The Official Seattle Mariners Thread
- Thread starter rylor206
- Start date
No more Smoak screens: M's send Lee to Rangers
After a day of considerable rumor and intrigue, the Mariners pulled the trigger on a trade with the Texas Rangers for pitcher Cliff Lee on Friday afternoon that brings talented young first baseman Justin Smoak as the main return.
The club announced at 3 p.m. that Lee and reliever Mark Lowe are headed to Rangers for Smoak and three other prospects that are currently playing Double-A ball.
The Mariners have a 3:15 p.m. news conference at Safeco Field to discuss the deal.
Lee was scheduled to pitch tonight's 7:10 p.m. game against the Yankees. Long reliever David Pauley will take his place.
Smoak will join the team in time for Saturday night's game against the Yankees.
"This is a bittersweet day for us," GM Jack Zduriencik said in a statement. "While we are excited about the group of young players we have acquired from the Rangers, it's never easy to trade a player like Cliff Lee, who has been outstanding here.
"We decided that if we were able to acquire the amount of talent we wanted, we would make a deal for Cliff. We concluded that these four players fit very well into our long-term plans, and at the same time we obtained some immediate help for our offense. Justin Smoak has a chance to be a special player, and we regard Blake Beavan, Josh Lueke and Matt Lawson highly as well," said Zduriencik.
At one point the Yankees were believed to be on the verge of pulling a deal that would have sent top catching prospect Jesus Montero to Seattle, but GM Jack Zduriencik opted instead for the Rangers' offer.
Smoak, 23, is a talented, switch-hitting first baseman who has yet to overwhelm this season with the Rangers, but is regarded as one of the top up-and-comers in the game.
He's currently hitting .209 with eight home runs and 34 RBIs, but presumably would be a good fit in Safeco Field as a switch-hitter with some left-handed pop as he develops. He was the Rangers' first round draft pick in 2008, the 11th player selected overall, and was ranked 13th on Baseball America's top 100 prospect list prior to this season.
Smoak is regarded a top defensive first baseman as well.
http://blog.seattlepi.com/baseball/
After a day of considerable rumor and intrigue, the Mariners pulled the trigger on a trade with the Texas Rangers for pitcher Cliff Lee on Friday afternoon that brings talented young first baseman Justin Smoak as the main return.
The club announced at 3 p.m. that Lee and reliever Mark Lowe are headed to Rangers for Smoak and three other prospects that are currently playing Double-A ball.
The Mariners have a 3:15 p.m. news conference at Safeco Field to discuss the deal.
Lee was scheduled to pitch tonight's 7:10 p.m. game against the Yankees. Long reliever David Pauley will take his place.
Smoak will join the team in time for Saturday night's game against the Yankees.
"This is a bittersweet day for us," GM Jack Zduriencik said in a statement. "While we are excited about the group of young players we have acquired from the Rangers, it's never easy to trade a player like Cliff Lee, who has been outstanding here.
"We decided that if we were able to acquire the amount of talent we wanted, we would make a deal for Cliff. We concluded that these four players fit very well into our long-term plans, and at the same time we obtained some immediate help for our offense. Justin Smoak has a chance to be a special player, and we regard Blake Beavan, Josh Lueke and Matt Lawson highly as well," said Zduriencik.
At one point the Yankees were believed to be on the verge of pulling a deal that would have sent top catching prospect Jesus Montero to Seattle, but GM Jack Zduriencik opted instead for the Rangers' offer.
Smoak, 23, is a talented, switch-hitting first baseman who has yet to overwhelm this season with the Rangers, but is regarded as one of the top up-and-comers in the game.
He's currently hitting .209 with eight home runs and 34 RBIs, but presumably would be a good fit in Safeco Field as a switch-hitter with some left-handed pop as he develops. He was the Rangers' first round draft pick in 2008, the 11th player selected overall, and was ranked 13th on Baseball America's top 100 prospect list prior to this season.
Smoak is regarded a top defensive first baseman as well.
http://blog.seattlepi.com/baseball/
As of July 22nd, 2010, the Seattle Mariners are now last in EVERY major offensives statistic in the MLB (actually, they are still tied with Pitt for lowest OBS). They scored a run last night for the first time in 27 innings. And it took 12 innings in last nigh;t game to do it.
They are on pace to score the fewest runs in 32 years.
I would just like to thank Bill Bavasi, for running this organization into the ground over the last decade. I would also like to thank Jack Z for bringing in a bunch of losers to replace Bill's blunders, and continue the losing. A SPECIAL thanks goes out to Chone Figgins, for having his worst year EVER in the majors, this year (he also just won the LVP for the first half of the season...congrats). A special shoutout to Jose Lopez, who is posting a sub .600 OPS...as the CLEAN UP HITTER. Also, who can leave out Don Wakamatsu, for his zany and illogical decision making throughout his tenor here? Way to go, champ.
And a final "wah,waaaaah" goes out to Ichiro, who is having on of his worst months in the his 10 year career this year, hitting around .240. He has also digressed each month BA wise, and hasn't seemed to his a ball out of the infield yet this month. Why not throw in his terrible base running to boot?
