The Mariner Memorandum – Mariners Links – September 16

Sep 15, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop

(33) turns a double play over Seattle Mariners shortstop

(1) during the seventh inning at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Mariners 12-2. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

I missed the Mariners matchup against the St. Louis Cardinals this weekend (thank God), but I was still able to catch some fleeting M’s news through the grapevine. If you missed it too, here’s the highlights:

St. Louis is really good

James Paxton is the bright spot (again)

That’s it, if you didn’t get to watch baseball this weekend, congratulations, you’re caught up. With that, lets go straight to the links:

Mariners Links

Wladimir Balentien breaks single-season home run record in Japan – Big League Stew

He finally did it, Balentien crushed the single season home run record in Japan on Sunday. His 55th of the season was a big slap to left-center and earned him a spot in baseball history. With still a week left in the season, it looks like he’ll have a chance to pad his stats a little bit too.

What to root for as it relates to Kendrys Morales, the Seattle Mariners, and a prospective qualifying offer – NASORB

Kendrys Morales continues to make headlines. Earlier this season Kendrys was claimed off of waivers by an unknown team, but the Marines just couldn’t bear the thought of him leaving. Now that the off season is approaching, what are we do to with Morales? Is he good enough to pump money into? Casey McLain took a look at how good he is, and where he might fit into the Mariners vision for the future.

Paxton Steps Up Again, Hurls Mariners To 4-1 Win – Sports Press NW

James Paxton, his second start of the season proved to be equally as good as the first. Maybe even more impressive given that it was against the Cardinals. And given what we saw from the Cardinals yesterday (12 runs), we know that they’re one of the better hitting teams in the league. I’m sure I wasn’t alone when I didn’t expect to be wowed by Paxton when he made his debut, but damn if he isn’t proving me wrong.

Paxton gets on base for first time in decade – Seattle Mariners

I mentioned before that the best part of this weekend was James Paxton, so he’s getting a double feature in today’s links article. Paxton, playing in the National League for the first time, managed to get on base and score for his first major league run, and his first time on base in a decade (ish…).

Eric Wedge and the Problem with Scapegoating – USS Mariner

Last week, this tweet came out:

And eyebrows were raised all over Seattle. Whether the rumor turns out to be true or not, there’s some interesting repercussions for the Mariners. Can we pin 2013’s failures on Eric Wedge, or are there other issues that need to be addressed? One thing is for sure, we’re all out for blood right now, and Wedge is definitely an easy scapegoat.

Felix, Mariners optimistic about ace’s return – Seattle Mariners

Finally, here’s some better news for everyone. Felix Hernandez is going to throw a bullpen session in Detroit tomorrow. If everything goes well we could be seeing him again by Wednesday. I would be surprised to see the Mariners push him too hard at this point though, the season is all but over, and there’s no sense in getting poor Felix hung up on a real injury now.