The Seahawks' season is going well enough that they'll probably have a long jump to deal up for one of the top three QBs in the draft -- probably a longer jump than the team will have the draft ammunition to make. So, what options do they have?

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He certainly sounds like one in this scouting report:

After seeing him in person, I’m left wondering if the idea of [Hultzen] being a “safe” pick is a bit misguided due to the “funk” in his delivery and 2010 reports of his velocity sitting in the 88-91 MPH range.  What I witnessed was a unique (in the best of ways) pitching prospect with plus velocity from the left side and quite possibly the best changeup I’ve ever scouted. In the two plus years of Scouting the Sally, top pitchers scouted include Julio Teheran, Tyler Matzek, Mike Minor, Manny Banuelos, Zack Wheeler, Jed Bradley and Arodys Vizcaino. In terms of present stuff, Hultzen was the best of the bunch, and it may not even be that close. . . .

After scouting Hultzen, I have little doubt he could get major league hitters out if he threw in a big league game today. . . .

At his peak, Hultzen is an all star level starter or truly elite closer with the ability to strike out seven-plus per nine innings, walk less than three per nine, and maintain ground ball rates in the 50% range. Left-handed pitchers with similar peripherals include Jaime Garcia. This recipe all but guarantees big league success at a high to elite level. In most instances, I come away from scouting a player seeing areas of weakness and Hultzen did not have any.

I'm not familiar with this writer/website, but check out this post; he seems to know what he's talking about, and both his observations and his conclusions are encouraging.

Purely speculation on my part, but the rumor was that Cincy's asking price was a fifth-rounder this year and a conditional pick next year, and in the fifth and sixth we've now taken three DBs, two of whom (Richard Sherman in the fifth and Byron Maxwell in the sixth) seem very similar in their strengths and weaknesses.  That's a bit more stockpiling back there than I would have expected.  It could very well make sense on its own terms, but we don't have that many openings in the defensive backfield, so it would seem likely to me that either Sherman or Maxwell would probably end up on the practice squad (LeGree seems more polished to me, and more likely to contribute this season).  It makes me wonder if in fact we have agreed on terms with the Bengals, and if we took one of these DBs for them rather than for ourselves.

No, I'm not a chemistry geek, but I have a couple friends who are.  In any case, the important thing about today isn't that it's 10/23, but that Iowa State beat Texas -- in Austin -- and Pitt blew out Rutgers; in combination, those games make the Utes' schedule look quite a bit better, and have to boost your BCS chances, which is good news for all of us.  (I realize it's long odds, but I'm hoping for a Utah-Oregon championship game.)

along with that of four other clubs -- the Angels, Marlins, Pirates, and Rays.  The info on the Mariners is in a separate post from the original post containing the reports from the other four clubs; that makes it a little more difficult to compare, but here's an assist from Maury Brown on his Biz of Baseball blog.  Interestingly, over the ten team-years in the reports, the 2008 Mariners are the only one to show a loss in either operating or net income (in both, in their case), though it looks to me like they would have been in the black had they not paid out over $16 million in revenue sharing that year.

HT:  Steve Slowinski on DRaysBay

is Rick Adair and his relationship to Texas' young pitchers.  I've been somewhat ambivalent about this, because I don't like the looks of Smoak's splits, and I think Mike Hindman at BBTiA makes a worrisomely strong case that Smoak will end up a platoon player; but he also has this to say about Beavan:

 

Back in the fall of 2008, after his first full season, while prospect-watching Rangers fans everywhere were busy wringing their hands over Beavan -- his troubling loss of velocity, the disappearance of his once-scary slider, the inability to miss bats -- there was one person who was oddly thrilled with what the big Texas native was doing:  Rick Adair.

Adair, of course, was then the Rangers minor league pitching coordinator.  Now, he's Seattle's pitching coach.  Suffice to say, that the Mariners have a very intimate knowledge and understanding of the pitcher they just landed. . . .