Thanks Mariners owners, for making this potentially the WORST season in over 30 years, and a team they may lose 100 games for the second time in 3 years. You deserve it!
They are on pace to score the fewest runs in 32 years.
I would just like to thank Bill Bavasi, for running this organization into the ground over the last decade. I would also like to thank Jack Z for bringing in a bunch of losers to replace Bill's blunders, and continue the losing. A SPECIAL thanks goes out to Chone Figgins, for having his worst year EVER in the majors, this year (he also just won the LVP for the first half of the season...congrats). A special shoutout to Jose Lopez, who is posting a sub .600 OPS...as the CLEAN UP HITTER. Also, who can leave out Don Wakamatsu, for his zany and illogical decision making throughout his tenor here? Way to go, champ.
And a final "wah,waaaaah" goes out to Ichiro, who is having on of his worst months in the his 10 year career this year, hitting around .240. He has also digressed each month BA wise, and hasn't seemed to his a ball out of the infield yet this month. Why not throw in his terrible base running to boot?
Thanks Mariners owners, for making this potentially the WORST season in over 30 years, and a team they may lose 100 games for the second time in 3 years. You deserve it!
Funny story on Cliff in the Seattle Times today..
Cliff Lee's been great for Texas, but he misses that mighty Mariner offense
Posted by Larry Stone
Yeah, Cliff Lee didn't realize how good he had it in Seattle, with those powerful Mariner bats to prop him up.
Or something like that.
Since being traded to the Rangers, Lee has pitched brilliantly, just as he did in Seattle. But he's not getting nearly the run support he did with Wak's Wall Bangers.
In four starts with Texas, Lee has a 2.55 ERA. In 35 1/3 innings, he's allowed 25 hits. He's struck out 25 and walked just one -- and that was an intentional base on balls. Lee has worked 9, 9, 8 1/3 and 9 innings. Crazy good, right in line with his 8-3, 2.34 mark in Seattle. And consider that nine of the hits he allowed as a Ranger, and six of the runs, came in his first start -- one day after a very disruptive 24 hours filled with trade rumors, an interminable wait for the deal to be finalized, and a cross-country trip.
But in those four games, Lee has just a 1-1 record. Last night, he worked nine superb innings against the A's, allowing just one run while striking out a career-high 13, but got a no-decision, because Texas could manage just one run themselves while he was in the game. They ended up winning, 3-1, on Nelson Cruz's two-run homer in the 10th.
In his first game with Texas, the Rangers scored one run in a 6-1 loss to Baltimore.
In his second game, they scored two runs in a 3-2 loss to the Red Sox.
In his third game, they scored three runs in a 3-2 win over the Angels.
And then three runs last night.
That's a total of nine runs scored by the Rangers in four starts -- 2.25 per start. While Lee was the Mariners, they scored 63 runs in his 13 starts -- 4.8 per start.
The Mariners -- last in the American League in runs scored with 331 -- gave Lee twice as much offense as he's received, so far, from the Rangers, who rank third with 505 runs.
Yeah, small sample size and all that. But Lee has to be wondering when he's going to be the beneficiary of all that Texas muscle.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ht...012469706_cliff_lees_been_great_for_texa.html
Cliff Lee's been great for Texas, but he misses that mighty Mariner offense
Posted by Larry Stone
Yeah, Cliff Lee didn't realize how good he had it in Seattle, with those powerful Mariner bats to prop him up.
Or something like that.
Since being traded to the Rangers, Lee has pitched brilliantly, just as he did in Seattle. But he's not getting nearly the run support he did with Wak's Wall Bangers.
In four starts with Texas, Lee has a 2.55 ERA. In 35 1/3 innings, he's allowed 25 hits. He's struck out 25 and walked just one -- and that was an intentional base on balls. Lee has worked 9, 9, 8 1/3 and 9 innings. Crazy good, right in line with his 8-3, 2.34 mark in Seattle. And consider that nine of the hits he allowed as a Ranger, and six of the runs, came in his first start -- one day after a very disruptive 24 hours filled with trade rumors, an interminable wait for the deal to be finalized, and a cross-country trip.
But in those four games, Lee has just a 1-1 record. Last night, he worked nine superb innings against the A's, allowing just one run while striking out a career-high 13, but got a no-decision, because Texas could manage just one run themselves while he was in the game. They ended up winning, 3-1, on Nelson Cruz's two-run homer in the 10th.
In his first game with Texas, the Rangers scored one run in a 6-1 loss to Baltimore.
In his second game, they scored two runs in a 3-2 loss to the Red Sox.
In his third game, they scored three runs in a 3-2 win over the Angels.
And then three runs last night.
That's a total of nine runs scored by the Rangers in four starts -- 2.25 per start. While Lee was the Mariners, they scored 63 runs in his 13 starts -- 4.8 per start.
The Mariners -- last in the American League in runs scored with 331 -- gave Lee twice as much offense as he's received, so far, from the Rangers, who rank third with 505 runs.
Yeah, small sample size and all that. But Lee has to be wondering when he's going to be the beneficiary of all that Texas muscle.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ht...012469706_cliff_lees_been_great_for_texa.html