Gonzaga Bulldogs: Zags Land Coveted Transfer Johnathan Williams III, Improve National Title Aspirations

After bolstering adding transfers/impact players Kyle Wiltjer and Byron Wesley to a team that would eventually make the Elite Eight, Gonzaga coach Mark Few is at it again. Johnathan Williams III, Missouri’s leading scorer (11.9 points per game) and rebounder (7.1 boards per game) last season, has decided to transfer to GU.

(Insert embedded Instagram thing of Williams decision here).

He’ll have to sit next season out per NCAA transfer rules, but will be eligible for the 2016/2017 season where he will give Gonzaga a legitimate chance at a national title. Joining him in ‘16/’17 will be fellow coveted transfer Nigel Williams-Goss (who joined from Washington) and talented point guard Josh Perkins. Williams will likely be joined in the frontcourt by Domantas Sabonis (assuming he sticks around), center Ryan Edwards and talented recruit Zach Collins. Collins is already listed by ESPN as a top-60 recruit, and his stock will only rise from here. He may well enter Gonzaga as a five-star recruit when all is said and done.

In addition to Williams III, Perkins, Williams-Goss, Sabonis, Collins and Edwards, GU will return Silas Melson and Bryan Alberts, both with an added year of experience under their belts.

Last season’s Elite Eight team was widely regarded as one of, if not the most talented team in Gonzaga history. This group may surpass them and take GU to the Final Four and a national championship.

3 Stats from the Seattle Mariners 7-2 Loss vs the New York Yankees

  • One

The number of hits by Mariners first baseman Logan Morrison in four at-bats. The Former Marlin also added a strikeout. In a surprising move, he hit leadoff.

  • Seven

The number of runs allowed by Felix Hernandez in 4.2 innings pitched. King Felix suffered only his second loss of the season, also allowing six hits, five walks and a home run. He only struck out four.

  • Zero

The number of runs allowed by the M’s after Felix exited. Mayckol Guaipe and Dominic Leone pitched a combined 4.1 innings, allowing one hit while striking out four.

On this Date in 1979: The Seattle SuperSonics Won the NBA Finals

On this day back in 1979, the Seattle SuperSonics won the NBA Finals, defeating the Washington Bullets in five games after losing to the Bullets in the previous year’s finals. It represents one of three major sport titles in Seattle history, the others being the 1917 Stanley Cup (captured by the Seattle Metropolitans, the first American team to do so) and the Seahawks’ recent Super Bowl win. Dennis Johnson won Finals MVP.

Here’s hoping Seattle gets another NBA Championship.

Bring them back indeed!

5 Stats from the Seattle Mariners 6-3 Loss to the Cleveland Indians

  • Five

The number of hits by the Mariners in 12 innings. The M’s were lucky the game lasted as long as it did as Cleveland accumulated 18 hits and 25 baserunners total. Seattle had only five hits in 40 plate appearances.

  • Seven

The number of relievers used by Seattle after five solid innings from J.A. Happ. Tom Wilhelmsen, Charlie Furbush, Carson Smith, Joe Beimel, Fernando Rodney, Mark Lowe and Dominic Leone all recorded outs in relief.

  • Three

The number of Mariners to reach base more than once. Nelson Cruz and his eyebrows had a hit and a walk, as did Logan Morrison. Kyle Seager drew two walks to round out the trio.

  • 17

The number of pitches seen by leftfielder Justin Ruggiano. He struck out three times in three at-bats.

  • 11

The number of strikeouts by the M’s as a team. Of the 13 Mariners batters to register an at-bat, Wellington Castillo, Richie Weeks, Willie Bloomquist and Dustin Ackley were the only Seattle hitters not to strikeout. Weeks and Bloomquist went a combined 0-for-2 and saw a total of four pitches.

