Jose Lopez

View From the Rockpile: Mile High Musings Along the Journey to Rocktober

The Colorado Rockies arrived at PNC Park last Thursday to face off against an improving Pittsburgh Pirates squad, managed by former Rockies manager Clint Hurdle.

Here’s a fact: The 2010 Mariners were pretty miserable. Aside from the expected contributions from Ichiro, Felix and Gutierrez, the rest was hard to watch. I’m an expert on the subject of how sore this made your eyes, having only missed 10 games this past season (and I thank my lovely girlfriend for those 10 blissful days).

So, what might 2011 bring? Could it get better before it gets worse? Could an improving AL West further bury the Mariners?

Well, by golly, pull up a seat and have a listen.

After going a dismal 8-19 in May that dropped them into the cellar of the mediocre AL West, the Mariners have played inspiring baseball in June, going 3-0 to begin the month.

I understand that three games isn't exactly the 1995 comeback all over again, but if you look at the numbers going back into later May, this team is showing signs of life.

As I wrote last week , Milton Bradley's appointment as the Seattle Mariners' cleanup hitter highlighted a bitter truth about the Mariners' lineup; it is (nearly) completely devoid of power. 

In 2008 the Seattle Mariners lost 101 games, second only to the lowly Washington Nationals. Last season, the Mariners finished with a record of 85-77, signaling a 24 game turnaround, best in the league. This year the Mariners have their eye on 95 wins and an AL West title, and neither is out of the questions.

The Mariners have some household names that every baseball fan is familiar with. Ichiro Suzuki, who holds the all-time record for hits in a season, is easily one of the game’s most recognizable stars.

Seattle Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said this weekend that he will likely have new acquisition Chone Figgins play second base, and move incumbent second baseman Jose Lopez to Figgins' primary spot over the past three seasons, third base. 

Figgins will bat second behind Ichiro in the Seattle order, while Lopez will bat fifth and sixth with about equal frequency. None of that changes with the position flip-flop, and so obviously, the fantasy impact of the switch from a strict production perspective is minimal.

It’s been just two days since the start of spring games, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some story lines already forming. Let’s take a look at a few stories from yesterday’s games that are certainly worth noting for fantasy owners:

Nice opening outing for Detroit's Jeremy Bonderman, striking out three over two shutout innings (he also allowed a hit and a walk). He started the game against Toronto, so he faced the likes of Aaron Hill, Adam Lind and Vernon Wells.

A recent study from the New York Times concluded that air traffic controllers suffer the most stress than any other job. I beg to differ. Without a doubt, I confidently believe that being a Seattle Mariners fan is the most stressful "occupation" known to man.

WARNING: This article is heavily sabermetrics-oriented.

Assuming we don’t get a second baseman in return, which is quite unlikely, we’re obviously going to need someone to replace him.

In Geoff Baker’s recent article on the subject of trading Jose Lopez, he mentions both Orlando Hudson and Placido Polanco as potential free agent replacements, as well as the possibility of Matt Tuiasosopo or Bill Hall filling the void.

This is an open letter to the Seattle Mariners front office with a realistic list of moves that need to be made whether that be trades, call ups, free agent signings etc.

The reason I have included the word realistic is because this will not include dreams like Ronny Cedeno to the Cardinals for Albert Pujols. No, all of the moves will be realistic.