From Mariners Camp

From AJ Moss at ESPN.com

How will the loss of Kenji Johjima impact the Seattle Mariners' staff?

There is a table in there that shows the difference in Seattle's ERA with Johjima catching and Rob Johnson ('05) catching. Very favorable numbers for Johnson.

To the meat of the article:

Was Rob Johnson really that big a difference? Apparently so. In addition to King Felix posting a 15-2 record with the 25-year-old calling the shots behind the plate, Johnson's handling of the entire Seattle staff was nothing short of masterful. His 3.22 "catcher's ERA" was the best in all of the major leagues, but more telling was Seattle's 46-29 record in games started by Johnson, compared with a 28-39 record with Johjima.

Clearly, the comfort level between the staff and Johnson cannot easily be dismissed, but despite the past success, the catcher may not be starting on a regular basis for Seattle in 2010. Johnson had surgery on both of his hips in the offseason, and is only now getting ready to see live game action this spring.

Johnson is confident that his "new hips" will allow him to improve his ability to throw out baserunners -- his 29.3 percent paled in comparison with Johjima's 50 percent of would-be thieves removed from the basepaths -- as well as his production with the bat. Johnson hit just .213 last season, but has told reporters this spring he believes his 2010 batting average will end up somewhere between .265 and .290.

However, there still is a lot of concern that Johnson simply won't be able to handle the rigors of catching four or more times a week, at least not right away. That's where Adam Moore comes in. Moore has been so impressive since being taken in the sixth round of the 2006 draft, that Seattle had no problem trading away "catcher of the future" Jeff Clement, and giving that title to the rookie, who started 2009 at Double-A and ended up playing six September games with Seattle.

Click through to read it all.

Now, if you saw the alumni report to day, you may have noticed that Shawn Kelley got the start in one of the split squad games. Kirby Arnold explains.

The Mariners used Kelley mostly an inning at a time out of the bullpen last year, but this month they’ve increased his workload in order to use him more in middle relief. Manager Don Wakamatsu said the team talked during the offseason about prepping Kelley as a starter — something he did in college — but abandoned that thought.

When the pitching pairings for today came out, though, it rekindled speculation that the Mariners, who are considering multiple options for the end of the rotation, may have turned back to Kelley.

Uh, no.

The Mariners have no plans to convert Kelley into a starter. With Doug Fister still not ready for games after he was hit by a line drive last week, the Mariners decided to use today’s game against the Royals to build up their relievers.

And I can seem to find the image online, but Felix Hernandez ('03) is on the cover of the latest ESPN: The Magazine with Cliff Lee and Ichiro.

The candidate

In this Kitsap Sun article, another ex-Rattler starting pitcher may be up for the job of Seattle Mariner closer.

Mark Lowe suffered through 101 losses with the Seattle Mariners, then began his offseason by watching the Tampa Bay Rays reach the World Series.

"All I could think was, 'That could be us,'" Lowe said.

Then he saw Phillies closer Brad Lidge get the final out of the Series and said to himself, "I hope to God that one day, that's going to be me."

It just might be in 2009.

The Seattle Mariners don't have a closer, having traded J.J. Putz* to the New York Mets early this month, and Lowe badly wants to win that job.

Here are some of the others who may be up for the job...

Brandon Morrow saved 10 games this year when Putz was hurt, but that's before he was converted into a starter who went into the offseason considered to be an important part of the 2009 rotation. Moving him back to the bullpen may solve one problem, but it could create another by weakening the rotation. Morrow has told the Mariners he prefers to start, but will pitch wherever the team needs him.

Miguel Batista, who has lost his place in the Mariners' rotation, has plenty of closing experience with 38 career saves. But he's coming off an injury-filled season when he went 4-14 with a 6.26 ERA and, at age 38 when next season begins, some wonder if the years have caught up with him.

Aaron Heilman, acquired from the Mets in the Putz trade, saved three games last year but went 3-8 and 5.21, his worst numbers since he became a big-league regular.

Then there's Lowe.

...

"I feel I am ready, physically and mentally," he said. "A closer has to be a little bit crazy and I've got that crazy side of me. I like to have a good time, but when it comes time to get the job done at the end of the game, I'm ready to flip that switch on and get going."

Trust me. He's got that crazy side. Lowe got to pick the movies to watch on the bus during a road trip in 2005.

He selected Joy Ride and You Got Served. He never picked movies again.

*-For those who are just joining us, JJ Putz was in the Timber Rattler starting rotation during the 2000 season.

What's a Met?

