Photo Credit: Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

Two-thirds of the Mariners starting outfielders have been either traded or injured, yet the outfield is the best it’s been in the past several years. Even with Mike Carp, who was supposed to be a huge part of this Mariners lineup out on the DL almost all year and Ichiro traded to the Yankees, this team has found success in some young former prospects.

Michael Saunders has been in the team’s farm system since 2005 and jumped between the bigs and AAA since 2009. We’ve long known that with his size he has easy 20 HR/20 SB capability, but he just hasn’t put it together. Saunders currently boasts a fairly decent .246/.300/.414 slash with a .298 BABIP to go with 14 HRs and 13 steals. With that said, he’s far from perfect. With 108 K’s to just 32 walks, Saunders has much work to be done but he’s finally taken a big step in the right direction.

                                                                      Photo Credit: John Rieger/US Presswire

Russell Wilson took the city by storm last Friday night in Kansas City, and in doing so also stole the competition right out of Matt Flynn’s hands. Wilson put up stellar numbers including almost 200 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air and another 58 yards on the ground against a Kansas City defense that ranked 12^th in the league last year. Ultimately, Wilson’s play the first three weeks of preseason forced Pete Carroll’s hand. Even when he was up against 2^nd and 3^rd string players, Wilson looked like he was playing to win the starting job while Flynn looked like he was simply trying not to lose it. The only way for Carroll to stay true to his “comPETE” mantra was to name Russell Wilson the starter, and that’s exactly what he did early Sunday evening.

                                                                                 Photo Credit: Getty Images

It was without a doubt the Fredy Montero show as the Sounders hammered Chivas USA 6-2  in Los Angeles.  The offense was spurred on by Montero’s first hat trick in a Sounders FC uniform and the second hat trick for a Seattle player this season.  From the very get go it looked like it was Seattle’s game.  Chivas looked shaky at the back and at 10 minutes they cracked as Montero threaded a lovely through ball to Brad Evans who gently tucked the ball inside the far post.  And the goals kept coming.  In the 27^th minute Montero scored his first goal of the game when he found space in the box to collect a pass from Mauro Rosales and slide the ball into the back of the net from a near identical position as Evans. Minutes later in the 34^th, Rosales and Montero combined again as Rosales slotted a pass to Montero who chipped the ball in for his second of the night.  An unfortunate penalty was awarded before half time to Chivas and Agudelo made the score 3-1.

                                                                     Photo Credit: Otto Gruele, Jr./Getty Images

Editor's Note: This is the first installment in a new series that runs every Monday regarding the Seattle Mariners.

As of yesterday, the Mariners ranked 26th in runs, 29th in batting average, and dead last in OBP and slugging percentage. But the rise of catcher John Jaso has been a bright spot for the offense.

Jaso was acquired last winter from the Rays for reliever Josh Lueke, who after posting a 6.06 ERA in 32.2 innings for the M’s last year, clearly didn’t seem to be in future plans for the club. So when he got traded for a catcher with a career average of .257, no one thought much of it. Now, Jaso is batting .289 with 59 hits and an astonishing 37 walks in just 204 at bats.

Just a few hours ago, the Mariners prospect situation got even more interesting with the signing of Brazilian southpaw Luis Gohara. Standing at 6’3”, 220 pounds, Gohara has no problems (according to reports) hitting 94 mph, while regularly sitting at about 91 mph. Pair that with what is said to be a quality slider, and he already has the makings of a solid starter. Oh, by the way, did I mention that he was only 16 years old?

Once again, we have to keep our expectations in check. While being rated routinely in the top 5 international free agents (except by Baseball America, who ranked him 7th), Gohara is still young at 16 years old. Not many people have seen him play, so we have no clue what his stuff actually looks like or what composure he has on the mound. He could be a totally wild fireballer for all we know (then again, Felix was a wild fireballer, and see where he is now?).

All in all, today the Mariners added yet another young pitching prospect to the ever growing pile. I’d imagine he has a ceiling around that of a Taijuan Walker, and that it will likely be 3-4 years minimum until we see him in the big leagues. It’s an exciting signing, but he’s still just a young kid.

