Hoi-ohhh

Seriously, just release Sexson now and don't let this drag out for a long time if you've lost enough faith in him where you (McLaren) aren't even confident enough in him (Richie) to let him pinch hit.

Just get it over with.

That's such a small sample size that it's completely meaningless. Completely. That said, Sexson could have been 0-for-100 against Jones in his career and he still would have been the better choice over Cairo.

Did the press room burst into subdued laughter?

Seriously Geoff, are you guys at this point either believing this BS, or rolling your eyes and trying like hell not to laugh?

"I just think that Cairo has been swinging the bat pretty good and so forth and so on," McLaren said. "So I would have stuck with Cairo."

...

Sweet tapdancing Buddha.

What do you say in the face of idiocy like that? He can't even be bothered to bring up a stat, or an at-bat, or anything remotely approaching THOUGHT. This response and this reasoning sounds like the lame kind of handwave excuse I used to give for doing stupid stuff when I was a teenager. I would get booted out on my ass in my job if I gave lame excuses for not thinking things through like that.

"Why didn't our product ship on time?"
"Well, I thought we'd done all the right things and it looked pretty good, and so forth and so on."

If I was going to games anymore I'd be tempted to actually sit on the 3rd base infield line and bring placards like "pinch-hit Wlad now" or "leave Morrow in" or "don't let him swing away at the first pitch". Because it seems like what these guys need is not encouragement, or cheering, or rooting for specific players... they need a manager!

I usually don't get so worked up about individual games or even individual decisions in games - regular posters around here can back me up on that - but OMFG this honks me off. This quote right here is all anyone needs to know about why the Ms are stuck in last place; the kind of "reasoning" that goes into their strategy, the kind of people Mac backs, the kind of people Bavasi hires, and so on. If there's any justice, this quote would fly around the whole baseball world and make Mac even more of a laughingstock of a manager than he already is. Except no one cares about Mariners. Because why should they?

Gah.

I think I don't want to hear any more post-game quotes from McLaren from now on. The answer to "what the f was he thinking?" seems to be, 9 times out of 10, "he wasn't".

THERE HAS GOT TO BE some old man behind a curtain pulling the levers and making decisions.

This team is a steaming pile of ----.

The organization is broken -- top to bottom. I won't spend one more penny or waste one more minute watching this crap until they put a decent team on the field.

Danny ...did you edit the quote??

"With dementia setting in and corporate revenue being the highest of priorities..I just think that Cairo.........."

McLaren is trying to get fired isn't he! Down by two, one runner on base. What do you need to do to tie the game? He sticks with Cairo, who can't even come close to hitting the ball to the warning track. Put Sexon in, he hits a homer, his confidence and hitting might be restored and help him for the rest of the season. He grounds or strikes out, big deal, it would be expected. At least Sexson can hit a homer. McLaren is not a good manager, why put Putz in the ninth when there is no save opportunity? Morrow was mowing the Tigers down in the eighth, he could have easily gone another inning or two to get the win. Putting Putz in a none save opportunity is stupid. Putz doesn't have that same mental conditioning to not bust a lead. His mental makeup is to save games when the Mariners are ahead, not when a game is tied. FIRE MCLAREN PLEASE!!!!

I am yet to see a rationale decision by mcLaren. He just offers up excuses when it looks to me, he just doesn't have it. Its time for him to go and it needs to happen now. Enough of these BS losses where a decent manager will put us in a better position to win.

You shouldn't use the word "rationale" in describing Mac's decisions... there's nothing rational about them.

Blow it up already.

Geoff, Danny et al

I can't root for this team as long as Baldvasi is the GM and McLoser is the skipper.

There is NO excuse for not pinch-hitting for Sexson (as much as I hate him).

I just can't watch this garbage anymore. What makes this worse is that the owner has never seen this team play before!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what? how is that possible?
How is it possible that a team with a $117 million payroll can't even compete??

