The Seattle Mariners’ offensive struggles have been well-documented. The Mariners have scored the fewest runs in baseball for each of the past two seasons and have ranked in the top half of the majors in that category just once since 2004. In 2011, Seattle put together a major-league worst .233/.292/.348 batting line as a team, somehow a step down from the .236/.298/.339 it posted in 2010. So when the Mariners shipped out pitcher Michael Pineda to acquire the New York Yankees’ top prospect in catcher Jesus Montero, their thinking of improving their offense makes sense. But by trading Pineda, Seattle is making a horrible mistake that it will regret for years to come.
Twenty-two year old pitchers who stand at six-foot-seven, can start and touch 100 miles per hour with their fastball do not come around very often. They are the ones who are almost always listed as untouchables when other teams call to make trades. Just those very characteristics make Pineda a potential superstar pitcher, one who figures to dominate the game for years to come. But in his rookie season last year, Pineda proved that he is already at that level.
Pineda possesses the arsenal of a pure power pitcher to match his size on the mound. His fastball was the fourth-quickest in all of baseball last season, averaging 94.7 mph, better than all pitchers not named Alexi Ogando (95.1), Justin Verlander (95.0) or David Price (94.9). A stomach-lurching slurve helped induce the most swings-and-misses of any pitcher in the majors at 11.8 percent of his pitches.
Those whiffs helped Pineda strike out 24.9 percent of opposing hitters, sixth-best in the majors and greater than Price, Yovani Gallardo, Cole Hamels, Jered Weaver and Chris Carpenter. Pineda wound up striking out 9.11 batters per nine innings, seventh-best in all of baseball and more than Verlander, Gio Gonzalez, C.C. Sabathia, Mat Latos, Felix Hernandez and Roy Halladay.
While power pitchers sometimes struggle with control, Pineda did not have that issue even as a rookie. He struck out 3.5 batters for every walk he issued, a mark better than Matt Cain, Tim Hudson, Tim Lincecum and Jon Lester.
Pineda’s electric fastball and plate-sweeping slurve also prevented many opposing hitters from making solid contact. Opponents hit just .209 against him in 2011, tied with Jeremy Hellickson as the fourth-best mark in baseball, behind only Verlander, Clayton Kershaw and Josh Beckett. Pineda’s ability to keep opposing teams off the bases helped him earn the eighth-best WHIP (1.10) in the American League, which ranked above Hellickson, C.J. Wilson and Trevor Cahill.
Montero may end up being a great player for the Mariners. He was ranked as the third-best prospect by Baseball America before the 2011 season and has hit .308/.366/.501 in five minor league seasons. But Pineda has already proven that he can be mentioned in the same breath as some of the very best pitchers in baseball. His strikeout numbers show that he will only continue to improve as he learns how to pitch and indicate he has the stuff to dominate the major leagues. The Mariners may be improving their offense with this deal, but trading a 22-year old talent like Pineda will be a move they regret for a long time.
Crabcake Sports 