FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Seattle Mariners.
The Mariners of 2008 provided a case study in why overachieving isn't always a good thing. The team won 88 games in 2007, which could be looked at in one of two ways. You could say the team was close to contending and should go all in for a run at the postseason, or you could look at their expected record and say that the team outperformed expectations and shouldn't do anything drastic.
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over.
Meet the... Team who someone predicted would win the World Series last year. Seriously. When you stop laughing, you can check out the link (he's the top one listed -- though when you see his other atrocious picks you won't be surprised). Was I any better? Glad you asked. I actually took Mr. Downey to task before Opening Day. You can check the rest of my stuff if you wish, as there were some misses in there.
Anyway, it's safe to say expectations are a slight bit lower heading into '08.
You know, getting traded once can probably be quite the ordeal for a baseball player. If you've been in a city for a while, you've more than likely bought yourself a home, and maybe you're married with kids so packing up all your stuff and moving across the country can't be easy. Both Aaron Heilman and Garrett Olson have gone through this type of thing recently, as Heilman was sent from New York to Seattle in the J.J. Putz deal, and Olson left Baltimore for Chicago in a trade for Felix Pie only ten days ago.
Well hopefully neither player put down a security deposit on an apartment in either of their new cities because they've both been traded again. This time, for each other.
As baseball's offseason slogs along at a molasses-like pace, the Jake Peavy-to-Cubs rumors just won't die. Whether it's actual reality or just pure conjecture at this point is hard to tell.
As I wrote a few days ago, the Cubs have recently shed payroll and stockpiled what could be perceived as trading chips during the course of this past week. While people in the know continue to dispel myths of the Jake Peavy talks resurfacing, it seems the Brian Roberts rumors of this past offseason are being kept on life support.
There is apparently talk in Baltimore from fans, but -- like Peter Schmuck -- I'm not buying it. The Cubs wouldn't have signed Aaron Miles to a two year deal to join Ryan Theriot, Mike Fontenot, and Ronny Cedeno in the middle infielder fray if they planned on adding Roberts. That would mean they likely would need to trade two of the aforementioned group to realistically round out their opening day roster. It doesn't make sense, logisitically.
I'm still standing firm in my belief that this move was made as a precursor to landing Peavy, even if it's during the season. People everywhere are giving reasons to dispute my claim, but this would really be the only way to justify trading Mark DeRosa at this juncture.
In the past 24 hours the Cubs have traded Mark DeRosa and Jason Marquis, while acquiring a handful of prospects and a versatile, switch-hitting, super-sub in Aaron Miles.
So the Cubs are shedding payroll and stockpiling prospects. Is this a team that doesn't think it can compete this year, or is this a team in desperate economic shape needing to save money? I'd answer neither, which means these moves are not the end of Jim Hendry's offseason activity. Obviously, the next move on the docket is a left-handed power hitter to play right field -- speculation continues to center around Milton Bradley.
Diving deeper, however, makes me start to get my hopes up for Jake Peavy again. What were the problems during the winter meetings on the Cubs not landing Peavy? Payroll and the lack of trading chips. Check and check. Adding Miles gives the Cubs someone who can back up infielders Aramis Ramirez, Ryan Theriot, and Mike Fontenot -- who I'm guessing gets the everyday gig at second base. With this in mind, Ronny Cedeno is free to be dealt to the Padres as a shortstop replacement for Khalil Greene.
Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2009.
This past season the Cubs treated their fans to the best season of their lifetime ... only to rip their hearts out of their chests with a pathetic playoff showing, getting swept by the Dodgers without so much as a whimper of life.
The task in front of Jim Hendry is to evaluate if anything needs to be done to a team that was the class of the NL in the regular season with 97 wins. Do you just assume the team hit a rough patch when it mattered, or is the team only built for the regular season?
It's a tough task, for certain, but the fact of the matter is that the window of opportunity with the Derrek Lee/Alfonso Soriano/Aramis Ramirez offensive nucleus is limited. It's not totally closed yet, but it is closing. In order to capitalize on the excitement they started to develop in Wrigleyville the past two seasons, it would behoove Hendry to push all his chips to the center of the table. Making a trade like he did yesterday shows me that's what he fully intends to do. What good is a prospect who won't be ready for another two years to a team that wants to win it all in 2009?
