Seattle Pilots

Seattle Pilots


2009 Year in Review


The Numbers


Record: 86-76 (7th in the league)
Expected Record: 86-76(7th in the league)

Runs Scored: 814 (7th in the league)
Runs Allowed: 763 (7th in the league)
Run Differential: +51 (7th in the league)
What went right?
Lucky 7's. Check out the table to the right: The Pilots rolled 7's in, well, everything! In terms of the classic old-school measures of baseball virility, Seattle led the league offensively in batting average (.288, 5 points better than Honolulu and Springfield) and defensively in least amount of errors (57, 9 fewer than Outlaw). Mark Teixeira led the NASBL in homeruns with a non-needle-aided 39, and also earned the RBI crown. He gave Vermont's Albert Pujols a run for his MVP money, ultimately finishing a close 2nd. Seattle maximized their playoff revenue, defeating MSU 4-3 in the 1st round and VFS 4-3 in the LF Championship, before finally falling to Outlaw 4-2 in the World Series.

What went wrong?
Not a whole heck of a lot. Other than some minor struggles vs LHSP (25-26 record vs right-brain thinkers) and in close/late games (8-13 in extra frames, 21-24 in 1-run affairs), Seattle was simply a robust all-around team.

In retrospect, the critical decisions were:
1. Going all-in at the 2009 Supplemental Draft. As the only team to cut all the way back to 14 players after the 2008 season, Seattle earned the 1st overall pick in the 2009 Supp. And they went with Tim Wakefield (6-1, 3.36 in 77.2 innings). The veteran swingman excelled in his spot starts, and posted the 2nd best ERA of his lengthy NASBL career. Seattle's 2nd pick in the Supp was Kevin Gregg (5-8, 4.01, 25 saves), who provided Seattle with a league-average closer. The only Supplemental selection who did not in fact supplement the team's 2009 success was Jason Marquis (0-0, 8.85 in 20.1 ip). But as the great philosopher Meatloaf once said, “Two out of three ain't bad...”

2. Issuing zero intentional walks. Notoriously stingy with the handouts to begin with, Manager Pennylegion took parsimony to the next level this year by issuing exactly zero IBB's, an all-time league record. And this isn't one of those “trick” records where it has been done a number of times before – the new record of 0 eclipses the old record of 2, set back in 2006 by.... Frank Pennylegion's Seattle Pilots!

3. Issuing 15 intentional walks. “But wait!” you say, “you just said Frank didn't issue any intentional walks at all!” And this is true as far as it goes: SPL issued zero intentional walks in the 2009 regular season. But call Seattle's manager anything but unadaptative. Faced with an insanely strong Fighting Sioux lineup in the LF Championship series, Seattle went to the IBB well early and often. In 7 games, the “Don't Walk” Pilots pushed the “Walk” button 11 times on Albert Pujols alone, 3 more times on Carlos Quentin, and once on Robinson Cano. Why was this one of the 3 most critical decisions Seattle made all year? Because it worked. While we're not sure if defensive measures can appropriately be called “bold” moves, this complete managerial 180 is most certainly the surprise move that propelled Seattle into the World Series.

Looking ahead to 2010

Is this the year King Felix finally earns his crown?  After seasons of 7-14, 9-14, and 8-12, the coronation is long overdue...


Three key questions

  1. Not to go all Laurel and Hardy, but seriously, after two post-season mega-deals that saw 8 current Pilots leave and 7 new ones come in to take their places, well, you get the idea. Maybe the best thing is to break it down spot-by-spot. 2B out, Orlando Hudson (.254/1/38). 2b in, Placido Polanco (.302/6/65). Shortstop out, Miguel Tejada (.240/14/59). Shortstop in, Jimmy Rollins (.270/11/58). SP out, Jason Marquis. SP in, Javier Vazquez (10-8, 5.18). RP out, Kevin Gregg. RP in, Dan Wheeler (6-3, 3.25, 3 saves). Outfielders out, Gary Mathews Jr (.255/5/16), Randy Winn (.328/4/42). Outfielders in, Aaron Rowand (.276/12/63), Jack Cust (.235/20/46), Reed Johnson (.321/5/44).

    2. Well, what to think about all that? The first mega-trade brought on board a solid if generally unspectacular starting pitcher in Vazquez (118-121, 5.30 in 316 career NASBL starts), an excellent left-handed power source in Cust, a shutdown RHRP in Wheeler (21-10, 3.15 in 291 career NASBL innings), and a solid platoon outfielder in Reed Johnson. The key players moving the other direction are as yet unknown, given that the cost for this purchase was SPL's 1st through 3rd round draft picks in the upcoming Rookie / FA Draft. The 2nd Seattle seismic shift likely improved the Pilots defensively, as wizard Jimmy Rollins and sure-handed Placido Polanco represent a net upgrade over Miguel Tejada and anybody this side of Bill Mazeroski. Aaron Rowand gives Seattle a true centerfielder, which will allow Ichiro to once again patrol his best position, right field. Against this tightening of the defensive net must be balanced a likely slight offensive dropoff, plus of course a significant drop in the draft (Seattle moved 4 of their 5 best remaining picks in this deal).

    3. With the 95    th pick in the 2010 NASBL Draft, the Seattle Pilots select... Yes, you read that right. Whoever your top 94 guys are on the Big Board right now, just cross them off. That next guy, he's going to be the first guy in Seattle this year to experience that “new uniform smell.” Which raises the ultimate question for Seattle in 2010: The Pilots undoubtedly have a great core. Defensive whizzes at virtually every position, and 5 starting pitchers ranging in pedigree from “ace” to “future ace” to, at worst, “damn solid.” But can GM Pennylegion dig out enough LOOGY's and ROOGY's and aging part-timers from the bottom half of the draft to make the whole thing go?

    Projected lineup
    c – Joe Mauer

    1b – Mark Teixeira

    2b – Placido Polanco

    3b – Mike Lowell

    ss – Jimmy Rollins

    lf – Jermaine Dye

    cf – Aaron Rowand

    rf – Ichiro Suzuki

    dh – Jack Cust


Rotation

Felix Hernandez

Cliff Lee

Javier Vazquez

Mark Buehrle

Wandy Rodriguez


Closer

Dan Wheeler