2008 Woodie Awards
Mariners looking to start the spring off right
Bryce Summers
Issue date: 2/15/08 Section: Big Red Sports
The Seattle Mariners are looking like a new ball club. As pitchers and catchers prepare to report in for those glorious six weeks known as spring training, Seattle has high hopes following some key off-season moves. This will be the first spring training for the Mariners' new manager, John McLaren, and for their new pitching coach, Mel Stottlemyre. If that name doesn't sound familiar, it should. Stottlemyre was one of the fixtures of the Joe Torre-era New York Yankees, and the Yankees pitchers had an ERA of a mere 4.23 runs per nine innings during his nine-season tenure.
Mariner fans need no reason to look far for things to get excited about. Despite the loss of the talents of outfielder Adam Jones and pitcher George Sherrill, the fielding looks solid and the pitching looks better than ever. The biggest addition is the left-handed ace pitcher Erik Bedard, who was recently traded from the Baltimore Orioles. The Mariners will have one of the premier one-two punches in the game until Bedard alongside burgeoning ace Felix Harnandez. Pitching coach Stottlemyre will have talent to spare with a pitching roation that will likely be rounded off by Jarrod Washburn, Miguel Bautista and Carlos Silva.
It will be a competitive spring for pitchers, which has fans drooling across the Pacific Northwest. One team can never have enough pitching, as the Mariners found out last year that you can't have enough pitching. The Mariners had ten players who spent time on the disabled list last year with injuries, and they were all pitchers. Count that among the reasons that last season didn't fly too high for the M's, although they put together a pretty good showing nonetheless. So far, with only a few exceptions, the pitchers will be reporting to camp healthy and ready to go.
The full Mariners squad is set to report next Wednesday, Feb. 20, for the rest of spring training. No huge moves were made in the off-season, but there are a few faces to watch out for.
Veteran utility man, Miguel Cairo will add depth to the Mariners' lineup and a solid glove in the field, at multiple positions. Brad Wilkerson looks to replace Adam Jones in right field, and his left-handed bat will balance the lineup and add a bit of power to the mix. Only the season can tell what will come, but we should get a nice peek over the next few weeks. •
Mariner fans need no reason to look far for things to get excited about. Despite the loss of the talents of outfielder Adam Jones and pitcher George Sherrill, the fielding looks solid and the pitching looks better than ever. The biggest addition is the left-handed ace pitcher Erik Bedard, who was recently traded from the Baltimore Orioles. The Mariners will have one of the premier one-two punches in the game until Bedard alongside burgeoning ace Felix Harnandez. Pitching coach Stottlemyre will have talent to spare with a pitching roation that will likely be rounded off by Jarrod Washburn, Miguel Bautista and Carlos Silva.
It will be a competitive spring for pitchers, which has fans drooling across the Pacific Northwest. One team can never have enough pitching, as the Mariners found out last year that you can't have enough pitching. The Mariners had ten players who spent time on the disabled list last year with injuries, and they were all pitchers. Count that among the reasons that last season didn't fly too high for the M's, although they put together a pretty good showing nonetheless. So far, with only a few exceptions, the pitchers will be reporting to camp healthy and ready to go.
The full Mariners squad is set to report next Wednesday, Feb. 20, for the rest of spring training. No huge moves were made in the off-season, but there are a few faces to watch out for.
Veteran utility man, Miguel Cairo will add depth to the Mariners' lineup and a solid glove in the field, at multiple positions. Brad Wilkerson looks to replace Adam Jones in right field, and his left-handed bat will balance the lineup and add a bit of power to the mix. Only the season can tell what will come, but we should get a nice peek over the next few weeks. •
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