Much like John Danks was during his rise through this system, Beavan has always been willing to subordinate his stats to the task of erasing flaws and making adjustments.   In spite of emerging from the draft as Ebby Calvin Nuke LaLoosh -- cocky and arrogant -- he proved to be one of the most coachable pitching prospects this system has seen over the past decade.   Adair loved this about him.  It's the quality that allowed Danks to constantly improve through his minor league career and make the necessary adjustments to make himself a quality major league starter.  And like Danks, Beavan has proven to be an absolute horse, never missing his turn along the way.  Blake Beavan, in all likelihood, will always show up and find a way to get the job done.

 

Since both Vargas and Morrow are in Tacoma and Olson isn't, it seems safe to say that Olson's our fourth starter ahead of both of them (and also RR-S); but while neither Olson nor Vargas are world-beaters by any means, it looks to me like Vargas has been the better starter -- his K/BB numbers are better, and he does a better job of keeping the ball on the ground.  Maybe I'm just too influenced by Matthew's June report card, but this doesn't make great sense to me.

I don't think I've seen anyone this furious over a baseball deal since Bavasi shipped half our farm system off for Bedard; the subhead on his blog now reads, "July 10th, 2009. The day the music died."  Rany writes,

Look, I could count all the stars in the sky and all the fish in the sea, and I still don’t think I will have calmed down. Sorry, mom. I actually finished writing this last night at midnight, but decided to sleep on it and read through it again in the morning. I’m afraid the sleep didn’t do me any good.

Eight years ago this July, the day the Royals traded Jermaine Dye for Neifi Perez, I came on Kevin Kietzman’s show and the first words out of my mouth were, “I have never been more embarrassed to be a Royals fan than I am right now.”

I wouldn’t say I feel as embarrassed at this very moment as I did that day. But in every other way, this moment is perhaps the lowest point I have ever reached as a Royals fan. I have never been more disheartened than I am right now. I have never been more disillusioned as than I am right now. I have never been more angry than I am right now. . . .

The Betancourt trade reaches the level of signature significance in my eyes, but in reverse. It’s just one trade, and if Cortes doesn’t pan out it’s possible that the only thing this trade will cost the Royals is some money and some opportunity. But this trade is so utterly indefensible, and the thought process that led to this trade is so utterly diseased, that I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that this one trade is prima facie evidence that Dayton Moore can not be a successful GM.

The reasons for his reaction, of course, we know; as Mariner fans, we know them all too intimately, in fact . . .  I feel for him, but I have to admit, it's a relief to no longer be on his end of these kinds of deals.

Joe Posnanski posted a great column a few days ago (thanks to Ryan Divish for the link) on the Royals' signing of Willie Bloomquist, and their non-signing (so far, anyway) of Adam Dunn, and the significance of that for understanding Dayton Moore's philosophy of baseball.  Posnanski notes that the two are almost complete opposites as ballplayers, and goes on to say, "I think that, in many ways, Dunn and Bloomquist represent opposing philosophies about baseball. . . . I believe every baseball fan, at his/her core, leans Dunn or Bloomquist."  Now, I think he overstates his case somewhat -- in particular, I think he's wrong to say that those "who believe that on-base percentage and slugging are the most significant things . . . that what matters is what you do and not how you look doing it" also believe "that defense and speed are overrated"; that's not really true at all.  Even with that caveat, however, I have to say that I think he's on to something here, as he often is.  Go read his column and see if you agree.

via the scope, as per ESPN; doesn't sound like reason for concern, but I did think it ought to be noted here.  He'll miss minicamp in consequence, but is still hoping to be in the lineup to start the season.

Personally, if he can stay healthy going forward, with Bane and Rocky starting and Tripplett added to the squad, I think we have a heck of a rotation at DT; barring injury, I'm betting Red Bryant winds up on the practice squad this year to watch and learn.