2008: Erik Bedard Arrives in Seattle and Gets Everyone Fired.

After winning 88 games in 2007 and appearing to be a team on the rise everything fell apart, yet again, in 2008. The club managed to lose 101 games, the first time over the century mark for losses since 1983. The manager, Jon McLaren, and the general manager, Bill Bavasi, both got the boot halfway through the season. The season is best remembered as an unmitigated disaster.

Looking back on 2008 the problems started before the season even started when the team decided to go all in for the post season. They traded away Adam Jones and Chris Tillman, plus three other players, to the Baltimore Orioles for starting pitcher Erik Bedard. This trade famously failed completely and totally for the Mariners. It is considered one of the worst trades in club history, and definitely the worst of anytime during the current drought.

Obviously hindsight is 20-20, but this trade looks extra bad upon review. Adam Jones turned into an All-Star centerfielder for the Orioles and Chris Tillman has compiled 198 starts for the Orioles since 2009 started. The Mariners only addition from the trade, Erik Bedard, spent two and a half frustrating years with the team, during which he started 46 games. In those games Bedard averaged only 5.5 innings per start, but he did have a good 3.31 ERA (255 IP, 94 ER). While Bedard wasn't bad he wasn't consistent at all and just couldn't be counted on. The price the M's paid for him was just too great. By trading two young and promising minor leaguers it set the team back for years to come.

Once the team actually started playing baseball things didn't go well either. Similar to 2004, the biggest problem with the 2008 team was they couldn't hit or pitch well. Only four players had a wRC+ over 100 (Ichiro, Lopez, Beltre, and Ibanez), meaning they were better than average for their position. Two pitchers started 20 or more games and had ERA's over 6.00 (Silva and Batista). The relief pitchers recorded a record of 36 saves and a whopping 31 blown saves, the most in the American league.

One bright spot was left fielder Raul Ibanez. In his second to last year with Seattle (he returned in 2013 for one last hoorah) Ibanez had a .293 batting average, hit 43 doubles and 23 homer, and drove in 110 runs. This was all good for a wRC+ of 122, by far the best on the Mariners. This good season set Ibanez up for a nice big contract with Philadelphia in 2009.

Ichiro was basically the only person on base for Ibanez to drive in. He score 103 times, or 15% of the Mariners total runs.  Ichiro also racked up his eighth straight year with 200+ hits. Once on base Ichiro stole 43 bases and only got caught 4 times. That is a very impressive 91% success rate. Essentially Ichiro had another typical season.

Another bright spot for the Mariners was the Felix Hernandez finally becoming an ace. Although he went a disappointing 9-11 for the season, his ERA was 3.45, eighth lowest in the American league. Additionally, King Felix struck out 175 batters in 200.66 innings, seventh most in the American League. Overall a very good season.

The rest of the starting pitchers were bad or hurt. We already talked about Erik Bedard and his frustrating first season with the team. In addition to Bedard the team also brought in Carlos Silva. The former Minnesota Twin looked good to start the season, he had a 2.79 ERA in six starts. Then in May everything fell apart. His ERA for the month was 11.00 over 5 starts. Silva ended up starting 28 games in 2008 and he never regained his April form. Although on July 8th he managed tothrow a complete game against Oakland, but in fitting fashion for 2008 he lost 0-2. Silva's final ERA for the season was 6.46. 

2008 is also of note because it was when RA Dickey brought his knuckleball to the Emerald city. Although he had a 5.21 ERA in 112.33 innings during his one season in Seattle, Dickey's unique style made an impression on the fans. I have been following his career from a far ever since.

It wasn't enough that the team couldn't hit or pitch, so for good measure the Mariners also struggled playing defense in 2008. The worst offender was Yuniesky Betancourt who made 21 errors in 153 games, the fourth most in the majors. Betancourt's inability to field groundballs or throw them to first base regularly was a major issue for the shortstop. It probably cost him his job in Seattle.

Calling 2008 a bad season for the Mariners is an understatement. I am sure the franchise would love to just wipe it from the record, but they can't. Fans all around the Pacific Northwest suffered through the season and witnessed some of the worst quality baseball imaginable. The lone offensive bright spot was Raul Ibanez, and the lone pitcher worth lauding was Felix Hernandez. The season is also remember for one of the worst trades in franchise history, which is like rubbing salt in the wound.

