Thursday Quote: Leadership is Contagious

"Leaders don't create followers, they create more leaders." ~Tom Peters

That quote sums up what Ibanez has done (or hasn't done) this year. He hasn't come up in the big situations and hasn't put up big numbers. His season is just now starting, and I believe it's way too late for him to have a decent shot at keeping his spot next year. He is aging. Adam Jones is here. The youth in this organization is taking over. A few players come to mind...

Meet Yuniesky Betancourt, age 25. He is absolutely tearing the cover off the ball as of late. He's hitting a sizzling hot .349 since the All-Star break. His career line shows he's a 2nd half hitter too. Batting average is an overrated stat though. His RISP, RISP <2> against the Angels the young man is hitting .364, which is what we need when we go in playing the team whose occupying the division lead by 3.5 games.

Meet Adrian Beltre, age 28. For the first time in his Mariners career, he might hit above his career average. For the first time in his Mariner career he might reach 100+ RBIs. For the 2nd time in his career he might hit above 25 HRs (don't cross fingers for 48 unless you want steroid talks to pop up in Seattle). No, he doesn't have the RISP or men on base average stats that Yuni has got going for him, but he's got the RBIs that Yuni can't get. 44 of his 67 RBIs have come with men on base, and 24 of those 44 have come with 2-men out. His offense, yes has been a bust in Seattle, and that should have been expected. However, he is definitley worth the price tag for his stellar defense. I've heard grumblings during Fox Saturday Baseball Game of the Week numberous times this year that Eric Chavez is no longer the glove standard at 3rd base, Adrian Beltre is.

Meet the Mariner bullpen, average age (of the selected players, who were required to be on the ESPN Roster and active when checked) is 25. I don't think I can praise them enough. The easiest player by far to talk about would be J.J. Putz. He's the best closer in baseball, and his name is still going throughout the ball world and through Cy Young talks. However, Sean Green, George Sherrill and Eric O'Flaherty are the real heroes of this bullpen. They are the ones who get the ball to Putz in order to make us "Thunderstruck" and give us the win.