The Unbalanced Schedule

The Pacific Coast League is in a period of transition, and one of the results is an unbalanced schedule in 2017.

For over a decade the league has played 144 games, but that is changing. Major League Baseball wanted the PCL to shrink down to 140 games, and the PCL owners agreed to do it in stages. We’re playing 142 this year, and 140 next year.

When we get to 140 next year it will be easy to have a balanced schedule in the 16-team, 4-division league: 16 games against your three division opponents (48), 15 games against your four other conference teams (60), and the standard four games against the eight cross-conference teams (32). That’s an easy, competitively balanced 140.

But apparently making a 142-game schedule was a real challenge.

The four teams in the Pacific-North Division (Tacoma, Reno, Sacramento and Fresno) do not play each other an equal number of times.

The Rainiers and Sacramento play 48 games against divisional foes. Fresno plays 49 games against teams in the division – and Reno plays only 47.

Tacoma plays 17 games against Sacramento, 16 games against Fresno, and 15 games against Reno. Hey, that works to our advantage – we never beat Reno!

Sacramento has 17 against Tacoma, 16 vs. Fresno, and 15 with Reno.

Fresno has the extra division game: 17 against Reno, and 16 each against Tacoma and Sacramento.

Reno is short a divisional game: 15 with Tacoma and Sacramento, and 17 against Fresno.

Tacoma and Sacramento play 62 games against the Pacific-South Division (Salt Lake, Las Vegas, El Paso, and Albuquerque). Fresno plays 61 games against the Pac-South, and Reno plays 63.

We’ll have just this one season of imbalance. Hopefully it doesn’t have an effect on the division races.

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The M’s have added a pair of established major league players on minor league contracts who will break camp with Tacoma.

Reliever Mark Lowe was signed after being released by Detroit. Lowe is in his third tour of duty in the M’s organization – he pitched for Tacoma in 2007 and 2015. He’ll be in the Tacoma bullpen to start the year.

Also joining the club is infielder Gordon Beckham. Beckham finished 5th in the AL Rookie of the Year award voting in 2009, playing for the White Sox. Last year he hit .217 in 240 at-bats for the Atlanta Braves. He’s only played in 18 career Triple-A games.

Beckham was just released by the Giants last week. He mostly plays second base, but also some third. I’m not sure what the Mariners plan is for him just yet.

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We’ll have a Rainiers roster for you soon. We expect an announcement by Monday at the latest, but possibly over the weekend. Of course we’ll plaster the roster everywhere as soon as we get it.

Links:

• The Seattle Times MLB Preview section is now available. It includes a five-part series focusing on Edwin Diaz and 100-mph fastballs – here’s part one, which will lead you through the whole series.
• Meet the Mariners starting lineup with this interactive digital presentation.
• Three reasons the Mariners will win, and three reasons they won’t.
• Larry Stone has a column on the sudden rotation problem caused by Drew Smyly‘s arm issue, which was announced as a strained flexor bundle. He’s out 6-to-8 weeks.
• John McGrath isn’t letting Smyly’s injury ruin his sunny disposition.
• Bob Dutton has six things he learned during spring training.
• The Rainiers have a new player: Seattle signed veteran reliever Mark Lowe to a minor league deal. Lowe was just released a few days ago by Detroit. Will be interesting to see what he has left in the tank.
• Blake Parker – Rainiers closer last year – has struck out 11 straight batters in a bid to make the Angels opening day roster.
• In the PCL, Las Vegas is going to have the Mets two top prospects: shortstop Amed Rosario and first baseman Dominic Smith. Rosario is considered one of the best in all of the minor leagues.

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Rainiers Power Up Against Chihuahuas

In a rematch of the Pacific Conference Finals from last September, Tacoma faced El Paso today on Field 3 of the Peoria Sports Complex.

Unlike the PCL playoff series which ended with an El Paso victory, today’s game ended in a 3-3 tie. As we’ve been saying all week: hey, its spring training.

Tacoma did hit a couple of homers, and there was an impressive pitching performance. Quick hits from today’s game:

