67-54 (T-2nd AL West with Oakland and tied for AL #2 WC) @ Houston Astros 74-47 (1st in AL West by 7 games)
Where - Minute Maid Park Houston TX
3-Game Series (Astro's lead season series 6-4)
August 20th- 22nd

The Mariner's are 7 games back behind the Astro's and while nobody is really talking about the top spot in the AL West, if the Mariners are going to be serious about making a run to the top. It needs to start right here in Houston. Monday starts a 2-game series with the A's in Oakland so the M's do not want to be on a losing streak or trailing the A's before that series.

Pitching Matchups
Seattle Mariners vs Houston Astros
Yusei Kikuchi 6-7 4.57 vs Kendall Graveman 5-1 1.24
Logan Gilbert 6-2 4.07 vs Jake Odorizzi 6-5 4.76
vs Jose Urquidy 7-4 3.39

Friday August 20th
Seattle Mariners 10 @ Houston Astros 2
Mariner's led 1-0 after 3 innings with Kikuchi really in control. The Mariner's had really gotten to their former closer Graveman through 3 but in the 4th they jumped on him for 7 runs and easily won the first game of this series. This game looked completely different from any in the Texas series so whether the club was just taking the Rangers lightly or looking forward to this season is hard to say. Hopefully they continue to hit and pitch well the rest of the weekend.

After the game.... for once not a lot happened. P Ryan Weber who has been yoyoing between the Mariners and Rainiers pitched 3 solid innings in relief of SP Kikuchi. Unfortunately for Weber he was taken out of the game prior to the start of the 9th inning. It appears to likely be some type of leg injury and time on the IL is expected. The club signed some minor league players but nobody of note. Tomorrow Logan Gilbert (6-2) will start for the M's

Saturday August 21st
Seattle Mariners 5 @ Houston Astros 7
SP Logan Gilbert was not sharp today as he gave up 5 hits, walked 4 adn hit a batter in 2.2 innings. OF's Mitch Haniger (27th) and Jake Fraley (12th) hit home runs in the 6th and 7th but it was not enough to overcome the early deficit. Jared Kelenic hit his 6th home run of the season in the 3rd.

After the game....The team announced that indeed RP Ryan Weber was likely out for the rest of the season with a pulled hamstring. To replace Weber the team called up David Huff from Tacoma. Tomorrow is the rubber game of the Houston series. What have the A's done this weekend? Fortunately for the M's they have lost both games at home against the San Francisco Giants.

Sunday August 22nd
Seattle Mariners 10 @ Houston Astros 7
A big win in more ways than one for the Mariners. With the victory the Mariners move to within 6 games of the Astros and remain holding a slim chance at their 1st AL West title since 2001. Also with the A's being swept at home against the Giants, the Mariners move ahead of Oakland by 2 games in the AL Wildcard race for the #2 spot.

As far as the game goes SP Tyler Anderson continues to be a bust since coming over from the Pirates. He lasted just 3.1 innings and gave up 6 earned runs. Fortunately for him the offense hit back equally as hard knocking out the Astro's SP Jose Urquidy in the 4th after he gave up 5 runs. The team hit 5 doubles with Mitch Haniger hitting 2 and also slugged 3 home runs as Ty France hit his 13th and C Tom Murphy hit 2 for #'s 10 and 11 on the season. It was the 2nd player of the game award on the road trip for Murphy.

After the game.....The Mariner's are now up 2 games on the A's but have 2 in Oakland on Monday and Tuesday. The New York Yankees are also still hanging around after sweeping a weekend series and are now back to within 4 games of the wildcard.

Since the trade deadline the Mariner's record is now 13-7 and they have overtaken the Oakland A's by 2 games (A's have gone 10-11).

[DD Martin]

August 23rd-24th
2-game Series at Oakland A's

The Mariner's are riding high right now with a surprising 2 game lead over the A's for the #2 Wildcard coming into Oakland. These will be the first 2 of 10 games that the 2 clubs will play each other over the course of the last 38 games. It literally is "every game counts" and especially these against the A's. While the odds are long, if the Mariners were to somehow sweep this 2 game series it would put them up 4 games. While certainly not an insurmountable margin, it would certainly be better than leaving the Bay Area tied. While the Mariners have been 14-8 since the trade deadline while the A's have struggled at a game below 500.

Here are the pitching matchups for this critical 2-game series

Seattle Mariners 69-55 @ Oakland A's 67-57
Eric Swanson 0-1 2.80 vs Chris Bassitt 11-4 3.73
Chris Flexen 12-6 3.61 vs Cole Irvin 8-10 3.49

Monday August 23rd
Seattle Mariners 5 @ Oakland A's 2

SP Eric Swanson pitched into the 6th inning picking up his first victory of the season (1-1 2.66) allowing just 4 hits and a walk in 5.1 IP. Dylan Moore hit a first inning home run (#13) and then 3B Kyle Seager with a huge insurance 2-run home run (#25) as the Mariner's continued their winning ways and increased their lead in the AL Wildcard to 3 games over the slumping A's

Tuesday August 24th
Seattle Mariners 8 @ Oakland A's 5

The slumping A's dropped their 6th straight game and fall to 4 games off the pace of the jubilant Seattle club. Today SP Chris Flexen won his 13th game (13-6) despite not being sharp. 1B Ty France only had 1 hit on the day, but it was a big bases clearing RBI-double in the 6th that gave the M's the lead. France (hitting 275 on the season) was 1-3 with a walk and 4 RBI's which more than made up for his 1st error of the season in the field.

The Mariner's have an off-day on Wednesday before coming home to start a 4-game series against the Kansas City Royals on Thursday.

On Wednesday afternoon a very happy team owner John Stanton was again down in Tacoma having lunch at another local pizza eatery on the waterfront (Katie Downs). He is joined by his consultant Tim Herman who is trying to keep the owner calm.

Tim Herman - John, yes it is great but you have to understand that this is not over. The New York Yankees are now tied with the A's behind Seattle in the Wildcard and are red hot. They have won 7 in a row and are starting to get some key players back. The A's also are not going to continue to lose like they have been. So while a 4 game lead is great there are still 36 very important game remaining. The club has to continue to play well for the next 6 weeks, any slip and that 4 game lead will quickly disappear.

John Stanton - I know but we need to get ready to celebrate the first playoff appearance in Seattle in 20 years. Do you realize how big this is? I know I have been talking to you about joining the organization and the President of Baseball Operations, but you have to admit that its looking like we should be offering contract extensions for Jerry and Scotty.

Tim Herman - Maybe, but I would like to see this thing into September. Hold off for 2 more weeks and if the club is still in the drivers seat, even though it could change in September. Then I would say you probably have to do it.

John Stanton - Your still skeptical?

Tim Herman - I am looking at a schedule that while we have some games we should win, there are also 6 against the Astros still, 8 versus the A's and even a series against the Red Sox. So while we do not play the Yankees that is still 17 games against quality playoff caliber teams. I am just not ready to think that it is over just yet. I hope it is, the city and fans have waited a long time for this club to do something positive.

John Stanton - Man where do you find these pizza places? This is the best "Chicago Style" type pizza I have here in the Northwest.

Summary - The Mariners are now 16-8 since the trade deadline. While the acquisition of Tyler Anderson has not worked out well at all (he is 0-2 in 5 starts with a 9.72 ERA as a Mariner) the club has still managed to win games. Could this be the end of the longest playoff drought in North American Sports today? 20 years of futility....over? Stay tuned.