Around the 'Net: Beat writer takes M's management to task

Seattle Times M's beat writer Geoff Baker continues to show why he was a great hire by the paper after Bob Sherwin retired last year. The guy just gets how a blog can enhance his coverage of the team, and his is the best blog to come Seattle fans' way since Mike Sando's Seahawks Insider.

But where Sando mostly sticks to straight reporting with solid analysis (and with good reason), Baker often will veer into commentary -- a welcome stance in the day-to-day duldrums of the marathon of a 162-game season.

Yesterday, he took the M's management to task for not just putting Cha Seung Baek in the rotation to begin the year, analysis I think was spot on.

Baker doesn't claim to have known that Baek would be so effective, and neither do I. But he says that those who get paid to see these things coming should have, and that's as much of an indictment on GM Bill Bavasi and the M's front office than anything else: They just have been absolutely abysmal at evaluating talent and the relative value of said talent.

"Hard to believe the Mariners did not want [Baek] in their starting rotation to begin the year," Baker writes. "I mean, that 4-1 record last fall, did anybody see it? Baek had fifth starter material written all over him. I can understand the temptation to throw $8.3 million at Jeff Weaver. Theoretically, he could have been an improvement had he pitched like he did for St. Louis in the post season.

"Could have, but didn't. So, the team is out $8 million and finally has the right guy in the rotation. Should the M's be criticized for this? Absolutely. They underestimated Baek's talent and overestimated Weaver's. And cost their owner big bucks, not to mention all those lost games.

"Sure, it's hindsight. But plenty of people in that front office are paid top dollar to make accurate assessments. A Mariners team with three rotation vacancies could have saved itself plenty of headaches by filling one of those spots with a no-brainer internal move. That way, perhaps, the team could have been a little more discriminating with how it went about plugging the remaining two openings. Instead, they've got two underperformers on the DL and Miguel Batista."

Ouch. But right on.

Here are some other interesting things I ran across while surfing the 'Net on this lazy Sunday afternoon:

• Caron Butler is a stud. Not that I think athletes should do stuff like this all the time -- they have lives, just like we do -- but how much better of a place would our world be if more athletes realized how they can make someone's day with the simplest of gestures? How can you not read this and not think Butler is a great guy?
  
• A little Ichiro note to make you laugh, in case you missed it, courtesy M's Insider Larry LaRue.
• The Cougars continue to make inroads in basketball recruiting, showing they might not just be a flash in the pan under coach Tony Bennett. Getting Michael Harthun isn't exactly like landing Spencer Hawes or Quincy Pondexter, but it's a far cry from landing B-listers like Nick Graham and Justin Lyman ...
  

AROUND THE 'NET: Brockman named Pac-10 player of the week; Is Tony Bennett hot?

Stuff I ran across while surfing the Internet this morning ...

-- MUCH TO THE SURPRISE of this blogger, who was sure he had won the award earlier this year, Jon Brockman picked up his first Pac-10 player of the week award yesterday after his inspired performances against Cal and Stanford. Even more surprising? Brockman and WSU forward Daven Harmeling are friends. They call each other after games.

Is that even allowed?

Proposed man law: No current Cougar shall be friends with a current Husky unless one of the following criteria apply: a) Said players were friends before beginning their respective college careers; or b) Said Cougar actually has more player of the week awards than said Husky and thus may rub it in the Husky player's face, especially when said Husky is a former McDonald's All-American.

Harmeling has two player of the week awards this year, therefore I fully support this proposal. Man law?

-- APPARENTLY, TONY BENNETT is a hot commodity in more ways that one. Most of us Cougar fans worry about Bennett skipping town in a year or two for a fat contract from a university that can outspend WSU. And while the vast majority of us are concerned about the high level of basketball continuing beyond this year, there are some Coug fans who worry about his departure for a different reason.

They think he's cute.

Jim Moore of the Seattle P-I -- the Go 2 Guy -- has a humorous piece this morning on Bennett's good looks through the eyes of his wife, Laurel, who takes it all in good fun. It's a great read, whether you're a Coug fan or not.

-- IF YOU'RE A COLLEGE HOOPS JUNKIE, there is no more vital read each week than ESPN.com's Weekly Watch, which takes readers around the country for the week that was in college basketball. It looks at majors, mid-majors and small majors alike. It's great for getting geared up for the NCAA Tournament, when you're wondering who the next Gonzaga or George Mason. (It's Davidson, by the way.)

AROUND THE 'NET: An early look at Selection Sunday, and a look at early commitments

Ever sit there on Selection Sunday -- which incidentally, is just one month from today -- and say to yourself: "I can't believe that team made it in the field! That other team is so much more deserving of that spot. It's a no-brainer! What in the heck was the committee thinking?!?"

I have. And so has ESPN.com writer Pat Forde. That's precisely why the NCAA asked Forde and 19 other members of the United States Basketball Writers Association to come to Indianapolis and participate in a simulated Selection Sunday, presumably to get these writers off their backs a month from now.

It seems to have worked. Wrote Forde:

We the media had a deadline to produce our own mock NCAA Tournament bracket for a mock selection show, and we blew it. By about 95 minutes. We nearly turned Selection Sunday into Selection Monday.

And we're pretty good at making deadlines. It's what we do for a living.

But this was different.

This was, as the NCAA surely predicted we know-it-alls would learn, harder than it looks.

Forde, ESPN.com colleague Andy Katz and CBS SportsLine's Dennis Dodd emerged from the process with a genuine appreciation for what the committee goes through in making its decisions. And they each wrote about the process -- fascinating stuff if you're a fan of college basketball. Forde's story is more of an overall look at what it's like trying to make the decisions; Katz's story is pretty much a blow-by-blow look at the event. You can find them here -- if you've only got time to read one, read Forde's:

• "What I Learned From Bracket Camp," by Pat Forde, ESPN.com
• "Here's How It All Went Down," by Andy Katz, ESPN.com
• "Bracketed: Media walk awhile in selection committee's shoes," by Dennis Dodd, CBS.Sportsline.com
  

Additionally, there was another cool story in the Seattle Times this morning by Bud Withers, who examined the phenominon of early commitments in college basketball. With the proliferation of AAU teams, kids are being actively recruited as early as their freshman year of high school, and committing not long after.

While it seems a bit disturbing to most people, I think it's actually not all that bad for the college basketball game. I think it's one of the reasons you've seen mid-majors become so darn good over the past few years: They pick up on the late bloomers who fly under the radar, the guys who actually make it to their senior years without having committed. I think programs who regularly practice what Withers is talking about set themselves up for problems.

• "How Early Is Too Early?" by Bud Withers, The Seattle Times