Only option is if Guillen were to want to return for less money.

Imagine the Mariners with a $13 million starting pitcher added to the rotation… even one that is only worth 10 mil.

Yeah, they’d probably be in first place with the best record in all of baseball.

Scary to think about, but adding in a no. 2 or no. 3 starter might make the Mariners the best team in the west. LAA has their own problems, thank goodness.

I think we agree. I don’t mean bench Sexson now for Morse/Broussard. I’m just saying that if you could have traded him last offseason that would have been an OK replacement. And that if you trade him this offseason it would still be an OK replacement.

The numbers to now don’t look good. That doesn’t change the fact that in any given at-bat, Sexson is much more likely to produce than Broussard vs. righties or Morse vs. lefties.

They should have traded him this past offseason, but there’s no upside to replacing Sexson with a platoon once the checks have been cut and there’s no way to spend that extra money to improve the team elsewhere.

You really think a Morse/Broussard platoon wouldn’t have outperformed Richie to this point in the season? I will admit there is a chance Richie gets hot and and ends up with better numbers than that platoon would have produced, but it’s not assured. Plus Richie is on the downswing and that platoon becomes even more likely to outproduce him next year.

I’m not saying that is my ideal first base solution. But, first base is easy to fill and those two guys have the advantage of being cheap and under team control. Shapiro/Antonetti thought Broussard was worth a 1B platoon spot, and I wouldn’t want to argue with them. If you don’t believe Morse can cut it as the RH half, there are probably tons of RH guys floating in the minors that you could grab to make the other half.

If you can find any scenario where someone is to pay any of Richie’s salary for next year and give up anything for him, I think you have to make the deal. The drop off to the Broussard platoon isn’t that great if at all and you pick up more roster flexibility moving forward.

Edtrak says:
“Adam Jones will likely get his due next year, when he can start a full season, not during a playoff push. There aren’t many teams that would hand a job over to a rookie….even the best ones, to take on the pressure of winning and adjusting.”

2 rookies made huge contributions to winning the 2002 world series. One of them even started game 7.

And
“Not EVER gonna happen that they insert three rookies into the everyday starting lineup, unless they were named Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols.”

20/20 hindsight. A-Rod and Griffey were considered can’t miss and had destroyed minor league pitching, but Pujols had all of 95 at-bats above low-A ball when he was given the starting job in 2001. LaRusa saw him in Spring Training, saw that he was ready, and penciled him into the lineup as an all-purpose corner infielder/corner outfielder.

If Ichiro leaves and the team doesn’t trust Guillen’s ankles, they’ll have 2 OF spots to fill. Jones is a lock for a spot, and Balentien might have to be plan B if they can’t get a decent 1-year deal for a corner OF. I’m not looking forward to it, but I can see it happening.

You’re right though, Clement won’t be starting ‘08 with the team, nor should he.

Arbeck says:
“I would guess a Morse/Broussard platoon would probably outperform Richie at the plate this year, and most likely next year as well.”

No way. Morse is a bench bat who’s marginally effective against lefties, and Broussard’s a fringe-average 1B. Sexson’s contract sucks, but ignoring money, he’s the better hitter.