Doug Fister, I just became a fan :)

I had a long car ride home from the Puyallup area and I had enough time to listen to 950 KJR. I was listening to Ian Furness's show (the 1-3pm) show and he had several Mariners on. Right before I was getting home he had Doug Fister on. Fister talked a lot about how he is learning and how positive this ball club is. He also talked very highly of Cliff Lee and Ken Griffey. I am not sure if this kid is a politician or not but he seems like a right fit (personality wise) for this Club :)


Link 

Fan Graphs Mariners Drafts 2006-09

I found this article very interesting. First thing thou,

the organization scored a major victory with the best pure hitter in the draft in Ackley. He should move quickly in the system and could even be in the Majors by the end of the season, depending on the club’s needs. The outfielder had a nice debut in the Arizona Fall League where he hit .315/.412/.425. If we’re looking for negatives, he did strike out 19 times in 20 games. With just one homer, he also showed why his bat profiles better in center field than first base.

Ackley is projected to be a 2nd Baseman, not a First Baseman or Center Fielder. He was first baseman in his Junior Year because he was recovering from Tommy John Surgery. I don't think that he will have the power to be a 1st Baseman. If he has the rang then I see him displacing Jose Lopez at 2nd Base.

I also found that the 2006 draft was the 2nd best draft since 2001, the biggest problem thou is that we traded all the arms away. Morrow went to Toronto, Tillman is in Baltimore along with Butler. Basically the Bill Bavasi Mariners will rapped  in the 2008 trade of Eric Bedard. With the Morrow trade thou, we got Brandon League who should project to do better the next couple of seasons. Morrow has more upside but he also is a more risky player...

Mariners sign Tom Wilhelmsen to a Minor League Contract

The Mariners have signed 27 year old Tom Milhelmsen to a minor league contract. Milhelmsen has been out of baseball since 2005. He made a brief comeback last season with the Independent Golden League Tucson Toros. Milhelmsen used to be concidered one of the Brewers top Pitching Prospects in 2003. He has had drug abuse problems in the past and will probably start in Class A and stay in Extended Spring Training.

Tom Milhelmsen is from Arizona and was drafted in the 7th Round of the 2002 MLB Amateur Draft.

Bentacourt to the Royals? Its TRUE!

Update: 2:19 It is official! Betancourt is a Royal!

Update: It is now on the Seattle Times Webpage

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/marinersblog/2009449185_yuniesky_betancourt_traded_to.html

It Appears it is true. Betancourt the master of mental lapses is on his way to the Royals. The Royals who allready have there team of Ex- Mariners Gil Meche, Willie Bloomquist, Jose Guillen and Miguel Olivo will now have BEntacourt who came up in 2005 for the Mariners seemed to have so much promise and hit .289 in both 2006 and 2007. Many thought his eye would develop as he got older. The thing is Betancourt is from Cuba so who knows what his real age is.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/07/royals-acquire-yuniesky-betancourt.html

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/betanyu01.shtml

SEASON	TEAM	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2005	Sea	60	211	24	54	11	5	1	15	11	24	1	3	.256	.296	.370	.666
2006	Sea	157	558	68	161	28	6	8	47	17	54	11	8	.289	.310	.403	.713
2007	Sea	155	536	72	155	38	2	9	67	15	48	5	4	.289	.308	.418	.726
2008	Sea	153	559	66	156	36	3	7	51	17	42	4	4	.279	.300	.392	.692
2009	Sea	63	224	15	56	10	1	2	22	10	18	3	1	.250	.278	.330	.608
Total	--	588	2088	245	582	123	17	27	202	70	186	24	20	.279	.302	.393	.695