Wait, the Mariners are good again? When did THAT happen?

I was going to write a blog post about the Cardinals and Cubs need for a new third baseman during the stretch run. So I was poking around teams that were out of contention trying to find a good third baseman for these two teams to fight over.

I thought Adrian Beltre! He’s talented if inconsistent. Put him in a LaRussa team to hit behind Pujols and the Cardinals could go on a roll!

Put him in Wrigley and they might have another legit power threat.

And all of this is under the assumption that the Mariners would be sellers.

The Mariners are 2 ½ games out of first place.

Did you know that? I didn’t!

And the Rangers are wilting in the heat and the Angels are right on their heels but still not the same solid 100 win team they were last year.

When the hell did this happen? Was I so focused on the Red Sox and Yankees, and fascinated by the Phillies and Mets inability to win, and the Marlins ups and downs and the Pirates having ANOTHER losing season, and the A’s making my predictions look like mud and the Giants making my dad look happy and the Dodgers somehow getting better WITHOUT Manny and the Nats being historically terrible except during the Yankee series… that I missed the Mariners surge?

The Mariners can taste first place and they have Ken Griffey Jr AND Ichiro Suzuki on the same team!

I may have missed the evolution of this, but consider the staff at Sully Baseball gazing towards the Northwest. Something truly cool can be transpiring this year… and hopefully it ISN’T another Angels division title.
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Who cares if a 16 year old is drafted?

Bryce Harper graced the cover of Sports Illustrated as the next big thing in baseball. You know… like Jon Peters!

While Sports Illustrated’s psychic abilities might be lacking, the interest in Harper is sky high and now he is thinking of dropping out of high school and to make himself eligible for the draft.

And a lot of people have been wringing their hands over it.

Ooo… he’s leaving high school to play baseball.
Ooo… the life experiences he’s losing are just terrible.
Ooo… he’s going to miss the prom! That’s horrible!
Ooo… he should be spending the next two years not paying attention in class.

Articles were written about it.
People waxing about how he’ll miss the joys of being a normal teenager.

(‘Duk from Big League Stew as usual has a level headed analysis of the Harper situation.)

Yeah, that’s everyone’s memory of high school. Or maybe its zits, social awkwardness, intense sexual confusion and that terrifying and unlikely moment where you actually DID get a girl to fool around with struggling with the bra to the point where you start wondering if you should get some scissors. (OK, maybe that was just me.)

Like this kid is going to have a normal high school experience. He’s on the cover of S.I. for crying out loud!

Start playing baseball and get your game working.

I remember people thinking Kevin Garnett skipping college was going to be equivalent of the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse. That turned out OK.

But then I read something interesting this weekend in the New York Post.

The Yankees just signed Gary Sanchez, a 16 year old catcher, to a $2.5 million contract.

I don’t see a lot of articles wondering how bad it is for him.
I don’t see people debating that signing.

But he’s from the Domincan Republic and not from the suburbs of Las Vegas.

Hmm… wouldn’t staying in school be MORE critical for a kid coming to a new country and a new culture?

It’s OK for one 16 year old and not the other?

BS.

If they are ready they are ready… and they are better off getting a 2 year head start on learning how to play professional ball.

I’d gladly trade in my prom experience for the millions of guaranteed dollars. (No offense, Melissa Reeve, my senior prom date.)

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A great Father’s Day gift from the San Francisco Giants

Hey Dad…

When you wake up tomorrow, it will be late June.

And when you are reading this post, the San Francisco Giants will be in first place in the NL Wild Card.

And the magic number for the Giants to clinch a post season berth will be 94.

It’s going to be a fun summer!

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