JJ Putz ('00) is now a New York Met after a three-team, 11-player deal between the Seattle Mariners, the Cleveland Indians and the New York Mets. Also in that mix, Luis Valbuena ('06) is now in the Cleveland minor league system.

USS Mariner and Lookout Landing have reaction to the JJ news. Mariner Minors and Prospect Insider cover the Valbuena angle. Here is part of what Jay at MM has to say about the deal:

we're trading off good parts of our bullpen, a fourth outfielder, and a potential regular at second and getting back stupefyingly awesome outfield defense accompanied by erratic hitting, a former number one prospect who has been unable to develop a quality breaking ball, and a first base prospect that becomes number one on our depth charts by default.

While we are on the Mariner site

Here are a couple of other stories from seattlemariners.com

Rowland-Smith seeking winning ways

Two conclusions can be drawn from the first 10 Major League starts for left-hander Ryan Rowland-Smith.

He'll surrender three or fewer runs over six innings, and neither win or lose the game.

Mr. No-Decision takes the mound for the next-to-last time this season on Monday night, when the Mariners begin their final homestand of the season against the American League West champion Angels.

Rowland-Smith, a southpaw from Australia, has a 4-2 record but has pitched much better than the record indicates. He has been lifted from games seven times with the lead, including the past three outings, and settled for a no-decision each time.

In the only game he left while trailing and the team lost, he departed after giving up one run with his team down, 1-0.

Mariners not focusing on record
GM Pelekoudas more concerned with auditioning youngsters

The Mariners could have kept veterans like Richie Sexson and Jose Vidro around, hoping they would turn things around and avoid a 100-loss season. But they wouldn't know how close -- or how far away -- first baseman Bryan LaHair is to earning a permanent job in the big leagues.

Same goes for catcher Jeff Clement, who recently had season-ending knee surgery, outfielder Wladimir Balentien and, more recently, catcher Rob Johnson and second baseman Luis Valbuena. Decisions to convert relievers Brandon Morrow and Ryan Rowland-Smith to starters also could have impacted the overall win-loss record.

"We are trying to win games," Pelekoudas said. "It's not like were cashing it in and not trying to win. But what's the difference between 99 losses and 100 losses?"

Ex-Rattlers bolded in the second story.

Change at the top

Breaking:

Mariners fire GM Bill Bavasi

Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi has been fired by the club today.

Vice president/associate general manager Lee Pelekoudas will take over as the interim GM effective immediately. He is the eighth GM in team history.

"Change is in order," Howard Lincoln said in a statement released by the team. "We have determined new leadership is needed in the GM position. With a new leader will come a new plan and a new approach. A search will begin immediately for a permanent GM, and Lee will be a candidate for the position."

From Baker's Blog this morning:

Prepare the next sacrifice

Anyhow, back to today's topic. Looks like firing the hitting coach wasn't enough, huh? In six games under the teachings of Lee Elia, the M's have scored a whopping 16 runs. Less than three per game. But wait, it gets better. Take away Friday's affair, when they put up six runs, mostly after trailing 7-1, and Seattle has scored 10 runs over the other five games. Yup, two per contest. Yikes.

As we wrote last week, the Pentland firing was just the first of other sacrifices to come that this awful team will have to spread out carefully in order to actually have enough bodies left to finish the season with. Imagine if a mass purge had occurred last week. Who would be left to toss overboard now? The M's likely assumed they would win at least two of three against the Nats. They were wrong and now, they have to ready the next offering to irate fans.

Does this have to happen today? No, it does not. The team can probably afford to wait until Thursday, the next off-day after the upcoming Florida Marlins series. Why is that? Two words (well, four actually): Felix Hernandez and Carlos Silva.

It happened today, as Geoff notes in his very next post:

Now, what does this mean for the future? I'd say we're more likely to see an overall house-cleaning of this team over the next few months than simply a "two or three bats" addition. Bavasi was the one who brought in pitcher Erik Bedard with an eye towards contending in 2008 or 2009. Had the team's ownership and management ranks believed that contending in 2009 was possible, it might have held on to Bavasi one more year. The only other way there is no housecleaning is if someone who specializes in putting a team over the top, like a Pat Gillick, were to come on instead. Remember, Gillick is now in what could be his final season with the Philadelphia Phillies.

But the more likely scenario is, you bring in a new GM who gets his own 3-to-5-year plan to make things work. After all, Lincoln describes "a new plan and a new approach" that would seem to negate the current plan. Those of you who wanted to blow the whole thing up will likely get their wish.

The press conference is at 4:00pm CDT. I'll be on the road, but will check in later. In the meantime, check out the Times. For fan reaction, head over to USS Mariner and Lookout Landing.