Every four years, Major League Baseball's postseason intersects with a presidential election. This is one of those years. In the spirit of the season, we here at MLB FanHouse have divided the playoff teams up for a series of debates.Matt Snyder and Will Brinson discuss the NLDS between the Cubs and Dodgers.
We'll run through different aspects of each team -- starting rotation, bullpen, defense, starting lineup, bench, manager, and end with a prediction. We'll do it with numbers and snarky commentary (most of which was used by Brinson), and we'll get right to it after the jump.
The Cubs offense has been pretty phenomenal this season. They lead the bigs in runs scored (443), batting average (.284), on-base percentage (.361), and slugging percentage (.444). Really, if there's an offensive category that's important, the Cubs are either at the top of the National League, or very close to it.
While everybody in the lineup has performed well, the straw that stirs the drink is, and always has been, Aramis Ramirez. That's why it's no surprise that the Cubs were swept by the White Sox this weekend after Ramirez went 0-for-13 in the series, a week after he nearly swept the Sox on his own. It turns out he may have had an excuse the last few days, though, as Aramis has some personal issues back at home in the Dominican Republic that have been weighing on his mind.
This isn't very good timing for the Cubs, as they're already without Alfonso Soriano in the lineup, and they've lost five of their last six games. Ramirez originally asked the team for four days off, but was only granted three and is supposed to be back by Thursday's finale against the San Francisco Giants.
On his second at-bat of the game tonight, Alfonso Soriano was beaned on the left wrist. ESPN just reported that he has a mildly displaced fracture of the fourth metacarpal. Translation: broken hand. He's reportedly out six weeks.
This is a blow to the Cubs, but hardly devastating. He's a stud and has been hitting as well as anyone in the everyday lineup, but the team is loaded with capable hitters and he's a defensive liability. They dealt without him for two weeks earlier in the season and played quite well, going 9-5.
For the Cubs, several guys will benefit playing-time wise. The options are plentiful thanks for the versatility of the bench and Mark DeRosa. Mike Fontenot or Ronny Cedeno can play second base while DeRosa shifts to LF. Micah Hoffpauir -- sure to get the call from triple-A -- will get some looks in LF as well. Finally, should Lou Pinella decide to stray from his CF platoon, Reed Johnson can play left while Jim Edmonds stays in center. There won't be an everyday lineup. Musical chairs is more like it.
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over. 
You know, getting traded once can probably be quite the ordeal for a baseball player. If you've been in a city for a while, you've more than likely bought yourself a home, and maybe you're married with kids so packing up all your stuff and moving across the country can't be easy. Both Aaron Heilman and Garrett Olson have gone through this type of thing recently, as Heilman was sent from New York to Seattle in the J.J. Putz deal, and Olson left Baltimore for Chicago in a trade for Felix Pie only ten days ago.
As baseball's offseason slogs along at a molasses-like pace, the Jake Peavy-to-Cubs rumors just won't die. Whether it's actual reality or just pure conjecture at this point is hard to tell. 
As I wrote a few days ago, the Cubs have recently shed payroll and stockpiled what could be perceived as trading chips during the course of this past week. While people in the know continue to dispel myths of the Jake Peavy talks resurfacing, it seems the Brian Roberts rumors of this past offseason are being kept on life support. 
In the past 24 hours the Cubs have traded Mark DeRosa and Jason Marquis, while acquiring a handful of prospects and a versatile, switch-hitting, super-sub in Aaron Miles. 
Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2009.
The Cubs offense has been pretty phenomenal this season. They lead the bigs in runs scored (443), batting average (.284), on-base percentage (.361), and slugging percentage (.444). Really, if there's an offensive category that's important, the Cubs are either at the top of the National League, or very close to it.
On his second at-bat of the game tonight, Alfonso Soriano was beaned on the left wrist. ESPN just reported that he has a mildly displaced fracture of the fourth metacarpal. Translation: broken hand. He's reportedly out six weeks. 
