Angels Hook Trout For 430 Million

The LA Angels made history this week by announcing the signing of star center fielder Mike Trout to a 12 year $430 Million deal.  Trout, a 7 time all star  and 2 time MVP has been with the Angels for his entire MLB career beginning in 2011.
The news is somewhat distressing for Mariner fans as the Angels are in our division.  The Mariners have gone into rebuilding mode hoping to be a contender in the long term future.

Portland Has Eyes On MLB

The Portland Trail Blazers may have a major league companion in their own town.  A Portland Oregon group has apparently come up with a design and plan to build a baseball stadium in hopes of luring a team to Oregon's largest city.  

The group is known as the Portland Diamond  Project and the plan is to build 45 acre state of the art ballpark that would seat between 32 and 34 thousand people. Seahawk quarterback Russell Wilson is reported to be an investor in the project.  

The proposed stadium to me seems to be quite a gamble since I have not heard of any MLB plans for expansion or relocation of any existing teams.  It would, of course, be nice for the Mariners to have a neighboring team, creating a natural rivalry and having a town that they can visit without taking a long plane ride.

Mariners Start Season By Sweeping Angels

Seattle sports fans are thinking baseball again after the Mariners started the season with a sweep of the Los Angeles Angels.  It's still early in the season, but after a dozen years of dismal play in the American League West, it was nice to see the hometown nine manhandle the perennial contender in the division.   It was the M's first sweep in Anaheim since 2006 and the first sweep to start a season for the Mariners since 1985.  The team completed the sweep with an 8-2 victory.