Seriously...do SOMETHING?!!

Ok, I know the picture has our old coach, but the point is still the same...

The Seattle Mariners are bleeding out their sides right now in desperate need for a kick and the pants, and so far Mariner's GM Bill Bavasi has done....nothing. Bavasi has only taken one of the one hundred steps needed in order to turn this team around and start winning again. That one step was signing Jamie Moyer to continue another year. But the problems that the Mariner's face are dire, and need to be addressed with a full frontal assault. So far the assualt has been a calling agents on cell phones and repeated denials. There is only one bright spot on the current Mariners team, the young Felix Hernandez, but the rest of the team is either unhappy or not producing.

Every successful baseball franchise has quality around the bases, but this is something the Mariners don't have:

1B: Richie Sexson, great HR and RBI, but BA is lacking, and so is clubhouse leadership
2B: Bentacourt, great in the field, but no offense (15 RBI in 215 AB)
SS: Morse, great offensive potential, but did you seen him at SS and LF, errors galore
3B: Beltre, BA terrible (.253) RBI OK, but not worth what we're paying him
LF: Ibanez, good hitter, but aging and can't run around like he used to
CF: Reed, has potential, highlight reel catches, but offense needs work
RF: Only player that is producing on both sides of the ball, but unhappy with the M's for slacking
C: I don't even know who it is anymore. Rivera or Wiki? Either way, too early to tell
DH: Same as C, seems like a good position for Ibanez but we need a LF
P: Don't even get me started, 2 good starters(Hernandez and Moyer), 1 1/2 good set up guy (Putz and Hasegawa), 1 closer (Guardado), other than that there's nothing

Unless Hernandez can start every other game, the Mariner's starting pitching doesn't stand a chance because our offense is so streaky and overpaid, they just can't put up the runs needed on a consistent basis.

Here's what I propose:
Trade for Miguel Tejada (Maybe Morse, Soriano and some minor leaguers could be used) to upgrade at SS and give us some much needed offense.

Sign free agent Mike Piazza for help at catcher, but more for a useful DH.

And for the love of god get some pitching. We're out of the running for Matt Morris as of tonight and weren't even close to signing anyone else, great job Bavasi.

The more likely situation:
Deal Ibanez to acquire some minor league pitching. Other than that, place trust in the farm system and save your money, they're be better deals next year.

Players like Tejada and Piazza would provide short term help, but Seattle has always done well with player development and hopefully that trend will continue. But Bavasi, you better pray for that player developement becuase you may lose your job because of this offseason. Good luck.

In other news,
No suprises in the Heisman, Bush won by a landslide. I feel bad for Vince Young, Bush wasn't that much better or important to the team as him. Either way, I'm excited to watch them both in the Rose Bowl, and in the NFL next year.

UW beat New Mexico 81-71 in a very sloppy game. I think that UW had 18 turnovers and were only 2-10 from behind the arc. Jamaal Williams played well against his former team, but what was more impressive to me was the quality minutes Hans Gasser has played. In the Gonzaga victory, he made some big plays in crunch time. Today, when NM went on a run and closed the UW lead to 1, Hans made three baskets in a row and D'd up on the reverse end. I like him, in 15 min he had 6 points and 5 boards, not turnovers and no bad shots. He does his job plain and simple. I hope Romar gives him some more minutes in the coming weeks.

Gonzaga got lucky and beat OSU in Key Arena today. Adam "Stache" Morrison hit a 3 pointer as time expired for the victory. I'm glad they won, but come on Gonzaga, make our victory over you look better. You should've blown OSU out.

Anyway, go Hawks,

Herm