I live in Arizona, and have been planning on going to San Diego at the end of the month to watch the Mariners and Padres. I now think painting the deck, and fixing my old picnic table will be MUCH more fun. I am not a huge Diamondback's fan, but they are a WINNER and are fun to watch. The Mariners are an embarassment to root for, have the worst record in the league, and are certainly NOT worth spending a weekend in San Diego for.

On this homestand, Cairo has a fantastic .649 OPS (that's good for him, I guess).

I guess that's what Mac considers to be "swinging the bat pretty good."

Oh, and can anyone tell me why Raul's glove and Vidro's bat are so important so as to take ABs away from both Jeff Clement and Wlad Balentien in a season where the team is 15 games under on June 1?

Anyone else catch Dave Simms' thinly veiled sarcasm leveled at Mac over that call? Timely time for Dave to mention Cairo hadn't hit a homer in over three years.... right before the weakly hit final out.

Even the hired talent is bailing on the team... if subtlely.

I like the decision. Now just cut Sexson, cut your losses and move on without Cairo at first.

moron. McLaren should be fired immediately. Absolutely no reason not to hit sexon in that situation.

And why is Morrow only allowed to pitch one inning? What, might his fastball slip down to 97mph?

Please, please, please, someone fire McLaren and end this painful farce.

Amazing that not ONE of you so called sports writers didn't confront these statements......???

Just another confirmation that the Mariners are losers from the top to the bottom....Mac might be a nice guy, but, he's a loser and his philosiphy of baseball is a losing one.......he doesn't believe in winning...just getting by....
I believe he was an inexpensive slot filler for the Mariners.....and they've done nothing to change my mind....
Fire them all......what could be worse??? Even our AAA team would be a better value for the fans.....as evidenced by the empty stands...
Seattle fans have had enough.........

Geoff,

It doesn't matter what McLaren did or didn't do with Sexon in the ninth. There was a negative chance that the result would have been any different.

Wake up, everybody. The real story happened in the 7th and 8th innings...

Somebody better be right in Betancourt's face. Two terrible decisions in two innings... but what's new for this kid... one ill-advise attempt to take third (not to mention sliding to the wrong corner of the bag). Horray for running, but use your head. That, followed by a terrible at bat with RISP in the eighth, swinging at a terrible inside pitch that he dribbled to third base, not as far as the bat went, instead of waiting for something he could get good wood on.

The kind of play we saw from Little B today is just unacceptable, but it's not only him. This is symptomatic of a deeper sickness of character in this team that may take at least a bad season to overcome, if at all. Here's what I mean: brain cramps, no emotional stamina, choking in the pinch. One consistent stat will tell you the character of a team at a glance: hitting RISP. What is it with these guys?! Up and down the line up! They can't hit when it really counts. When are they going go grow up and dig deeper? Or can they?

And that was the difference in this game, not Sexon. Good grief. The Tigers got their hits late under pressure when it really counted. The Mariners didn't.

It's not rocket science, but it might take a miracle to get them to believe.

"I just think that Cairo has been swinging the bat pretty good and so forth and so on," McLaren said. "So I would have stuck with Cairo."

Miguel Cairo has posted a .690 OPS over the last 7 days, and has a career .671 OPS.

What a complete joke of a major league manager.

Its not Mclaren's fault that he's dumber than a tree. He was the batboy just last year when our real manager Hargrove quit. Then Barvasi promotes him to manager, just like promoting the janitor to be the GM. Oh yeah the mariners did that too when they made Bavasi the GM.

There's not a manager out there that could do anything with this team right now. So we bring in someone new as manager. What's he gonna do? Wave a magic wand and poof? Rub and kiss their bats for them? Smile at them? Scream at them? Pinch hit Sexon?

To everyone who's curious why Morrow was pulled so quickly, despite pitching so well for just one inning in a tie game, you may be overthinking this too much. Case in point -- Here's our great manager's explanation during the postgame remarks for those that didn't hear it:

Reporter: what was the decision-making process for pulling Morrow and putting JJ in?

