Edgar Changes Roles, First 2019 Rainiers Moves Made

We got some big news from the Mariners yesterday, who announced that hopeful Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez is stepping down from his role as the team’s hitting coach.

Saying that he wants more time with his family, Edgar is taking a new role as an organization-wide hitting adviser. This will allow him to spend some time with his family during the season.

The new role includes work with minor league prospects, so there is a chance that Edgar will visit Tacoma to work with some of the Rainiers hitters during the season.

Now the Mariners need both a hitting coach and a pitching coach at the major league level. I’m curious to see if either of the Rainiers coaches – hitting coach David Berg and pitching coach Lance Painter – will get consideration.

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Today the Mariners announced that they have claimed outfielder John Andreoli off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles, adding him to their 40-man roster.

Andreoli spent most of the 2018 season with Tacoma, hitting .287 with a .397 on-base percentage and 19 stolen bases. He was called up by the Mariners in May and made his major league debut, getting a couple of brief looks in the big leagues.

In August the M’s designated him for assignment, and Baltimore claimed him off waivers and he spent the remainder of the season in the big leagues with the Orioles.

Now the M’s have re-claimed him. Andreoli has two option years remaining, so if he holds his spot on the 40-man roster all winter he becomes a likely member of the 2019 Rainiers.

The team also announced that they are adding Double-A first baseman Joey Curletta to the 40-man roster, preventing him from becoming a minor league free agent.

Curletta won the Texas League Player of the Year award by hitting .282 with 23 home runs and 92 RBI for Arkansas. He now has the lead to become your 2019 Tacoma Rainiers first baseman, in what would be his first Triple-A season. His power is needed – the Rainiers lacked home run power in 2018, especially during the times when Dan Vogelbach was in the big leagues.

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The World Series finished over the weekend, with the Boston Red Sox defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers, four games to one. Congratulations to the Red Sox, and the two former Rainiers players on their coaching staff who will now receive gaudy rings: Andy Barkett and Ramon Vazquez.

On the other hand, former Rainiers infielder Chris Taylor has now been on the losing side of the World Series two straight years with the Dodgers. Reaching and playing in the World Series must be an incredible experience, but losing it twice in a row has got to hurt.

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With the postseason over, the Hot Stove League begins. We’ll start to hear about free agent signings next week. The annual General Managers Meetings are soon, and Baseball’s Winter Meetings begin in six weeks.

The lead story of the offseason surrounds the two young superstar free agents: Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. Where they land will be fun to follow – a couple of teams have spent the last few seasons clearing payroll to make aggressive plays for these guys.

Locally, we’ll wait and see what the Mariners have planned. They are in a weird spot, which is the topic of the third link down below.

Links:

• Edgar Martinez talked to the Seattle Times about his decision.
• The Mariners declined a contract option on outfielder Denard Span, making him a free agent.
• Larry Stone has a column discussing the Mariners approach to the offseason.
• Stone wrote an excellent story on Bob Robertson, with details on his career.
• The broadcaster I listened to in my youth, who influenced my career, has passed away. Here’s a story on Hank Greenwald which includes some of his memorable jokes. Condolences to his family, including son Doug who is the voice of the Fresno Grizzlies.
• There is an entire article on the internet about former Rainier Chris Taylor‘s eyebrows. I did not make this up.
• In the PCL, the Memphis Redbirds will have a new manager next year. After piloting the team to back-to-back PCL Championships and winning two straight PCL Manager of the Year awards, Stubby Clapp was promoted to the St. Louis Cardinals coaching staff.

Quietly, Triple-A Free Agency Begins

We haven’t had any news to write about here on the blog the last two weeks, as all is quiet in baseball while the major league playoffs continue.

The current League Championship Series have been entertaining and close, which is nice to see after a (mostly) drama-free round in the Division Series. My sure-to-be-wrong playoff predictions might be mistitled this year, as I actually got three of the four LCS teams correct, and I’m drawing live on my World Series pick.

As soon as the World Series ends, we’ll be diving right into the free agency period and the roster reshaping that we expect Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto to do with both the major league team, and our team in Tacoma.

Many of the players who finished the season with the Rainiers are eligible to become minor league free agents, and some have officially declared. So far, I can find records of pitchers Ross Detwiler, Christian Bergman, Mike Morin and infielder Zach Vincej choosing free agency.

These players can still come back. Christian Bergman finished the 2017 season with Tacoma, declared free agency, looked around for a while, and ultimately signed back with the Mariners and was a valuable member of the organization in 2018.

Another transaction that has been reported: the organization released catcher Garrett Kennedy. Kennedy was the Rainiers surprise opening day catcher last year, and he spent quite a bit of the season with the club appearing in 31 games.

We’ll follow all of the minor league moves that impact the Tacoma Rainiers here on the blog.

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A friend called it quits earlier this week, as Bob Robertson retired from Washington State football broadcasts on Monday. I’m sure this was a difficult decision for my Sunday partner, who has been the voice of WSU football for 52 years. More in the first link below, which has a secret code buried in it just for fun.

Links:

• Here’s a column from Spokane on Bob Robertson’s retirement from Washington State football.
• The News Tribune has a look at the shape of the Mariners roster heading into the offseason.
• The Las Vegas ballpark construction continues on schedule to open in April. Last week they had the “topping out” ceremony.
• Fresno is still somewhat stunned that it is a Washington Nationals affiliate.

Former Rainiers On Postseason Rosters & Some Terrible Predictions

It’s a baseball smorgasboard today, with four straight major league playoff games being televised with very little overlap.

With that, let’s find out who the former Rainiers players are in the postseason this year – and then I’ll make my annual incorrect predictions.

