Saturday, April 21, 2012

Miguel Olivo Shittiness Tracker Entry #1

Mariner's catchers have a long proud/disgraceful tradition of complete and total ineptitude on offense. This tradition includes such offensively lifeless Mariners as Rob Johnson, Ben Davis and Dave Valle. Current starting catcher Miguel Olivo is continuing the tradition. He currently has  wRC+ of -15. You read that right he has a negative fifteen wRC+. I didn't even know wRC+ went into the negatives. That means he is 115% worse than the league average offensive player. Additionally, Olivo has also continued the tradition started by Rob Johnson of not being able to catch any pitched not thrown directly into his glove.

As you can imagine this complete terribleness exhibited by Miguel Olivo has drawn the ire of large part of the Mariner's internet fan base, myself included (USS Mariner and Lookout Landing). To celebrate/criticize Olivo complete and total failure at offense I have decided to start the Miguel Olivo Shittiness Tracker (MOST). On this tracker I will keep track of the most annoyingly bad things Olivo does to help the Mariners loose. I plan on keep the MOST up to date until Olivo is cut, traded or the season ends. This will give us a place to rant and rage about his failures and maybe find some catharsis. So, for the first entry...

... On 4/19/12 (I wrote this up on friday but forgot to click post, oops) in the 2nd inning against the Indians the Mariners started to threaten with runner on 1st and 3rd Miguel Olivo came to the plate. In a great opportunity for the Mariners to score some runs Olivo grounded into a double play and killed the Mariners rally before it could even get going. The Mariners ended up losing the game 2-1 and could have really used a run in that situation. Total suckiness by Miguel Olivo.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

A Note on Peyton Manning, the Cardinals, and the Rams

I honestly didn't want Peyton Manning in the division even if he were to be a Seahawk - Superbowl or not. Although the 49ers have deservedly garnered more national attention, I don't want the spotlight on the division just because a future hall of fame QB got casted-off his team and wandered this way. Suffice to say, it couldn't have worked out better for him to end up with the Broncos. Anyways, it was disappointing to see that the rest of the NFC West didn't appear to even remotely share the same feeling. Mike Sando's facebook wall nearly imploded with the weepings of 49ers and Cardinals fans at the news. In the heat of the moment I wrote a post on his wall which ended up getting a lot of likes and makes me think there are others who agreed. I thought I'd share:
Mike, you lamented:

"I was looking forward to the possibility of having him in the division, however, whether with Arizona or San Francisco."


I think that’s an unfortunate sentiment. I, for one, am happy Peyton steered clear of this division. The NFC West overall is finally becoming legitimately good on our own accord by building through the draft and signing undervalued players in the market. Adding Peyton to mix would have just created a caricature that the NFC West can only be of championship caliber by landing elite players from other teams. Even if Peyton did land at AZ or SF and that team went on to win the Super Bowl next season, do you think the rest of the league would be quick to credit the top quality defense and the various talented players that have come out of the draft? No. It would be because a Hall of Famer on his way towards the exit decided to make a stop here and grace the team with his presence, or as Steve Young says:


"He can really make a big huge difference for this team. It’s not just the one incremental step to the Super Bowl. If he can take this team to the Super Bowl, it really says ‘I did it.’"


Something special is happening in this division and we don’t need Peyton Manning to rob us of that.
Admittedly, I was being disingenuous. By saying the "NFC West overall is finally becoming legitimately good" I was really just referring to the 49ers and the Seahawks.

Yes, the Cardinals finished with a better record at 8-8 but quite a few of their games we're won in a most unimpressive Tim Tebow-esque fashion of 4th quarter comebacks. Kevin Kolb is fatally flawed and I don't expect a full off-season to result in significant improvement. Their defense didn't finish in the top 10 last season like the 49ers and Seahawks. The stars on their defense such as Darnell Dockett and Adrian Wilson are becoming old and will be difficult to replace. Even Larry Fitzgerald will be 29 once the season starts and he's being wasted in his peak with Kolb under center. Although they've got great young talent in guys like Patrick Peterson and Daryl Washington, the age of their overall roster suggests they're in a "win big or go home" mode.

