Jose Lopez in 2010: A Model of Consistency

Jose Lopez, who played his first full season with the Mariners in 2006—a year in which he was selected as an AL All-Star—has never strung together two consistent offensive halves. He’s put up significantly better numbers either before the All-Star break or after the break, but never has he really been a constant and hit consistently throughout a 162 game season.

Here is his OPS from the past few seasons before and after the All-Star break:

2006: .771/.658 ( -113 OPS pts after break)
2007: .737/.519 (-218 OPS pts after break)
2008: .729/.814 (+85 OPS pts after break)
2009: .716/.820 (+104 OPS pts after break)

As these numbers indicate, earlier in his career, Lopez posted better offensive numbers in the first half, before falling off the second half. More recently, he’s started slowly and accumulated better numbers in the second half of the season.

This season, however, Lopez has been the model of consistency:

2010: .610/.611 (+1 OPS pts)

Granted, his OPS is absolutely horrible; but, to his credit, he’s been steady as a clock the entirety of the season. Unfortunately for the Mariners, Lopez is currently performing at almost one hundred points below even his sup-par career average (.700 OPS). After all, the 2010 American League average OPS is .739, so not only is Lopez underperforming based on his own track record; but, he’s also batting well below the AL average.

Yet, even as awful as he’s hit this year, nobody can say that Lopez has not been consistent for the first time in his career.

Mariner Pitchers: Victims of Poor Run Support

The Mariner offense has been historically poor thus far this season, and it is among the league worst in too many important offensive statistics. An inept offense will impact a pitcher. When pitchers—particularly young, developing pitchers—consistently find themselves in positions where there is no margin for error, they tend to try to be too fine. They constantly attempt to pick at the corners of the plate, and fear leaving anything too close to the heart of the strike zone. Pitchers, in turn, will shy away from contact, and find themselves in too many deep counts early in ballgames, rather than attacking opposing hitters with strikes early in counts. As a result their development as pitchers may be stunted.

For this reason, a pitcher’s run support may be a meaningful statistic—more meaningful than just explaining why a starting pitcher with a great earned-run average has a losing record. Run Support is now a tracked statistic, and this season, three Mariners starters have logged enough innings to be ranked as part of the 126 pitchers ranked in this statistic throughout MLB. Run Support, simply put, is the number of runs scored, while the named pitcher is the pitcher of record, averaged out to nine innings.

This season, Yankee starter Phil Hughes has enjoyed the highest run support in the MLB, 10.11 runs per nine innings. Roy Oswalt, who spent the majority of the season with the Astros, before being dealt to the Phillies, has been saddled with the poorest run support in the MLB (126th overall ) with only 3.77 runs per nine innings. The three qualified Mariner starters each rank in the bottom ten in MLB.

117—Doug Fister 4.78 Runs/Gm.
118—Jason Vargas 4.74
125—Felix Hernandez 3.88

Contrast the 2010 season with the 116-win 2001 Mariners, and one quickly realizes the severity of the shortfalls of this year’s offense.

2001
1—Paul Abbott 10.66
9—John Halama 8.89
19—Aaron Sele 8.25
38—Jamie Moyer 7.68
78—Freddy Garcia 6.41

In 2001, the Mariners had two pitchers in the top ten in the MLB and three pitchers that enjoyed at least 8.25 runs per nine innings. The worst-supported Mariner starter, Freddy Garcia, still received almost 6.5 runs per game, over 1.5 runs greater than the best-supported Mariner pitcher this season.

Paul Abbott received the best run support in MLB in 2001.

To this point in the miserable 2010 season, Fister, Vargas, and particularly Felix have all been very professional when answering questions pertaining to the run support they are (or are not) receiving. But, one can’t help but wonder whether the lack of run support will ultimately impact their approach on the mound in the long run. And, with less-established arms like Luke French and David Pauley now starting ballgames, their lack of support will potentially be even a greater concern in the Mariner organization.

How Many Wins Will Felix Need?

Felix Hernandez is currently 8-10, and he is only scheduled to make nine more starts. He is currently on pace for an 11-14 record. As Geoff Baker has demonstrated so well in his Mariner blog (Two great links--original post comparing Felix's overall numbers to league leaders HERE and follow-up post HERE), Felix is among the league leaders in just about every one of the major statistical categories involved in the Cy Young selection process. But, still some voters will undoubtedly place disproportionately high values on the win-loss record of starting pitchers.