McLaren: Well, we just went the 8th and 9th, as you know, we're going good with during this streak. Uhm, that's what we've done, Morrow's had the 8th and JJ the ninth, uh, even in tie games, and that's the direction we went.

Adam clean up your language and try to find an intelligent response for this team or keep your retarded comments to yourself. This team is hard enough to watch without losers like you filling this comments section with foul language and poor suggestions. Seriously, bag on the M's all you want, but at least show some respect to the readers of this blog.

I agree, Dun, that this team is a mess. But what if mac hadn't left Felix in way too long the other night against the Red Sox? What if he had pinch hit for Cairo today? What if he hadn't pulled Morrow so soon today? And that's just in the past few games. McLaren's been making bad decisions all season long. You might be right, this crappy team may have lost no matter what Mac decided to do. But he should at least used the best strategies available, Lord knows this sorry bunch of losers baseball team doesn't have any room for error.

I would be willing to bet that the "Adam" with the expletives is not the regular Adam who posts here. It's an internet form of identity theft that will be the ruination of this blog, if not dealt with by GEOFF and the TIMES.

Uh-oh, Dave Valle may get good spanking tomorrow from Bavasi for this comment on the post-game show:

"In a game like today where we have seen JJ struggle in a non-save situation, and Morrow throws nine pitches, he (McLaren) may want to give a little more thought to maybe we run him out for that second inning (9th). I mean, nine pitches, even if he goes out and throws 15 in the second inning, it's still not that much work for Brandon Morrow. So, uh, I think you have to change your strategy a little bit given the performance of the guys."

Bravo Mr Valle for having the guts to publicly question McLaren's performance, it's what no other media pinhead would dare say, not even the regular host of this blog.

Are the M's really this bad? Could it even be remotely possible that they really stink this bad? Is this just a really bad nightmare? PLEASE SOMEONE WAKE ME UP AND TELL ME IT WAS JUST A DREAM!!

" I think Clement needed to play more at the position he is comfortable with, so forth and so on....

I think our top prospect Brandon Morrow is better off pitching one inning every few days so forth and so on...

I think I Vidro will come out of his 2 year slump sooner or later so I am going to keep our other best prospect Balantine on the bench so forth and so on....

What a dufas, how does this clown how have a job? what a pathetic excuse of an organization, when are people going to quit going out to Disneyland aka Safeco Field and start demanding that we hire someone who demands that we win some games.

What ever this club does or doesn't do after today, won't help it unless GM is sent packing. This team may have the physical skills for MLB, but these guys are mentally spent for the season and unable to get there minds in any game. There playing like a craps game hope for the best with a throw of the dice.

The future is now, right, if thats the case, my crystal ball says bye bye Bavasi and lets get a president who wants to win not just count profits at the end of the year.

This really sucks, what more can be said that hasn't been said by every Mariner fan...I am tired of caring about this team, good luck to the fans that still care because the team doesn't.

"Adam clean up your language and try to find an intelligent response for this team or keep your retarded comments to yourself. "

That isn't Adam by the way. At least not the Adam that posts here regularly. It's just some jackass with nothing to do in his pathetic little life, but use someone elses screen name.

Adam-

Yuni might suck at selecting good pitches to swing at, but you don't need to say that he sucks d*ck.

If you want to make d*ck jokes, you can say that MacLaren's managing is like a limp d*ck on a porn set. Absolutely useless.

Honestly, with a manager/GM making the correct decisions, the M's could have a few extra wins. They have some really good pieces. 2 of the 10 best starters in the AL, a strong pen, etc.

BTW - Clement got another 2 hits and a walk today.

How's this look:

365/487/722

Those are his numbers in AAA right now.

Even if you figure Major League Equivalency looping off 18% from those numbers, that's still projecting to 295/400/580.

Honestly - 15 games under .500 why on earth aren't he and Wlad playing? The team has to figure out what they're working with going forward. And, they can have both their bats, plus Reed and Ibanez in the lineup every day if they assemble the lineup creatively. I.E.

