They're being seriously cautious discussing progress with their draft picks, but the Seattle Mariners may be on the brink of agreement with high school outfielder Nick Franklin.

Kirby Arnold, the Everett Herald beat writer who not only gets it first he gets it right, found Franklin standing in the Seattle dugout this afternoon with the head of Mariners scouting.

Turns out, the No. 27 overall pick in the June draft is taking a physical tomorrow - as sure a sign as any that the two sides hae all but agreed on a deal.

Read a bit more about the deal in Arnold's blog.

And while we're on the topic, wonder how the Washington Nationals are doing in their efforts to secure top draft pick Stephen Strasburg?

Here's a story on how Strasburg and agent Scott Boras seem intent on pushing this to the Monday deadline.

So according to Mets GM Omar Minaya, if you write stories about how your assistant GM took his shirt off in the Double A clubhouse and challenged all the players to a fight, apparently it's because you are trying to get a job in the Mets' player development staff.

During yesterday's press conference discussing the dismissal of assistant GM Tony Bernazard, Minaya unexpectedly insinuated that the New York Daily News Mets beat writer Adam Rubin was trying to take down Bernazard to somehow get himself a job with the Mets, or as vindication for not getting a job with the Mets.

“Adam, for the past couple of years, has lobbied for a player development position," Minaya said. "He has lobbied myself, he has lobbied Tony, and when these things first came out, I didn't know what to think about it."

Rubin to his credit didn't back down and confronted Minaya about the insinuation in the press conference, to which Minaya didn't really answer. Here's some video of it. Rubin also defended himself today in the paper.

To be honest, from the few times I've dealt with Minaya, it seemed a little out of character. But I think he knows the vultures are circling. Though this recent outburst did nothing to help him.

So I guess for me to get a job working for Jack Z, at least along Minaya's thinking, I just need to have Lee Pelekoudas, fly to West Tenn, rip off his shirt and challenge the likes of Greg Halman, Phillippe Aumont, Josh Fields and Nick Hill to throw down and then write about it.

Wow, working in New York would be interesting.

Unfortunately, I'm not talking about the Mariners, though they've won every game after the break that Garrett Olson didn't start. So with him out the rotation, they should be money.

No the "these guys" I was referring to is the Los Angeles Angels, who won yet again, this time scoring two runs in the ninth off of all-star closer Joe Nathan and later beating the Minnesota Twins in the 10th inning.

It was the Angels' 31st comeback victory of the season - the most in the majors.

Perhaps, David Aardsma put it best today following the Mariners win in Detroit.

"We just need the Angels to lose, Aardsma said. "We feel like we win they win, and when we lose they win. It feels like they can’t lose a game to save our lives. That’s all we can do is keep playing and when we get a chance to face them, take advantage of it."

Think about this, the Mariners were four games back at the all star break. They went 5-2 out of the break and still managed to lose 1.5 games in the standings

Oh this should make Mariners fans pleased, but owner Arte Moreno said that they are interested in acquiring an ace. Los Angeles has already inquired about Arizona's Dan Haren, and will are in the middle of the Roy Halladay sweepstakes, and now they may target Cliff Lee.

Here's the standings as of tonight ...

AL WEST W-L PCT GB L10
LA Angels 56-38 .596 - 9-1
Texas 52-41 .559 3.5 5-5
Seattle 51-44 .537 5.5 7-3
Oakland 40-54 .426 16 5-5

Youngster Rick Porcello all of 20 years old will make his second start against the Mariners. He beat the Mariners 8-2 on April 19th for his first career win, pitching 7 innings, allowing one run on five hits and striking out three.

Much of the talk surrounding the Tigers is their offensive struggles of late, to which I say: The Mariners have struggled offensively most of the season.