The Rams are, well, they're the Rams. I know they entered re-build mode with Jeff Fischer as head coach and Les Snead as GM, but the burden of proof will still be on them to show that they can finally start drafting well overall. You know things are bad when your top priority is to keep your QB drafted 1st overall from further regressing. If the Rams can't pull it together with the ridiculous King's ransom (three 1st rounds and a 2nd) they got for the 2nd overall pick (you moron, Dan Snyder) under new leadership then I might they might not be in St. Louis for much longer.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

2012 Seahawks Off-Season: Free Agency


"I can haz contract?"


In:

Marshawn Lynch (RB) – You don’t need me to tell you this was easily the most important re-signing of the off-season. Lynch didn’t just showcase his talent by becoming the top rusher last season after week 6, he helped to vindicate Pete Carroll’s strategy of reviving the run game.  His punishing style of running gives the offense a gritty smash mouth identity. I really think this signing was a best-case scenario too as the front office didn’t overpay or have to resort to an expensive franchise tag. A $31 million 4-year contract describes Lynch exactly for what he is: an above-average unique RB that isn’t elite. This signing will be even better if the FO can maximize his NFL life expectancy by acquiring another similar power-RB that can take some carries and absorb hits.

Matt Flynn (QB) – I said Lynch was easily the most important re-signing.  Not the best overall signing. The cheap acquisition of Matt Flynn makes that case hotly contested. Going into the off-season I was really expecting some impulsive front office to break the bank on Flynn and pull a Kevin Kolb II. As it turns out the rest of the NFL was paying attention to what the Cardinals did last season and realized it’s not a good idea to gamble big money on quarterbacks who only started a few games in highly developed offenses. For perspective on how bad of a signing that was, even T-Jack had a higher career passer-rating than Kolb when the Cardinals traded for him. Flynn, on the other hand, has a cumulative 92.8 passer rating and signed a contract 2.5 times cheaper (and that doesn’t factor in the 2nd round pick and Pro Bowl CB the Cards threw in too). Say what you want about the talent on Green Bay’s offense that accommodated him, but throwing 6TDs and 480 yards against the Lion’s defense passes some kind of reasonable litmus test. An NFL debut of 3TDs-1int 254 yards to keep pace against Tom Brady isn’t chump change. It’s a small sample size – but its one hell of a sample size! He simply doesn’t have the physical tools to develop into an elite quarterback but his high football IQ gives him a good shot to become a superior point-guard type QB that Pete Carroll values. Although it’s unlikely Flynn will become our quarterback of the future, if he plays half as well as he’s expected to in this offense then he’ll still be a good upgrade over T-Jack at a relatively small cost.

Red Bryant (DE) – Big Red was arguably the second most important player to re-sign after Lynch. He’s an integral part in containing the run (perhaps even in defending the pass as he had a pick six last season!), huge player on special teams with blocked field goals, and maintains a significant leadership role on the defense. That being said, I was a bit nervous when I read his contract entailed a staggering 5-year 35 million deal. Bryant now makes much more than Mebane (who last year signed a contract worth $25 million) despite not playing a position as critically important as nose tackle. Yes, Bryant is valuable and his contract reflects this year’s bull market for DEs, but he hardly even plays a majority of defensive snaps as PC switches him out with a pass-rushing DE on passing downs.  On the other hand, the good news is that he’s only guaranteed $14.5 million and much of his contract pertains to future seasons where he can be cut should his value decline. I’m happy to have him back and it was ultimately a good re-signing but not at a bargain deal for the franchise.

Jason Jones (DT) – After adding Flynn, Jones is the best free agent acquisition from another team. He should provide additional pass-rush from the interior of the line and I expect him to be a solid upgrade over Anthony Hargrove (who himself had a good 2011 season). He was highly sought-after by other teams yet signed a reasonable 1-year deal worth $5 million. Jones is only 25 years old right now too and very compatible with the young talented defense PC wants to field. If he has a good upcoming season then this gives the front office an inside opportunity to re-sign him for the long-term.