Ichiro CF
Reed LF
Beltre 3B
Ibanez 1B/DH
Lopez 2B
Clement DH/1B
Johjima C
Balentien RF
Betancourt SS

Also, that goes L/R from 1 through 7! The could also hit Kenji 6th and Clement 7th if they wanted. I could go on about how Kenjo didn't draw a single walk in May, but I don't want to go there.

Clement could take over from Burke as Bedard's personal catcher, and still get some games behind the plate that way. On some days, if a lefty is pitching Sexson can play 1B or Vidro DH with Ibanez getting a day off.

Hell - it's not even just about developing Reed, Wlad and Clement, or getting a long look to see if they're part of the long term plan. It's also that using that lineup would give the M's the best chance to WIN, both offensively and defensively.

If you want to get Cairo some action, let him take some of Yuni's at bats in certain situations. Bring him in as a defensive replacement at 1B in late innings when the M's have the lead. But, for the love of all that's holy, don't be relying on his bat!!!

This is really depressing. I'm actually depressed. I'm going to go binge eat now.

Can someone email Geoff and as him to delete the fake Adam's posts. Using other peoples screen names should not be tolerated.

I'd email him myself, but for some reason my computer won't let me. It keeps saying "mail client is not properly installed".

I've never been one to trash on the team, management, or front office. However, I have found myself making moves for the team (in my mind of course) that would appear to make complete sense, only to see Mac not make the move, or make something that makes no sense to me. Keep in mind, I am not a baseball mind of anykind, just an Average M's fan, granted, I've been a fan for 20+ years.

Maybe Mac is doing what he is told to do by Bavasi, maybe Bavasi has told him no moves are being made, he has to stick with what he has. And right now, obviously, he is not doing very well with what he has.

I'm not the type to say Fire him, trade these two, start the rebuild now, or any of these things. However, right now, I do not see alot of hope for this season, unless moves are made now and experimentation begins to happen. There still will not be hope for this year, but at least some hope for the future may spring to life this year.

This team needs to make some changes now. It needs to experiment ith the youth in the organization. It needs to explore any trades that make sense. The trades really need to be beneficial in some way to the organization, and we do not need to trade for someone else's headache or aging veterans.

Please, begin the changes now and bring in people that can light a spark under the players, someone the can make intelligent baseball decisions on the feild and for the roster. Baseball is a business, and without profits a team will not be successful on the field continually. Changes need to come quickly.

I like Mac as a person, and I even wished to give him and Bavasi this year to figure things out, but the more I see, the more I hope for change.

Uh... guys. I doubt "Adam" knows he's using anyone's screen names. And it's not like you gotta log in and can thus actually have a screen name. And gee... if your name is Adam... ahhh... bit I digress. I do agree his post could be deleted for profanity.

You know... many times I don't agree with what a number of posters here say. But at this point, Adam the other Adam not the real Adam, aside, I'd say each and every one of you is better qualified to run this team than Uncle Mac.

Football season can not come soon enough.

Whoa! McLaren's comment boggles my mind. As a manager, you've got to play the percentages, and especially with two out and a man on in a two-run game, their best chance to tie the game was with Sexson at the plate -- or perhaps Balentien (4 homers in 89 at-bats). Cairo may get on base, but then you still need another hit, perhaps two. With the others, one swing could well get you even. Sexson or Balentien may well have struck out, but Seattle's best chance was with one of them at the plate, and McLaren failed to give his team that chance.

You all are just so wrong!!!

NICK says 4:14 PM, May 31, 2008

"Agreed, today proved the M's are able to contend and just need to rattle off a nice streak here and we are right back in the thick of things!!!"

Now that the M's are truely in contention.....let's put our smiles on and pack Safeco every gamer, just so we can keep this contender on the field! :-)

Please, please, please, will the real owner please fire the entire management staff from Lincoln on down, and try to put together a real baseball management team, who has a clue about talent and how to aquire and manage it!

