4.5 at the break…what to do?

by Mike Salk

MARINERS

Well, we’ve reached the All Star break and the Mariners find themselves four games behind the Angels (five in the loss column) and five games out in he wildcard race. What to do? Well, if you’re Jack Zduriencik, the answer seems to be: wait! He has made two deals in the last few days with that in mind. Neither trading Yuiesky Bettancourt nor acquiring Jack Hannahan prevent you from buying or selling by July 31st. So Jack is delaying the decision. Kudos to him.

So, should the M’s look to trade Jarrod Washburn or Erik Bedard? Steve Kelley thinks the M’s should only deal if they’re out of it.

Nice win for the M’s yesterday as they finished off a great series against Texas. New call-up Chris Shelton helps the Mariners win 5-3.

We exerted a lot of energy ripping the Mariners hitters for their lack of patience early in the season. But things seem to be turing around. Geoff Baker points out that the patience of Ken Griffey Jr., Franklin Gutierrez, and Ryan Langerhans is getting to bullpens quicker. That spells success for the Mariners.

As you can probably tell, I love what Zduriencik has done with both the Betancourt trade and the trade that brought in Jack Hannahan. Hannahan is a great temporary fix at third base over Chris Woodward. The guys at USS Mariner weigh in on both trades…they concur. And for a good laugh, check out Keith Law’s take on Bettancourt. Calls him maybe the worst everyday player in the majors. Yikes…

The Roy Halladay price tag is beginning to push teams away, leaving Washburn and Bedard as two pitchers on the trade market that could bring in a lot of talent. I still think Philly will step it up for Halladay.

Brandon Morrow has been sent to Tacoma to work on his secondary pitches, a move that has been a year in the making. Shannon Drayer is spot on in this blog post.

Manager Don Wakamatsu answers to the tough decisions he has faced is the reason why the Mariners are on such a roll.

Ryan Rowland-Smith gave up 2 hits in 7 innings in a Tacoma Rainiers start. This adds to the possible replacements the Mariners have if they want to trade a starter or two.

OTHER

Albert Pujols is really, really good.

Pedro Martinez is close to signing with the Phillies, possibly taking away a Mariners’ trading partner.

Brett Favre threw for the Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator and the results were encouraging.

Notes:
James McOwen’s 45 hitting streak came to an end

Ichiro is leading off and playing right field for the AL all-stars

Tim Lincecum is the starting pitcher for the NL. Yes, we still have a ban on talking about him on our show…