"[Ibanez] does so much,'' he said. "He's in great physical shape and he spends a great deal of time in the batting cage every day. He's relentless in there.''

Riggleman noted that a shortstop or catcher might not be able to put in that much hitting time. That it might prove detrimental to their defensive game, given the energy it saps from a player's body to do that much cage work. But in Ibanez's case, it merely keeps him as ready as can be.

Ugh, this quote is full of so much Mariner. They're unconcerned about Raul's defense and this quote directly supports the idea that Raul would make a better DH since he already only seems to care about his hitting.

What does that focus do? Keeps Ibanez's head in the game.

Wait, I thought it was playing leftfield that kept his head in the game. Which is it?

Furthermore, Bedard is unlikely to make it back to the mound this month which means there's pretty much no way he gets traded. So... yay! Instead, Miguel Batista returns to the rotation, starting with today in a match up of two of the worst pitchers in baseball this season. So...

ugh.