What good lead-in to the story by Thiel.  (And missing Baylor’s point total by one point ain’t bad either.)

Regarding Softy.  At the very beginning of the post game call-in show last night, he thunders that HOLT MUST GO!!!  But, in the very next sentence or two, he says to his broadcast partners that “I think we all can agree there are several guys on the defensive side of the ball we won’t miss next year.”  So which is it, Softy?  I have a tough time believing Holt is as incompetent as the angry, mouth-foaming mob claims he is.  

Unbelievable performance by Price – WOW!

Conversely, why is Holt still in his position??? Triple 7 (777) is supposed to be an airplane, NOT a yardage given up figure!

Anytime a coach underperforms Willingham, it’s simply time to go.

Nice reporting Art – it was one of the greatest games i’ve ever seen. Too bad for the Huskies but the program has still come a long way to even be *very* competitive in this game – when almost no one thought we would be.

And you almost called the score exactly …was it on kjr?, you called 70-50 …pretty damn close!

Basic research?  This guy wouldn’t know research if it landed in his lap.  
This is a damaging article and Rudman should be ashamed.  Comparing his body type to his father’s is cheap and shows how little you actually know about the two (and for what it’s worth 5’11″ 275 versus 6’3″ 245 is NOT “generally similar”).
And the fact that you compare Russel Branyan to Prince Fielder is laughable.  If Branyan can hit 16 HR in Safeco, Fielder can hit 20 easily.  That comparison should be a reason FOR wanting to get him here.
Bill Bavasi was horrible at many things, the worst of which was his failure to get a legitimate left handed power hitter – there simply is no data available to show how a hitter like Prince Fielder will fare in Safeco.  
You want gap hitters rather than a slugger?  Please.  How is a gap hitter going to protect anyone in the lineup.  Guys like Ackley, Smoak, Guti and Ichiro are enough gap hitters – this lineup needs a power threat to make them all better.  
Your headline grabbing, thoughtless journalism is better suited to Fox News.  Shameful.

Yeah, I have to completely agree with these other comments.  This column missed the most important fact: Safeco actually does NOT hurt left handed hitters.  If we were thinking about signing Josh Hamilton, this column would have some value.  But we are not— so it does not. 

Also, even the slightest bit of research should have thrown up some warning signs.  Even without considering the FACT that Safeco does not hurt left handers’ power numbers, just take a look at average home runs at parks last year.  Even considering the Ms terrible offense, great pitching, and negative effect on RIGHT handed hitters, Safeco was in the top half of home runs per park. 

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ok, wait… So, Prince Fielder couldn’t hit 4 more home runs in Safeco than Russell Branyan in 2009?! Are you mental?! This is too stupid to be “damaging” or “shameful”. It’s HILARIOUS. I’m ignoring the handedness idiocy, which has been covered ad nauseum here. Miller Park Dimensions: 332-L, 390-LC, 400-C, 381-RC, 325-R… Safeco Field Dimensions: 331-L, 390-LC, 405-C,
387-RC, 327-R. Totally bro… Prince fielder would be SHUT DOWN by that extra 5 feet in dead center and those two feet in right. Killer point. I’m laughing too hard to check his hit chart, but I’ll bet ALL of his home runs in Miller Park would have been out in Safeco. They’re almost the same park! “It’s not the Egg McMuffin of hitting meccas”?! What does that even mean?! Egg McMuffins taste like a ham flavored kitchen sponge? Is that a real metaphor?! PFFFT!!! Jeff Cirillo? Seriously? Jeff FREAKING Cirillo!  Do you think that perhaps the crappy hitting statistics could have anything to do with some of the worst offensive teams in the history of the sport, and PERHAPS that could be because most of the players weren’t very good? It’s nice to see you’re aware that the 2001 Mariners played at Safeco. The “gap hitting” 2001 mariners you refer to had 4 20+ home run hitters. Boone hit 37. The 2011 Milwaukee Brewers, with Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Corey Hart, and Rickie Weeks hit 14 more home runs as a team than the 2001 Mariners did. Dude, if you’re Prince Fielder and “your business is the long ball” and you’re looking for 8+ years at 23-25 million a year, you’re freaking SET! Baseball contracts are guaranteed and he would NOT hit less home runs at Safeco! Holy crap dude! WOW! You know, there’s a pretty good chance the Mariners do get outbid, and, there’s a really strong chance that Seattle is not the 1st choice for a Florida native… I’ve accepted that. I still check every day for news, and actually… I appreciate the utter nonsense in this article. I needed a laugh. Especially when I got to the Richie Sexson/Cecil Fielder comp. SO retarded.

Good points, Snoridge, but a fair number of Holt’s sets and personnel groupings were done to mask a talent deficit on a per-play basis. The Huskies are too slow in the secondary, too small at LB and not physical enough on the D-line. Holt’s firing is justifiable by failure to get across assignments and an absence of fundamntals on tackling, but no coach would have done well with Willingham’s leftovers.

I’m really glad you are not the Ms GM. Right handed hitters are negatively affected by safeco. Lefties? No.
Gap hitters? That is what they have now. The lack of power has led to the worst offense in the modern era. If you think that is desirable, you don’t understand that the goal is to score more runs than the other team…not to have the lowest payroll.
Why do you think power hitters are expensive?

Because people want to win games.

Opposite – i agree that the goal is not to have the lowest payroll, and it’s not my money anyway, however many eight dollar beers I buy. I just think Fielder is risky, because of safeco, and because big fat guys tend to decline rapidly. But I’m also assuming that we’ll spend the money wisely elsewhere, which is a faulty assumption, because Lincoln and Armstrong can’t be trusted to do anything right. So yeah, maybe we should sign Fielder . . . there are no good answers really.

But when I say ‘gap hitters’ I do not mean the players we have now; I mean guys who can actually hit.