Seth Kolloen starting covering sports for Seattlest in January 2005. Late last year he took over as editor, before leaving us to become the editor of the brand new Sports Northwest Magazine. We caught up with Seth poolside at the W Hotel to discuss the move to press row, his sports blog, and why he won’t be calling Maggie Gyllenhaal any time soon. How did you get involved with the new magazine? In one sense,......

Let's just say, for the sake of argument, that you perform badly at your job this year. Not just sort-of badly, but worse than any person in the history of your company. In fact, you have one of the thirteen worst performances in the history of your industry. Would you expect a raise? What about a $100,000 raise? And, again, for the sake of argument, let's say you got that raise. How motivated would you......

The Mariners announced yesterday that Manager John McLaren and General Manager Bill Bavasi will both be back next year. McLaren took over in mid-season, the team was 40-41 under his guidance. 2008 will be Bavasi's fourth year as Mariners GM. Out in blogland, they've been calling for McLaren's head since the M's went on a 15 of 17 losing jag, one of the biggest collapses by a contending team in baseball history. The main complaint:......

Mariner big leaguers are feeling good with the team at 13 games over .500, but if they belonged to an M's farm team, they'd be expecting a pink slip. Future Mariners, you see, aren't supposed to try to win too much. So says Greg Hunter, the Mariners' director of minor-league and scouting operations:A good gauge is .500. You want your clubs to be somewhere around there, whether it's a few games above or below. You......

Vitals: Gregory Alan Maddux, 41 yo RHP. Born in San Angelo, Texas. 6-0, 180. 336-205, 3.07 career. 3-2, 3.20 in 2007. $10,000,000 salary. Arsenal: Fastball and a changeup. Neither are as fast as they once were, but they get the job done. He mixes in a slow, tight curve and a slider. Recent Battles: Only one of Maddux' 685 career starts has come against the Mariners. In 2003, while with the Braves, he struck out......

Vitals: 26 yo RHP. Born in Tokyo, Japan. 6-0, 187. 94-45, 2.99 in Japan. 3-2, 4.36 here. $6.3 million salary. Arsenal: Dice-K throws six pitches--three fastballs: a mid 90s four-seamer (rides high), a low 90s two-seamer (moves down), and a cut fastball that moves away from righties, and three off-speed pitches: a slow 11-7 curveball. a mid-80s slider that he tries to back-door lefties with to strike them out, and his change-up, which is considered......

Vitals: 36 years old, born in Louisville, signed as a free agent by the Indians in '05. 82-73 career record. $7 million salary. Arsenal: A below average (84-89mph) fastball. To lefties, he'll work up and away with the fastball, a 12/3 looping curveball and a change. To righties, he'll work low and away with the fastball and a slider. Recent Battles: Triumphant! The M's knocked Byrd around in his one start against them last year,......

Jeff Weaver had a terrible 2006, but then had a couple of good games in the postseason and earned himself a contract for next year. Sound familiar? Yes, it appears the M's are going to be the losers of the Jeff Weaver sweepstakes, signing a guy who had a 6.29 ERA in 16 American League starts last year. How bad was Weaver? Put it this way: the Mariners beat him three times. At least it's......

If you want to read the many reasons why the Rafael Soriano for Horacio Ramirez deal sucks, USS Mariner (humorlessly) and Lookout Landing (hilariously--check the poll) can satisfy you. We've got a different take. Yes, Rafael Soriano is a better pitcher than Horacio Ramirez. If he were a stock, or stock, or a stock car, you'd be idiotic to trade him for Ramirez.. But. The Mariners need starting pitching. Without Ramirez, they have two--TWO--for sure......