"Maybe Mac is doing what he is told to do by Bavasi, maybe Bavasi has told him no moves are being made, he has to stick with what he has."

Could be. Maybe when Bavasi recently said that MacLaren was doing a wonderful job, that actually meant "doing a wonderful job doing exactly what I tell him to do."

Speaking of Bavasi-at the same time he came out and supported McLaren, he also said that the team may have acted a bit prematurely in bribging up Clement instead of letting the regulars play their way out of their hitting slumps. Well, couldn't it be said that the team then acted prematurely in rushing Clement back to Tacoma without letting him play through his hitting troubles?

They looked a lot better these last 7 or 8 games! They will right the ship we just need to be patient. All you losers giving up in june need to go home!!!

I made my only comment at 5:28 pm. As for the other "Adam" - whether he's trying to get me in hot water, or is a just a crass low-life, I don't care. It didn't work a couple of weeks ago, it won't work now.

So, what exactly has to happen for Clement to get called up and Cairo and Vidro taken out of the order?

I'd like his rationale for giving Cairo (easily the worst hitter on this team, and that's saying a lot) 5 consecutive starts at 1B period. He is a worse everyday 1B than Sexson is even in his craptacular, zombified state.

Sexson is freaking terrible.
Bavasi is worse.

Sorry but the 05 Astros had a few talented guys like Oswalt, Pettitte, Clemens, Berkman, Ensberg, Biggio. There is simply no comparision between that team and our sorry Ms.

They looked a lot better these last 7 or 8 games! They will right the ship we just need to be patient. All you losers giving up in june need to go home!!!

Ravenous - Maybe you are being facetious, maybe not. Here's the task in front of the Mariners:

If the West took 96 games to win (the Angels are on pace to win 95), the Mariners would have to go 75-30 the rest of the way - a .714 winning percentage. For the sake of reference, the 2001 Mariners finished with a .716 winning percentage.

If it took just 90 wins to win the West, the Mariners would have to finish 69-36, a .657 winning percentage. That's one game better than the 2007 Yankees finished over their last 105 games. They had a .847 TEAM OPS during that period. The Mariners have a .688 team OPS right now.

We are not going to win the West. Plain and simple. Management should recognize that and make the appropriate changes.

Did anyone else happen to see Norton's HR last night or "web gem" from today's game on Baseball Tonight? Yeah, wish I hadn't either....

The 2005 Astros finished the year 66-38, two games than what we'll have to finish to win 90. They had a team ERA of 3.11 in those 105 games. They also had a team OPS of .752 during that run.

The Mariners have a team OPS of .688 and a team ERA of 4.76.

quote-Chris from Bothell: "What do you say in the face of idiocy like that? He can't even be bothered to bring up a stat, or an at-bat, or anything remotely approaching THOUGHT."

Yeah. Yesterday I posted on another blog that Mac's pulling Felix might have been a sign of some brain activity in the managerial staff. Not so. Felix said he was hurt. If he hadn't, you can be sure Mac would have left him in too long again and we would have lost that game too. What a bleepin mess, a comical farce this team has become. Today's loss is on Mac. This season's mess is on Bavasi. And the last five years are on Lincoln and Armstrong. Blow it up, Now.

I just don't get it with Sexson. I understand why he isn't starting but he is still a dangerous hitter. How long do we let him rot on the bench not even to pinch hit.

Either release him or use him some. They are going to put him back in after he rots and wonder why he is even doing worse.

McLaren sure isn't very good at using his bench. People shouldn't sit 4, 5 or more games at a time.

I believe I mentioned Nortons homer in yesterdays game thread and got blasted for not being positive, just sad to see him on another team. Oh well i guess you can only point out obvious blunders when the manager makes quotes to the effect that a man with 0% chance to hit a homer is better in that situation than Sexson or Balentien. Sure he probably would have struck out but at least the threat is there..

This team is VERY worthy of every derogatory post that is made.

A real team would have the same profanity from OPPOSING FANS, not their own.

