The problem is ... they get "cold" way too often.

No consistency with this team.

Ackley has looked awful this year. His approach is bad, and he strikes out too much for someone who all we heard about before was how good his approach and contact rates are.

Ackley is going thru the sophmore slump.The pitchers have adjusted to him now either he adjusts or he is in trouble, time will tell.

One thing I notice about Ackley is that he takes too many pitches while waiting for one that he likes. Often times he will take a couple of fast balls right down the middle and he gets behind in the count. Then the pitcher will throw him a breaking ball and he will swing and miss. Or they might just throw him a fast ball and catch him looking for the curve. I would like to see him start swinging at good pitches early in the count.

He just doesn't seem to be aggressive at the plate like Mike Saunders has become. I think that Chris Chamblis should spend more time with Ackley. He has good mechanics and I think he can become a good hitter like everyone expects. He just needs to make some positive adjustments.

"No consistency with this team."

It's a young team. They're going to be streaky. Every one of them has demonstrated a certain level of "hotness" and "coldness". Which makes what Saunders is doing that much more heartwarming. Though he hasn't played three full seasons, he's had three seasons worth of ups and downs, adjustments, modifications, and just basically time to figure stuff out. Now he's showing what he can do.

Sometimes it takes a while. I don't know why people are so fixated on young players coming in and being all stars immediately. They're going to struggle as the league figures them out and as they try to modify their approach to adjust. Ackley's going through it right now; he publicly stated to Shannon Drayer that he knows what the league is doing to him to get him out, and he's trying to adjust.

I've said it before, and nobody appears to be listening, so let me say it again sixty times:

Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time. Give them time.

Okay?

Its been 10 years! And even though most of the young players we're counting on aren't even 24 years old and have only been in the organization 2-3 years THEY MUST PERFORM NOW!

I think that pretty much all Mariners fans (except the liars that say they didn't) had written Michael Saunders off coming into this year.

Then what's Bryce Harper's excuse? I'm only 19 with and I'm hitting BA .303 OBP.384 SLUG.548 OPS .933. This is my second year out of junior college. Give me a break.

I hadn't written him off, I just didn't expect him to turn it around so quickly. Guy's still young as heck. He could have toiled in Tacoma for another 4 years and still ended up the next Mike Morse for all we know. To put it another way, you don't give up on guys that tear up AAA at age 22. Especially not after a couple hundred bad at bats in the major leagues at age 23 and 24. Plenty of guys don't become useful pieces until their late twenties. That he's useful now is just awesome for us.

He's a freak of nature that has been projected to do well since he was still in highschool. Like Strasburg or Arod or Griffey some guys are just on a different level. Now we just sit back and see if he turns into a HOFer or fizzles out due to injury or lack of effort.

I really hope you aren't comparing Smoak or Carp or even Ackley to Harper. Just not the same man.

Saunders is about where you want to see him turn it around. But, you would have to say that the overwhelming majority of people had written him off. I don't know if I totally wrote him off, but I sure didn't have high expectations.

As for the Harper thing, of course I am joking. The Nats got so lucky to have the #1 pick in two years where there was a freak of nature that was light years ahead of everyone else in the draft in terms of talent. Harper is an intense dude (as you saw in his most recent interview and his little tantrums in runway). I don't see effort ever being a problem with him because he is all about baseball. Injuries to me are the only wild card between him and a HOF career.

There are a lot of teams that would love to have a 24 year old center fielder hitting .282/.350/.474. That's quite good when you consider most people think players primes aren't until 28-30 years old.

Oh, you mean the best hitting prospect since Alex Rodriguez? Those Mariners guys should be ashamed of themselves for not being generational talents!

Given the statistic fetish that people have now in baseball, I'm surprised that more stats haven't be produced to reflect age. Honestly, in my opinion, some of these guys are much closer to their potential than you think. I understand the concept of patience, but honestly these guys should be showing a little more than they are on a consistent basis if the Mariners are going to be contenders in the next 2-3 years.

Here is one piece to suggest that the youth thing is sort of a myth and another WAR chart that shows that more players do have success after 27, but it't not probably as many as you or I would have thought. I know they aren't the best sources, but it was all I could find.

http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/baseball/flb/story?page=age27myth
http://www.pinstripealley.com/2012/2/11/2791595/prime-time-when-does-a-players-career-reach-its-peak

Obviously, I had my sarcasm font on there, Einstein.

I understand where you're coming from and I agree. When I say peak I just mean that they will be BETTER at that age, not that they are going to take some major leap. If Saunders is an .850 OPS bat now then at his peak I would hope for maybe one or two .900 OPS seasons or at least .880. Not some huge jump, just an increase with experience while his physical talents are at their best.

Awwwwwwww yeah. Gonna get swept at home by the worst team in baseball.

Another year. Another embarrassment.

AWWWW YEAAAAH!!

Ackley needs to do whatever he needs to do to stop flat out s*cking as well.

I got home from a late shift and checked out the MLB Gameday and saw that Iwakuma came in for one batter, the batter got a single, and Wedge pulled Iwakuma. What the f... was that about?