So, how many wins does it take to win the Cy Young? A quick survey of all Cy Young winners dating back to 1956 reveals that Felix will likely need more than the 11 for which he is on pace to earn. My survey does not include relievers whose efforts out of the pen yielded both wins and saves—like, for example, in 1974, when Mike Marshall appeared in 106 games, went 15-12, and recorded 21 saves with a 2.42 ERA for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The first column indicates the number of wins that won the Cy Young award. The second number indicates the number of times a Cy Young recipient earned that many wins. (21-7, for example, means 21 wins was enough to win the Cy Young on seven occasions):

31-1
27-4
26-1
25-7
24-12
23-10
22-12
21-7
20-12
19-7 (Maddux won 19 in strike-shortened 1995--144 games)
18-7 (Randy Johnson won 18 games in strike-shortened 1995--144 games)
17-2
16-5 (David Cone & Maddux each won 16 in strike-shortened 1994--114 games)
15-1
13-1 (Fernando Valenzuela won 13 in strike-shortened 1981--110 games)

As you can see, most Cy Young winners in non-strike-shortened seasons win at least 18 games. In recent years, however, Cy Young recipients have been elected with relatively fewer wins. For example, in 2006 Brandon Webb had just 16 wins along with his 3.10 ERA and 178 Ks to win the NL Cy Young for the Diamondbacks; and, just last season, Felix finished as the runner-up to Zack Greinke, who won just 16 games, though he had an outstanding 2.16 ERA and 242 Ks. Finally, last season, Tim Lincecum’s 15 wins for the Giants was enough to earn him the Cy Young in the National League. This is the lowest total ever in a full-season for a starting pitcher.

Evidently, in recent years Cy Young voters have placed less emphasis on wins and losses. Last season, when Tim Lincecum was awarded the Cy Young with only 15 wins, Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals won 19 games. And, Felix, C.C. Sabathia, and Justin Verlander all had three more wins (19) than Greinke in the American League last year.

Certainly, Cy Young voters must take into account that a pitcher’s win-loss record has as much to do with run support as it does with the pitcher’s ERA. It doesn’t matter how much a starting pitcher dominates opposing hitters if his offense cannot score any runs; or, if his offense does score runs, a starter needs his bullpen to maintain his lead in order to collect a victory. For these reasons, a pitcher’s record may not necessarily reflect how well he has pitched. Certainly, this is the case for Felix Hernandez this season.

Felix will probably need to pitch lights out the rest of the way if he is going to have any consideration for the AL Cy Young this season. And, he will need to collect some victories along the way. If he makes nine more starts, he will need to collect at least six or seven wins to even enter the 2010 Cy Young conversation. But, even while I have the utmost confidence that Felix is capable of continuing his great run against opposing AL teams, I have far less confidence in his offense, defense and bullpen—all necessary components to earning those needed victories.

Photo Credit: Mike Tigas - Flickr

Climbing the Ranks: Young Arms Arriving in Tacoma

The Mariners seem to be developing a handful of young arms that may be key players at the MLB level in coming years, either with the Mariners or with another organization—should the Mariners trade any of them away. As the Mariners have added pitchers from Tacoma to the big-league roster this season, like lefties Garrett Olson, Chris Seddon and Luke French, others have been promoted through the minor-league ranks to AAA.

Here are some names to track in the coming weeks, as they may find themselves pitching at the MLB level at some point. Some will arrive in September, after the rosters expand. Others may be a bit further away, and may debut in 2011 and beyond. Of course, as is always the case, some may be injured or regress, never finding their way to the big leagues.

In no particular order, here are some of the arms called up to toe the rubber for the Rainiers:

1. Michael Pineda—the 21 year old Dominican stands 6’5”, and he is a power pitcher. Pineda has, for the most part, been good in his nine starts since being promoted to AAA earlier this season. In 49 innings, he’s accumulated a 3.67 ERA, while giving up 35 hits and striking out 59. He throws strikes (only 13 BB), and as a result his WHIP currently sits below one (0.980). Of his nine starts, six have been Quality Starts. He’s had three games with double-digit strikeouts (11, 10, 11). He’s only had one real rough start, getting knocked around on July 9, when he allowed six runs in 3.1 innings against the Fresno Grizzlies.

