Justin Smoak's Game Winning Home Run

Well it wasn't quite a walk off but Justin Smoak won the game for the Mariners tonight. Smoak has become the hard hitter that we hoped that he would when he was traded for Cliff Lee, and I have to say he has impressed me quite a bit. We were down 2-0 against Mark Guthrie, who had shut us down all game. Ichiro was able to get on with an error, then Brendan Ryan followed him up with a hit, and then Smoak drove it out of the yard to put us up 3-2 and just half an inning away from a last second victory. 

I have to say that when we traded Cliff Lee I was not happy at the time because of how good of a player we had gotten rid of, but the truth of the matter is that we got a top of the line prspect who was on the cusp of being our best player last year and is almost definitely our best player this year.

His father passed earlier this year, and Smoak went on a hot streak following that time. I am glad to see how well he has done and will be happy to see him continue to flourish. He reminds me a bit of a young Jay Buhner and one day could have forty home run potential if he plays his cards right. It will definitely be interesting to see whether or not he lives up to his potential. A trade for Cliff Lee means that you are a highly touted prospect.

His home run tonight helped him snap out of a cold streak and I am looking forward to see what he is able to do moving forward. Hopefully this will be a turning point. Did anyone see the team react on the sideline after the home run? This is a team that knows how to fight and scrap for the win. 

Seattle Seahawks Best Option at QB

It's clear that the Seattle Seahawks need a new quarterback. Matt Hasselbeck, despite winning a playoff game last year has underperformed and disappointed for most of the last few seasons. Taking a  look at Hasselbeck's stats, you can see that they pretty much speak for themselves for the most part;

CAREER STATSMORE
Season	Team			Passing										Rushing				Fumbles
		G	GS	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Avg	TD	Int	Sck	SckY	Rate	Att	Yds	Avg	TD	FUM	Lost
2010	Seattle Seahawks	14	14	266	444	59.9	3,001	6.8	12	17	29	175	73.2	23	60	2.6	3	7	5
2009	Seattle Seahawks	14	14	293	488	60.0	3,029	6.2	17	17	32	209	75.1	26	119	4.6	0	11	3
2008	Seattle Seahawks	7	7	109	209	52.2	1,216	5.8	5	10	19	119	57.8	11	69	6.3	0	1	0
2007	Seattle Seahawks	16	16	352	562	62.6	3,966	7.1	28	12	33	204	91.4	39	89	2.3	0	9	5

As you can see, Hasselbeck has not thrown more touchdowns than interceptions since 2007. In the last three years he has missed a total of 13 games, nearly an entire season. It is sort of baffling that people still think that he is a viable option and that other teams are actually interested in perusing him during this free agency period. His win the playoffs this last season may have bought him some additional time, but definitely did not make up for his previous seasons. In my opinion, Hasselbeck is nothing more than a solid backup. He might be able to start for a team that doesn't have another viable option at QB, like the Tennessee Titans, but why would a team that is looking to rebuild go with an aging, injury prone quarterback? Just for the discount that he could potentially provide? To me, it's not worth the effort.

The Answer? Carson Palmer.


Carson Palmer wants out of Cincinnati and has informed the team there that he  would be willing to retire rather than come back and play for the team. He played well early in his career but has struggled as of late. The good news? He is two years younger than Matt Hasselbeck and previously worked under Pete Carrol in college, where he was wildly successful. Taking a look at his stats over the course of the past few seasons;

CAREER STATSMORE Season Team Passing Rushing Fumbles G GS Comp Att Pct Yds Avg TD Int Sck SckY Rate Att Yds Avg TD FUM Lost 2010 Cincinnati Bengals 16 16 362 586 61.8 3,970 6.8 26 20 26 201 82.4 32 50 1.6 0 7 3 2009 Cincinnati Bengals 16 16 282 466 60.5 3,094 6.6 21 13 26 213 83.6 39 93 2.4 3 6 2 2008 Cincinnati Bengals 4 4 75 129 58.1 731 5.7 3 4 11 67 69.0 6 38 6.3 0 2 0 2007 Cincinnati Bengals 16 16 373 575 64.9 4,131 7.2 26 20 17 119 86.7 24 10 0.4 0 5 1

While his interception rate is a bit higher than you would like it to be, he only threw three more than Hasselbeck and more than doubled his output in touchdowns. Sure, he had a couple of great receivers aiding him, but Seattle has a young receiving core that could really takeoff this year with a little bit of effort.

At only 31, Palmer has a few more years left in hi and other than 2008, he has not shown that he is prone to injury. If Carrol could stress to him the importance of making the right decisions, then he would be an excellent fit here in Seattle.