Sources: Baseball Reference, Fangraphs 

2005-2007: The Mariners Appear to be Getting Better

Many of you probably don't remember or never knew that Mike Hargrove was the manager of the Seattle Mariners for two and a half seasons. He inherited a terrible team coming off a 63-99 record in 2004 and adds wins each of his seasons at the helm. In 2005 the Mariners won 69 games, they followed that up with 78 wins in 2006 and an exciting 88 in 2007. Strangely Hargrove resigned in the middle of the 2007 season. The team was doing well and it looked like they might finally make the playoffs, so weirdly the manager that suffered through two rebuilding years decided to leave. Hargrove explained to the Seattle Times that it "boiled down to the fact that it was getting increasingly difficult to summon the 100 percent effort he demanded of his players."

In addition to adding Hargrove as the Manager, in 2005 the Mariners added two big name and big money free agents in Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre. Both of these players have a mixed legacy with the Mariners. Sexson spent the end of his career with the Mariners and Beltre the middle, which surely impacted how they are remembered.

Sexson had a 144 wRC+ in 2005. He clobbered 39 HR pleasing fans all over the PNW. In 2006 Sexson's hitting stayed strong. He hit 34 more HR and had a 117 wRC+. The drop off was almost entirely from the decline of walks, which fell from 89 to 64. Sexson also hit 5 Grand Slams in 2006, something that is burned into my baseball memory. Unfortunately for the Big Sexy most fans seem to have 2007 burned into their memories. Sexson's production fell off a cliff in 2007. He did managed to hit 21 HR, but that was about it. His average dropped from the .260's down to .205. His walks dropped to 51. All this resulted in his wRC+ plummeting to 84. In three seasons Richie Sexson went from 44% better than an average first baseman to 16% worse. It was an impressive decline to say the least.

Adrian Beltre came to Seattle from the Los Angeles Dodgers after a season he finished second in the MVP voting. Beltre had already played 7 season with the Dodgers, but was still only 26 years old when he joined the Mariners in 2005. He spent five years in Seattle. If Belte's body followed the normal aging curve they would have been his prime. Instead Beltre somehow got way better when he left the Mariners, dominating the American league in his 30's. We should all be so lucky.

During his whole time with the Mariners Beltre played amazing defense at third base. However, at the plate he was much more disappointing. He never hit 30 homeruns. His highest batting average was only .275, in 2007. His wRC+ topped out at 110 and was below 100, worse than average, twice. During 2005 to 2007 Beltre did manage to improve his hitting stats each year raising his average and slugging in each consecutive year. According to Fangraphs he contributed 9.9 WAR between 2005-2007. Beltre definitely didn't hurt the team, because of his strong defense, but he didn't deliver on the promise of his 2004 Dodgers' season.

Between 2005 and 2007 the Mariners bullpen saw the collapse of Steady Eddie Guardado and the rise of JJ Putz. I think most people think of Eddie Guardado as a bad closer, I know I do. Interestingly though looking back on his 2005 stats shows that Guardado was actually pretty good for the Mariners. He recorded a 2.72 ERA and 36 saves in 41 chances.  He appeared in 58 games. 2006 was a completely different story for Guardado. He gave up 8 homeruns in only 23 innings and blew 3 of his 8 save chances, prompting Manager Mike Hargrove to make a switch at closer to JJ Putz.

Putz was electric in 2006 and even better in 2007. He posted an ERA of 2.30 in 2006 followed by 1.38 in 2007. Over those two seasons he struck out 186 batters and walked 26 in 150 innings. In 2007 his WHIP was a ridiculously low .698. Whenever fans at Safeco Field heard Thunderstruck start to play and saw Putz walking up to the mound you knew the M's were going to win. Putz brought me personally many great memories at the end of games watching opposing hitters be completely flummoxed.

The mid 2000's also saw the introduction of Felix Hernandez to Seattle baseball. In 2005 King Felix impressed in his first 12 major leagues starts. In his third big league game ever Felix pitched 8 inning, gave up 3 hits, 1 runs and struckout 11 Kansas City Royals. He followed that up with another 8 inning gem against the Minnesota Twins (5 H, 2 ER, and 9 K) and fans were hooked. Hernandez struggled a little during his sophomore campaign, seeing his ERA jump up to 4.52. Though the King did throw his first major league complete game shutout that year. It was onAugust 28th against the Los Angeles Angels of Anahiem and unusally both starting pitchers went the distance (the other was Kelvim Escobar). Felix continued to improve in 2007, getting his ERA down to 3.92. He wasn't great in either year, but it is important to remember that ERA in general were higher during the mid 2000's. In both 2006 and 2007 his ERA was below the cumulative ERA of all major league starters (4.69 and 4.63). Although not yet the dominate pitcher fans know today, Felix showed signs of what was to come during all three of his first seasons.

