http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/520 Recent articles about Horacio Ramirez en-us Seattle finally releases Horacio Ramirez. About damn time. Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:04:13 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/193803 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/193803 Could the Seattle Mariners go with a 6-man bullpen and 5-man bench, rather than a 7-man 'pen and 4-man bench? That is the latest rumblings, here's how they could pull it off: Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:47:34 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/191475 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/191475 Seattle Mariners position battle update: fourth outfielder, long reliever, DH, 2B, bullpen Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:45:23 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/191474 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/191474 Seattle's battle at the long reliever spot is heating up. See who is leading the charge. Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:23:15 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/186085 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/186085 New York Mets Johan Santana, Pedro Martinez, Oliver Perez, John Maine, Orlando Hernandez, Mike Pelfrey When you have Santana at the top, you automatically have a great pitching staff. He is the ace of the major leagues and is looking at a huge season, not only because he moves to the National League, but unlike the Twins, the Mets can actually score runs! Those two or three no decisions that come from his team's inability to score will be wins in Flushing. Pedro, if healthy, has shown that he is still a very effective pitcher. Oliver Perez should take the next step towards dominant this year, if he could just cut down on those walks. Expect 16-18 wins for him. Maine had a stellar first half, and then fell back to earth after the All-Star Break. Orlando Hernandez might be 55 years old, but is still getting batters out, and if Mike Pelfrey ever figures it out, he's got the stuff to be a extraordinary pitcher. The Mets' are going to strike a lot of hitters out this year. The top four in their rotation are all guys who average nearly a strike out an inning. And as stated before, their offense is good enough, that even some days when the starters don't bring their best stuff, they still might be able to win an 9-7 type of game. 2. Boston Red Sox Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsusaka, Jon Lester, Tim Wakefield, Clay Buchholz, Curt Schilling, Bartolo Colon Beckett easily could have won the AL Cy Young Award last year, as he was the only pitcher to win 20 games. Outside of his first year in Boston, Josh has had a good consistent career, and is the ace of this staff and one of the first five pitchers off the board in most fantasy drafts. Matsusaka struggled last year in his first season in America, but he still won 15 games and fanned 200 guys. It was a year of transition for Dice, a new team, a new country, a new language, and a new 5-man rotation (instead of six in Japan). Considering all he had to handle, I'd say he did quite well. Jon Lester has been one of the more inspirational stories to come along in recent memories. One of the top pitching prospects for the Sox, he beat cancer and came back to pitch in the majors in 2007. Be a little wary of his 11-2 career record, he's on a very good team and his ERA is over 4.50. Walking batters has been his biggest problem thus far, and if he can get that under control, expect him to win 10-13 games. Tim Wakefield may pitch until he is in his late 40s (not to mention keep Doug Mirabelli employed), and he has never been exciting, but he will eat up innings and win double digit games. Clay Buchholz is one of the more exciting prospects to come down the pipe in a while. He has dynamite stuff, and even threw a no-hitter in his second career start. With the injury to Curt Schilling, Buchholz will get his chance to prove he belongs right now. Curt Schilling will be missing at least the first half of the season, maybe more. If he's able to come back, he will give the Sox a huge second half push. Boston brought in former Cy Young winner Colon to try to resurrect his career. He is basically insurance against injuries at this point, but could prove valuable if one of their starters is unable to go. Fri, 07 Mar 2008 22:03:33 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/185687 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/185687 An in-depth look at the dozens of players vying for spots in the 2008 Seattle Mariners bullpen. Lots of info. Wed, 20 Feb 2008 19:24:34 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/154663 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/154663 Great interview with Mariner insider. Clement doesn't want to play first, extension for Felix?, Trot Nixon in Seattle?, Brandon Morrow's future and much more. Thu, 31 Jan 2008 03:16:37 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/116543 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/116543 Closer J.J. Putz avoided arbitration and signed a three year deal worth $13.1 million, with an option for 2010. This comes much needed to a bullpen who lost young talent Rafael Soriano to Atlanta in a trade for Horacio Ramirez earlier this off season. Signing Putz solidifies the back end of an untested and unproven pitching staff that only returns 7 pitchers from last season. Thu, 18 Jan 2007 05:31:02 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/8568 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/8568 Yesterday, the M's traded one injury-prone pitcher to the Braves in exchange for another, leaving Northwest fans scratching their heads once again. Rafael Soriano for Horacio Ramirez? Ramirez won 12 games and had a 4.00 ERA as a rookie starter for Atlanta in 2003. Great. Since then, however, he's been more injury-prone than Nancy Kerrigan at a Tonya Harding look-a-like contest. After winning 11 games in 2005, Ramirez was 5-5 with a 4.48 ERA during a 2006 season in which he had a hamstring problem, took a line drive off his head, and suffered a pulled tendon in his finger. Soriano was 1-2 with a 2.25 ERA in 53 appearances last season. Fri, 08 Dec 2006 18:01:43 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/6473 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/6473 Over the last few days, the Seattle Mariners have been rumored to acquire or sign several marquee names, most notably Jason Schmidt, Barry Zito and Manny Ramirez and as an eternally optimistic fan, I really felt we were really going to land one of them. Well, they have finally pulled off a deal and I have to say, as a M's fan, I can't be more disappointed. They have reportedly traded the much heralded Rafael Soriano to the Braves for Horacio Ramirez. No, seriously. HORACIO F'ING RAMIREZ. I can only hope some other players are involved in this deal. Why is it impossible for this team to make one intelligent baseball move? Why when Scott Rolen was available a few years back, did they opt for Jeff Cirillo and his padded Colorado numbers instead? When the entire baseball world knew Adrian Beltre was playing over his head in a contract year, the Mariners came along and threw him a truckload of money so he could come over and hit .255 with 19 HR's for them. What contest did Bill Bavasi win to become general manager? Yesterday, I read that the Mariners were showing interest in Jeff Weaver. I didn't mind at the time because I was hopped up on Manny rumors, but now it seems like an inevitability that Jeff Weaver, Jeff Suppan and Miguel Batista will be part of their staff next year. On a personal note, I grew up in Jersey but never really supported the home teams. I root for the Mariners, the Lions and the 76ers, which means my GM's are Bill Bavasi, Matt Millen and Billy King. I hate you all. Wed, 06 Dec 2006 22:45:39 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/6330 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/6330 Manager Bobby Cox said Tuesday there's a "good chance" that Ramirez is done for the year, though the left-hander hopes to return. "It's not a complete tear. That's a good sign," Ramirez said. "It didn't swell up much. That means I should be able to come back quicker." The Braves will need starters on Saturday and next Tuesday. Lance Cormier is almost certain to be called up for one of the games. Kevin Barry could be an option for the other. Tue, 08 Aug 2006 23:56:25 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/1142 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/1142