Non-Tenders, Cuddyer, and a Little Football.

I’ve got the MLB Trade Rumors alert application on my phone, which means I get a notification every single time something “happens” in the world of baseball. Sometimes, I get that notification multiple times. Sometimes, a day after the event actually occurs. But that’s not the point. The point is that I’m bombarded all day long with chatter about baseball, but so far, very little about the Mariners. Lots of talk and frustration online because everyone wants something to happen, but next to no action, unless you count this. Or this. I don’t, really. I understand that Dan Cortes is a nice guy, and that’s fine; but he never really impressed me very much as a pitcher. He always looked like he worked very hard at it, however, so there’s that. Chris Jimenez was alright, but alright isn’t that impressive to me, either, unless your name is Garrett Olson. Garrett Olson is now a Met, by the way. A minor league Met, but a Met nonetheless. I’m actually more concerned about Garrett Olson being on the Mets  than I am about Jimenez or Cortes not being anywhere.  I feel like that makes me a bad Mariners fan, but then I realize that these guys aren’t Mariners now, and I go back to not being impressed. That might be the most confusing thing I’ve had to do all day.

This evening, there is a lot of talk swirling around about the Mariners being after Michael Cuddyer. At first I thought Oooo, neat! Michael Cuddyer! Then I remembered that the last time I had that same thought was in 2009. I haven’t thought much about Cuddyer since that year, and the numbers are now telling me why. My overall impression here is that Cuddyer is taking a little trip down the same slide Chone Figgins has been riding the past few years. I don’t know if I can deal with that, especially not for the dollar amounts/contract lengths I’ve heard being tossed around over the last hour or so. I’m not going to let this ruin my day, however, and even if we get him, I need to keep believing that Jack Zduriencik has our best interests at heart. To do otherwise would mean immediate and complete insanity. Meanwhile, I’ll keep it in the back of my head that this could happen, and prepare myself for the possibility.

The Seahawks game last night was a ridiculous amount of fun. If you’re not into a particular sport, it helps to go with someone who is, and I could not have picked a better person to go with than my friend Justin. I found myself getting a little sleepy and even more cold during the 4th quarter, but Justin just kept plugging along. So much so, that he was starting to lose his voice in the car on the way home. If you’ve never sat in the Hawk’s Nest, I highly suggest it, especially if you dig the Sounders atmosphere. Everyone stands on the metal bleachers, there is a lot of noise and stomping around, and if memory serves, the stadium helped create about three or so false starts for the St Louis Rams. Well, not really for them, I guess. But it was good fun. I cannot say I would have been as pleased with my evening if it had been raining outside, but we got lucky and it was merely cold. My right knee is paying for the 4 hours of standing up, but I will live to fight again. And I got to test my camera out, which was great. A lot of my photos came out a little blurry, because even with the stabilizer on, the whole section was shaking so badly that taking good shots was difficult. But I managed to get a few decent pictures, and because of my little test run, I am now really really looking forward to getting to Safeco in 2012.

This one was actually taken with the Hipstamatic application on my iPhone. This was our non-zoomed view from the seats I got from StubHub.

I will admit to staring longingly at our gorgeous roof more than a few times during the game. I really do miss Safeco, and am eagerly awaiting FanFest in a month and a half. It’s starting to feel like forever since I was in the left field bleachers, enjoying a dog and a beer, bundled in a few layers because let’s face it, this was a cold year here. I am not looking forward to February, which is a baseball fan’s longest month of the year. I’m sure I could have taken a better photo if I’d been trying a little harder (and the bleachers weren’t shaking, and my hands weren’t freezing in spite of two pairs of gloves), but I was really just testing the limits of my zoom function. I still have a lot to learn with this camera, but so far I absolutely love it.

The Hot Stove League started tonight, and while I really would have loved to go up to the Alderwood Mall and say hi to Matt and Shannon and company, there was no way I’d make it from West Seattle with the recent traffic mess after getting out of work at 5. I will have to try and find time to listen, but after work events may get in my way. Oh, and I just saw on my MLBTR alert that the Cleveland Indians are in “serious” talks with our very own ex-Mariner and fan favorite Jose Lopez. Good for him. I’ve always liked Lopez, I’m glad he keeps chugging along.

That’s it for now, I guess. Just waiting on you, Mariners.