2. Josh Lueke—Lueke was acquired from the Texas organization in the Cliff Lee deal. He’s a 25 year old, 6’5” reliever who has also been effective since his promotion to Tacoma at the end of July. He’s appeared in five games (8.2 IP), allowing just one earned run (1.04 ERA). He’s struck out ten and walked only one, while allowing six hits in his short tenure with Tacoma. He’s got a mid-90s fastball, with a slider that kills righties. He could be a key component from the right side in the Mariner bullpen.

3. Blake Beavan—Beaven was also acquired in the Cliff Lee trade. He’s 21 years old, 6’7” and 250 lbs. He’s recently been promoted to AAA, where he’s since made three starts. Two of those starts were really good. But, on August 9th, he got rocked at Omaha, for nine runs in five innings. He bounced back this weekend, though, to go seven innings against the Round Rock Express and allowing just one run. Beaven is a former first-rounder (17th overall), and demonstrates a low-90s fastball. He projects to perhaps someday be a middle or back-end of the rotation starter.

Dan Cortes

4. Dan Cortes—Cortes was acquired mid-season 2009 in the Yuniesky Betancourt trade with the Royals. He’s worked as a starter throughout his professional career, but after struggling through the first half of this season starting ballgames for AA West Tennessee, the Mariners converted Cortes, now 23 years old, to the bullpen. Since the transition to the bullpen, he has really flourished. In ten appearances out of the bullpen, Cortes has worked 14.2 innings and allowed just two runs (1.27 ERA). He made his debut for Tacoma on Saturday, and picked up the loss in extra innings after allowing one run in his two innings of work.

Mauricio Robles

5. Mauricio Robles—Robles was acquired last season from the Detroit Tigers organization as part of the Jarrod Washburn trade. The southpaw is now 21 years old, and while only 5’10”, can reach the upper-90s with his fastball. He complements his heater with an outstanding changeup. He spent most of the 2010 season in AA West Tennessee, where he worked 114 innings, accumulated a 4.11 ERA, and collected two Player of the Week awards for the Diamond Jaxx. He averaged four walks per nine innings this season in AA, which indicates that improving his control could significantly benefit his development as he progresses through the minor-league ranks. On August 15, he made his debut with Tacoma, and through the first four innings his line was very impressive: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K. But, in the fifth inning, he hit a wall (the temperature reached the 90s in Tacoma). He walked three, allowed a single, and then gave up a grand slam in the inning, ultimately totaling five runs before he recorded his third out. Again, Robles’ lack of control came back to bite him in his first start at Tacoma.

The arms that have arrived in Tacoma this summer offer hope for the future. We see starters who have already found some success in AAA. We see relievers who could develop into the organization’s next big closer or set-up man. So, even while the Mariners may be difficult to watch the last couple of months, keep an eye on what’s going on down at Cheney Stadium.

Revisiting the Swap of the Brandons: League for Morrow

During the offseason, Jack Z traded former First-Rounder Brandon Morrow to the Toronto Blue Jays for late-inning reliever Brandon League and minor-league outfielder prospect Johermyn Chavez.

Chavez, 21, spending this season with the A-level High Desert Mavericks in the California League, has posted promising numbers. In 111 games, he’s hit .317, with .384 OBP, and .586 SLG—for an outstanding OPS of .970. He’s also belted 28 homeruns in a league known for offense. But, it will still be a couple seasons before Mariner fans will have the opportunity to see Chavez at the MLB level, if ever. Many things could happen between now and then, including trades, injuries, etc.

Most fans are probably more interested to learn how Brandon Morrow has done this year with the Blue Jays. We remember Morrow as a young player, mismanaged by the Mariner brain trust over the past few seasons. Brimming with talent, Morrow frustrated Mariner fans with his wildness, lack of consistency, and variety of physical ailments that landed him on the disabled list multiple times.

Just last weekend, Morrow, now 26 years old, was one out away from a no-hitter in a game in which he struck out 17 Rays on his way to a complete game shutout. It was one of the most dominant performances this season by any pitcher. But, the rest of Morrow’s season hasn’t been nearly as impressive. But, it has been respectable.

