My New Site - Your Complete Source for Mariners System Coverage

In case you didn't know what happened and were wondering why I don't update here anymore, I have taken over another site. I still write about the Mariners and their organization, but I am now doing it on a bit of a larger scale.

I have taken over as Mariners Publisher for the FoxSports.com affiliate Scout.com. Because of the affiliation with Fox, I will have a lot more freedom to pursue the type of information that followers of the minor leagues want most. The site offers major and minor league coverage, player and organizational staff interviews, scouting reports, photos, injury and roster updates, etc.

The name if the site is SeattleClubhouse.com, and web address for the new site is http://www.seattleclubhouse.com/ (or http://mariners.scout.com/).

I have updated my Facebook Page and Twitter account to reflect these changes as well.

Hope to see you over there!

-Rick

What is Wrong with Franklin Gutierrez?

Gutierrez is hitting just .180 this season

The Seattle Mariners are generally considered to be a young team just on the cusp of turning themselves back into a legitimate contender in the American League West. Their top prospects--right-hander Michael Pineda and second baseman Dustin Ackley--have both debuted for the team this season and made noticeable contributions to the success of the club, while giving fans optimism about the future of the franchise.

Most often when talking about that future, people refer to the "core" that the Mariners already have in place. They are talking about six players: Ichiro, Felix Hernandez, Franklin Gutierrez, Justin Smoak, Pineda and Ackley. That core, they opine, represents the current and future of above average players for the Mariners to build on on their way to sustained franchise success. The only problem with that is that one player may not belong on that list.

Franklin Gutierrez's first season in Seattle in 2009 was a fantastic campaign for the Venezuelan outfielder. It was his first shot at starting everyday and his first extended look in center field as a major leaguer. Gutierrez was very good at the plate, posting a triple-slash of .283/.339/.425 in 153 games, hitting 43 extra base hits (18 HR) and stealing 16 bases. He led the team in WAR (6.3) and posted a very nice .337 wOBA, proving to be the Mariners most valuable offensive player. But it was with his glove where he really impressed, posting one of the best defensive statistical seasons on record with an amazing 28.9 UZR/150 (defensive runs above average per 150 games). Although he didn't win an American League Gold Glove in 2009, his defensive prowess did garner a lot of attention among the new breed of advanced statistical baseball analysts nationally.

At that point, Gutierrez was the proverbial feather in the cap of Jack Zduriencik. The Mariners General Manager had landed him as part of a three-team deal as one of his first moves at the helm of the M's, and Franklin was quickly proving himself as easily the best player in that deal. But it hasn't necessarily continued to develop that way.

Is Dustin Ackley already the Mariners Best Offensive Player?

The Seattle Mariners were swept aside by the visiting Atlanta Braves yesterday afternoon to complete the first half of the team's 2011 season. They end that first half with a record of 39-42, four games back of the Texas Rangers. Having lost seven of their last nine games and with Erik Bedard now on the 15-day DL with a sprained left knee, they are in real danger of having their surprise season fall apart on them before the All-Star break. The offense is still the culprit for the team's woes, as the hitters ranks dead last in the American League in AVG, OBP, OPS, Hits, Runs, Doubles and Extra Base Hits.

Even so, the team is beginning to see some really nice results from a recent call up that may already be their best hitter.

Dustin Ackley has played all of 12 Major League games, so we should try and temper our enthusiasm a bit. That said, he has been on base at least once in each of those games, has already delivered two home runs and five extra base hits, and his latest home run--a two-run shot in the bottom of the 8th off of the Braves Jonny Venters yesterday--was not your average, every day, late inning, "no big deal" long ball.

Venters is a fantastically gifted reliever--a left-handed one at that. And a left-handed one that before the Ackley dinger had allowed all of ONE home run in his 129 major league appearances, to a player you may have heard of before: defending National League MVP Joey Votto. Outside of that Votto bomb and Ackley's today, lefties have managed to muster up a line of just .165/.273/.187 in 164 plate appearances against Venters, with 64 of those outs coming via the strikeout. Again, Venters is good. He throws hard and has an ungodly GB/FB ratio. Ackley hit a 92 MPH sinker on the inner third just above the knees on a line into the front row for his second big league home run.

Ackley is now hitting .300/.378/.575 through his first 40 big league at bats. Versus left-handers, who were said to be one of his weaknesses, he is six for eight with a walk and a 1.500 SLG. He has all five of his XBH in the cavernous pitcher-friendly Safeco Field where he is hitting .313/.389/.656. And, oh by the way, his defense has been better than anyone expected, too.

With Ichiro on the downside of his great career and with Justin Smoak susceptible to the strike out, Dustin Ackley may already be the Mariners best hitter. Will his arrival be enough to keep the Mariners in the race?

My American League All-Stars

The All-Star game in Phoenix, Arizona at the Diamondbacks Chase Field is scheduled for July 12th and voting ends in just a few days as June expires. In that voting, there isn't a single Mariners player in the Top-5. Ichiro is the closest, ranking 6th among AL outfielders, about 250,000 behind Boston's Carl Crawford. But this post isn't about the Mariners; it is about the players that I feel are the most deserving for the 34 available roster spots for the American League.

Projecting who the actual All-Stars will be is a completely worthless effort so that isn't what this is. Rather it is who I think should be there, within the rules for the league (each team must be represented). So my selections have zero to do with vote totals to this point. Without further delay, my American League All-Stars.