• Tacoma scored first, when Boog Powell lifted a solo home run against El Paso starter Cesar Vargas. Powell continues to have an excellent spring training – he had three hits today.
• The Rainiers added another run in the inning: Dan Vogelbach singled to the opposite field, and scored all the way from first base when D.J. Peterson‘s single to left-center was misplayed by El Paso’s centerfielder.
• Tall right-hander Max Povse started for Tacoma, working 4.2 innings and allowing two runs. He was facing something that looked like El Paso’s opening day lineup – basically the same guys who were with the Chihuahuas in the playoffs last year, minus Hunter Renfroe, Manuel Margot, and Austin Hedges.
• Povse was around the plate with his pitches and had a good pace on the mound. He is quite tall – 6-foot-8 – and has a high release point which gives him a downward angle towards home plate. He’ll probably start the year at Double-A Arkansas and join Tacoma later on.
• Povse was pulled with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth inning, and lefty reliever Paul Paez got out of that jam and worked a scoreless sixth inning. Paez was a Minor League Rule 5 draft pick from the Mets organization, where he finished the 2016 season at Double-A Binghampton.
• Vogelbach connected for a line drive homer in the sixth inning against reliever Mike Dimock. Vogelbach made sharp contact in all three games I watched this week.
• D.J. Peterson played third base and handled the couple of grounders that were hit his way. Manager Pat Listach said Peterson will play first base, third base, and corner outfield – he’s been working with outfield instructor Brant Brown during camp.
• Ryne Harper and Ryan Horstman finished up the pitching for Tacoma. Both have pitched in Double-A but never in Triple-A before. Harper had an easy 1-2-3 inning, while Horstman issued some walks over two innings.

We’re just four days away from the Tacoma club breaking camp and flying north, and there are still many questions about who will make the final roster. Today’s injury news (see below) is going to have a trickle-down throughout the organization, and there are still a ton of relievers in camp. The position players are an easier guess right now.

The final members of the opening day roster are going to fly to Tacoma on Sunday, have a few days to find housing and settle in, get moved into Cheney Stadium, and then travel to Sacramento for the start of the PCL season next Thursday.

Links:

• Trouble in the starting rotation: Drew Smyly was scratched from his final spring training start and the Mariners are waiting for the results of a doctor’s appointment.
• Prospect analyst John Sickels wonders if M’s outfielder Mitch Haniger may be a breakout rookie.
• Vice has an in-depth look at new Mariners shortstop Jean Segura.
• We have the annual Associated Press season preview on the Mariners, courtesy of friend-of-the-blog Tim Booth.

Strange Things Happen In Spring Training: The Walk-Off That Wasn’t

Tacoma played Round Rock today in a Triple-A exhibition game. The game was played at the Texas Rangers complex in Surprise, so the Rainiers were the visiting team and batted first.

All of which made Dario Pizzano‘s walk-off three-run homer in the top of the tenth inning rather unusual. It got even weirder when two more batters came to the plate afterwards.

Here’s what happened:

Before the game, Round Rock/Texas told the Rainiers that they had ten innings worth of pitching they wanted to use. The Rainiers, however, had only brought enough pitchers to cover nine innings.

So it was agreed that after the bottom of the ninth inning, no matter what the score was, Tacoma would bat in the top of the tenth – and then the game was over.

We reached the end of the ninth and Round Rock had a 7-4 lead.

The trotted out their new, tenth inning pitcher, as expected, and the Rainiers went to work. Brayan Hernandez led off and reached on an error. Tyler O’Neill singled sharply to left field. Dan Vogelbach drew a walk, loading the bases. Joe Rizzo hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring a run and making the first out of the inning. It was 7-5.

Up came Pizzano, and he lined a three-run homer to the right field corner to give Tacoma the 8-7 win.

Game over? Nope! The Rangers pitching prospect faced two more Rainiers batters before the day’s events came to an end.

Manager Pat Listach said “I guess we walked them off,” then looked at me and added “don’t tell anybody we got an extra inning to bat in!” Sorry, Pat.

Notes from today:

• D.J. Peterson homered again – his second in as many days. He pulled a liner to left off Round Rock starter Ariel Jurado, who is considered to be a pretty good prospect.
• Tyler O’Neill also went deep off Jurado. His homer was more of a fly ball to left center, and it was a bit of a wall-scraper as it just cleared the 365-foot marker. O’Neill had two hits on the day, but he also had trouble with the sun in right field on a catchable fly ball to the track that fell in for a double.
• Tacoma started Christian Bergman on the mound, and he went four innings without allowing a run. He worked in the upper-80s with his fastball, but had an assortment of sliders and cutters which produced a bunch of infield grounders.
• Round Rock tied it in the fifth inning against Rainiers reliever Jean Machi when a two-out error proceeded a two-run homer.
• Dan Vogelbach doubled in a run in the sixth against Jurado. He had a couple of hard-hit balls today. It was interesting to note that even in minor league spring training games, both Omaha yesterday and Round Rock today played extreme defensive shifts against Vogelbach. Vogelbach DH’d today while D.J. handled first – I suspect we’ll see them share the positions for Tacoma in April.
• The Rainiers pitchers for the final four innings were left-handers Kyle Hunter and Zac Collins. Hunter went two frames, allowing a run when a routine fly ball to center was lost in the sun. Collins also went two innings, allowing four runs.
• The left side of the Rainiers infield was patrolled by teenagers for the second day in a row, as regular Tacoma infielders Tyler Smith and Mike Freeman are still in major league camp. Of note, an 18-year-old shortstop named Osmy Gregorio showed smooth skills with the glove and a strong arm.
• Got my first look at Thyago Vieira, who pitched in the Double-A game at a neighboring field. A scout friend had Vieira’s fastball from 96 to 99 mph, and I saw two impressive breaking balls. His command was inconsistent, which is why he’s in Double-A right now.