Overall, Morrow is 9-6, and his ERA now sits at 4.45, the lowest it has been at any point this season. He has made 22 starts for the Blue Jays, and 13 of those starts qualify as “quality starts” (at least 6 IP, allowing 3 or fewer ERs). He’s worked more than seven innings in just two games, and he’s walked four hitters or more in six of his starts. Despite the fact that he’s tallied double-digit strikeouts in just that one 17 K performance over the weekend, he leads the American League in strikeouts-per-nine-innings (10.7 K/9 IP). Morrow’s consistency has improved as the season has progressed. One must imagine that the Blue Jays have been pleased with his development as a starter to this point here in 2010.

Brandon Morrow last season.

In return for Morrow, the Mariners acquired Brandon League, now 27 years old, a right-handed, hard-throwing sinker-baller. Last season, in 67 appearances, League accumulated a 4.58 ERA in 74.2 IP, striking out 76. This season has been something of a roller-coaster. His overall numbers are not horrible, though—a 3.10 ERA in 52 games out of the Mariner pen. Of those 52 games, League has allowed earned runs in eleven of them. Of those 11 games in which League has allowed earned runs, he has allowed multiple runs in just four.

If one eliminates those four games in which League has allowed multiple runs, Brandon League would have allowed just seven earned runs in 55.1 innings, for a 0.88 ERA. League, overall, has been the most consistently reliable force in a thin Mariner bullpen, and he’s been forced to carry a large part of the load this year.

Brandon League last season.

Former Mariner manager Don Wakamatsu expressed concern over the high number of appearances League had already made two-thirds of the way through the season, as he is now on pace for career highs in both appearances and innings pitched. But, the Mariners must be at least somewhat assured by the fact that, since the All-Star Break, Brandon League has appeared in eleven games, allowing just one earned run, for a 0.66 post-All Star Break ERA.

Mariner fans will be watching Brandon Morrow the next few seasons to see if he ever reaches the point where he develops any consistency to match his raw potential. Will he become the Cy Young-contending ace Bill Bavasi envisioned when he drafted Morrow fifth overall back in 2006? We’ll see. Will Brandon League continue to impress down the stretch this season? Maybe someday he’ll develop into the closer some project him to be. Ultimately, the determination of the true winner in the exchange of the Brandons will have to wait, not only to see if and when the Brandon’s hit their ceilings, but to also see how young Johermyn Chavez pans out.

Photo Credit: Kevin Dirksen - Flickr; Keith Allison - Flickr

Jason Vargas: Four Key Differences Between this Year and Last.

Some Mariner fans continue to wait for the 2010 Jason Vargas train to derail. Vargas, and his 87 MPH fastball, hardly blow away American League hitters. But, on Sunday Vargas notched his 17th (of 22 starts) Quality Start (going at least 6 innings, and allowing 3 or fewer runs) of 2010, which is good enough for fourth-best in the American League. He continues to show that he can be better than a back-end-of-the-rotation starter.

Most of his numbers demonstrate that, this season, he’s very much the same pitcher he has been his entire career, and certainly his numbers indicate that he’s doing many of the same things he did toeing the rubber for the Mariners last season. He is, however, vastly improved in four key areas. His improvement in these categories may be the reason he’s had so much success this year.

1) Home Run Percentage (2009--4.2%; 2010--2.3%; MLB AVG 2.7%) – Last season, Vargas allowed homeruns in over four percent of plate appearances against him. This season, he’s cut that down to under 2.5 %. Any time a pitcher can cut down the number of homeruns he allows is, obviously, a positive. So, the fact that Vargas has kept the ball in the yard is encouraging. Is he throwing more groundballs this year? No. Vargas, even in 2010, has yet to become a “ground-ball pitcher” (his groundball to flyball ratio is actually down this year to .55. The MLB Average is .79). In fact, he’s the epitome of a flyball pitcher. So, is Vargas just lucky then? Maybe.

