Mariners' Top Prospects

Keith Law of Scouts Inc. put together a list of the top 100 MLB prospects for 2008, as well as a listing of the top five prospects by position and top five for each individual organization (ESPN Insider required for the latter two lists). You'll notice Adam Jones is not on the list, because only includes players who are still eligible as rookies. Jones is no longer defined as a rookie, because he has more than 130 at-bats in the major leagues.

Mariners Top Five Prospects
1. Carlos Triunfel, ss
2. Jeff Clement, c
3. Wladimir Balentien, rf
4. Chris Tillman, rhp
5. Juan Ramirez, rhp

Here also are the Mariners prospects who appeared in the top 100 overall.

#18 - Carlos Triunfel: "A minor league hitter who makes a lot of contact and hits for average against pitchers three or four years his senior is marked for stardom, and Triunfel's physical tools bear that out," Law says. He adds, "He also has a laser of an arm."

#44 - Jeff Clement: According to Law, "But his power is big enough that if he can provide Mike Piazza-like defense behind the plate, he will be an everyday catcher in the majors." Law also says, "Behind the plate, Clement is barely adequate as a receiver or a thrower."

#95 - Wladimir Balentien: Law simply says, "Balentien's swing is long and he doesn't take a consistent path to the ball, but he's strong and hasn't had trouble making contact. He plays a solid right field with an above-average arm."

While this is only one scouts take, there are a few things that stand out to me about this list. First off, in 2005 the Mariners had the #3 overall pick after losing 99 games in 2004 and Clement is the player they took with that pick. Now Clement is only considered the 44th best prospect in baseball. Meanwhile, five players taken in the first round of that draft after the M's selected Clement are playing in the major leagues. That includes the two players chosen immediately after the Mariners picked, Ryan Zimmerman and Ryan Braun. Not to mention Troy Tulowitzki taken at #7 by the Rockies.

The other thing that stands out is a little bit more positive. In the supposed deal for Erik Bedard, besides giving up Jones the M's appear to have managed to trade only one of their other top prospects, that being Chris Tillman. While they will be giving up arguably their best young player, the M's will have managed to get one of the best pitchers in the AL without gutting their farm system.

Pit Crew at it again

Seth Kolloen over at Enjoy the Enjoyment pointed out this story from the Oregonian about UO officials apologizing for their students' behavior last weekend in the game against UCLA. The focus of the students ire was UCLA freshman Kevin Love, who is from the state of Oregon. According to Kolloen, the students "shouted derogatory comments about Kevin Love's sexuality, his family, and Brian Wilson's drug abuse (Love's related to the Beach Boys)." In the piece from the Oregonian coach Ernie Kent sounds as if he was surprised by his students' behavior. Maybe Kent should have read this article from the UO STUDENT newspaper that was written prior to the game. Did Kent also miss his teams game against UW last year when fans held up pictures of Ryan Appleby's bloody face on it? I guess Kent also overlooked this piece about the Pit Crew's behavior back in 2002. At least one UO student has taken notice and he's embarrassed just to be associated with such behavior.

The students are part of what make college basketball great and one of the few remaining aspects of the sport that keep it separate from its professional counterpart. Giving the opposing team a tough time has always been a key part of the students' role at events and it always will be. But too often students cross the line with little done to discourage it. The Pit prides itself on being one of the "most creative" student sections around the country. When did questioning someone's sexuality or celebrating an assault become creative? It will be interesting to see Appleby's reception when UW visits Eugene next month. It's hard to imagine that it could get any worse than what Love and his family went through last weekend.

As for the Love situation, maybe the Duck fans should have focused their negativity towards Kent. After all, he's the one who couldn't pull in the biggest recruit in state history and one who's dad was a Duck himself. The elder Love has been openly critical of Kent's recruiting of his son, saying that Kent "shot himself in the foot" during the process.

Wilkerson to Play RF for M's?

A couple of readers have pointed out that it is being reported that once the trade for Erik Bedard goes through, the Mariners have plans to sign Brad Wilkerson to play right field. I wasn't lying when I said that Bill Bavasi has a love for mediocre veterans. As one reader put it, "It's like a broken record." Wilkerson is a career .250 hitter, but does get on base at a decent .354 clip and he did once hit 32 home runs -- back in 2004. Wilkerson has also struck out over 100 times in each season as a regular in the major leagues. Sounds like just the player the M's need.

More on Bedard

I've been really surprised at how many people have been down on this Bedard deal for the M's. The guys over at USS Mariner particularly hate it. I know Adam Jones is a great talent and could very well end up being an All-Star down the road. But the bottom line is when you have the opportunity to get a great pitcher like Bedard you take it. Not only that, but you're getting him in exchange for only one player who projected to be on your Major League roster come opening day. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge believer in building from within, but I think there is also a place for using stock piled prospects to obtain a proven major league talent. The reason the M's haven't produced their own talent over the years isn't because they trade it all away, it's because their talent never pans out into anything. There are obvious exceptions to that, such as Varitek and Lowe for Slocumb and David Ortiz for Dave Hollins, but we have seen far more prospects fail to develop. Only time will tell the result of this deal, but for right now the Mariners are getting a legit top five pitcher in the league and will have one of the best top of the rotation combos in the league. If the M's don't make the playoffs this year it won't be because they traded Adam Jones, but if they do make the playoffs it will be because they traded for Erik Bedard.

Fan Speaks His Mind to Bennett

Great story in the Seattle Times about a fan getting ejected from the Sonics game last night. He yelled at Clay Bennett from right below Bennett's suite and got escorted out by security a few minutes later. You have to give this guy some credit for being willing to speak his mind directly to Clay Bennett. Here is the post the guy wrote on SonicsCentral.com after he got kicked out of the game. If his account is true, with Bennett blowing him a kiss, then Bennett is just asking for it. Nice move by Bennett to try and act like he had nothing to do with the guy being removed. Give me a break. I wouldn't be surprised if this starts a new trend of fans giving Bennett a piece of their mind if he has the guts to show his face at games. Anybody who thinks that the people of Seattle don't care if the Sonics leave are just crazy. Just because attendance is down for one of the worst teams in the league and the citizens of Seattle aren't willing to spend $500 million on a new stadium doesn't mean fans are going to just let the team pick up and move without a fight.

Mariners to Get Bedard

That is what Geoff Baker is reporting for the Seattle Times. Jones got pulled from his Winter League team in Venezuela and he told reporters that he is going to Baltimore to get a physical. Baker says that the trade could be completed in the next 24 hours. Obviously the we don't know the other details of the trade, but at first glance the Mariners are getting one heck of a pitcher. Bedard was arguably the best pitcher in the American League last year before getting hurt in August. Bedard started 28 games and had a 3.17 ERA with a whopping 221 strikeouts in 182 innings. The Mariners will now have to find a new right fielder, as Jones was slotted for that position after the departure of Jose Guillen. It will be interesting to see where Bill Bavasi goes to fill that spot. Not a lot left in free agency, but Bavasi does have a love for mediocre veterans, so don't count on Wladimir Balentien getting a shot.