Links:

• Kyle Seager is hoping to avoid his usual slow start this season.
• The Mariners got stung by the Diamondbacks today, 15-6, but Felix Hernandez looked good in a brief two-inning tune-up before his opening day start on Monday.
• Deadspin has a preview of the Korean Baseball Organization which is a) entertaining to read and b) lists the foreign players on each team, including several ex-Rainiers.
• One of the top prospects to start the year in the PCL will be infielder Ian Happ of the Iowa Cubs.

News From Rainiers Spring Training

I flew down to Arizona on Monday morning and took in a Rainiers exhibition game on the back fields of the Peoria Sports Complex. We’ll get to that in a minute – but first we need to cover the latest roster moves from over the weekend, to get up to speed.

There are some surprises here – the kind that strengthen the Rainiers.

Optioned to Tacoma:

• 1B Dan Vogelbach
• LHP Ariel Miranda
• RHP Chris Heston

Reassigned to Minor League Camp:

• RHP Cody Martin
• RHP Jean Machi
• LHP Nick Hagadone
• C Sebastian Valle

The big surprises here are Vogelbach and Miranda.

Vogelbach was struggling to make contact in Cactus League play, striking out in nearly a third of his plate appearances. The Mariners current leadership doesn’t like strikeouts very much, and they want to see Vogelbach put the ball in play more often. He’ll work on that in Tacoma.

Miranda was sent down because the Mariners want him to continue to work as a starting pitcher. There was an opportunity for him to make the big league club as a reliever, but the team would rather have more starting rotation depth at this point in time. Miranda will slot into the Tacoma starting rotation.

Heston and Martin are also expected to be in the Tacoma rotation, Machi and Hagadone are relievers. Valle is probably ticketed for Double-A.

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Due to my travel schedule I got to the complex at 12:45 – just 15 minutes before the Triple-A game started. I had to pick up a credential and literally swipe a 2017 Mariners Media guide from the PR office (the office was empty; I grabbed a book and turned myself in to the authorities later). Said hello to a few friendly faces on the Mariners staff and walked out to Field 3, where Tacoma was playing Omaha (KC Royals).

Approaching the field I saw Rainiers starter Chris Heston get two quick ground outs. As I sat on the aluminum bleacher, a sharp grounder was pulled to the right side – and Zach Shank made a diving stop and threw out the batter at first to end the inning. Still doing it, the Shankster. It’s like there was no off-season.

Normally I would share the Rainiers starting lineup right now, except… well… stay with me on this.

Mariners outfielder Jarrod Dyson is nursing a minor hamstring issue, and he had missed the last few days. Feeling well enough to play, Dyson spent his afternoon on the minor league fields – leading off each of the first five innings of the Triple-A game for Tacoma, while also getting five additional at-bats in the Double-A game which was being played on an adjacent field.

Needless to say, this rendered the Rainiers lineup card inconsequential. In fact, every time Dyson got a hit (he went 3-for-5 for Tacoma), Class-A outfielder and top prospect Brayan Hernandez pinch-ran for him*.

So things were weird right out of the gate.

Some guys who were in there throughout the game:

Dan Vogelbach played first base. He does look like he has slimmed down a bit from the end of last season. He had one extra base hit, pulling a hard double inside the first base bag. He was also hit by a pitch once, and stayed in the game. His body language was good right after being sent down to AAA, so that’s a positive sign.

D.J. Peterson was in there – must have been the DH. He had Tacoma’s top highlight, a two-run homer pulled to left field in the second inning. He drilled a fastball from well-regarded Royals pitching prospect Josh Staumont.

Some other familiar faces started: Steve Baron caught all nine innings – great to see that he is healthy. James Ramsey and Boog Powell were in the outfield, and Shank was at second base.

There were some young kids from Class-A filling out the lineup. The M’s still have lots of Rainiers players in major league camp – about half of Tacoma’s team.

Got my first look at top prospect Tyler O’Neill, who we expect to see in Tacoma on opening day after winning the Double-A Southern League MVP Award in 2016. My impressions? Let’s hold off here. He didn’t really do anything today, going 0-for-3 with a strikeout, fly out, and a ground out. I should get to see him play two more games while I’m down here.