* denotes who my starter(s) would be

CATCHER

* Alex Avila, Detroit Tigers
.303/.373/.545, 10 HR, 45 RBI

Carlos Santana, Cleveland Indians
.228/.359/.407, 10 HR, 33 RBI

FIRST BASE

* Adrian Gonzalez, Boston Red Sox
.361/.415/.611, 16 HR, 71 RBI

Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
.330/.450/.573, 15 HR, 52 RBI

Paul Konerko, Chicago White Sox
.324/.394/.588, 21 HR, 60 RBI

SECOND BASE

* Howie Kendrick, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
.303/.361/.484, 8 HR, 26 RBI

Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay Rays
.268/.349/.474, 9 HR, 40 RBI

Robinson Cano, New York Yankees
.291/.335/.505, 14 HR, 48 RBI

THIRD BASE

* Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees
.300/.379/.517, 13 HR, 50 RBI

Kevin Youkilis, Boston Red Sox
.274/.394/.496, 11 HR, 54 RBI

SHORT STOP

* Asdrubal Cabrera, Cleveland Indians
.290/.342/.489, 12 HR, 43 RBI

Jhonny Peralta, Detroit Tigers
.301/.352/.508, 11 HR, 43 RBI

OUTFIELD

* Jose Bautista, Toronto Blue Jays
.328/.473/.664, 23 HR, 48 RBI

* Curtis Granderson, New York Yankees
.279/.362/.578, 21 HR, 55 RBI

* Matt Joyce, Tampa Bay Rays
.308/.372/.529, 10 HR, 36 RBI

Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston Red Sox
.304/.367/.464, 9 HR, 39 RBI

Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles
.291/.334/.482, 13 HR, 45 RBI

Carlos Quentin, Chicago White Sox
.253/.353/.529, 17 HR, 49 RBI

DESIGNATED HITTER

David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox
.311/.389/.581, 17 HR, 48 RBI

Michael Young, Texas Rangers
.321/.358/.472, 6 HR, 50 RBI

STARING PITCHERS

* Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers
10-3, 2.38 ERA, 0.84 WHIP

Josh Beckett, Boston Red Sox
6-2, 1.86 ERA, 0.92 WHIP

James Shields, Tampa Bay Rays
8-4, 2.29 ERA, 0.96 WHIP

Michael Pineda, Seattle Mariners
7-4, 2.45 ERA, 1.00 WHIP

Jered Weaver, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
9-4, 2.01 ERA, 0.92 WHIP

Jon Lester, Boston Red Sox
9-4, 3.66 ERA, 1.29 WHIP

Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners
8-6, 3.19 ERA, 1.16 WHIP

Gio Gonzalez, Oakland Athletics
6-5, 2.59 ERA, 1.30 WHIP

Scott Baker, Minnesota Twins
5-5, 3.39 ERA, 1.21 WHIP

RELIEF PITCHERS

Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees
1-1, 19 SV, 1.84 ERA, 1.02 WHIP

Kyle Farnsworth, Tampa Bay Rays
2-1, 16 SV, 2.05 ERA, 0.88 WHIP

Brandon League, Seattle Mariners
0-4, 20 SV, 3.69 ERA, 1.11 WHIP

Jordan Walden, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
1-1, 17 SV, 2.45 ERA, 1.21 WHIP

Aaron Crow, Kansas City Royals
2-1, 1.43 ERA, 1.12 WHIP

There we go. Got every team represented, and (in my opinion) no real glaring omissions. This is easy! (wink, wink)

* All stats through games of 6/26/11

Mariners Prospect Watch: Three Up, Three Down, Vol IV

After a long delay due to the draft, major league roster shuffle and Dustin Ackley's promotion, it is time once again to check-in on the prospects. The last "Mariners Prospect Watch" post was almost exactly a month ago, so we have a much larger stat set to go on for our three "hots" and "nots".

With that, let's again look around the Seattle Mariners organization for check the ups and downs of the kids. Make sure you check out the first, second and third editions of this series to keep tabs on the players that have been featured to date.

THREE UP

Forrest Snow - SP - High Desert: Snow was pitching so well in Clinton (3.62 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 3.73 SO:BB ratio, .223 OppAVG) that he earned himself a promotion to High-A just before the All-Star break. And while that first High Desert start wasn't phenomenal (5 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO), the results so far this season have been great for the former Washington Husky right-hander. In his last four starts before his promotion, Snow allowed only 14 hits and 5 BB while striking out 21 over 24 innings, posting a 1.50 ERA and a 0.79 WHIP. After impressing big time last season out of the bullpen (0.60 ERA, 0.73 WHIP in 45 1/3 IP), the 36th rounder has made a seamless transition to the rotation this season.

Dennis Raben - 1B - High Desert: Let me just start with this: Dennis Raben does not need to be in High Desert any longer. He is almost 24, and despite losing a season to injury, he is advanced enough that he should be challenged with a promotion ASAP. But while he is still in High-A, he is laying some serious wood on California League pitching. He is on a .352/.409/.686 tear over his last 26 games with 17 extra base hits, including eight home runs. And that includes a three-homer game. For his High-A career, spanning 109 games over two seasons, Raben has now accumulated these gaudy numbers: .332/.385/.621, 29 2B, 29 HR, 111 RBI. Again, he does not need to be in High Desert any longer.

Nick Franklin - SS/2B - High Desert: OK, this isn't called, "Check in on High Desert", but here we go. While the home run numbers still aren't where many forecast before this season with the assignment to High Desert, Franklin's bat is coming around a bit. Over his last 24 games the switch-hitter is posting a slash of .313/.369/.422, bringing his season numbers up to .275/.356/.411. His strikeout rate is up over that time period (24 punch outs in 24 games after just 32 in the first 40 games), but he is maintaining a strong 10.5 BB%. His home road splits are pretty glaring right now for the season but we need to remember that despite what he did last year, Franklin is still just 20 and he is still posting a .136 ISO number as a middle infielder in what has been a "down" year for him.

THREE DOWN