First Inning
Ichiro with a lead-off double to left. He later stole third with Jose Lopez up and the true evidence of how bad the Tigers offense has been of late, Jim Leyland plays the defense in to cut the run off - in the first inning. That move doesn't work so well as Lopez sneaks a ground ball through the middle of the field. M's lead 1-0

Garrett Olson, who is barely hanging on to his spot in the rotation, is watching it slip away at a much faster pace than he pitches at. He's made it four batters before having Chris Jakubauskas. Maybe Jakubauskas should just warm up with Olson before the game starts. Olson gives up a single to Granderson, an RBI double to Polanco, then walks Thames and Cabrera and then serves up a grand slam to Magglio Ordonez, who has been one of the Tigers worst hitters all season. It's 5-1 and he hasn't even recorded an out.

So he gave up, five runs on four hits, he walked two and threw 42 pitches.

Ladies and Gentleman --- Garrett Olson!!!!!!

Second inning
Olson allows a homer and a walk before he mercifully gets lifted for Jakubauskas-- 1 1/3 7 runs, 5 hits, 3 walks, 2 HR. He threw 53 pitches, 30 were strikes and not one of them was a swing and a miss.

This is horrible development, Gutierrez plows into the wall, trying to make another amazing catch. He's down, and we haven't heard what's hurt on him. We'll obviously let you know as soon as we hear something.

He's being helped off the field by trainer Rob Nodine. There's something wrong with his left arm, either shoulder, forearm or wrist.

Balentien will go into left and Langerhans will move to CF.

Third inning
The Mariners get one back as Balentien tries to make the most of an opportunity with an RBI single.

Fourth inning
Still no news on Gutz, Mariners media guru Jeff Evans, promised to keep us posted.

Jack Hannahan hit a solo homer, so now it's 8-3.

If Gutierrez's injury is bad, the Mariners will have the option of calling up Prentice Redman and Michael Saunders, both of whom can play centerfield, Jerry Owens can play centerfield and has played in the big leagues, or they can keep Langerhans in center and use those three or even Mike Carp or Bryan LaHAir in left field, but they aren't exactly ideal defensive options.

Fifth inning
The Mariners continue to claw their way back into the game. Wlad Balentien draws a walk and then Ryan Langerhans rips a two-run homers. It's now 8-5 the Mariners lead.

Jakubauskas has been decent since he came in, I would sooner see him make Olson's next start than Olson, Jakubauskas seems to pitch more in them anyway.

Sixth Inning
It's now 8-6 since Jack Hannahan hit another solo home run to right off of Fu-Te Ni. That's homers in consecutive at-bats. The Mariners third base duo of Jack Hannahan and Chris Woodward were 0-for-18 in the ABs leading up to Hannahan's first homer.

Miguel Cabrera pushes the lead to 9-6 with a solo homer to left off of Shawn Kelley. The Tigers moved the fences in at Comerica a few years ago, and that probably would have never come close to getting out in the old dimensions.

Seventh Inning
Wlad Balentien continues to make the of his unexpected playing time crushing a pitch off of Bobby Seay deep into the left field stands for a solo home run. That's a season-high four homers in a game for the M's.

What's wrong with this picture? Read below.

Today's Standings

AL WEST
Angels 52-38 .598 ---
Rangers 50-41 .549 2.5
Mariners 49-43 .533 4.0
Oakland 39-52 .429 13.5

Quickly a few links about the Mariners.
I mentioned my column from today's paper. But I also had my Sunday column which gave out midseason awards to the Mariners and around baseball.

My MVP - Felix Hernandez.
My LVP - Carlos Silva

At the bottom of this Ken Rosenthal story that deals mainly with Roy Halladay (like everything these days), it mentions the Mariners have some interest in Nationals outfielder Josh Willingham, but so do a lot of other teams.

SI' Fan Nation blog says that Jarrod Washburn would be the most overrated player to acquire at the trade deadline. I don't know that I agree completely with that premise, but I guess I can see where he's coming from.

USS Mariner's Dave Cameron explains why Russell Branyan's production has fallen off.

=> Read more!

According to the good man pictured above, San Diego is German for a certain part of a whale's anatomy, of course he, then relented and offered up the history of this fair city on the beach, "I don't know what it means. I'll be honest, I don't think anyone knows what it means anymore. Scholars maintain that the translation was lost hundreds of years ago."