2) Percentage of Fly Balls Allowed that Were Homeruns (2009-10%; 2010-5.4%; MLB AVG 7.6%) – Vargas may be getting lucky, or “pitching to his ballpark.” Last year, ten percent of the flyballs Vargas allowed left the yard for homeruns. This season, that percentage sits between five and six percent. Simply put, even though he’s allowing flyballs at a higher clip, hitters have been unable to make solid enough contact to hit the ball into the stands. Presumably, he’s using his offspeed pitches to keep hitters off balance, and he’s staying away from the middle of the plate and the sweet spot of the bat. Keeping the ball in the park has been a key to Vargas’ success this season.

3) First-Pitch Strike Percentage (2009-51%; 2010-63%; MLB AVG 59%) – Last year, Jason Vargas began counts 0-1 roughly half the time. His percentage was well below the MLB average, and Vargas’ failure to work ahead of hitters consistently put hitters into “hitter-counts” where they could then sit back and wait for a fastball over the plate. This year, Vargas’ first-pitch strike percentage is up to 63%, above the MLB average, and it puts him in the drivers’ seat to execute pitch sequences to hitters on his own accord, rather than having to give in and offer hitters fastballs in fastball-counts.

4) Percent of Plate Appearances with a Runner on 3rd Base and Less than Two Outs that the Runner Advances (2009-64%; 2010-35%; MLB AVG 53%) – Last season, hitters against Vargas scored runners from third base with less than two outs almost two-thirds of the time. This season, hitters are advancing those runners only one-third of the time—well below the MLB average. This means that when runners advance to third base with less than two outs, Vargas is bearing down and wiggling out of trouble without those runs scoring. He’s either striking hitters out, rolling up a double play to end an inning, forcing a short pop-fly that cannot score the run, or inducing a ground-ball to a corner infielder (or a comebacker to the mound) almost two-thirds of the time, stranding those runners at third.

Skeptics will argue that Vargas’ success is largely attributable to luck and the fact that, more often than not, he pitches at Safeco Field. This season, his numbers are better at Safeco: 13 Starts, 2.23 ERA, 7 HR, 1.157 WHIP, 2.0 SO/BB ratio. (vs. on the Road: 9 Starts, 4.50 ERA, 6 HR, 1.259 WHIP, 2.77 SO/BB ratio). But, his numbers should be better at Safeco, as it is well-known to be a pitcher’s park. And, not only are his numbers better at Safeco, but they are legitimately great at Safeco. Not every finesse lefty has been able to pitch to his ballpark with the success Vargas has achieved this season. Any team would love to have a member of its rotation pitch so well at home. And, on top of that, his “away” numbers aren’t horrible, either. After all, a 4.50 ERA on the road is nothing to lose sleep over for a mid-rotation pitcher.

Ultimately, it is not always easy to explain, using quantifiable statistics, how a finesse pitcher like Jason Vargas can improve so drastically from one year to the next. With Vargas, though, these four key improvements may be significant difference-makers as to his greater success and consistency this season.

The Most Boring Game in MLB History

I hustled home this evening in order to watch the Mariners on television. When I got home and finally turned on the TV, the game was already in the second inning. I raced to my computer to pull up the lineups, so I could see who had already hit, and how we got to where we were in the game. Then, reviewing the lineup, something hit me.

Tonight’s game may be the most boring collection of lineups in MLB history. The Mariners and Royals are both horrible teams, mired in last place in their respective divisions. The Royals are currently 17 games below .500; the Mariners are 28 under. The likelihood of seeing a well-executed baseball game between these two teams is minimal.

Next, I looked at the starting pitching matchups. Bruce Chen against David Pauley. Not exactly the kind of matchup that ignites an interest in the game. The 33-year old southpaw, Bruce Chen, now pitching for the TENTH team in his twelve year career, carried his near-5.00 ERA (4.74) against David Pauley, who has NEVER WON AN MLB GAME (0-6), in 17 career appearances (9 starts) dating back to 2006 and whose career ERA is 6.71. Not exactly a couple of Cy Young contenders squaring off. But again, any pitcher throwing against the Mariner offense this season has an opportunity to feel like Cy Young for at least one night.

The pitching matchup is only the tip of the iceberg. When you pull up the Mariner lineup, the offensive struggles become glaringly blatant. Only one player in the starting lineup came into today hitting higher than .260 (Ichiro-.311). In fact, seven of the nine hitters in the Mariner starting lineup brought averages below .250 into today’s game.