On the pitching side, Heston went four innings and allowed only one run that I noticed. Remember: no scoreboard in minor league spring training games, and I got sidetracked by conversation a lot. But I saw one run score against him in the third inning, without any hard-hit balls. I pretty much missed the entire fourth inning while getting caught up with Shane The Rainiers Outstanding Clubbie With The Long Last Name I Can’t Spell.

Paul Fry worked two innings and allowed some ground ball singles in his second inning of work. Fry was terrific in the final two months of the 2016 season and I’m excited to see if he can carry that over to the new campaign.

The pride of Sumner Nick Hagadone retired all three batters he faced in the seventh inning, striking out two. His comeback bid will be a fun early season storyline.

Omaha scored multiple runs in the eighth against Ryan Weber, and the Storm Chasers eventually won the game either 5-3 or 6-3. I’m glad none of you come here for the accurate reporting.

Emilio Pagan worked around a pair of singles in the ninth, notching three strikeouts. Like Fry, Pagan is a young reliever who had periods of success in his first shot at Triple-A last year.

A few notes:

• Manager Pat Listach currently has hair. Haven’t seen that before – except on old baseball cards fans send him to sign. We’ll see if he shaves it for opening day.
• It was Listach’s first day in Triple-A. He had been helping the major league staff all spring until Monday.
• Speaking of hair, Pagan pitched for Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, and they all dyed their hair blonde. Pagan is sticking with the look for now.
• I sat with Sam Gaviglio for an inning, as he did not pitch today. Pitchers not scheduled to throw in games usually linger around watching the game from the bleachers for 4 or 5 innings before heading to the locker room (saw Cody Martin too, but didn’t get a chance to talk to him yet). Gaviglio had a great time in the WBC pitching for Italy, highlighted by a terrific outing against the stacked Venezuela lineup. He’s competing to make the Rainiers rotation; he gave the team a big lift down the stretch last year.

On Tuesday Tacoma plays Round Rock in Surprise! I’ll have a report for you in the evening, probably around 5 or 6 o’clock.

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We have had a late change to Tacoma’s coaching staff.

The Mariners added a fourth staff member to each of its minor league affiliates this year, to “improve the student-teacher ratio” in the words of farm director Andy McKay. An excellent idea, in my opinion.

Former major league stolen base expert Brian Hunter was originally named the Rainiers fourth coach, but today the team announced that Hunter is being reassigned, and instead former major league infielder Denny Hocking will be on the Rainiers staff.

Hocking has been a major league player, minor league manager, and minor league coach. He also once hosted a baseball talk radio show – he’s done it all!

Hocking was at the Triple-A game today, sitting with Listach, pitching coach Lance Painter, and new hitting coach Dave Berg.

Links:

• Ryan Divish explains why Dan Vogelbach was optioned to Tacoma, and he has another post with all of the latest roster moves.
• The Mariners are lining up their starting rotation. Felix Hernandez will make his ninth consecutive opening day start.
• Bob Dutton breaks down the battle to make the Mariners opening day bullpen. He has only four locks in either a 7- or 8-man bullpen.
• Edwin Diaz rejoined Mariners camp and said he won’t be afraid to show emotion on the field like he did during the World Baseball Classic.
• Projected Rainiers starting pitcher Dillon Overton is very happy to be in the Mariners organization.
• Taylor Motter has hit his way onto the Mariners opening day roster as the utility man, it appears. He says he has broken 15 bones in his body.
• Injured reliever news: Tony Zych is hopeful to be ready for opening day, and Steve Cishek is progressing well, but Shae Simmons had a setback as he recovers from a forearm strain.
• Cactus League game reports: Today the Mariners were lit up by Jabari Blash and the Padres, 12-2. The former Rainiers slugger Blash leads the Cactus League with seven homers… Taylor Motter continued to hit in a 7-6 win over the Reds on Sunday… anticipated Rainiers starter Dillon Overton pitched very well in a 3-1 win over the Rangers on Saturday… the Mariners split the squad and played two games on Friday. In one, Hisashi Iwakuma looked sharp in a 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals. But in the other game, the Mariners were no-hit by eight (!) Angels pitchers in a 4-0 loss…  and on Thursday, Felix Hernandez was in prime form for six innings in a 9-2 win over the Giants.

* I jokingly asked Listach how he expected to win if he kept pinch-running for the fastest player in the organization. Spring training can be silly.

Upcoming Plans & Latest Mariners Links

We’re down to the last ten days or so of spring training, and the Mariners opening day roster is starting to take form.

With the end of the World Baseball Classic yesterday (wooooo USA!), teams will have all of their player back in camp and the final steps will be taken to pare down big league rosters.

Seattle had an unexpected development this week, with utility infielder Shawn O’Malley suddenly needing an appendectomy. He’s OK, but it is unknown how quickly he’ll return to peak performance.