The 2005 through 2007 seasons saw the Mariners climb out of the cellar to flirt with the playoffs. Sadly they didn’t' get the job done in 2007 allowing the now longest playoff draught in Professional sports to continue. These three seasons saw a successful manager quit unexpectedly during a winning season, the addition of big money free agents, and the emergence of a Mariner icon. Overall they were a very memorable set of years.

Sources: Fangraphs, Baseball Reference

The Seahawks Fire Two Long Time Coaches

The Seahawks ended the season with a dud. They lost three of their last four games. The Rams games was a complete and total embarrassment. It was probably one of the worst performances in a big time game (at home against a division rival in the third to last week of the year) that I have ever seen. The Seahawks are clearly a team with problems that need fixed. This week Pete Carroll took the first step in righting the wrongs by firing Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell and Assistant Head Coach Tom Cable. Personally I understand these firings, especially Cable, but similar to Matt Calkins I hope they aren't the end of the turnover.

In Bevell's defense the team was essentially missing half the offense. No running back showed consistency or goodness. At times different people looked good, but nobody was able to carry the load. Additionally the offensive line failed to run block as often as they opened holes. Seeing a running back tackled in the backfield mere moments after the hand off was a frequent sight in Seattle. Because of the personnel the team had Bevell was essentially unable to call run plays effectively. He had to pass often, which, as Pete Carroll frequently reminded us, is what this team wants to be. 

None of that is to say Bevell was free of blame. He struggled at times to call plays that optimized the skills of the players on his team. His offenses took way to long to adapt to the other teams. It was a regular occurrence for the Seahawks to struggle throughout the first half only to look like a completely different team in the second. Nothing highlights this more than Russell Wilson's ridiculous splits in 2017. In the first half of games DangeRuss had 270 pass attempt for 1659 yard and 8 INT. In the second half of games he had 282 pass attempts for 2318 yards and 26 touchdowns. 

By far the best criticism I have heard of Bevell is that the offenses most effective play was the scramble drill, after whatever had been called had broken down. Russell Wilson was at his best improvising, either during hurry up drills or scrambles. Wilson's ridiculous splits between halves show this as well. When the pressure was on and it became do our die Wilson turned to improvisation to get it done. That doesn't look good for the offensive coordinator, the guy calling the plays. 

To summarize I don't think firing Bevell was a bad decision, but I am afraid whoever comes next will struggle just as much unless the o line and running backs are improved. I really don't want to be sitting in front of my TV next year listing to all my friends jumping on the fire offensive coordinator Joe Blow band wagon. With this current roster that is a major possibility.

Tom Cable is a different story. The man's official titles were Assistant Head Coach and Offensive Line Coach, but it has been reported that Cable was essentially the co-offensive coordinator. In this role he was tasked with setting up blocking schemes to make the passing and rushing attack work. Cable was also tasked with developing the offensive lineman that the Seahawks brought in to Seattle. 

When it comes to developing blocking talent Cable must be considered a bust. The Seahawks have drafted 15 offensive lineman (if you include JR Sweezy) since 2010. Of these only Justin Britt and Russell Okung have turned into above average professional players (admittedly there is still time for Ethan Pocic). The success of any offense largely depends on the lineman's ability to block. Tom Cable knows this, it is what he was paid to improve it in Seattle. His coaching ability just wasn't up to snuff. The Seahawks need to blow up their entire offensive line strategy and try again. That means the main man in charge of the offensive line, Tom Cable, needs to go too.

2017 was a disappointing season for the Seattle Seahawks. They missed the playoffs for the first time in six years. Their offense struggled mightily and their once great defense was hobbled by injuries and penalties. The first moves to right the ship were the firings of long time coaches Darrell Bevell and Tom Cable. These were probably the right move. Cable had failed completely over the last few years to develop offensive line talent. Bevell was the play caller in an offense that performed best when everything broke down and the called play wasn't followed. However, if these are the only major moves the Seahawks make it will be very disappointing.

Sources: Pro Football Reference

A Few Tidbits from Around the Web

Wow, I haven't posted one of these in a while. It isn't that I haven't been reading, listening to, and watching sports media because I have. I still read ESPN the Mag and the Seattle Times Sports section. I listen to Slate's Hang Up and Listen and Dave "Softy" Mauler on 950 KJR regularly. I just seem to have forgotten to save any of these articles to share with you guys. Sorry about that.

Anyways, here are some links to sports media I have found interesting lately.

