Blogger Template by Blogcrowds

Our Favorite Rainier 2008: You Will Decide! Matt Tuiasosopo

Posted by frinklin at 10:33 AM

During the inaugural season of No Rhubarb! we faithfully followed the exploits of Our Favorite Rainier, outfielder Adam Jones. Jones is in Baltimore now, on his way to what we firmly believe will be a long and excellent career. The title of Our Favorite Rainier cannot stay vacant though, and we will take the next few days to find our new favorite. This year we will let you, the reader chime in on the subject. No Rhubarb! will present the case of several players and then let you vote who you think is Our Favorite Rainier. After which we will almost certainly ignore the results and just name whomever we want anyway.

First up: Matt Tuiasosopo!


The Mariners first draft pick (3rd Round) in the 2004 First-Year Player Draft, Tuiasosopo hails from an almost ridiculously athletic family. Father Manu was a first round draft pick of the Seattle Seahawks. Sister Leslie played volleyball with the UW Huskies and trained with the US National Team. Brothers Marques - merely the best quarterback in UW history - and Zach both played in the NFL last season. Matt was a high-school star in both baseball and football, and turned down the chance to follow in Marques' footsteps to sign with the Mariners. Originally signed as a shortstop, but moved to third soon after, Tui 2 has been aggressively pushed through the system and should land in Tacoma at 21. Tuiasosopo is widely considered one of the ten best prospects in the Mariner system. Baseball America, Armchair GM and SportsCity all list Tui in the Mariners top ten, and Minor League News called him the 36th best prospect in baseball.

Three Reasons Matt Tuiasosopo is Our Favorite Rainier
1-High-ceiling power-hitting thirdbasemen are cool
2- Mike Curto likes him
3-Fun to say "Tuiasosopo".
Three Reasons Matt Tuiasosopo is NOT Our Favorite Rainier
1-Not yet technically a Rainier. No reason to name "Our Favorite Diamond Jack"
2-Prone to slow starts. Upon first making the Double-A San Antonio in 2006, Tui hit an anemic .185/.259/.218.
3-Very difficult to spell "Tuiasosopo"
Photos Courtesy of the Seattle Mariners and Whiteyball

 

Labels: , ,

4 Comments:

  1. Anonymous said...
    March 27, 2008 at 8:22 AM  
    Matt is also a very great guy. I have been to spring training the last several years and he is always the last player to leave the stadium because he is busy signing autographs for everyone.
    Jonesy10mom said...
    April 1, 2008 at 8:11 PM  
    Absolutely Tui is a great guy. Adam and Tui spend alot of off season time together and I have gotten to know him pretty well over the past few spring trainings. He is very personable and a dedicated player. True! He is always one of the last players to leave the field and always has a smile on his face. There are times that I want to cry (that's what I do) when I see how much he has matured over the years. He is going to be a real terror once he develops totally and it will be a pleasure to one day see him and Jonesy on the field either together or playing against each other! Big Props to Tui! Go out there and do the DANG THANG MAN!!!!
    He can dance too. (smile)

    Smooches - Jonesys Mom
    frinklin said...
    April 3, 2008 at 12:44 AM  
    As of yet Tui doesn't seem to showing up on either the West Tenn or Tacoma rosters as of yet, so he might not qualify to replace Jones as Our Favorite Rainier.

    Oh, and Jonesy10mom, if you are Adam Jones' mother, let him know we hate that Seattle traded him.
    Jonesy10mom said...
    April 3, 2008 at 2:12 AM  
    Tui is in Tacoma and you will see him soon. Be good to him you guys, he is wonderful. There is also an unsung hero out there in first baseman Bryan LaHair. Give dude his props. He's deserving.

    And yes, this is Jonesy's mom! I love blogging although he would rather keep me off my computer! (smile) I will pass the message along to Jonesy

Post a Comment



Newer Post Older Post Home

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)