This may clear the path for Tyler Motter to be the utility man to open the season, with the Mariners then carrying an eight-man bullpen. More on this in the links below.

Meanwhile the Rainiers roster will take shape.

I’ll be in Peoria watching Rainiers spring training early next week, and activity on this blog is going to pick up. You can expect daily posts on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in the late afternoon after I get back from watching the Triple-A exhibition games.

Then we’ll be just days away from the start of the Mariners season, and a week out from the Rainiers.

So, lots coming up – including the free Rainiers Pre-Season Party this Saturday from 1:00 to 4:00 at Cheney Stadium. Don’t miss it.

Links:

• Potential Rainiers opening day starter Cody Martin is having a great spring (well, he was before yesterday), and Bob Dutton caught up with him.
• Shawn O’Malley had an appendectomy and is out for a while. Here’s hoping for a quick return.
• Ryan Divish has an update on O’Malley and three more injured Mariners.
• It’s looking increasingly likely that the Mariners will open the season with an eight-man bullpen. That means the Rainiers would start the year with an extra position player we weren’t expecting to get, such as O’Malley or Guillermo Heredia.
• Monday was a Mariners off day, so Seattle Times beat writer Ryan Divish shared his thoughts on spring training camp.
• Baseball America’s minor league transactions confirm that the M’s have signed former Oregon State Beavers infielder Joey Wong. He played for Albuquerque the last two years as a utility infielder.
• Cactus League game reports: yesterday the M’s suffered a 9-8 defeat to the Angels … and after an off day on Monday, the M’s dropped an 8-5 decision to the A’s on Tuesday.
• The math guys at 538.com project the Houston Astros to win the AL West. However, you may be aware that 538.com’s recent track record on predictions hasn’t been very good.
• USA! USA! USA! The USA won the World Baseball Classic for the first time!
• In the PCL, the Mets cut five players who are likely to play for Las Vegas.
• The Des Moines Register has nine reasons to root for the Iowa Cubs. You should not take their advice. Stick with the Rainiers, OK?

M’s Trim Roster; Let’s Party This Weekend

The Mariners made six more spring training roster moves over the weekend, dropping the number of players in major league camp down to 45. Here are the moves:

Reassigned to Minor League Camp:

• RHP Christian Bergman
• RHP Andrew Moore
• RHP Max Povse
• RHP Ryan Weber
• C Steve Baron
• OF Tyler O’Neill

Three of these players are the organization’s top prospects: O’Neill, Moore, and Povse. None of them had a chance to make the opening day roster, but they received some valuable big league spring training experience. Now they’ll gear up for their minor league seasons.

We expect O’Neill to patrol right field at Cheney Stadium this year. Right now I’m thinking Moore and Povse open the season in the Double-A Arkansas rotation, with chances for mid-season promotions to Tacoma. That’s not based on any inside information or anything – it just looks like the Mariners have more experienced pitchers to place in the Tacoma rotation at the start of the season.

Bergman has pitched in 55 major league games, including 15 starts. He also has a track record of success in the PCL. He’s much more likely to begin the season with the Rainiers.

Weber has been pitching from the bullpen. He has major league experience and he’s another possibility for Tacoma.

Baron finds himself in the swell of upper-level catchers, a group which includes Tuffy Gosewisch, Nevin Ashley, Sebastien Valle, and Marcus Littlewood. We’ll have to wait and see how that all gets sorted out.

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Make some plans for the weekend: the Rainiers are hosting their annual Pre-Season Party on Saturday at Cheney Stadium.

It’s an open house, free entry and free parking.

There will be ballpark tours, our concessionaire Ivar’s will have some free food samples, the kid’s play area will be open (note: it’s almost always open), and the Mariners spring training game will be on the video board.

Hours are 1:00 to 4:00 pm.

Oh yeah, almost forgot: those of you who are season ticketholders can pick up your tickets at the party.

See you Saturday!

Links:

• The M’s have an open date today, so Bob Dutton looked back at the seven questions he asked at the start of spring training, to see where things stand now.
• New Mariners starter Drew Smyly had a blast with Team USA.
• Yovani Gallardo had fun pitching for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic – despite a lot of drama – and now he’s back in Mariners camp.
• It looks like reliever Shae Simmons won’t be ready in time for opening day, Bob Dutton reports.
• ESPN’s Jim Caple has a report on Felix Hernandez.
• Mariners lefty James Paxton pitched in a minor league game on the backfields, working on his offspeed stuff.
• Sumner product Nick Hagadone‘s comeback bid was noticed by MLB.com.
• It appears that Tony Zych is healthy enough to try pitching in games now.
• Outfielder Leonys Martin has not started hitting yet, but at this point the M’s aren’t concerned.
• Cactus League Game Reports: yesterday the Rangers squeaked out a 3-2 win over the M’s… Saturday the Mariners walked their way to a 6-5 win over the Giants… in a split squad on Friday, potential Rainiers catcher/1B Ryan Casteel hit a ninth inning grand slam to beat the Diamondbacks, 9-5, while across the valley Tyler O’Neill hit one of three Mariners homers against Clayton Kershaw in a 5-2 win…  and on Thursday, potential Rainiers starter Chase De Jong went four innings in a 9-2 win over the Royals.
• The Times has a story on that guy who plays the bugle at Mariners spring training. You can always hear him in the background when you listen to the games.
• Ex-Rainiers outfielder Adam Jones made an amazing catch to help Team USA reach the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic. Here’s a fun breakdown of the catch, with video.

