Mariners rebuild for a better 2007 - 美國職棒

Mariners rebuild for a better 2007
Seattle adds two arms and two bats to roster in busy offseason

水手正在重建中，期待2007年有更好的一年

SEATTLE -- There's always a chance the Mariners will add a player or two
before the start of Spring Training but, at this point, it appears the
roster is all but set for 2007.

在春訓前，水兵還有可能增加一到兩個人上船，但是2007的輪值表應該更動不大。

Following a busy offseason that saw Seattle add two starting pitchers to
a rotation that needed help and two bats to an struggling offense,
Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi was asked if these upgrades make
Seattle a better team than the 2006 one that won 78 games.

水兵在休季期間，豬頭B努力在球隊球員上面增加了兩個SP與兩個進攻的點，希望
2007的這個陣容能贏過2006年。

"Our lineup is better," Bavasi said. "Our rotation is different. I'm not
sure it's better, but it's different and it's certainly not worse. We
have a rotation that might have a different approach to the game, and
maybe that's an upgrade. But we certainly think we're as good and
possibly better. We know our lineup is much better."

豬頭B認為我們的打線變的更好，投手輪值方面也不一樣，但是並不確定是否更好，
但是它並不會更差。

Seattle added left-hander Horacio Ramirez, right-hander Miguel Batista,
right fielder Jose Guillen and designated hitter Jose Vidro during an
offseason haul that saw the team busy reconstructing its roster.

投手方面，增加了勇士換來的小拉米，並簽下了Batista這個老將，野手方面則新
增了RF的Guillen與跟國民換來DH的Vidro，重新打造2007年的輪值。

But will these moves be enough to get Seattle out of last place in the
American League West -- a position it's occupied the last three seasons?

但是這些足以讓水手脫離爐主的地位嗎？

"I really believe that what we're doing is the right thing," Seattle
manager Mike Hargrove said. "How soon it's going to go the direction we
want it to, to the extent that we want it to, who knows? I believe in
what we're doing, in the direction we're going. I have every confidence
we'll get this turned around."

Hargrove相信現在豬頭B走在正確的路上，並有自信的認為慢慢走向對的路線。

Guillen, a career .272 hitter with 143 home runs, had his most successful
season while in the American League West with the Angels in 2004, when he
hit .294 with 27 home runs and 104 RBIs. He's coming off major elbow
surgery but has been taking batting practice since October. He'll be the
everyday right fielder.

Guillen生涯打擊率平均為.272，143隻Hr。在天使的那一年(2004)則為生涯代表作
.294的打擊率，27發hr，104分的打點，雖然後來手肘受了傷，但是在10月份他又
恢復打擊練習，現在則順利可以防守右外野。

Vidro is a former All-Star and a career .301 hitter who has been hampered
by injuries the last two seasons. But he won't be encumbered with having
to play in the field. Instead, he will do what he's done best throughout
his career -- hit, as Vidro will be the full-time designated hitter.

Vidro則是前明星球員，生涯打擊率有.301，雖然上兩季因傷所困，但未來並不會
讓他上場防守，他主要的功能則是擔任全職的DH，這是他的強項。

Ramirez gives the Mariners another left-hander in the starting rotation.
He's a groundball pitcher who could fare well at Safeco Field. Batista
is an innings-eater, something Seattle wanted desperately to aid a bullpen
that was overworked in 2006.

小拉米則替水兵先發輪值上帶來另外一個左投，他的滾地球應該可在Safeco Field
過的更好，水兵則希望Batista可以替牛棚多吃幾局，因為去年的牛棚燃燒過度啦。

Hargrove is also encouraged that several of his returning players are on
the upswing, like third baseman Adrian Beltre, pitcher Felix Hernandez,
second baseman Jose Lopez and shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt.

Hernandez won 12 games in his first full Major League season. Lopez made
the All-Star team and the glove-strong Betancourt flirted with a .300
batting average. Hargrove also thinks that Beltre -- who enjoyed a strong
second half -- might be on the verge of some very big things in 2007.

