These M’s are ripping hope right out of our hearts

A GRIP ON SPORTS • In the eighth-inning break last night, I began to think the M’s just could be all right. After all, they had received a great start from James Paxton, had rallied to take a 4-2 lead and were turning the game over to the bullpen. Hope was springing. Read on

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• You know what happened next. Danny Farquhar couldn’t find the plate, Lloyd McClendon decided not to replace him, the Angels tied the game and then the M’s lost it in the bottom of the ninth. Hope is overrated. As are the M’s this season. Especially at the top. Let’s face it. This team isn’t built correctly – and its managed poorly. To illustrate the former, we’ll use this week’s scapegoat, Brad Miller. If anyone in the lineup not named Nelson Cruz had reached his potential in the first month of the season, it was probably Miller. In his 76 at-bats, he has 19 hits, including six for extra bases. More importantly, he has eight RBIs, third-most on the team. Let that sink in for a moment. On a team with Cruz, Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager, Logan Morrison and a whole bunch of bought-on-the-cheap outfielders, Miller was your third-best run producer. Yet, when the manager or general manger or whomever decided to shake up the lineup, your best option is to bench Miller and call up Chris Taylor? Really? A guy who may have trouble hitting his way out of a wet paper bag is your savior? And now you are trying to make Miller an outfielder ? Because that worked so well with Dustin Ackley (hitting a robust .182 right now, which is exceptional considering he’s hitting .000 with runners in scoring position) and Rickie Weeks (hitting right at the Mendoza Line)? You move Miller from shortstop because he’s defense is suspect, right? He’s made four errors, the same as Golf Glove third baseman Seager. And Miller has handled a lot more chances. Sure, no one is going to mistake Miller for Ozzie Smith, but he’s not awful. Not on a team searching for offense. The M’s need every run they can score these days, because the bullpen isn’t what it was in the good old days. By that, I mean last season. That group made McClendon (434-537 in seven years as a manager) look like he knew what he was doing in the only winning season of McClendon’s career. This year, not so much. Take last night for instance. It was obvious from the get-go Farquhar didn’t have his best stuff. He had trouble locating from the first pitch to Mike Trout. In a game the M’s had to win to build momentum, a quick hook was in order. Guys were ready in the pen. Three outs gets you to Fernando Rodney, as sure a thing as the M’s have right now. But McClendon decided a pep talk was as good as change. Nope, it wasn’t. Farquhar let the lead slip away, McClendon let the game slip away and, now, the season is in danger of doing the same thing. And the big change is to move Miller to the outfield. Yep, that will make all the difference in the world. And we all thought this was going to be the year. I feel like a sucker. It can still happen. If it does, great. But I’m not holding my breath. And hope? It’s staying in my back pocket. At least until Brad Miller is starting in left field.

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• WSU: Thank goodness for college baseball. Jacob Thorpe has his weekly notebook on the sport no one ever second-guesses. Ya, right. … The Pac-12 spring meetings are going on this week and there is a lot to discuss .

• Softball: John Blanchette has a nice feature on Janet Skaife, who is stepping down this year as SFCC’s softball coach.

• Preps: It’s playoff season for spring sports and Jim Allen has 3A district soccer coverage. … Chris Derrick offers his weekly softball notebook . … Coeur d’Alene won the 5A regional baseball title yesterday.

• Seahawks: No matter what you think of the Hawks’ draft and off-season changes, they still remain the favorite to win next year’s Super Bowl. That’s according to Las Vegas. … The road to that game begins this week with rookie mini-camp. Expect the media to be out in force for that, what with Frank Clark involved. … The prosecutor in his domestic violence case spoke with the Seattle Times about the outcome of the case. … Why Clark? John McGrath feels he knows . … Jermaine Kearse is officially signed up for next year . … There were a few roster changes yesterday.

• Mariners: OK, here’s the bad news. The M’s lost 5-4 on a walk-off home run by an Angel rookie . The good news? Miller is “frustrated” by the change , but he’s going to do what he’s told .

• Sounders: Obafemi Martins is the MLS player of the week . Two goals and an assist in New York probably is the reason. … Seattle is the best – and most fun – team in the MLS right now. … Sigi Schmid wishes the salary cap were higher . Of course, his team has money. And a lot of players already.

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• If anything happens to me over the next few months, just blame the M’s on my tombstone. Until later …