• I wrote a whole post about the Rise of Strikeouts. Looks like I wasn't the only one noticing the increased whiffing. Joe Sheehan wrote this piece about how baseball has become boring because their are so many strikeouts and so few non homeruns.
• Every year the NFL sees a rash of high profile injuries. This year Aaron Rodgers, David Johnson, and Odell Beckham Jr. have all suffered major injuries. Losing star players to injury hurts the game. One proposal to reduce injuries is to change the way the league schedule works by removing a pre-season game and adding another bye week.
• The Seahawks success during the Pete Carroll ear is largely because of the Legion of Boom. There are debates about who exactly is in the LOB, but one thing is clear: Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor, and Early Thomas are the commanders. Sadly times unending march appears to be catching up with the LOB.
• NCAA Division 1 athletes is ripe with controversy and unethical behavior. Few programs remain untouched from a coach or players crossing a line to try and help their team win. The example of the University of Louisville, as detailed in ESPN the Mag, is especially galling. The whole department was focused on enriching the shoe giant Adidas.

2004: A Terrible Year for Seattle Baseball

2004 was the year it all came crashing down. The team finished with 63 wins and 99 losses. This was mostly because they couldn't hit or pitch. The Mariners scored the least runs in the AL at 698 or 4.31 runs per game. The pitchers gave up the 5.08 runs per game. It is really hard to be a good team when you give up .77 runs more per game than you score.

Newcomers Rich Aurilla and Scott Spezio both failed. Aurilla started the year at short stop, however he only made it 73 games before being traded to the Padres. In his half season with the team Aurilla hit only .241 with 17 extra base hits. It was his worst offensive performance, as measured by OPS, since 1996, his first full season in the big leagues. Spezio was brought to the team to play first and third base. He did manage to do that, appearing 42 times at first and another 66 at third. Being a warm body on the field was Spezio's biggest contribution to the team. He recorded a -0.8 WAR in 2004 according to Baseball Reference, which means he was worse than a random minor leaguer. Spezio had an OBP of only .288, which is terrible. For comparison's sake Ketal Marte had an OBP of .287 in 2016 while starting at short stop, a traditionally light hitting position, for the Mariners. Scott Spezio started a first and third,traditionally power hitting positions.

In 2004 the Mariners also saw several of their offensive stalwarts have massive drop offs from past production. John Olerud had a triple slash of .245/.354/.360. All three of these were lows for his Mariners career. His tenure with the Mariners ended near the end of July when they released him.

Mariner legend Edgar Martinez also struggled at the plate, at least by his standards (although it was better than Olerud, Spezio and Aurilla). 2004 ended up being the last season of his illustrious career. His runs, hits, homeruns, RBI, and walks all dropped significantly from his 2003 totals.

Despite the gloomy writing so far not all was bad at the plate for the Mariners. Ichiro had his best season at the plate. He set the single season hit record at 262. Ichiro was his usual terror on the base paths. He stole 31 bases and scored 101 times, both team highs. Ichiro also earned his fourth consecutive Gold Glove for his stellar outfield defense. He was the reason to watch this team.

The 2004 season had one other position player I would be remiss to not mention. Bucky Jacobsen made his major league debut. Jacobsen left a lasting impression on the Seattle sports psyche. For Mariners fans desperate for future stars, his 9 homer, 9 doubles, and 28 RBI were an tantalizing preview of what the future could. Sadly it was not to be 2004 was the only season Jacobsen ever made it to the major leagues. His knees were too damage to sustain him as a professional athlete.

As already mentioned it wasn't just the hitters that struggled in 2004. The pitching staff was also terrible. The lowest ERA of any starter with at least 20 starts was 4.67. Jamie Moyer, a soft tosser who had put up several good season with the M's got destroyed. He gave up 44 homers in only 33 games started, which unsurprisingly was the worst in MLB. As a result his ERA ballooned from 3.27 in 2003 to 5.21 in 2004.

The season did see the rise and fall of Bobby Madritsch. At age 28 the pitcher made his major league debut. He started 11 games and posted a 3.27 ERA. Much like Bucky Jacobsen he filled fans with hope. And unfortunately much like Bucky Jacobsen it was not meant to be. Madritsch appeared again in 2005 before being let go and claimed by the Royals. The much tattooed pitcher capture the minds of Seattle for a summer and then disappeared in baseball obscurity.