Links Round-Up

We have lots of links for you today, catching up on the last couple of days of spring training.

Hopefully you got a chance to watch the World Baseball Classic game last night between the USA and Venezuela. It was a Mariners and ex-Rainiers special, with Felix Hernandez squaring off against Drew Smyly and Adam Jones.

Felix looked great, going five scoreless innings allowing just three singles. Most importantly, he did not walk anybody – something to keep an eye on all year as he transitions to more of a finesse pitcher.

Smyly was also impressive against a Venezuela lineup which looks like a major league all-star team. He was on a strict 60-pitch limit and was impressive throughout it.

And then there was the former Rainiers outfielder Jones, who tied the game with an eighth inning homer – his second crucial, clutch hit for the US in the tournament. The US eventually won it, 4-2.

Links:

• Felix Hernandez looked sharp while tossing five shutout innings against Team USA in the World Baseball Classic last night. Drew Smyly started for the ‘States and pitched well, too – the Mariners must have loved it, Jeff Sullivan writes.
• Tall pitching prospect Max Povse models his style after former Rainiers pitcher Doug Fister. Povse appears targeted to begin the season with Double-A Arkansas, but we may see him at some point in 2017.
• Probable Rainiers starting pitcher Chase DeJong is engaged to the daughter of PGA golfer Bernhard Langer.
• Likely Rainiers outfielder Tyler O’Neill has returned from his stint with Team Canada in the World Baseball classic.
• The Mariners may start the season with an eight-man bullpen.
• Injured reliever Tony Zych is close to being able to pitch in games.
• ESPN has a feature on Mariners closer Edwin Diaz.
• The new batch of Mariners commercials is out – watch them here.
• Guillermo Heredia is trying to get better every day.
• Cactus League results: Yesterday, starter Chris Heston allowed his first runs of spring in a 12-7 loss to the Dodgers… Rainiers infielder Tyler Smith continued his hot hitting on Tuesday, driving in four runs with a double and a homer in a 7-6 win over the White Sox… and on Monday, Dan Vogelbach‘s two-run homer highlighted a, um, 24-3 loss to the Brewers.
• Ex-Rainiers slugger Wladimir Balentien is doing his best to lead the Netherlands in the WBC.

M’s Make First “Cuts” Of Spring

It’s just about mid-March, and the Mariners feel comfortable enough to start trimming their major league spring training roster. Nine players were shifted to minor league camp this morning, and another was traded.

Our annual reminder on the terminology: during spring training, a player who is on the Mariners 40-man roster and is cut is “optioned to” the minor league team that he is expected to open the season with. A player who is not on the 40-man roster and is cut is “reassigned to minor league camp,” with his minor league team determined later.

Here are today’s moves:

Optioned to Triple-A Tacoma:

• LHP Paul Fry
• INF D.J. Peterson

Optioned to Double-A Arkansas:

• RHP Thyago Vieira
• LHP Zac Curtis

Reassigned to Minor League Camp:

• C Marcus Littlewood
• C Tyler Marlette
• OF Kyle Waldrop
• RHP Peter Tago
• RHP Dylan Unsworth

No surprises in this first group. By getting moved to minor league camp, these nine players will get more opportunity to play in spring games on the minor league side of the complex, and get better prepared for the upcoming season.

The Mariners still have 53 players in major league camp, and they will open the season with 25 on the roster.

—

It had been a few days and Dealin’ Dipoto’s trigger finger was getting itchy, so he made a trade.

The Mariners sent switch-pitcher and (former) likely Rainiers reliever Pat Venditte to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for Double-A outfielder Joey Curletta.

I see this as a space-clearing move. There are far too many Triple-A-or-better relievers in camp, and this move cleared one out while adding to the outfield depth.

We’ll miss out on the fun of seeing a switch-pitcher this year. At least we got to see it a bit last season.