If you think that's the only Ron Burgundy reference you'll be getting from me in the next four days, well, I will give you my duplex in Tacoma - it has many fine, leather-bound books and smells of rich mahogany. Ok, I'll quit for the time being.

Let's get to some links and thoughts

WEST W-L PCT GB STRK L10
Texas 35-27 .565 - Lost 2 4-6
LA Angels 33-29 .532 2 Won 4 6-4
Seattle 30-33 .476 5.5 Lost 3 5-5
Oakland 27-35 .435 8 Lost 3 5-5

It's amazing just four days ago the Mariners were sitting at .500 and fans were once again debating if they have a legitimate chance to contend. And now those same fans say blow it up.

Hasn't this happened like four different times this season? I've said it on here and on the radio often, just about the time you think you have this team figured out, they do something totally unexpected -- good or bad.

At this point, I don't know what to make of this team. I don't know that any of the Mariners coaches or executives do either. They play hard. The pitching has been good, but beat up. The defense - save for the duo at second and short - has been vastly improved. The hitting has been weak and inconsistent, but good enough in stretches to win them more games than they should. So they sit in the purgatory of being between contender and pretender.

Realistically 20 some days from now, we should know more. Yes the Mariners have two of the next three series with the Padres - a team that with the exception of Adrian Gonzalez - might be weaker offensively. San Diego is also without its best pitcher. But remember, Brandon Morrow will start one of those games on a reduced pitch count. Jarrod Washburn and Erik Bedard are still ailing - though we'll find out more later today.

But besides San Diego, the Mariners will face the Arizona Diamondbacks, a team that's playing vastly better with the improved health of Stephen Drew and the steady improvement of Justin Upton. But the big test will be nine straight games on the road against the Dodgers, Yankees and Red Sox.

Optimally, the Mariners need to win six of the nine games (including six home games) against the Padres and D'Backs to help withstand the brutal road swing that faces them after that. But if Seattle plays the type of baseball we saw in Colorado, they could be reeling before the tough road swing beings

But come July 5th when the Mariners wrap up the road trip in Boston, we'll have a pretty good idea if they can keep up the hope of contending or GM Jack Zduriencik can try and deal some players to add depth to the organization.

Let's get to some links and thoughts ...

Here's Larry's story on Ichiro's improved attitude and mindset with the presence of Griffey. I've seen Griffey wrestling Ichiro to the ground. I can tell you Larry's description of Ichiro's laugh is pretty accurate. It's not quite a squeal, but it's pretty high pitched.

Most of the commentary and thoughts have centered on Brandon Morrow and his transition to a starter. John McGrath has weighed in with his thoughts. Dave Cameron of the USS Mariner also voiced his opinions.

I have three thoughts ... some of you may have heard them before.
* This whole process started down the wrong track because Mike Hargrove and later Bill Bavasi were making decisions to try and keep their jobs. When Mark Lowe got hurt, Hargrove found a replacement for a then-injured Mark Lowe. Looking at Morrow's velocity, it's easy for Hargrove to want to use Morrow in that role. He knew he needed wins and having Morrow's power fastball in the eighth could help him.

But this is where Bavasi should have stepped in and said, "Sorry, Grover, but we drafted this kid as a starter and we're going to start grooming him for it now." You'll have to find another reliever. It's not impossible, just look at the Mariners this season with Kelley, White and Aardsma. In fact, Bavasi selected White in the Rule V draft -- but I'll concede White wasn't this polished. Still, there were arms out there, that could've provide adequate set-up relief, instead of stunting the growth of one of the most prized arms of the organization. Then again, that would require Bavasi finding a value player for minimal money - not exactly something he had a track record for doing.