Shortstop Nick Franklin
Photo Credit: Seattlepi.com

It’s that time of year again. The season is winding down and once again the M’s are out of contention. But this is never a boring time of the year. As a matter of fact, quite the opposite.

Now, we get to speculate and evaluate how the club’s top prospects are doing and who may get a September call-up to get his first taste of what it feels like to be in The Show.

Pitchers:

Let’s start with the club’s obvious strength: pitching. No other team in baseball has the pitching depth and talent the Mariners have in their farm system. Between Danny Hultzen, Taijuan Walker and James Paxton, the future is bright for the M’s pitching.

Hultzen has struggled after being called up to AAA Tacoma in late June. He currently sports a 5.23 ERA, having given up 19 earned runs in just 32.2 innings. In comparison, Hultzen gave up 10 earned runs in 75.1 innings with AA Jackson. However, the strikeouts are still there as he is averaging a combined 10 K/9 this year. Hultzen is considered the Mariners’ safest prospect, but his potential limits him to probably only a solid no. 2 starter.

Photo credit: SeattleSockeye.org

When you talk about Seattle Sports, teams like the Seahawks, Mariners and Huskies come up, and rightfully so. They are established, participate in popular American sports and are big money makers. But there’s one Seattle team out there that doesn’t get enough credit for being exciting, being masters of their craft and giving fans an all-around great time.

I’m talking about the Seattle Sockeye, Seattle’s most popular professional Ultimate Frisbee team.

I recently had a chance to attend a Sockeye game at Starfire Sports Complex against the San Francisco Revolver, another top-level Ultimate Frisbee team. Granted I knew how Ultimate Frisbee worked and enjoy playing it, but didn’t know how it would translate to a professional sporting event. It seemed like a sport only destined for family reunions and local city parks.

Turns out it translates seamlessly. Here are a couple observations I made about the event.

                                                                  Photo Credit: Rick Bowmer/Associated Press

The Seattle Seahawks defeated the Tennessee Titans 27-17 Saturday night at CenturyLink Field in each team's first preseason game. Matt Flynn got the start under center in the first half for Seattle, while rookie Russell Wilson took the reins in the second half. The defense appeared as good as advertised throughout as well, which should be a welcome sign to head coach Pete Carroll. Here are a few notes and observations from the game:

-It is still too early to judge the quarterback battle. In this contest, Matt Flynn was good, not great. But he didn't really get a chance to showcase his arm. The playcalling was very scripted throughout the first half, and most of his throws were on short routes. In the second half, Russell Wilson had more of an opportunity to make throws down the field, including a nice TD pass to Braylon Edwards in the 3rd quarter. But again, this was against a 2nd and 3rd string defensive unit. In the end, the QB battle will have to continue for at least another week. It wouldn't be surprising if either Flynn or Wilson were under center week 1.

Kellen Winslow Jr.
Photo Credit: Seahawks.com

The Seahawks signed Zach Miller in free agency last year with the thought that he could team up with John Carlson and form a tight-end combo that could rival the Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

Well, that didn’t work out as planned to say the least. Carlson suffered a season ending labrum injury in training camp and Zach Miller caught just 25 passes on 44 targets for 233 yards and no touchdowns primarily because the injury-weakend offensive line forced Miller to stay in and block.

Carlson has since left for Minnesota in free agency and for a while the state of the Seahawks’ tight ends looked pretty dire.

Enter Kellen Winslow Jr.

Sidney Rice
Photo Credit: FieldGulls.com

Forget the quarterback “battle.” The real battle going on in Seahawks training camp right now is the fight for the likely 6 wide receiver spots the team will carry. The team currently has 13 wide receivers in training camp.

Before we speculate on who might go where, let’s name the receivers that are a lock to make the team.

LOCKS:

Doug Baldwin: Obviously this is a no-brainer. The Stanford alum lead the team last year with 51 receptions for 788 yards and 4 touchdowns. Baldwin is only 5'10", 189 lbs, but runs very crisp routes and can find holes right behind the linebackers to let the quarterback zip the ball into his reliable hands. Expect a similar performance in 2012, with maybe a couple less catches.