Links:

• Bob Dutton has an update on the projected Tacoma Rainiers starting rotation.
• The Times has a story on this morning’s roster moves.
• Here’s the story on the Pat Venditte trade. Baseball America has a scouting report on the new outfielder, Joey Curletta.
• Reliever Shae Simmons – expected to grab one of the Mariners final bullpen spots – has some “forearm tightness” and is getting an MRI this week. And… he’s already had the MRI, things look good. That and more in an injury report Ryan Divish posted this morning.
• The Mariners have a rare outfield mix.
• If Taylor Motter doesn’t make the Mariners opening day roster, the Rainiers will have an elite-level hair flipper.
• Nelson Cruz and Robinson Cano – currently teammates in the World Baseball Classic – did a fun dual interview.
• Mike Zunino has his job back.
• James Paxton hones his delivery by practicing it in front of a mirror.
• Cactus League game recaps: yesterday Rainiers shortstop Tyler Smith hit a homer in a 9-2 loss to the Angels… Saturday it was a 7-6 win over the Reds… and on Friday Shawn O’Malley had the game-winner after a bunch of Mariners minor leaguers rallied from an eight-run deficit to beat the Cubs, 11-10.

All-Star Flashback: The Wedding Year

Greetings from Las Vegas, where I am attending the annual Pac-12 Basketball Tournament. It’s my favorite non-baseball sports event of the year, and it serves as a little vacation before the PCL season gets started.

Still, the blog soldiers on. Today we’ll do some all-star game talk and provide some Mariners links.

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Tickets for the Triple-A All-Star Game and Home Run Derby are selling at a good pace, the front office tells me. There are still tickets available – I suggest acting soon if you haven’t already.

With that in mind, it’s time for another… Triple-A All-Star Flashback!

Tacoma is hosting the 30th annual Triple-A All-Star Game at Cheney Stadium on July 12. We’ll spend the winter looking back at the previous years, to give fans an idea what they can expect in Tacoma this summer.

1998

Ah, finally – the first Triple-A All-Star Game after the merger, and the first battle between the Pacific Coast League and the International League.

I’d like to report that the PCL ripped ’em to shreds in the first game against their new all-star rival, but it didn’t happen. The International League won it, 8-4, in front of 11,049 fans at Harbor Park in Norfolk, Virginia.

The box score is littered with names I immediately associate with the Boston Red Sox of that era.

Third baseman Mike Lowell – then a Marlins prospect, but a future Red Sox star – homered in the first inning. He added a double and went 2-for-4 with two RBI, winning the MVP Award.

Other future Red Sox players in the game included Trot Nixon and Brian Daubach.

But the real story here happened before the game.

Norfolk outfielder Benny Agbayani was named to the all-star team, where he would play in his home ballpark. But he told the team’s GM that he was getting married that day and couldn’t make it.

The recently departed Tides general manager Dave Rosenfield countered with a ballpark wedding. Agbayani would get married in a ceremony at home plate before the game, and the club would pick up the expenses.

After some discussion, Benny and his bride decided to do it.

But another problem arose: the Mets called up Agbayani right before the all-star break!

Thankfully, the MLB and Triple-A all-star breaks are at the same time, so during the break the couple flew back to Norfolk and proceeded with the wedding.

Apparently it had all of the baseball traditions, including the bride and groom walking down a path of players with their bats held in the air.

Because he was on the Mets major league roster, Agbayani was not allowed to play in the Triple-A All-Star game. That’s all right, he was having a day to remember anyway.

Triple-A All-Star Fun Facts

• For more on the Agbayani wedding, here’s an archived story.
• The man who helped make the wedding happen, Dave Rosenfield, was a minor league legend. He recently passed away after spending a lifetime in the game. We can all thank him for inventing “Turn Back The Clock” nights.
• All-Star managers were Jerry Royster (PCL – Las Vegas) and Marv Foley (IL – Rochester). Royster became a major league manager, while Foley has an unbreakable record: he is the only manager to win a league title in three Triple-A leagues (the PCL, the IL, and the now-defunct American Association).
• Tacoma Rainiers manager Dave Myers was named an all-star coach. Myers managed Tacoma for four seasons, 1997-2000, before Lou Piniella hired him to be the Mariners third base coach. Myers lives in the Tacoma area and is still in baseball, working as a pro scout for the Tampa Rays. Whenever Benny Agbayani’s name comes up, Myers says “I was in his wedding.”
• The Rainiers lone player was closer Steve Gajkowski, who retired all four batters he faced with three strikeouts. The Seattle native had 24 saves and a 2.57 ERA for Tacoma in 1998.
• Current Round Rock manager Jason Wood played in this game, representing Edmonton for the second year in a row. Wood was an excellent Triple-A player for many years; he made his MLB debut in 1998 as well.
• It’s a good thing the wedding got everybody’s attention, because the 1998 game was short on long-term future major leaguers. Mike Lowell headlined this game, and catcher Paul LoDuca (Albuquerque) also had a lengthy MLB career. Outfielders Armando Rios and Jeremy Giambi also spent considerable time in the bigs. But as always, nearly everyone who played in the game reached the majors at some point.
• They shrunk the Home Run Derby to just three contestants, a short-lived idea that lasted just one more year. Rochester’s Willis Otanez won it. Otanez started his pro career in 1991 and was still playing in the Mexican League in 2015!
• The ESPN telecast was led by Bob Carpenter – currently the Washington Nationals announcer, and the guy I buy my scorebook from every year.
• Blue-uniformed lightning rod C.B. Bucknor was the second base umpire.