The Royals lineup, on the other hand, is not too bad. In fact, they have the 2nd highest team batting average in the American League (.278). But still, they don’t bring to town a team of exciting players. Yes, Jason Kendall has had a long, productive career. But, fans don’t buy tickets to watch him. Nor are they driven to the box office to experience Gregor Blanco, Alex Gordon, and Mitch Maier roam the outfield. Wilson Betemit and Kila Ka’aihue, similarly, don’t exude starpower. Billy Butler is a good big league hitter; but, he is probably about the only Royal many fans have ever heard of (excluding the handful of former Mariners currently employed by Kansas City), though he’s hardly a household name.

Yet, despite how dull tonight’s game may be on paper, there were still 24,520 paid attendees at Safeco to watch the Chen v. Pauley showdown. This may be because, as ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian says, “Every day you go to the ballpark, you might see something you've never seen in your life.” Even as boring as this game will undoubtedly be, the slightest chance exists that something amazing or exciting could happen, like a Mariner walk-off. Thus, the beauty of baseball.

Photo Credit: Keith Allison-Flickr

Saluting the Sween-Dog: Mike Sweeney Dealt to the Phillies

Tuesday marked the last day of Mike Sweeney’s rehab assignment in Tacoma. He went out with a bang—hitting two homeruns in a Rainier victory. The Mariners, then, were forced to do something with him: reinstate him back onto the 25-man active roster, designate him outright, or trade him to another ballclub. The Mariners opted for the last option, dealing Sweeney to the Phillies in exchange for cash considerations or a player to be named.

Charlie Manuel said Wednesday that Sweeney will play first base for the Phillies regularly until Ryan Howard comes of the disabled list in a couple weeks. Sweeney was available for the Phillies on Thursday, walking in his only at-bat. Sweeney also goes from a team over twenty games out of a pennant race to a team just two games back of the Braves in the NL East.

Mike Sweeney’s tenure in Seattle began when he won a spot on the roster prior to the 2009 season. He was an integral role player on the ballclub, primarily serving as a back-up DH and pinch hitter. The Mariners, after re-signing Ken Griffey, Jr. this past offseason, appeared to shut Sweeney out of an opportunity to rejoin the Mariners for 2010, despite the fact that he hit well over .300 during the second half of last season—when he was healthy and finally got the opportunity to play regularly.


Out of an apparent sense of obligation or gratitude for what he contributed in 2009’s turnaround, the Mariners offered Sweeney a chance to compete for a roster spot out of Spring Training this season. Nobody thought he would ultimately make the roster; but, Sweeney knocked the cover off the ball in Spring Training, forcing the Mariners to keep him. Unfortunately, his red-hot bat was cooled when Wakamatsu then proceeded to sit him on the bench to languish the first month of the season. In May, in the midst of Sleepgate and other distractions, Wak finally realized Sweeney was the team’s best option at DH. Given the opportunity for semi-regular playing time, he raised his batting numbers significantly. In the three-week span of May 5-May 26, Sweeney’s offensive numbers skyrocketed: May 5--.172/.273/.172; May 26--.309/.377/.603.

But, then, moving into June and with another stint of interleague play in NL ballparks, the Mariners were battling personnel issues, and Sweeney wound up the odd-man out when he experienced minor back spasms that sent him to the DL. He said today that the back spasms that prompted his trip to the DL for the first stint in early June had subsided within a day. He was activated from the DL in mid-June but quickly returned to the DL, after appearing in just a handful of games. His second stint on the DL was also less of a back problem and more of a problem of personnel, as Sweeney acknowledged that he was never really for any extended period of time: “It’s a little unfortunate that I’ve been on the DL this long. I’ve been healthy pretty much since the day they put me on the DL.” He also said, “I was taking batting practice when they put me on the DL.” The Mariners simply could not find a spot on their roster for their right-handed-hitting DH after the acquisitions of Justin Smoak and Russell Branyan.

The Smoak and Branyan acquisitions combined with both Casey Kotchman’s and Milton Bradley’s presence on the team left the Mariners with limited options, and Sweeney, as a result, experienced a prolonged “rehab” stint in Tacoma where, as expected he continued to really swing the bat well. But, when the Mariners were forced to finally make a move, they did, dealing the veteran to the defending National League Champions. Now, Sweeney has an opportunity to play for a team in October, an experience he’s never enjoyed in his fifteen-year career.