First off, there are not many former Tacoma players on the postseason rosters this year. To really load up on ex-Rainiers, we need one of Jerry Dipoto’s trading buddies to make the playoffs – but both Tampa and Arizona came up short.

American League

Boston Red Sox: no active players have Tacoma ties. Two ex-Rainiers are on the coaching staff: Andy Barkett and Ramon Vazquez.

Cleveland Indians: the bullpen includes Oliver Perez, the veteran lefty who re-started his career as a reliever with the Rainiers in 2012. Also in the bullpen: sidearming Adam Cimber, who never pitched for Tacoma but is a graduate of Puyallup High School (Class of 2009). Ex-Rainiers pitchers from long ago Brian Sweeney and Scott Atchison are both on the Indians coaching staff.

Houston Astros: there are no former Rainiers on the active roster, but if you come to Cheney Stadium a lot you have probably seen about half their team suit up for Fresno on the visiting side. Here’s a deep pull for you: first base coach Alex Cintron played brifly for Tacoma in 2009.

New York Yankees: another team with no ex-Rainiers on the roster. Bench coach Josh Bard caught for the Rainiers toward the end of his career, in 2010 and 2011.

National League

Atlanta Braves: ageless catcher Rene Rivera is on the playoff roster. He played for Tacoma parts of three seasons: 2004 to 2006. The coaching staff includes 2010 Tacoma interim manager (and PCL Championship winner) Jose Castro, former Tacoma Tigers infielder Walt Weiss, and trivia question answer* Jose Yepez who caught for the Rainiers in 2010 and 2011.

Colorado Rockies: like the Astros, the Rockies don’t have any former Tacoma players but do have a lot of familiar names from the opposing roster when Albuquerque has been in town the last few years.

Los Angeles Dodgers: super utility man Chris Taylor played for Tacoma extensively from 2014 to 2016. Third base coach Chris Woodward was a regular infielder for the Rainiers in 2009 and 2010.

Milwaukee Brewers: catcher Erik Kratz was with Tacoma briefly in 2015.

That’s it, that’s all we’ve got. Four active ex-Rainiers players, one local guy, and ten coaches.

Now for the predictions, which are always wrong, so don’t even bother reading the next part. Why am I even typing them? I could be taking a nap right now. Anyway, here we go.

NL Division Series: Braves over Dodgers in five games, and Brewers over Rockies in four.

AL Division Series: Astros beat Indians in four, and Red Sox defeat Yankees in four.

NL Championship Series: Brewers take it over the Braves in six games.

AL Championship Series: Red Sox edge Astros in seven

World Series: Red Sox 4, Brewers 1.

So that’s not going to happen.

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* Jose Yepez was called up by the Seattle Mariners and spent a few days in the big leagues without ever appearing in a game. The only other Rainiers player in the last twenty years to do this was pitcher Ryne Harper in 2017. 

M’s Season Ends With Questions About How To Move Forward

The Mariners finished the season by taking three-of-four from the Texas Rangers, wrapping up the season with a record of 89-73. It was the most wins by a Mariners team since 2003.

Seattle drew 2,299,489 fans to Safeco Field, averaging 28,388 per game. It was the team’s largest attendance total since 2008.

Most wins since 2003. Biggest crowds since 2008. These are things that should please the Mariners owners, management, and fans. Yet the season is looked at as a disappointment, because a second half fade saw the Mariners miss the playoffs for the 17th straight season.

Take a second and go back six months. If someone had told me on opening night that the Mariners would win 89 games and not be in contention for a playoff spot during the final two weeks of the season, I would have told them they are crazy. Eighty-nine wins and not in contention? Really? Which five teams are going to blow past 90 wins? OK, we’ve got the Red Sox, Astros, Indians, probably the Yankees… uhhhh… I’m not seeing the other one. Angels, maybe?

Not many saw it coming, but Oakland finished with 97 wins, and even Tampa reached 90.

Now the Mariners front office has to decide how to proceed this offseason – which is the subject of many of the links down below.

Several key Mariners had seasons well below their expected level of play: Kyle Seager, Robinson Cano (due to suspension), Mike Zunino, Felix Hernandez… can they improve in 2019?

Only a few players had what you might call “career best” seasons that seem unlikely to be replicated. Edwin Diaz, Wade LeBlanc, maybe Marco Gonzales (but this could be his actual level of ability).

Do you do a casual reset, hope for return to something close to normal levels by the disappointing players, and hope the A’s don’t win 97 freakin’ games again? Or do you do a major shakeup?

From the second story below, it sounds like the Mariners themselves aren’t sure which path to take. It’s going to be an interesting offseason.

Links:

• The Mariners won the final game of the season on Sunday, taking down the Texas Rangers 3-1 on Kids Appreciation Day. Seattle finished with a record of 89-73.
• For the first time since taking over as Mariners general manager, Jerry Dipoto appears to be unsure what the next steps for the franchise are.
• The News Tribune looks at what’s next for the Mariners offseason. In the story, Dipoto says the team is not committed to having a DH-only player on the roster. That explains why Nelson Cruz has not be re-signed yet.
• Pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre was told he will not be retained for 2019. It sounds like the remainder of the Mariners coaching staff will remain intact.
• Kyle Seager played the entire second half of the season with a broken toe, and he answers the tough questions about his 2018 performance in this story.
• Ryan Divish has his Mariners season wrap-up.
• Ichiro is going to participate in Mariners spring training next year with the goal of being on the active roster for the March series in Japan.
• If – like me – you are a fan of the goofy writing style of Grant Brisbee, he ranks the 25 possible World Series match-ups.

We’ll be back on Friday with some sure-to-be-incorrect playoff predictions, and any ex-Tacoma players in the postseason.