* All the flip-flopping back and forth, never allowed Morrow to find an professional identity for himself. He's a smart kid, prone to be introspective to a fault. And he lacks the swagger or the short memory to be a reliever. But his setbacks from minor injuries and mechanical issues never allowed him to find any comfort in himself as a professional pitcher. And since he couldn't determine it himself, the Mariners should have done it for him and kept him as a starter even when he volunteered to be a reliever. Even if he starts the season at Tacoma as a starter, and later joins the team as a reliever, the amount of innings accrued from pitching as a starter, including the extensive use of his secondary pitches would have been helpful.

* I don't think any of this would have happened to Morrow if GM Jack Zduriencik would have drafted him and oversaw his development. Of course, that brings up the question as to whether Zduriencik would have selected Morrow ahead of Tim Lincecum, which is another debate for another day.

Here's my Sunday column on Mark Teixeira hustling play on Friday and the power rankings.

How about some former Mariners links ...
Cleveland RF Shin Soo Choo is having a solid season with the Indians, but says he can improve.

* Recently released LHP Horacio Ramirez has found a new home in Triple A Syracuse, pitching for the Nats organization.

* Right-handed reliever Jon Huber, who made a few appearances with the M's and plenty with the Rainiers, was pitching in the independent leagues before being signed by the Braves.

* And John Halama, yes that John Halama, is still pitching and also signed with the Braves out of the independent leagues.

* But Halama isn't the oddest player to still be pitching, that honor would belong to Hideki Irabu, who is pitching in Long Beach along with Jose Lima.

Let's go around the AL WEST
The Texas Rangers may be in first place, but that doesn't mean the organization isn't feeling the economic pinch. And they've laid off several people this week.

Closer Frank Francisco was placed on the DL this week.

Columnist Gil LeBreton still likes the Rangers' chances.

The Los Angeles Angels also know something about injuries. Ervin Santana is being scratched from his next start. That follows up the news of Scot Shields being lost for the year, and Kelvim Escobar's latest setback.

Oh yeah, and Torii Hunter hurt his ribs plowing into the wall.

The Oakland A's took a chance on Nomar Garciaparra, but he's battling injuries again.

Around baseball
Brandon Phillips ignored a take sign and swung at a 3-0 pitch and got fined. Phillips is scheduled to make $4.75 million this season so I'm sure he can afford it.

And finally, Ozzie Guillen talking about Wrigley Field as only Ozzie Guillen can.

Wow, what a game yesterday. I will admit, there were times I just wanted it to be over, but in the end, you always feel special being at games like that.

Let's get to some links to get your work week started ...

AUDIO: I forgot to post it this weekend, but I did my usual appearance on the Ian Furness show on Friday, you can listen to that interview here.

From yesterday's thrilling 15-inning marathon ...
Here's my game story and here's the game notebook.

Columnist John McGrath was up at the game and offered his thoughts on the game.

Bob Sherwin was up covering the game for the AP, here's his story.

From other clubhouse ...
Here's Susan Slusser's game story from the SF Chronicle. And here's the gamer from Joe Stiglich of the Bay Area News group.

From Sunday's paper ...
Here's my Sunday baseball column that discusses stealing home. I talked with several players on the Mariners and A's about it.

Also here's TNT contributor and the voice of the Rainiers, Mike Curto's minor league notebook.

* NOTE -- I'm still perusing the my netvibes page and will post some stuff later.

Extremely sad news coming out of LA as talented young pitching prospect Nick Adenhart was one of three people killed in a hit-and-run accident just after pitching six scoreless innings for the Angels against the Oakland A's.

Adenhart was in a car that was slammed into by a mini-van that ran a red light and then fled the scene. The van was supposedly traveling close to 70 miles per hour when it slammed into the car. The car then slammed into the pole.

Here's the story from the Los Angeles Times. Here's the AP story. This story from of ESPN has some quotes from Torii Hunter in it.

There is some debate whether tonight's game should be cancelled. There should be no debate. Commissioner Bud Selig should step in immediately and postpone the game to a future date and if he doesn't then, well, then I don't know what business the guy has holding the highest position in baseball. A player died in shocking and stunning matter and expecting his teammates to play the next day is ridiculous.

