This is great news for the Mariners.
Now is the time we see what our boys are really made of.
Like an experienced pugilist who smells blood, the Mariners as a whole need to take their game up a notch the first month of the season.
They have been handed, gift wrapped, a one armed opponenet and need to jab, uppercut and rabbit punch their way into a fomidable division lead by the time the Angels Aces return.
We cannot afford a lethargic start by Sexson, Ibanez or Beltre.
Time to man-up, stay focused, stay healthy and kick some ass!

I second that motion!

lets play ball!!

And to think of all of the wasted hours spent by all of the mathletes. The season hasn't even started yet, and they have to do all of that manual self-gratification all over again. All of the childlike position vs. position and starter vs. starer evaluations. All of the failed arguments that we shouldn't trade for Bedard (aka try to improve the Major Leage team), because we still wouldn't be "better" than the Angels. All of the hand-wringing over trading the unprofessional "excuse machine" Adam Jones. As per usual, real life gets in the way of those who choose to live in fantasyland. It's a shame, really.

The season can't start soon enough, IMO.

It is great news for the Mariners but lets not count all our wins just yet. Remember in the NBA, the Rockets lost Yao Ming, people thought they would miss the playoffs in the competitve west. They have now won 21 in a row!

quote of the day from Ken Rosenthal's article:

"Two of the remaining free agents, Jeff Weaver and Horacio Ramirez, are ill-suited for the American League."

I think it'd be hilarious if the Angels picked them up as 4th and 5th starters. Especially if they did so right before we had a series with them. :)

I can't say it enough, though: in this specific situation, the Ms have to over-achieve. It's a hollow victory if the only way to get to the postseason was because of someone else's huge misfortune. Yes, injuries and bad timing like this are a part of the game. A true contender is better than the margin of error. If you rely on one injury, one bad call, etc. to get in, you don't really deserve to be there and when push to comes to shove you'll get blown out every time.

And hey, Mr. X - Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, passed away recently. I'm surprised you didn't have a word or two to say, given your previous stance on hobbits and elves. :)

Here's hoping we don't have to trot out links to all the past sabermetrics articles again, though. (e.g. "Even if a 100 coinflips happen to come up heads 99 times, the odds are still 50-50 and you should still plan for 50-50 the next 100 times", and so on, and so on.)

Ah, Mr. X using others to try and pump up his self esteem and bring some meaning to his life. Just the fact that he feels a need to make such statements speaks volumes.

Oh, and Geoff, your link to the Halos Heaven post is busted. There's a garbage character in place of the last space.

If folks want to follow it, cut-n-paste, minus the quote marks:

"http://www.halosheaven.com/2008/3/16/273633/story title"

I hope they play. It's the second spring training game being broadcast on FSN... I want to see some baseball!

cheese whiz-welcome to the blog. Have you ever posted under a previous handle?, you sound eerily familiar yet your current name doesn't sound familiar? Other than your reportable personal attack, what is your opinion of spring training so far?

I don't see too much that moves me to panic or to celebrate so far. I watched Adam Jones today on the dish and he looked okay, it was fun to watch. However, if Bedard does indeed put up 200+K's and innings we are going to quickly forget about AJ, especially now that the Angels strong rotation is in shambles. I only wish we had a competent manager to take full advantage of facing Mosely and Saunders in April.

And guess what, Mr. X:

The analysis of non-saber geeks is thrown on its head as well. This changes everything for anyone looking at the AL West. It's baseball.

Get over yourself.