As the All Star Break Approches

The half way point of the season is upon us once again. As I type, the Mariners are playing the last game before the 3 day break. Seattle is represented by only one lone player this year, Ichiro Suzuki. Of course he is deserving and I can't blame the fans for notvoting any Mariners in on the merits of the team itself. Ichiro was added as a reserve by the American League All-Star staff lead by Terry Francona of the World Champion Boston Red Sox. This is the third year that the all star game will determine home field advantage for the world series. I really like that M.L. Baseball imposed this rule, it makes the players feel like they have something more to play for than just playing for bragging rights, which who cares what league wins anyway without something good coming from it but a bunch of trash talk. Oh well, one girl, one opinion.
The Mariners are playing the Angels this weekend and have been playing great! We have beat them 3 of 4 so far and lead them in this game 7-3. We are 13.5 games back in the division, and unless the mariners front office does something major soon, i think that we will be trying to build for next season. Boone has already been designated for assignment, and so far no team has made a creditable offer for him. Sounds like we may end up releasing him outright and eating the remainder of his salary, which i believe is over 4.5 million. He would become a free agent if that happens, after a two day waiver period. Any team then could make a contract offer to him after that happens.

The M's are so fun to watch lately. It looks like they are really gelling as teammates and having fun! There are a bunch of new kids on the team, which i think is good for the mentality of the guys. Like they can all relate to one anothers struggles. But there is also the nice blend of veterans in the mix to help the young men out if they want to take the advice. Jeramy Reed is so much fun to watch out in centerfield. He plays hard and sacrafices his body to make these unbelievable catches. Ichiro is just so fast and makes the game look simple. Morse at short is fitting in nicely, his bat has been hot ever since he got his first major league hit weeks ago. Pat Borders has pulled the veteran pitchers back together since Wilson went down for surgery. Beltre has been smokin the past 3 or 4 weeks with the hitting and his defense is amazing. It's so nice to have a good defensive club on the field. Richie Sexson has a homerun today and has also been heating up at the plate. Jose Lopez and Willie Bloomquist have been doing just fine filling the vacant spot at second base. And who could leave out Raul Ibanez? Having him on my fantasy team, I look at how he is batting runners in and being a very solid replacement for the nearly irreplacable Edgar Martinez in the Designated Hitter role. Randy Winn in left field has also been steady at the dish and his defense could be a little to be desired some days, but overall he has speed out there to catch the balls that can roll in that tricky left corner at Safeco sometimes. I don't know a whole lot about a lot of things, but I do know that I like watching these guys play baseball. I like what I see in the future if they keep a good core of guys together. We are short a few solid starters and experience, but hopfully those things can be fixed and filled in the days to come. You just have to keep faith and go out and play hard everyday. What can I say? I'm a Mariner Geek!