Besides the tragic news of Adenhart's death, the Angels organization is also dealing with the news that one of their fans, who was involved in a fight on opening day in the stadium, has died due to injuries suffered in the altercation.

Wow, that seemed relatively easy. Get good pitching, pick up a few timely hits, move runners along and make the play defensively. Not rocket science but harder than you think.

Lash had the duties in Minnesota. Here's his game story.

Here's a notebook leading with Mike Sweeney being with a team on opening day for a 13th season when there was some doubt whether he would make it.

Lash also had a story talking with the nervous energy of opening day.

Our photo staff put together this photo gallery from yesterday's game

Here's the AP story from the game.

You can see a replay of Griffey's home run HERE.

From the Minnesota papers ...

The Star Tribune had this game story and this story as well

From the St. Paul Pioneer Press, there is this game story. The Press also had this story discussing what it would have been like if the Twins were playing their new open air stadium on Opening day.

Around the AL West ...
ESPN's Jim Caple had this Q&A with Jason Giambi

The Rangers roughed up last year's Cy Young winner Cliff Lee. Kevin Millwood looked good yesterday, we'll see if it continues.

Kelvim Escobar could be back in the Angels rotation by the end of April. John Lackey's contract re-negotiations have stopped for the time being.

The revamped A's offense didn't do much against Joe Saunders and the Angels. Bill Dwyre's writes about the model of efficiency that is the Angels.

AP Photos

It's official I'm in Peoria, along with my new roommate Larry LaRue, who was kind enough to allow me to stay with him for the next 10 days. I arrived here in Arizona after leaving snow-covered Tacoma to 70 degree temps and ready to see some baseball, unfortunately the Mariners had the day off, so tomorrow I'll have to wait till tomorrow when the Cubs and Loouuuuuuuuuuuuu come to Peoria. Speaking of Lou, he's losing patience with some of his hitters. I like it when Lou loses his patience.

So as the title suggest, it's a links post. And let's get to it.

The Mariners lost $4.53 million last year as an organization. It doesn't surprise me since something like seven of the 10 smallest crowds in Safeco Field history came last season. While it may not seem like much money in the grand scheme of how much an organization spends, think about this, the Mariners made $17.8 million in 2007.

SI's Albert Chen had this look at the Mariners chances this season.

First of all wrapping up the WBC a little.

Here's the results and schedule as pool play starts to wrap up.

Japan advanced to the next round, but did lose the last game of their Pool play to Korea 1-0.

Ichiro had a key hit late and represented the tying run, but was stranded there.

Freelancer and all-around good guy Brad Lefton has this story for the NY Times about many of the younger Japanese players feeling like they are getting to play with their idols - Ichiro Suzuki and Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Kaz Sasaki and Ichiro talk before the game.

Speaking of the WBC and Ichiro, Tim Lincecum isn't really that into the WBC or the idea of pitching in it. But he's enthused about facing Ichiro in Safeco Field this summer when the Giants head north of interleague play.

Over in Pool B,
Australia behind Chris Snelling's two homers worked over Mexico.

In Pool C, the U.S. crushed Venezuela yesterday. But for Mariners fans, there is still a buzz over what prospect Phillippe Aumont did in his appearance against the U.S on Saturday. I'm not going to break it all down, Jason Churchill of Prospect Insider has a detailed account of it. Obviously, Aumont is still a few years away but it's nice to see him have success at the highest level.

Venezuela manager Luis Sojo tried to blame the reasoning for him using both Felix Hernandez and Carlos Silva in the first game of pool play was because the Mariners demanded it. But GM Jack Zduriencik sent an email to Yahoo's Gordon Edes saying that wasn't the case.

In Pool D, the Netherlands

Buster Olney's main blog post was about Mr. Stephen Strasburg, or as I'm going to call him "the Mariners' impossible dream."

I really like the comment that he's better than A.J. Burnett right now.