Players in the NBA Finals with Washington State/Seattle Connections

Cleveland Cavaliers:

Joe Harris

Joe Harris was born in Chelan, Washington and attended the University of Virginia where he played for four years under former Washington State head coach Tony Bennett. The former All-ACC performer has per-game averages of 2.7 points, .8 rebounds and .5 assists in his first season in Cleveland and in the league.

The former Virginia standout has only appeared in four games for Cleveland this postseason. This mainly has to do with Harris being a rookie on a team with a loaded backcourt. Harris didn’t appear in the first-round sweep of Boston, but did get into tow tames in each series against the Bulls and Hawks. He missed his only shot against the Bulls while scoring seven points in eight minutes in two games against the Hawks. The majority of his numbers came in the Game Four clincher when he tallied all seven of his points to go along with a rebound an assist. He made both his free throws and his only three pointer.

 

Golden State Warriors:

Justin Holiday

The brother of Jrue Holiday, Justin played his collegiate ball at the University of Washington and has played for pro teams everywhere from Belgium to Hungary to Idaho. The wing has stuck on the Warriors’ roster where he’s scored 4.3 points a game and 1.2 rebounds per contest.

Similar to Harris, Holiday is buried on the bench thanks to a ridiculously talented backcourt. He’s appeared in four postseason games so far, totaling three points. He scored those points in a win over Memphis. He’s played less than ten minutes this postseason.

Seattle Mariners Acquire Welington Castro: Breaking Down the Trade

The Seattle Mariners made a move bolster their offense and production at the catcher position, bringing in veteran backstop Welington Castro from the Chicago Cubs. The M’s traded reliever Yoervis Medina to Chicago in return.

On the surface the move seems reasonable. The M’s could use reinforcements behind the plate thanks to the offensive struggles of Mike Zunino (.179 batting average) and Jesus Sucre (.067).

For his part, Castro will provide an upgrade over Sucre, and is at worst a time-share option with Zunino.

The now former Cub’s best seasons came in 2012 and 2013 when he hit .271 with 13 home runs and 54 RBI over 165 games. That’s all fine and well until you consider his stat line since: 134 games, 15 home runs, 51 RBI, 114 strikeouts and a .229 batting average (including a .163 mark this season). Castro had a WAR of 4.5 in 2013, but has been worth a -0.1 WAR this year.

Even if Castro doesn’t return to his 2012/2013 form, production somewhere between that and his struggles this season should provide the M’s with an upgrade at catcher. The price paid to bring in that potential upgrade was… interesting.

Yoervis Medina, owner of a sparkling 2.82 ERA over 137 innings pitched, was moved to the Windy City in the transaction. Granted the reliever hasn’t been himself this year with lower strikeout rates, an increasing walk rate and more hits allowed per nine innings. Additionally, his WHIP and FIP are both up from last season. Basically Medina’s numbers have gone up in all the places you’d like them to go down and down in all the places you’d like them to go up.

Still, Medina has a 3.00 ERA this season in the big leagues and a 1.59 number with Triple-A Tacoma. It would be a different story if the M’s bullpen was the well-oiled machine that it was in years past, but this year it simply hasn’t been as stellar.

Carson Smith and Charlie Furbush have both put up numbers reminiscent of past year’s bullpens, but after that there are question marks. Fernando Rodney remains the team’s closer, but is sporting an ugly 5.65 ERA in 14.1 innings pitched. He has nine saves. Danny Farquhar isn’t far behind with a 4.74 ERA. Other ERA eyesores include Tyler Olson and Dominic Leone (5.40 ERA each). Tom Wilhelmsen, Joe Beimel and Mark Lowe all have ERAs under three, but have collectively thrown 14 innings.

Despite Medina’s dip in certain statistical areas, he would still provide a better option than some of the M’s recent options, including four pitchers with ERAs over 4.70.

The addition of Castro is a solid one, one that will pay dividends for the Mariners, but you can’t deal a promising reliever, minor struggles and all, when the rest of the bullpen is performing… well, how they’re performing.

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All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.