Quoted: I liked “Out of 14 teams, we’re 11th in pitching. And I’ll guarantee some of those people pointing fingers are pitchers … I’d keep my mouth shut if I was somebody saying something and part of that staff. 11th in the league in pitching, I don’t think I’d be saying too much.”

Couldn't have asked for a better debut by Brandon Morrow. He 1-hit the Yankees over a span of 7 2/3 innings.

Quoted: Seattle’s Brandon Morrow overwhelmed the Yankees, allowing a run and a hit while striking out eight with three walks.

Nice to see the emergence of RRS this season and his optimism for next season.

Quoted: I know it sucks that we haven’t done well this year. It’s been tough for everyone. Ignore the negativity you read! There are some great guys in this locker room and we’re gonna have a youth revolution and be strong next year!

This is one of a number of (oddly) intelligent moves the Mariners have made in the past week.

Quoted: The Jose Vidro era ended today when the Mariners designated him for assingment. I just drove by him in the Safeco Field parking lot. I was headed in, he was leaving. The Mariners have 10 days to release, trade or demote Vidro to the minors -- a move he could refuse. Anyhow, he's gone

Very unusual for a pitcher (especially an AL pitcher) to hit a home run. Felix not only hit a home run, but did so with the bases loaded and against one of the best pitchers in baseball.

Quoted: As Jack Buck would say, I cannot believe what I just saw. Felix crushed the first pitch he saw from Johan Santana for a, for a, for a....grand slam. It was the first home run ever hit by a Mariners pitcher.

The carnage continues.

Quoted: As Dave noted earlier, the reason to keep McLaren around would be to let an incoming GM pick their own candidate: if Riggleman does better the rest of the season, which should happen, then the thought is it’s harder to fire him. I’m not sure that’ll deter whoever takes over, of course.

Yuni makes the Onion.

Quoted: Betancourt said of McLaren and not Castro. "He calls team meetings, but he's just doing them to make it seem like he's doing a good job managing. For Christ's sake, he starts Miguel Cairo at first base sometimes.

I agree. We need a GM who a) understands stats/sabermetrics and b) knows how to use these to make decisions given a budget (of $117M in the M's case). This is how baseball works nowadays. If we had such a GM, we wouldn't have signed Washburn and Silva to long term contracts.

Quoted: Whoever comes in cannot continue to suggest in public that the Mariners have one of the top defenses in baseball. They don't. There are too many stats out there suggesting they don't. A new GM has to be able to look at those stats, know what they mean and proceed accordingly. We've all seen what a great defense looks like. And while I didn't think Seattle's defense would make or break this team's playoff chances, you'd never catch me -- in public or private -- calling it one of the top units in the AL.

Sadly, I actually wanted Washburn to get lit up tonight for blaming his poor pitching performances on Kenji. He started this game with Burke instead and has <sarcasm>only</sarcasm> given up 8 runs in 2 ⅓ innings. UPDATE: Make that 9 runs in 2 1/3 innings.

Quoted: Jarrod Washburn sucks. He’s a replacement level starting pitcher, not much better than guys sitting in Triple-A riding buses from Toledo to Durham. Jarrod Washburn doesn’t like pitching to Kenji Johjima, who the team is committed to as their starting catcher through 2011. A real manager, one with some semblance of authority and a willingness to do whats best for his team’s record, would tell the replacement level starting pitcher to learn how to like throwing to Kenji or sit in the bullpen and not pitch.