As I was perusing a few stories about Strasburg, I came across a recap of his latest outing. It mentions that he gave up a rare home run. How rare? Just the second of his entire career. Two homers? Against guys using metal bats? Then again, why bother even bringing this stuff up, there's no way he doesn't get taken by the Nationals.

Bellarmine Prep grad and Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester is reported to have a contract extension offer that will enable him to send any future children to Bellarmine, along with a few hundred of their closest friends.

Around the AL West ...
The Texas Rangers think their pitching is improved enough to contend. Haven't we heard this every spring since, well, since A-Rod said the team could contend.

Perhaps more realistic and frightening is Josh Hamilton's continued work on his swing and hitting approach that should give him more consistency at the plate.

For the second straight season, the Angels will start the season with one of their top pitchers on the DL. Last year it was John Lackey, this year it will most likely be Ervin Santana, who has elbow issues.

SI's Jon Heyman has this story about the A's decision to spend money wasn't from GM Billy Beane, but more the owner.

Around baseball ...
Here's an interesting story about the guy who founded baseball-reference.com, a site I use and link to quite often.

Phil Rogers has a story about how a doctor is looking to get the type of success with shoulder reconstruction that you are seeing in elbow reconstruction.

Remember this name for the late rounds of your fantasy draft or perhaps as a midseason pick-up - Tommy Hanson. The Braves prospect is turning heads.

AP Photo

Since I'm like many of you - reduced to reading about baseball instead of watching it - I thought I'd give you a glimpse into some of the stuff I've been finding on the internet over the last few days.

It seems that Ichiro Suzuki is battling a hitting slump as the Japanese team prepares for the World Baseball Classic. Obviously, Ichiro not hitting is mildly newsworthy, but come on, it is spring training. Still, not hitting for the Japanese national team and defending WBC championship team is big news around Japan. And reporters were quite interested in Ichiro's latest game where he went 0-for-5 against the Yomiuri Giants.

The Japan Times has this story on it.

Check out this excerpt ...

Knowing it was just an exhibition and he has time to adjust his issues, Ichiro still had room to smile when he walked through the mixed zone after the game and jokingly responded to reporters' questions by saying, "I can't hear."

But then apparently Ichiro - as he always does - took questions from the Japanese press and had this quote.

"I'm vexed that I've not coming up with (positive) outcomes," Ichiro said. "I think that way every time, but especially in tense games like this I think so indeed."

First of all, kudos for using the word vex. There's just not enough use of it these days.

In keeping with that idea, it does not vex me that the Japanese media is making a big deal about this. I think it’s hard for people to quantify his popularity in Japan. A couple of Japanese reporters compared him to Tiger Woods or Muhammad Ali in that regard. Basically, they said Ichiro could start walking down a block and wouldn’t make it halfway before the crowd that would gather around him would make it impossible.

And he’s keenly aware of this. He knows he’s the face of Japanese baseball. He takes it very seriously. He’s also aware of the pride Japanese baseball fans felt when Japan won the WBC in 2006 and how much his playing affects the chances for a repeat. But it’s more than just representing the country. He also knows the importance of performing when he’s on the field, which he also mentions later in the story.

So that is why he’s a little more frank when discussing the situation.

It’s a far cry to last spring when many of the local media were reduced to writing a similar story about Ichiro being hitless in his first 21 at-bats of the spring. That day, Ichiro and then manager John McLaren were positively vexed when we started asking questions about the situation. Here’s a few quotes from my story:

From McLaren "I know I am obligated to answer these questions, but how many batting titles has he won?"

From Ichiro with a sarcastic grin on his face: "To tell you the truth, some of this is kind of fun," he said. "To be in a situation this early in spring training and have this kind of a little bit intense environment is something I couldn't experience before. Basically, it's a situation where I need to battle within myself mentally. That's something I haven't experienced this time of the year. ... This is great for me."

More Ichiro, well, being Ichiro: "Part of me said, 'Go through so it can be a hit,' " he said. "But the other part of me said, 'Make this an out so the streak can continue.' "

The Daily Yoimiuri Online also had a similar story, which led with Ichiro going o-fer, but also mentions that Kenji Johjima got a two-run single in the game.

