Ryan Rowland-Smith

Ryan Rowland-Smith Been following this all season... Why does this guy keep a starting pitching spot for any team in Major League Baseball? He only makes $420k per season so it isn't like he is being paid so much that the M's can't afford to not allow him time to work on his craft. The guy is putrid, horrid, atrocious. I would lay money that he couldn't hold an ERA under 4.00 in double A. Going into today 85.2 innings pitched, 142 hits/walks combined (1.67 hits/walks per INNING), 17 HOME RUNS (Almost 2 per 9 innings pitched!!!), and an ERA of 6.20.... Today he has pitched 2 innings and already allowed 4 hits and 4 runs (2 unearned because he is also one of the worst fielding pitchers in baseball and committed a throwing error)... He is almost 28 years old, averages only slightly more than 80 pitches per outing, has a 1-9 record (about to be 1-10), and his opponents batting average is .303!!!!!!! Seattle is 35-55. Are they trying to say that they have no-one in their farm system or no-one in the bullpen who can improve their starting pitching rotation by simply having a pulse on the mound? This is becoming one of the most mind boggling situations of sticking with a hack who has absolutely no chance of being successful that any team of any sport has ever seen... This has surpassed the Raiders and Al Davis' admiration for Jarmarcus Russell 10 fold already.

The draft looks good next year. Tanking is less noticeable in baseball than any of the other major sports, except perhaps hockey, but likely no one is ready in Tacoma or wherever their AAA is. If the ownership is cheap it could also be a cost-cutting move. (You know how Longoria started his rookie season in AAA? It puts off his whatever it is by a year (arbitration or free agency eligibility or whatever). When they traded Cliff Lee, they essentially said it wasn't worth the trouble to field the best team any more, and thoughts have shifted to the draft.