Some recent hitting trends

[Sweezo]

That's an emotion I totally understand. I was surprised to read that Geoff Baker article the other day which outlined the reasons for not giving Ichiro an extension. There's people who want to give him an extension right now?

Sure if the guy comes back and post a .350+ OBP next year maybe there's some discussion to be had about whether or not that's a good idea [depending on the price/length of contract]...but right now?

Financially speaking it would be great if Ichiro retired, but that too would be a shame. He's the closet we've ever come to having a player that could get 3k hits in an M's uniform...it's a shame his production diminished so quickly.

[TTown]

I'm fully expecting our ownership group to go out and sign him to a 2-year deal at $15-18 per for 2013 and 2014. Ich brings soccer moms and their kids to the ballpark. I don't think Z will have any say in it.

[Sweezo]

I'm fully expecting our ownership group to go out and sign him to a 2-year deal at $15-18 per for 2013 and 2014. Ich brings soccer moms and their kids to the ballpark. I don't think Z will have any say in it.

I'm not sure. Remember the last extension happened mid-season, and I think the M's are now technically now owned by Nintendo of America instead of Hiroshi Yamauchi. That said...now that I am checking dates, it looks like NOA owned the M's in '07 when Ichiro signed his extension. So what do I know...

Still, that extension was signed at a different time. Ichiro was one of the best players in baseball, recently named an All-Star MVP. Now, not so much. Nintendo had two of the biggest selling systems of all time: the DS and the Wii. Now...not so much.

Ichiro and Nintendo are both in precarious positions. The release of the 3DS hasn't gone well [they recently slashed the price of the unit by nearly $100 to try and move units], the Wii is thoroughly outdated and sales are slagging, and the Wii U looks like a less than stellar replacement. I'm sure the company still makes a lot of money, but I doubt they'll be so willing to throw money away.

That said, the advertising behind home plate at M's games is often for Nintendo products [and written in Kanji]. Presumably Ichiro's a big reason for those advertisements getting to the intended market. Nintendo's ownership of the M's is likely motivated by the profits they can turn through sales/marketing AND the ability to have a worldwide platform they can use to market their products. You can't go a few feet at SafeCo Field without seeing signs to go to Sec. 143 so you can upload their in-stadium software for the DS so you can track scores, etc. Seattle was [I believe] the test market for the Nintendo Fan Network, which the company intended to bring to other markets and to the Wii [and I have no idea if they did or didn't do that]. Does NOA look at investments into Japanese players as part of the normal payroll or as part of their advertising budget?

If a big reason for paying Ichiro is for the parent company to have an 'in' with Japanese markets, perhaps a better investment would be posting the money to negotiate with Yu Darvish?

[sharkz]

3-2 win. Carp hitstreak ends, Vargas with 7 good innings and Ruffin looked solid enough.

Still can't believe that big lug Olivo made it in time.

[TTown]

Double Header!

Lost game one 7-5 with a 3-run HR off League in the bottom of the 9th. Blah. Trayvon got us the lead with a big time RBI double in the 8th. Seager had 3 hits, but our 3-5 (Ackley-Carp-Wells) went 0/13. Yikes.

We lead game two 5-2 in the 3rd. Vasquez is pitching for us. Guti with a 2 RBI single in the 3rd, then Ackley singled him in, then Carp went yard. A fun inning.

Seager and Trayvon both with hits in the second game to go along with big first game performances. Trayvon's up to .286, Seager to .260 (remember when Seager was in the .160-range during his first call-up?). Both these kids are hitting everything in sight.

[TTown]

Apparently I'm selling Trayvon a bit short, after 3 more hits in the second game he's up to .314

[TTown]

Whoops, a 4/4 night now for Trayvon. We're up to .327.

(i know he doesn't have the ABs yet to make a .327 'meaningful'. but i suppose i'd rather him be over .300 than under, y'know?)

[sharkz]

Seager with his 2nd homer. Didn't think he had much power at all but he might be finding a little bit.

Vasquez not great and Ruffin was wild, but otherwise cool.

Carp homers also, Willy Mo the only one without a hit. OFFENSE!!!!!!!

[Zyme]

I'll be really interested when the september callups occur and we can see how the other young players do.

[Sweezo]

Whoops, a 4/4 night now for Trayvon. We're up to .327.

(i know he doesn't have the ABs yet to make a .327 'meaningful'. but i suppose i'd rather him be over .300 than under, y'know?)

SSS be damned! You can't fake a 4-for-4 game. He was having issues making contact when he first came up, but he is absolutely dialed in right now. Same with Seager. I haven't been expecting a lot out of Seager but he seems to have calmed down; there's really no reason for Kennedy to be getting at-bats anymore.

[TTown]

Agreed. This time last year I was pretty dialed out of Seattle games, save for every 5th day when Felix was pitching his way to the Cy Young. No one (interesting) was getting called up, and we weren't just losing, we were losing in a very boring way.

This year's the exact opposite. We're losing but I'm entertained! (truth be told, we're 18 games under; take out that bizarre 17-game losing streak, and we're only a game under and kinda/sorta decent. what a weird, unexplainable three weeks that was)

I'm reeeeeeaaaaaally pulling for Seager to continue hitting through the end of the season. I'd love for him to take the job next Spring, b/c as we've talked about there just aren't any quality 3B candidates to sign in FA. In fact, taking into consideration how these kids are hitting right now, I'm actually much more inclined to get in on the Prince Fielder sweepstakes. Before, I figured we could take that money and split it up among 3 good everyday position players. But if our youngins' are going to save us the trouble of dropping big money around the diamond, Fielder suddenly becomes a little less unrealistic. The way our offense is hitting right now, can you imagine Fielder in there?

[Sweezo]

I'm reeeeeeaaaaaally pulling for Seager to continue hitting through the end of the season. I'd love for him to take the job next Spring, b/c as we've talked about there just aren't any quality 3B candidates to sign in FA.

Seager's hitting barrage continues; he's hit two more doubles today...

That works for me. Bring him into spring training next year and let he and Figgins battle it out.

[TTown]

Seager starts 2/2 today. Good lord, let's stay in Cleveland for four more.

[TTown]

Seager with his THIRD double today!

and an idiot Mariner fan picked up the ball near the wall and cost Seager an extra RBI.

[Sweezo]

and an idiot Mariner fan picked up the ball near the wall and cost Seager an extra RBI.

So? That's just another RBI opportunity for Pena!

[TTown]

Quick line-up observation:

As of right now, Guti and Olivo are our only regulars hitting below .260. Everyone else ranges from .260 (Ryan) to .304 (Carp, Trayvon, Seager), and Guti is obviously swinging a hot bat but is battling back from below the Mendoza line. And Olivo may have a horrible average, but he does lead us in HRs.

It's really nice to not have any glaring black holes at the moment. We had, like, five of those three months ago.

[TTown]

9-2 M's, top 7. Ryan with a 2 RBI triple a moment ago.

Should be over double digits again today, bases were juiced with 1 out for both Ackley and Carp two innings ago and uncharacteristically they both struck out looking.

[sharkz]

I love ya Seager

Carp with 4 ks on the night. Looks like he's cooling off.

oh and WILLY MO MOONSHOT

[Sweezo]

When Pena hits the ball he absolutely punishes it. Both of the home runs he's hit for us were to straight away centerfield. I know he's not going to hit for an average or get on base a ton, but he's still fun to watch.

How I wish we had our first half pitching staff with our second half offense...

[Bulltalk]

Has anybody else noticed that Casey Kotchman is hitting .323 with Tampa Bay now?