Here's another story on Ichiro, dealing with how much media has covered him in preparation for the WBC. It also mentions that some people connected with the Japanese team and a couple of tabloids weren't happy that Ichiro was perceived to have so much influence over the selection of the team's manager.

Okay, enough of this. The guy is going to hit. In fact, I bet he has two hits in the first official WBC game.

Let's go around baseball ...
Staying along the WBC lines, ESPN's Jayson Stark has this preview of the US Team. In the latest roster shuffle, the US has added Nationals closer Joel Hanrahan, newly acquired DH/slowpitch player Adam Dunn and LaTroy Hawkins to the roster to replace B.J. Ryan, Joe Nathan and Grady Sizemore. Um, those odds of having the US as 2-to-1 favorites might need to be modified slightly.

Former Mariner Joel Pineiro is ready to rebound from last season for the Cardinals. Well, I think we've seen that headline before with Joel.

Tim Dierkes of MLBtraderumors.com lists the 45 worst contracts in baseball. Surprisingly, Kenji Johjima's deal made the list.

Ok I'll admit, I saw this post on Larry Stone's blog at the Times. But I thought I would share with you, if only to torture you. But Stephen Strasburg had a pretty solid game the other day, hitting 102 mph six times in one game.

The blog Bleeding Blue and Teal looks at Strasburg's pitching mechanics.

The LA Times has this story about the growing notion of the A's catching the Angels.

ESPN's Jerry Crasnick stopped by Angels camp and wrote about the team's need for more offense. It cost them in the playoffs and now they are missing Mark Teixeira.

Speaking of the Angels, SI ran this excerpt from the book Odd Man Out, written by Matt McCarthy - a former pitching prospect. I found it pretty interesting, but the NY Times has found some factual issues in his reporting for the book.

The A's continued to add their team, signing free agent shortstop Orlando Cabrera. What does this mean for the oft-injured Bobby Crosby?

Cubs manager Lou Piniella wasn't happy with something ESPN analyst Steve Phillips said. Um, Lou, that line forms around the corner and down the street.

From the blogosphere ...
Baseball Analysts has this interesting look at payroll versus wins achieved. Well, it's interesting unless you are an M's fan, then it's just painful.

The Hardball Times released their top 100 baseball prospects along with the rankings of each organization's farm system. For quick reference - Carlos Triunfel 51st, Greg Halman 67th, Phillippe Aumont 71st. Oh and Chris Tillman was 24th.

TNT file photo

Baseball America has released its annual top 100 prospects in baseball list. And the Mariners placed four players in the list - outfielder Greg Halman (57th), outfielder Michael Saunders (65th)(pictured above), shortstop Carlos Triunfel (89th) and pitcher Phillippe Aumont (93rd).

Greg Halman

Their top prospect is Baltimore catcher Matt Wieters with Tampa Bay lefty David Price No. 2. And just to note, right-hander Chris Tillman, who the Mariners gave up in the Erik Bedard trade, is ranked No. 22.

Here's the complete list.

To some it may seem a little odd to see Halman and Saunders ahead of Triunfel, who many people consider to be the top prospect in the organization. But remember these lists are based on a person's opinion and projection. ESPN's Keith Law had Triunfel at No. 22 and Halman at No. 98 in his top 100 list with Aumont and right-hander Juan Ramirez just missing the top 10. Baseball Prospectus also released a top 100 list earlier and has Halman at No. 42, Aumont at No. 61, Saunders at No. 75 and Triunfel not in the top 100.

Carlos Triunfel

Not on any of the lists was catcher Adam Moore, who most of the Mariners organization was raving about earlier this season.

Halman, Saunders and Moore will most likely all start the season off at Triple A Tacoma, and may get late seasons call ups, but really are a year or two away from being big league ready. Triunfel will probably head to Double A West Tennessee and Aumont, who recently said he plans to throw for Canada in the WBC after saying he wasn't going to a month ago, will be with one of the Class A squads.