Do you really blame Mariner fans for not filling out the ballpark though? That team has been a dumpster fire for like 16 years and has only made the playoffs like twice in 40 something years. I heard Seattle is maybe getting an expansion Nhl team we should be getting too, watch that be half empty as well.
@Strenuus What do you think about this as plan B? I don't think Dipoto will do it but I think he should: Sign Lorenzo Cain, play him in center, and rotate Dee Gordon between his normal position of 2B and LF/RF (which is an easier transition). Rotate Cano between 2B and 1B. Healy would go between 1B and DH. I think this is a better situation than transitioning Gordon to CF. So a normal lineup would be: 2B Dee Gordon SS Jean Segura 1B Robinson Cano DH Nelson Cruz CF Lorenzo Cain 3B Kyle Seager LF Mitch Haniger RF Ben Gamel C Mike Zunino Bench: 1B/DH Ryon Healy OF Guillermo Heredia Basically Healy would play whenever Haniger, Gamel, Gordon, Cano, or Cruz got rest. That offense is nasty. Use whatever payroll budget is left for a starting pitcher and a couple relievers: Paxton FA Hernandez Leake Kuma or someone else.
Flop Seager and Cain and Im good with that line up. Our pitching suuuuucks though. Which is weird to say, but it does. That's where my optimism wanes... I'd have to do some research on pitcher FA's and look at splits and other nerdy stuff to see what's out there.
every team in baseball needs pitching....it's a universal problem...some say last season it's to blame on juiced balls....lot of home runs and wild pitches...nobody could control a slider and catcher's couldn't hold onto anything in the dirt....good for batting, horrible for pitchers..hope they go back to the old balls..apparently they coated the baseballs with some sort of slick clay...guys said they couldn't even sign the balls for fans...ink wouldn't stick
Uh Oh........ http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2749018-shohei-ohtani-reportedly-dealing-with-elbow-injury
Fairly common. He received a shot for it earlier this year. Masahiro Tanaka, a Japanese star pitcher with the Yankees has been pitching with a partially torn UCL ligament for three years. Preventive arm care for pitchers is limited, HCP. Even ones that have 200 million dollar contracts are treated like race horses until their flexor tendons give way and their ulnar collateral ligament rip off. There is no way around it because every team needs a certain number of inninga thrown per year.