It wasn't only the starting pitching that struggled for the Mariners in 2004. The bullpen was a disaster. The Mariners brought in Eddie Guardado from Minnesota to be the closer. Although Guardado's ERA, a low-ish 2.78, was not as bad as I remember he was still a major liability on the mound. Steady Eddie blew 7 games in 25 chances. 2003 relief star Shigetoshi Hasegawa fell off a cliff. His ERA exploded from a stunning 1.48 in 2003 to 5.16 in 2004. Other relievers with significant playing time in 2004 were J.J. Putz, Mike Myers, and Julio Mateo. They all had ERA over 4.50 and Putz and Mateo had lots of trouble giving up the long ball. They combined to allow 21 dingers to Mariners opponents.

After reading through all this it is probably clear that 2004 was not a good year for professional baseball in Seattle. The team couldn't hit or pitch well. Fan favorite players succumbed to the decline of age and new free agent signings failed to perform well. The highlight of 2004 was probably the debuts of Bucky Jacobsen and Bobby Madritsch, although sadly neither ever made a lasting impact for the team. 2004 will probably always be remembered as the beginning of the decade plus of bad Mariners baseball.

Sources: Baseball Reference, Fangraphs

Sixteen Years of Mariners Misery

The Buffalo Bills finally made it into the NFL playoffs as a Wild Card. They ended a drought of 17 years with making the playoffs this year. Their last trip was in 1999. The Bills had the longest consecutive stretch without making the playoffs of any major North American sports team. The new owners of that dubious title are the Seattle Mariners.

As a Mariners fan we have been treated to a miserable run of baseball in Seattle. The Mariners haven't made the playoffs since 2001, the same season they won 116 regular season games, but failed to make it to the World Series. The team did put together two solid season in 2002 and 2003 winning 93 games each time, but missing the playoffs, because the AL West was just plain stacked with talent. From 2004 onwards that Mariners have never managed to win 90+ games. The team has been stuck in an epic slump of bad to mediocre results.

Fans blame the playoffs drought on lots of stuff. Over the years favorite explanations for the misery have included ownership not caring about winning, the ballpark suppressing offense, managements refusal to spend money of big time free agents. Each of these has been debunked to various degrees. The Seattle Mariners failure is really just because their General Managers have made an astonishingly large number of bad moves over the last fourteen years and the team has had some really bad luck.

So to honor the end of the Bills streak and the Mariners taking over the top spot on the list for futility I thought it would be interesting to look back at each of the last sixteen Mariners seasons. I plan on breaking this up over several posts, but we will hit each of the seasons, from the lowest low to the highest medium.

2002-2003

As previously mentioned the Mariners won 93 games in both 2002 and 2003. The teams were solid and in almost any other year would have made the playoffs. Unfortunately the American League and the West Division were also having stellar years. In 2002 the A's and Yankees both won 103 games, and the Angels won 99. In 2003 the Yankees won 101 games, the A's won 96 games, and the Red Sox won 95. There were just too many really good teams in the American League in the early 2000's.

The offenses of 2002 and 2003 were anchored by Bret Boone, who was still in his prime. In 2003 he hit 35 HR, batted .294 and drove in 117 runs. The 2002 team saw John Olerud crush the ball at the plate. His triple slash was .300/.404/.490. The 2003 team had a rebound year by Edgar Martinez, who hit .294/.406/.489 in 145 games.

The defenses of both teams had Mike Cameron roaming centerfield and Ichiro Suzuki in right field. They were two of the best defenders of the era. The guys prevented tons runs with their gloves and arms. Homeruns were robbed and baserunners were thrown out.

The 2002 team saw Joel Pineiro put up the best season of his career. He posted a 3.24 ERA in 28 starts and 194.1 innings. The team also had Jamie Moyer put forward another great season with a 3.32 ERA over 34 starts and 230.2 innings.

The 2003 team had the rare luxury of five pitchers (J. Moyer, R. Franklin, J. Pinerio, F. Garcia, and G. Meche) starting 30 plus games. Jamie Moyer was the best of them starting 33 games and having a 3.27 ERA. Impressively the soft tossing Moyer recorded a WHIP of 1.075. Of the starters only Gil Meche didn't record over 200 innings.

Another pitching standout in 2003 was Shigetoshi Hasegawa. The relief pitcher posted a 1.48 ERA over 73 innings. Between June 3rd and August 17th, a total of 25 games, Shiggy didn't give up any runs. He was as dominate a reliever as the American League saw in 2003. Although he didn't strike many batters out he did get half of his outs with groundballs.

All told the 2002 and 2003 teams were very solid. They had good players and should have been able to make the playoffs. The teams could both hit and pitch. Unfortunately they ran into a historically strong American league field. At the time it didn't seem like the Mariners were about to enter a stretch a failure that would lead them to the longest active playoff drought in major North American sports.

Sources: Baseball Reference, Fangraphs