SEAside Thoughts: Where the Mariners stand before the deadline

Mariners SEAside Thoughts: Week 17

“If you are going to do something, do it now. Tomorrow is too late.” —Pete Goss

• Wow, this might be one of the busiest weeks in recent memory for the Mariners. Seven games, an all-time trade, and all the injury questions and concerns leading into tomorrow’s massive trade deadline. We got a lot to go over, let’s roll.
• Coming off a disastrous home series against the Houston Astros, the Mariners continued the battle of Texas, sweeping the Rangers and grabbing one game out of four to, thank heavens, finish their regular season play with the Stros.
• Thoughts on the Texas series
  • No game was easy, but the Mariners showed off what makes them a playoff caliber team, an absolutely dominant pitching staff and bullpen, stellar defense, and just enough offense.
  • In all three games, we saw great starting pitching from Flexen, Kirby, and Gonzales. We’ll get to Seattle’s newest addition a little later, but it’s clear that these three don’t want to get pushed out of the rotation, and that competition led to putting flowers on the Rangers’ graves.
  • An incredible comeback on Tuesday night after the Mariners nearly lost the game on a whacky double late. JP and Cal being the heroes to tie and eventually win the game continues to make this rebuild, which is all but over, such a joy to watch. A solid hitting shortstop with a golden glove, and a legit top 7 catcher in baseball right now are the surprise developments you see playoff teams get.
  • It was so good to see Julio back (sigh…we’ll talk about that later too). A dominant player with a knack for coming up clutch when you need it. Jomboy Media’s talking baseball podcast said it best in their Luis Castillo trade episode, Julio is a one name type of player. Those are rare, especially as a rookie.

• The Astros series sucked again.
  • We talked about this last week, and really, not much changed. The Astros are the best team in baseball in my opinion. Seattle is getting closer to them each and every day, but the gap was so wide to start.
  • Minus game two, the Mariners played even ball against Houston, yet lost two of three close games. Not having Julio and France takes this team from a 90 win team to a 2010 Mariners offense real quick.
  • We pitch to them very well, minus Robbie Ray, but we just can’t hit against one of the best rotations we’ve seen in baseball in a long time. It’s a problem not just for Seattle, but for all the teams in the American League. The Yankees may currently have the best record in the league, but it’s gonna take something special for them to be able to win 4 out 7 against these Astros, whether or not they got home field advantage.
  • I’ve acknowledged him in earlier thoughts, but Justin Verlander continues to marvel. The pitcher of the millennials generation for the American League. I can already see him and Clayton Kershaw (the NL’s standard of a generation) going at in the world series, possibly for the last time for both, although they each look like they can keep going for a bit longer.
  • Enough swooning, what the heck was with Servais letting Bernardino pitch to Yordan Alvarez at the end of the game yesterday? Do the M’s still lose? Likely, but make someone else do it, not the 2nd best hitter in the American League.
  • A lot went wrong yesterday, but some bad baseball and bad management cost the M’s a game they had no business winning, that was there for the taking.
• I’m conflicted on the Jarred Kelenic call up
  •  I’m stoked to see him back, but nervous about his chances of finally breaking through. He has noticeably improved his plate discipline at Tacoma, but the reason he was called up is concerning. I don’t believe Kelenic can go back down, even if he struggles. If it works out, he could help Seattle survive the major concerns facing them right now. If he’s not ready, it could be the end of the Kelenic era in Seattle, and what a short and depressing one it would be.

• The Luis Castillo trade is a massive one
  • Yes, Seattle gave up some big prospects, but those are prospects, not major league assets. In exchange, Seattle received the most talented pitcher the franchise has had since Felix Hernandez. Castillo immediately gives Seattle the best rotation in the American League outside of Houston.  The Mariners also will have Castillo for the rest of this season, and all of next year. This is a huge move for the Mariners, they are ready to win.
  • It will be fascinating to see him pitch his Seattle debut against the Yankees, a team he dominated just a few weeks ago.
  • Enjoy this Mariners fans. Cincinnati players don’t get a lot of attention, but this dude is not just an all-star, he’s a star and a true ace, and he’s a Seattle Mariner.
• This week’s SEAside Thoughts Player of the Week is Cal Raleigh. He didn’t have his best week of the season, but his huge night and tag up on Tuesday night helped the Mariners get the valuable sweep to ease the blow of going 1-6 against the Astros in the past two weeks.
• This week’s “Mariners Music Mojo” is The Gambler by Kenny Rogers.

• This is a huge week Mariners fans. At the Yankees, the deadline, Castillo’s debut, and the rematch against the depressing Halos. Let’s have some fun!