So if you're Jack Zduriencik and the M's are in second place, three games out on July 25th what do you do?  If Bedard pitches about as well as he has his last four starts, he will be a prized commodity at the trade deadline. Who knows what kinds of offers Jack might get? He could flip Bedard for an outfield prospect to fill the hole in left field. He could get the "catcher of the future," perhaps. On the other hand: playoffs! The value to this franchise right now of a playoff run or even a good pennant race going into next season could be huge for attendance, and therefore, payroll flexibility.

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The two major MLB video game franchises have just been released this week. Perennial ratings leader "MLB 11 The Show" for PS3 is sitting at 92.7% on Gamerankings while "MLB 2k11" has yet to receive enough reviews, but Strategy Informer gave it a 9.2.

I picked up MLB 2k11 yesterday and can report that My Player Djustin Smoakley is working his way to the majors at good pace.

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I was looking at a rundown of the players we might pick up in the Rule 5 draft and it made me think, "Does anyone ever get value in the Rule 5 draft?" 

Ok, so it turns out, yeah, they do.  Wikipedia lists all the players taken in the Rule 5 draft and at the top of the list is Roberto Holyfriggin Clemente.  Of course that was the oooold Rule 5 draft which involved everyone's first year draftees and which changed in 1965 with the creation of the current system. 

But there are names in the list of players taken in the modern Rule 5 draft that are also impressive, such as Josh Hamilton.  Check it out: here.

So maybe paying attention to the Rule 5 draft isn't automatically a waste of my time, after all.

I was at the Edgar Martinez event at Elysian Fields tonight and had a great time.  Thanks a million to Edgar and the Mariners' organization for making this happen.  Go right now and support his foundation at http://www.themartinezfoundation.org/ 

As I was sitting there drinking a beer and watching Edgar meet with anyone who wanted to talk to him or get their picture with him...it occurred to me that not only is Edgar a great human being, he would probably be a better DH than any the M's have had since he left.  I was thinking of going over and begging him to return, but I didn't have the numbers to back me up.

I wish I had done it.

Only in 2007 did M's DH's do better than Edgar's worst season (his last) of at least 200 PA -- and then only by 21 points of OPS.  In only two seasons since have M's DH's posted a better AVG.  In only one season did they best his SLG.  In three seasons they bettered Edgar's OBP, but in only two did they top his OPS.

Of course Edgar wouldn't necessarily have continued to perform the same way after 2004. (Or would he??)  But given the results and how much I love Gar, I would rather have seen him out there than the guys we've had.

Below is a chart of Edgar's last season and the Mariners' DH's numbers in each successive season.  Numbers that are better than Edgar's in seasons after he left are in bold.

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This is how Outlook translated the Opening Day voicemail RRS left at my office:

Hi it's Rhonda Smith I'm calling all day configure how it was a thank you for your support this is and I am looking forward to getting back to Seattle and am in mount tomorrow after the Hahn up about it so it's good to you guys want 103 campus maybe start 3:00.

Will be shortly get the ball clock fairly just a couple of fun about that.

Thanks again for being such as for problem and by full time start to save it so I can fill this is and thanks a lot.

Thank YOU, Rhonda.  I'm always happy when you are in mount.

According to Bill Ladson at MLB.com the Nats have agreed to sign Adam Kennedy.  Fangraphs has CHONE and fan projections suggesting he'll be worth about one run above replacement, and about 3.5-4.5 million dollars.  Even at that modest rate of production he would still about 3 or 4 wins better than the Nats' second basemen last year (assuming he plays every game).  He'd be something like one or two wins worse than Orlando Hudson.  But he should be a lot cheaper and is still an upgrade.

Another move to be quietly contented with from Mike Rizzo.

Oh, and BTW...Mike Morse is not very good at baseball.

As a Mariners fan I have to thank the Nationals for sending Langerhans our way.  A plus defender with an average lefty bat is just what the doctor ordered after Endy Chavez took the Betancourt Express to Season-Ending-Injury-Town. As someone who'd like to see the Nats do well I'd love to say this trade will help both teams. 

Unfortunately, the player the Nats got in return is, basically, useless.  Morse has hit for a pretty decent average, but it's also pretty empty (.097 ISO).  The more he plays in the field, the more you will want to punch him in the face.  I'm still shaking from the time I so hated watching him play right field, that I unconsciously willed him to injure himself while diving for a ball.  The guilt may never leave me.

So I hope there was some other reason the Nats were compelled to deal Langerhans, because even they won't find a place where Morse can contribute value, I'm afraid. 

The Nationals SB blog is having a discussion in this fanpost about trading Nick Johnson.  Who knows if Rizzo's reading Federal Baseball...but it can't hurt our chances of landing NJ to make our case for a deal, can it?  With first base turning out to be the Mariners' version of Spinal Tap Drummer or Seahawks Wide Receiver this year...and Griffey doing a pretty good Vidro impression so far...it seems pretty likely that adding Johnson will help the team one way or another.

Is it possible for a pitcher's ERA to be less reflective of his ability than Washburn's is after today's game?  I didn't see the game, but I counted at least four plays by outfielders which caused Dave's voice to reach the Pitch+Decibel Threshold equaling "Truly Awesome Play."  With an average defense behind him Mr. Chipmunk goes about six innings and gives up four runs or so (i.e. vintage Washburn) and his ERA is ~6.00.

Could Jakubauskas seriously be much worse?

Franklin the ERA Fairy says: 

Erik Bedard has been cleared to pitch!

I know lots of people think he was a whiney slacker, but we're stuck with him and he did, after all, have a cyst in his pitching shoulder!  It's not like he didn't have good reason for his low Innings-Pitched last season.

M's can hope to get a half-season out of the guy and maybe flip him for some prospects at the deadline.

MLB has been a real mixed bag for those of us who want to access its content through our "thinkin' irons."  With goofy blackout restrictions meaning you usually can't watch your team I've stayed away from any of their online packages.

So now the playoffs are here and I find their options baffling.  The "MLB.tv with Gameday Audio" package is really a live audio package with post-game archived videos.  Bogus. 

Then there's TBS' HotCorner ("hoootcoooorner").  WTF is this thing?  How do I get it?  Do I have to pay for it?  This promotional article on MLB.com leaves something to be desired as advertising in that it really doesn't tell me how to pay for and acquire the product. 

I guess I'm just dim so I'll just go here at noon when the Phils-Pilots Brewers game begins and see what happens.  Anyone else know how to watch the playoffs over the tubes?