I hope you have enjoyed these All-Star Flashbacks. I plan to squeeze in a couple more before the season starts.

Links:

• Ryan Divish has an update on Rainiers outfielder Boog Powell, and how manager Pat Listach helped him handle his suspension.
• Bob Dutton has four surprises from Mariners camp.
• With several starters playing in the World Baseball Classic, competition for the Mariners last two roster spots is really heating up.
• Cactus League game reports: … yesterday the M’s lost big to Cleveland, 14-6… Tuesday was an off day… and on Monday, possible Rainiers player Taylor Motter homered in a 9-0 win over the Rangers.
• Mariners outfielder Leonys Martin had a birthday on Monday, and the guys hired a mariachi band to follow him around. Hilarity ensued.
• USS Mariner’s marc w did a spring training check-up on Mariners starting pitcher velocities.
• Former Cy Young Award winner Barry Zito is now a professional musician in Nashville, and he wrote and performed a new theme song for the Nashville Sounds.

A Small Rule Change

Spring training chugs along, and more Rainiers players made a mark in the Cactus League over the weekend.

Zach Shank had a couple of hits, including a game-winner, on Saturday. D.J. Peterson launched his first homer of the year, and so did new outfielder Kyle Waldrop. Boog Powell had a pair of hits yesterday, including a triple.

Look for more Tacoma players to get major league spring training action over the next two weeks, while many Mariners starters are shifting over to World Baseball Classic teams.

Meanwhile, MLB announced its official rule changes for 2017. Most involve a quicker instant replay system, which does not matter to us – we still don’t have instant replay in Triple-A.

But they did institute the no-pitch intentional walk, in which you just wave the batter to first base.

This will have no real effect on games anywhere, except to save the embarrassing once-a-decade wild pitch on an intentional ball.

Last season Rainiers pitchers issued nine intentional walks, and Rainiers batters were purposefully walked 14 times. So we would have saved about 23 minutes during a 144-game schedule. Not a big deal.

I guess I won’t be delivering the anticlimactic “and there’s the fourth wide one” anymore.

At least the fans can still boo when their guy gets waved to first base.

In case you are curious – I had a hunch, but looked it up to be sure – the Rainiers batter who was intentionally walked the most last season was Stefen Romero. Four times.

Links:

• Longtime baseball writer Larry Stone wrapped up his ten days in Mariners camp and shared his thoughts.
• Bob Dutton followed suit with eight things he has noticed so far. He encourages fans to head to Cheney Stadium early in the season for a look at Tyler O’Neill.
• Ryan Divish has a lot more on new pitcher Chase De Jong, who figures to be in the Tacoma starting rotation.
• Infielder Mike Freeman cleared waivers and was outrighted to Tacoma. This is good news for the Rainiers.
• Story of the day: Fangraphs has an in-depth look at the background of Mariners relief prospect Thyago Vieira.
• Felix Hernandez pitched on Sunday and now he joins the Venezuelan team for the World Baseball Classic.
• Speaking of the WBC, it opened last night (actually this morning – first pitch was 2:30 AM Pacific time) with Israel upsetting Korea, 2-1.
• The battle to be the second lefty in the Mariners bullpen is heating up.
• It’s starting to look like Steve Cishek won’t be ready for opening day.
• Larry Stone weighed in on the Mariners improved team speed.
• Cactus League game reports: the team played its first split-squad on Sunday, with Felix Hernandez making a start in one game and Andrew Moore in the other… in a 4-3 win over the Rockies on Saturday, Zach Shank had two big hits and got some love from manager Scott Servais… a little spring training three-game win streak ended with an 8-2 loss to Texas on Friday… and on Thursday, Ariel Miranda pitched three solid innings in a 6-2 win over the Brewers.
• John McGrath writes that the way to speed up baseball is to encourage more contact.
• In the PCL, the Reno Aces announced they are retiring the jersey of original manager Brett Butler.
• Giants coach Jose Aguacil – who managed Sacramento last season – was hit in the head by a foul ball in a scary injury.