But, what makes Sweeney so special is what he can bring to a team—not just on the field, but in the dugout and clubhouse. By all accounts, he is one of the true class-acts in baseball. A great teammate, clubhouse presence, and respected veteran leader. In fact, after being traded Wednesday afternoon, unlike some former Mariners who opted to leave the ballclub so much as a good-bye, Sweeney took the time to drive up to Safeco and personally say good-bye, exchange hugs, and wish all his former teammates luck with the remainder of their season.

This final act of professionalism and class epitomizes the kind of person Mike Sweeney is. He will be a great addition to the veteran Philadelphia clubhouse—a team that already knows how to win. Jack Z said something after the trade that expresses how most Mariner fans feel: “This is a great opportunity for Mike and we are pulling for him to succeed in Philadelphia.”

The Mariners May Trade in August: How it works.

The July 31st trading deadline has come and gone. But, players can still be traded from one organization to another. How is it possible? And, if trades may still happen after the July 31st deadline, what is the difference between trades that occur before or after the July 31 deadline?

Prior to July 3, trades are made freely between teams, seemingly without restriction. After the deadline, however, trades become more complicated, and teams may not be able to choose the other teams with which it would like to partner in a trade.

In August, in order for any player on a team’s 40-man roster to be traded, he must first clear waivers. An MLB organization must place its players on waivers for the requisite 47 business hour waiver period (waiver period begins at 2 PM ET on the given business day and ends at 1 PM ET two days later); and, during that waiver period, any other team may claim the player on waivers.

Vince Coleman was a 1995 August trade acquisition who was integral to the historic Refuse to Lose campaign.

If a player gets claimed by another team while he is on waivers, different outcomes may follow.

First, waivers are revocable. For example, if the Mariners place a player on waivers and he gets claimed by another team, the Mariners can pull him back off waivers without losing him. If a player is taken back off the waiver wire by his team, the organization must wait thirty days before placing that player on waivers another time.

Second, if a player is claimed off waivers, the claiming has 48.5 hours (from 1 PM ET the day the player is claimed to 1:30 PM ET two business days later) to make a deal with the player’s original club, or the player is automatically pulled back off waivers and stays with his original team. The player claimed off waivers can be exchanged for another player(s) from the claiming team; or, the player’s team may just dump the player’s contract on the claiming team without an actual trade taking place (your typical salary dump).

Third, a player may not be claimed off waivers, and once he clears the 47 hour waiver period, he may be traded freely to any interested team.

Teams are allowed to place seven players on waivers per business day. Then, the MLB Commissioner’s office sends a list of players on waivers to the different MLB teams. Each MLB team then has the opportunity to analyze these lists to determine whether the team would benefit from adding a specific player to its roster; or, it may claim a player to block a division rival from claiming that same player.

After the 47 hour waiver period has passed, the MLB Commissioner’s office will alert a team if a member of the team has been claimed. Only the player’s team will know which team placed a claim on the player; and, the team making a claim is only alerted as to whether they were awarded the claim or not.

If multiple teams claim a player, MLB uses a priority system to determine which claimant will be awarded the claim. American League teams are given priority claiming players on other American League rosters, and National League teams are given priority over National League players. So, if a Mariner player on waivers is claimed by both the Reds and the Twins, the Twins would be awarded the claim. If two or more teams from the same league claim a player, the team with the poorest record will be awarded the waiver claim. So, if a Mariner player is claimed by both the Yankees and the Orioles, the Orioles—with their worse record—will be awarded the claim.

So, just because the July 31 trade deadline has come and gone, Jack Z will continue to look for deals to improve his roster. Today, MLB Trade Rumors speculated which Mariner players could be potential trade fodder this month. MLBTR figures that the large contracts of Milton Bradley and Chone Figgins would probably allow them to clear waivers; and, the Mariners would, at the very least consider, consider getting out from underneath three more years of Figgins’ contract if he were to be claimed. MLBTR also figures that Jose Lopez and Russell Branyan may be claimed because their low-risk contracts could be attractive to many teams.

So, after a fairly quiet trade-deadline, trading season may not be over.