Going For It?

Wednesday's trade between the Mariners and the Pirates can be viewed two ways:

1) Despite being 7.5 games behind the surging Los Angeles Angels of Orange County, the M's still believe they have a chance to contend this year.

2) This was a precursor to an eventual Jarrod Washburn deal. Ian Snell replaces Washburn in the rotation and Jack Wilson shores up a shortstop position that has been manned by glorified bench players all season.

Being an eternal optimist when it comes to the 2009 Mariners, I'd like to believe in the first option (Witnessing the 1995 M's overcome a 13 game deficit also emboldens my feeling that crazier things have happened) .

In Wilson, the Mariners get a slick fielding shortstop who will provide some stability to an area that hasn't had any since long before Yuniesky Betancourt burst onto the scene, swinging at every pitch thrown his way.

Snell seems like a guy who has the stuff to be a legitimate second or third starter on a good team. Unfortunately, he's been stranded in Pittsburgh for his entire career. (The only thing missing from the Pirates is that they don't hire Bill Bavasi as GM. Bavasi might actually succeed in a situation where he doesn't have good players to trade for crappy players.)

Having to include Jeff Clement in the trade stings a little bit. It's like being the guy who was still building his Laser Disc collection long after DVD's hit the market. Clement, the third overall pick in the highly regarded 2005 Draft never showed he could hit major league pitching. Throw in his questionable catching skills and you've got a guy who had lost his place in the organization.

But look at the positive, at least the Mariners didn't draft some kid named Braun from Miami.

For whatever reason, this Mariners team has suffered multiple MJ style cardiac arrests, only to avoid being resuscitated for 30 minutes by some quack doctor from Trinidad.

Before Wednesday's trade, the Mariners starting lineup boasted four players who had spent most of 2009 in AAA (Chris Woodward, Jack Hannahan, Chris Shelton, Ryan Langerhans). Does that sound like a team that should be 5 games above .500 heading into August?

Yet the M's continue to win on guts, guile and superb managing in the clubhouse and in the front office.

The Mariners have 61 games left on their schedule, including 17 against LAAOC and Texas. The season is far from over.

Sidebar:

Yesterday's win against Toronto provided yet another all-time great Griffey moment. With the bases loaded and the M's down 1 in the seventh, Junior steps to the plate with the bases jacked and one out. He's facing Roy Halladay, arguably baseball's best pitcher. Since Junior hasn't hit his weight all season, I'm saying to myself, "Please don't strike out, or get called on an infield fly. Please God. Please don't let this happen".

All Junior does is line a vintage laser shot down the right field line, driving in the tying and eventual winning run. It was a moment I will never forget.

The low gas light has been on for a few miles. Griffey might be close to empty. But being the true legend he is, there have still been plenty of times this season when you realize you are witnessing one of baseball's all-time greats.