Think about that allong with your .OPS' and the like.

You're kidding me. So nine pitches and Morrow's cooked? And we're hoping that Cairo will hit the tying home run? Granted, Morrow could have blown up in the ninth, and Sexson probably would have struck out, but for goodness sakes, at least GIVE THE TEAM THE BEST POSSIBLE CHANCE TO WIN! When knuckleheads on Geoff's blog are smarter than a major league manager, something is really, really wrong.

Norm, Greg Norton is 6 for 33 in a Braves uniform. Why his name would come up in any discussion is beyond reason.

David, more homers than Cairo still about 75 point higher in batting average. Not awsome reasons to bring him up in conversation but still not terrible ones either.
Avg. HR RBI OBP SLG AB
Cario .208 0 5 .271 .245 53
Norton. 264 1 9 .400 .377 53

Sure since the trade he hasn't been awesome but still better

nature: "Uh... guys. I doubt "Adam" knows he's using anyone's screen names."

"Uh...nature. I'm certain the second "Adam" knows exactly what he's doing." And I hope the Times will look at who is posting multiple times, assuming other people's blog identity, thinking it's funny. Maybe it's you.

This blog is a good thing; this floundering M's team is increasingly painful to discuss; idiots appropriating other bloggers identity is heaping vulgar salt on a bad wound.

Don't ruin a good thing.

Unbelievable to see the hypocrisy here. A week ago, everyone's calling for Sexson's head. Now everyone's bitching because he wasn't used as a pinch hitter.

If he was used, there's about an 80% chance he would have struck out and trotted back to the dugout with the same clueless look on his face he has had for the last two years.

He is becoming a distraction now though. They just need to DFA and be done.

Another day, another terrible baseball decision. Jeez, just throw any nine guys out there and go with it. The strategies being employed are embarassing.

I always thought that the bumper sticker that read

"Somewhere in Texas a village is missing their Idiot" was a slam against George Bush, but now I am convinced that it was intended for a certain Mariners field manager that we all know and love.

Ladies and Gentlemen put your hands together for our own Johnny Mac

My guess is that what isn't being said is that Sexson has admitted to McLaren that the home crowd booing him has put him in a slump that he can't get out of. When managers hear guys giving up the only solution is to put someone else in for them. I bet Cairo will continue to start for the rest of the homestand and Sexson will start when they go on the road.

Mac is hoping that Sexson will get "hot" on the road trip and then can start him at Safeco where his streak might overcome the boos.

Plus McLaren likes putting the game in motion with Cairo. That's the way he likes to manage, and Sexson runs like a sloth.

I see a lot of people calling for McLaren to be fired, can't say I completely disagree, but what I'm not hearing is a proposed solution. If not Mac, then who?

See a lot of people asking why guys like Geoff are letting McLaren get away with BS comments like his Cairo quote. What do you really expect them to do?

I think this is Geoffs way of not letting McLaren get away with something as stupid as "I just think that Cairo has been swinging the bat pretty good and so forth and so on,".

Making a topic like this to let the fans know that our home team manager is making some illogical moves and comments puts his stupidity on a pedestal.

"That isn't Adam by the way. At least not the Adam that posts here regularly. It's just some jackass with nothing to do in his pathetic little life, but use someone elses screen name."

You would know that, wouldn't you, Faceplant? Because we all know you are Adam!

"I see a lot of people calling for McLaren to be fired, can't say I completely disagree, but what I'm not hearing is a proposed solution. If not Mac, then who?"

Anyone who could manage as well as most of the bloggers here, that's who. It doesn't require 20-20 hindsight going into the 9th inning today to figure out after the 8th inning the way Morrow was mowing down the Tigers and had only thrown 9 pitches that it would probably be a smart move to keep him in at least one more inning; most any of us also would have had the basic sense to pinch hit for Cairo. You know, stuff like that. I don't care who you put in there to manage the team as long as he makes the simple commonsense moves that any of us plainly would have made.

