Mariners Moose Tracks, 10/6/18: Denard Span, Clayton Kershaw, and “The Rib Bundle”

We’re in the thick of it now. After last night’s games we have a pair of favorites pulling away in the National League and a duo of power-heavy juggernauts taking Game 1’s in the American League. Today we get our first fully AL day in the Divisional Series, with Cleveland and Houston in the early afternoon at 1:30 PST and Yankees-Red Sox in the evening at 5:30 PST. Before then, we have links!

In Mariners news...

• Mariners midseason acquisition Denard Span has hired a new agent, moving to All Bases Covered Sports Management. As a reminder, Span has a mutual $12 million option with a $4 million buyout.
• Really jonesing for some Mariners playoff baseball? Back in the strike-shortened 1994 season, Kevin Cremin helped Dave Nieuhaus produce a fake Mariners World Series Game 7. The audio is worth a listen. ($)
• Baseball Prospectus covered the Peoria Javelinas in their Arizona Fall League preview, highlighting 1B Evan White as the clear One To Watch among Seattle’s seven prospects on the team.
• Former Mariners 3B David Bell is in consideration for the several of the open managerial spots.

• Former Mariners’ pitching coach Carl Willis is now the pitching coach for Cleveland. He spoke about incorporating spin axis and pitch shape with David Laurila.
• Robinson Canó provided all his teammates with VIP tickets for them and a plus one to see Jay-Z and Beyonce in Seattle on Thursday night. It appears Jean Segura, Dee Gordon, James Paxton, Mitch Haniger, Marco Gonzales, Casey Lawrence, and some combination of their families’ took him up on the offer.
• Jerry Dipoto had some ponderings about the unsavory ending to the Mariners season, and the ways in which clubhouse chemistry can manifest and dissipate.

“I don’t know what comes first – the cart or the horse, winning and clubhouse chemistry, or losing and clubhouse strife. But I’ve experienced both of those throughout my career and when you’re losing when you’ve had a big season and you had a big lead and it’s spiraling and you’re giving up that lead, it manifests itself in what you saw, which was a group of guys that were struggling to cope with it and deal with it and different people show that in different ways.”

Around the league...

• Apparently the A’s fan who had a beer thrown at him by a Yankees fan had no hard feelings, and the story has a happy ending. The two men became friends, and even went out clubbing together afterwards. They also, apparently, let him get a bit of “revenge”:

• The Red Sox may be without one of their controversial relievers for the playoffs.
• It’s been a rough week for the A’s, as their playoff exit is followed by one of their top pitching prospects - Grant Holmes - being shut down in the instructional leagues with a shoulder issue.
• The Dodgers are rolling in the playoffs with a 2-0 lead, and they appear to be feeding the L.A. faithful right.

• Mike Trout may lose out to Mookie Betts for the official AL MVP vote, but Baseball America chose the Angels CF as their MVP once again.
• If you’ve enjoyed the work done by Liz Roscher at SB Nation’s Phillies aphilliate, The Good Phight, you’ll have to find her at Yahoo Sports. After over seven years at the helm, she’s stepping away.
• A’s reliever and former Mariner Shawn Kelley is strongly considering retirement after this season, despite another strong campaign at age-34.
• Among the many interviewees for the open New York Mets GM position is Kim Ng, who has often been floated as the likeliest candidate to be the first female general manager at the MLB level. To say that would be a tough first gig is an understatement.
• Tigers broadcaster Dan Dickerson took to our fellow site Bless You Boys to look for answers earlier this year to a century-old mystery: who was this that was writing about optimal launch angle in 1883?

John’s picks...

• This seems... dangerous. What was/is your basic beer of choice? Natty Light will always have a special place in my heart, and especially my bank account.