Baseball Notes

To quote the brilliant Jay-Z, "Sure I do, I tell you the difference between me and them/They tryin to get they ones, I'm tryin to get them M's".

See, Jay-Z loves the Mariners. And if he loves the M's, he must love their prospects.

Here is the latest update on the top 10 prospects:

1. Carlos Triunfel, SS (A) - .282, 0 HR, 11 RBI (.473 last five games)
2. Adam Jones, OF (AAA) - .306, 4 HR, 19 RBI, 20 R (.317, 3 HR, 10 RBI last 10 games)
3. Jeff Clement, C (AAA) - .223, 4 HR, 19 RBI (.297, 2 HR in last 10 games)
4. Ryan Feierabend, LHP (AAA) – 1-2, 3.38 ERA, 37 1/3 IP, 29 K (no more than 3 ER in any start)
5. Tony Butler, LHP (A) – 0-2, 3.79 ERA, 19 IP, 21 K
6. Alex Liddi, 3B (A) - .222, 2 HR, 11 RBI (.322 in last 10 games)
7. Chris Tillman, RHP (A) – 1-2, 4.76 ERA, 22 2/3 IP, 27 K (only gone 1 IP in last two starts)
8. Matt Tuiasosopo, 3B (AA) - .341, 1 HR, 14 RBI, 27 R
9. Greg Halman, OF (A) - .209, 2 HR, 12 RBI
10. Wladimir Balentien OF (AAA) - .317, 9 HR, 28 RBI, 23 R (.171 in last 10 games)

• After my praise of Balentein to the point that I was ready for him to replace Guillen, both have changed course. Wlad is hitting only .226 in May while Guillen has become one of the best players for the M's. He is hitting .286 with 4 homers and 16 RBI. Guillen leads the team in OBP and is second in OPS.
• How about the Giants farm system? On the old website I used to rank four teams with their top prospects (A's for Dave, Giants for Joe, Red Sox for Justin). While Travis Buck is raking for the A's and Dustin Pedroia is starting at 2B for the Sox, the Giants win the prize. Outfielder Fred Lewis hit for the cycle yesterday and OF Dan Ortmeier and IF Kevin Frandsen are also playing. Not to mention Tim Lincecum.
• Did you know Barry Bonds would be the NL MVP right now? He might even be more absurb than A-Rod.

Rodriguez .329, 15 HR, 39 RBI, 35 R, 9 2B, 14 BB, 31 K, .407 OBP, .714 SLG, 1.122 OPS in 140 AB

Bonds .307, 11 HR, 23 RBI, 25 R, 37 BB, 14 K, .512 OBP, .727 SLG, 1.239 OPS in 88 AB

88 ABs! Look at the walks versus strikeouts with only four less homers. Sign me up for those roids.

• The Brewers are awesome thus far thanks in large part to the duo of J.J. Hardy and Prince Fielder. You had to think Prince would be a slugger due to the pedigree, but Hardy? I didn't think he could have 11 homers and 34 RBI at this point. Couple that with Fielder's 11 home runs and 31 RBI. Wow.
• Jake Peavy? Nasty. 5-1, 1.52 ERA, 17 BB, 66 K in 53 1/3 innings. Batters are slapping the ball around for a .173 average against him. And he is getting better. Over his last four starts in 28 innings, Peavy has allowed only 12 hits and four runs with striking out 46. Disgusting.
• Francisco Cordero apparently is good as well. Really good. In 18 games Cordero has thrown 16 2/3 innings and allowed only four hits and one run. Hitters own a .077 average against him and his WHIP is 0.66 with 15 saves. He projects out to 64 saves (breaking Bobby Thigpen's record of 57). The projection does not indicate that his arm will fall off, but I am pretty sure that is a safe bet.
• Jose Valverde, Takashi Saito, and Salomon Torres. Those are the next three save leaders in the N.L. after Cordero. Huh?
• I love Jose Reyes. I wish he was a Mariner. And if Bonds isn't MVP, then Reyes wins. Fifth in hitting at .340, while leading the league in triples (7), stolen bases (21), and runs scored (33). He also has 23 RBI (good for 17th).
• Speaking of people I love....Ken Griffey Jr. Hitting .336 (5th) with 7 homers and 23 RBI. Awesome.
• The Mariners are 12th in ERA in the American League at 4.91. Take out Jeff Weaver and they vault to 6th at 4.13. I hate you Jeff Weaver.
• They stand 7th in the A.L. in batting average at .264 but apparently dominate at night. The M's are first in the league in night batting average at .290, but last in day average at .220. The freaks come out at night!
• Last in walks (77, not even close), but also last in strikeouts which gives them an OBP of .316 (11th in the league). But they seem to hit when it matters. The M's are 5th in batting with runners in scoring position (.262), 6th with two outs and runners in scoring position (.266), and 1st when close and late (.301).
• Wonder how the A's win with all the injuries and subpar hitting? Dan Haren, Chad Guadin, and Joe Blanton all in the top 16 in ERA. And they hit .296 (best in the A.L.) with runners in scoring position and two outs.
• The A's success seems to be in no part due to the legendary Chris Snelling. He came down with a bruised left knee and is out day-to-day. As Mariners fans know, that means done for the year soon enough. Snelling suffered a broken hand in 2000, a broken ankle in 2001, ACL surgeries in 2002 and 2005, a broken wrist, and a broken thumb. Oh and five additional surgeries on the left knee for seven total. The same knee that is hurting him now.
• But with Snelling down, Jack Cust gets to play! The newest addition to my second place fantasy baseball team, Cust es en fuego. Hitting .346 with six homers and 14 RBI in only seven games! Ridiculous. Although not entirely surprising as he hit 30 homers for the Beavers last year and 19 with 75 RBI the year before for Sacramento. His 191 minor league home runs get him compared to Crash Davis of "Bull Durham". Not even close. Hector Espino gets that title as he leads all career minor leaguers with 484 homers.