"Greg Norton is 6 for 33 in a Braves uniform. Why his name would come up in any discussion is beyond reason." Ummmm... maybe it was the game winning hit his first game in an Atlanta uniform or the HR from yesterday. Who would you rather have hitting in the 9th: Norton or Cairo? Norton or Sexon? Thought keeping Cairo and letting Norton go was a mistake then, still looks like a mistake now.

Wow... that is a terrible way to make a decision. Cairo is the worst hitter on the team, and no threat to do anything. It should have been Sexson or Balentien hitting for Cairo, since either is a threat to tie up the game. What an indefensible decision by McLaren. But one of a string of decisions that have ultimately hurt this team. I couldn't believe it when Cairo came to the plate in the 9th.

Adam, Adam - You have sure degenerated with your comments at 6:08 PM - are you sure you are not being impersonated again? You were the one calling for no profanity, now you take it a step beyond profane. Adam, the great hypocrite!

Hate to keep bringing this up, but it's time for the "nuclear option." Trade anyone but Felix and Bedard, and trade high. Anyone over 30 should be gone. I know that some of you will say "but, but, Ichiro." Before you go off on a weepy, overly emotional rant, consider this. I like to call it "The irrelevance of Ichiro."

Ichiro has 18 multi-hit games so far this year. In those games, the Mariners are 7-11. The wins have come against the Devil Rays in their home opener, Kansas CIty where we scored 11 runs, The Angels with Moseley on the Mound, Cleveland in a game where Ichiro neither scored nor drove anyone in, The White Sox versus a nobody named Gavin Floyd who once posted a 7.29 ERA in 11 games in the NL, The Padres in a game where Bedard went 8 innings with 10 strikeouts, and against Boston when Jose Lopez won the game in the bottom of the 9th inning.

Further Ichiro irrelevance? Our record was vastly better in April when he was hitting like Willie Bloomquist, than it was in May when he hit .319/.384/.398.

With his name recognition, we should be able to get at least 2 good prospects, and a couple more marginal ones. The only drawback is the idiotic contract that Bavasi gave him last year. That will keep some of the teams (the ones more likely to have better, MLB ready prospects) out of the running for his services.

Sorry 'X' IMO: relevant, irrelevant or whatever the only way Ichiro leaves is if HE wants to. His friendship with Yamauchi guarantees that. Although I don't doubt the thought of playing on a real contender has crossed his mind. So who knows, if the M's continue the tailspin, maybe he decides he wants out. My guess is almost everyone else, management included will be gone before Ichiro.

I agree with you, Mr X, regarding Ichiro. I'm wondering if its possible to get rid of him given the Japanese ownership. I mean look at Kenji- he doesn't even have to hit or catch a good game or throw out runners very well and he won't be going anywhere either.

I really like this lineup posted by 11 Records:
Ichiro CF
Reed LF
Beltre 3B
Ibanez 1B/DH
Lopez 2B
Clement DH/1B
Johjima C
Balentien RF
Betancourt SS

It's not all about the next game now, it's about the next few years. Let's get started!

Also liked this quote in the article about Richie not pinch hitting.

"Sexson could be released soon."

byebye

I don't want to be a downer, and sound like I've given up, but maybe if the Angels come in and sweep us, that would end it right there. Maybe that's the best thing for this team.

"Further Ichiro irrelevance?"

You're a moron. Ichiro is the leadoff hitter. His job is to do what he does: get on base and setup the possibility for the later lineup to drive him in.

The fact that you keep talking about Japanese this and that means you're also a racist. A racist moron. How rare on the internet.

Is that you X, agreeing with yourself? Still after Ichiro, when will you ever lie down in front of that big wheel of life? Let me know when you do, I want to hear the air coming out of you when it goes squash over you. Maybe then you will have a life.

McClaren is the reason for the season. He is a horrible coach. He must be napping behind the scenes. He will not pull the pitchers but allow them to run up the score. The players have been doing well, but the coach is not doing his job.