Hargrove也鼓勵貝爾吹、King、Lopez跟Batancourt這幾名球員能夠再造高峰。
在去年球季，King在他第一個完整球季贏得12場比賽，Lopez則入選了明星賽，
防守見長的Betancourt則曾達到.300的打擊率，貝爾吹則是需扛起他的責任。

"You know, he's a much more efficient hitter," Hargrove said of Beltre.
"He didn't swing at pitches out of the strike zone nearly as often, used
the whole field and drove the ball to right-center field more
consistently than he had."

Hargrove提起貝爾吹，認為他應該打個更好，希望他能夠盡量把球往外野打去。

Grading on a curve:
The Mariners followed through on their offseason directive to add two
starting pitchers (Ramirez and Batista) to the rotation for 2007, though
they missed out on landing a top-tier free agent -- like Jason Schmidt
-- when the market for pitching turned, as Bavasi said, "volcanic,"
shortly after Adam Eaton signed a three-year, $24 million contract with
the Phillies. The Mariners also made two moves to bolster an offense that
was shut out 15 times in 2006 by adding free agent outfielder Guillen to
a one-year deal. Guillen, a low-risk signing, missed most of the 2006
season after having major elbow surgery. The Mariners took a bigger risk
in trading for 31-year-old designated hitter Vidro, who is owed $12
million over the next two seasons and whose slugging percentage and OPS
have dropped in each of the last five seasons. In obtaining Vidro,
Seattle gave up two players with promising futures in OF Chris Snelling
and RHP Emiliano Fruto. If Guillen can return to old form, Vidro stays
healthy and is in shape, and Batista is the innings-eater the Mariners
hope he is, the 2007 season might be better than expected. If not, it
could be a long season. Grade on a scale of 1 to 10: 4.

水手雖然增加了兩位SP，但是也失去了FA上的大魚，像是Schmidt、Eaton。
野手方面雖然增加了兩位Slugger，但是兩位球員也都有隱憂，像是Guillen
手肘傷勢是否真的完全恢復？Vidro也已經31歲了，未來兩季則需負擔他的12M
薪資，而他的SLG與OPS在過去五季持續下滑中。而為了獲得Vidro，農場也付出
了Snelling與Fruto這兩位球員。如果明年這些球員都可以如預期的出賽，那對
2007的水手來說，依然大有可為，但是如果有人出包了，那可能就是囧rz囉，
若以10分為最高分，今年豬頭B可以得到4分。

Arrivals: RHP Batista (free agent), LHP Ramirez (trade), RHP Sean White
(trade), DH Vidro (trade), OF Guillen (free agent).

2007新加入的選手：FA的Batista與Guillen，交易的有Ramirez、White與Vidro。

Departures: RHP Rafael Soriano (trade), OF Snelling (trade), RP Fruto
(trade), RHP Joel Pineiro (non-tender), DH Eduardo Perez (non-tender),
RHP Gil Meche (free agent), RHP Jorge Campillo (released).

2007失去的選手：交易出去的Soriano、Snelling、Fruto，non-tender的有
Pineiro、Perez，FA沒留下的Meche與被釋出的Campillo。

The road ahead: The Mariners will continue to look for help for their
depleted bullpen, now that they have traded one of the best setup men in
the American League (Soriano) and that they'll be without rookie fireballer
Mark Lowe (elbow surgery) until at least the All-Star break, if not longer.
Seattle was thought to be looking for a veteran catcher to ease the
workload on Kenji Johjima, but it appears it'll go with Rene Rivera as
the backup in 2007.

接下來水手應該還是會加強牛棚部分，因為大黑柱這麼猛的setup已經轉隊，火球男
Lowe則去開手肘。另外水手應該還會找個有經驗的捕手來幫忙喬治馬，以目前看來
應該還是Rivera先頂一頂。

Season in Preview 輪值表預測
A lot can change by Opening Day, but as 2006 becomes 2007, this is who is
projected to take the field for the Mariners:
CF Ichiro Suzuki
3B Adrian Beltre
LF Raul Ibanez
1B Richie Sexson
DH Jose Vidro
RF Jose Guillen
C Kenji Johjima
2B Jose Lopez
SS Yuniesky Betancourt

SP Felix Hernandez
SP Jarrod Washburn
SP Miguel Batista
SP Horacio Ramirez
SP Jake Woods/Cha Seung Baek
CL J.J. Putz

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另一問：non-tender該怎麼翻會比較恰當？

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