Whatever, Dan.

There is no player they have in the bag at all, at least to my knowledge. it’s too early for that.

But they got the ball rolling very quickly to get a jump on things because their other options, the Japanese players, won’t be around in free agency very long.

But, that’s why they are talking about such trades so quickly - the Japanese guys will sign early and they need to know what they need.

I do think it’s still necessary to sign Fukudome/Kuroda or someone like them and they can totally sit back and let things play out from here on. If they trade Sexson and Broussard, the only problem they have left is Vidro and his option vesting for 09′ at $9M which is just unacceptable. Maybe they can just DFA him this year before the option vests and he creates another problem for the M’s.

There’s no way that Bob Fontaine OR Bill Bavasi though Brandon Morrow was a better player than Andrew Miller or even Tim Lincecum.

Not a chance in hell, no friggin’ way. So why was he selected? Money, mostly.

So who do you blame? Can’t blame Bavasi. And ya can’t blame the scouting director, either, unless they had Morrow ahead of everyone else available, which I just can’t see being the truth.

I have to interject.

I have made this mistake, too, because I did not have all the proper information, but…

But Pat Gillick did not “destroy” the farm system.

There are several things that need to be said on this subject, once and for all.

1. The GM, while somewhat responsible in the end, is not generally the person making the draft decisions, as the scouting director, who usually wins out with his recommendations, hold that responsibility.

2. The club, and this goes for many, many clubs, if not all, decides every year what kind of cash they are going to spend in the draft, which has an enormous effect on what kind of player is drafted.

Not just the position, but whether it’s a college guy or a prep pick, a tools player or a polished kid with a little less upside but less risk.

3. Gillick was here to do a job, and it wasn’t to build the Mariners farm system. While a few GMs are able to do both - in the lon, long term, however - Gillick was asked to come in and make the Mariners a winning team and get them in the postseason.

And he did that his first two years here and they were very competitive in his final two.

But the result of spending the money on free agents was sacrificing high draft picks in 2000 and 2001, although you can argue that it made NO SENSE to give up Carlos Quentin’s draft slot for Greg Colbrunn, Pat didn’t have much to play with in that regard.

Not much money, didn’t have high draft picks and wasn’t supposed to be building the farm system in the first place.

Granted, maybe it’s something he can’t do, but we don’t have the proper evidence to support such a claim.

It’s funny how Gillick was reluctant to trade away the farm at the deadline to acquire more help and we were all pissed. Including me.

I used to shred Pat and his staff (Mattox, Jongerwaard)for the drafts that took place while Pat was the GM here, but it no longer applies after learning what I have about his tenure here.

But, to counter such a statement, check out the 2003 draft… Ryan Feierabend, Eric O’Flaherty, Adam Jones.

That’s worked out pretty good.

Seems to me that any of those three could find playing time by next year if the Mariners so choose.
Kenji is a free agent in ‘09–Albeit someone whom I think the M’s should hang onto for a few more years.
Beltre’s potential departure would open a spot for Triunfel should he prove worthy, and Balentien could be stuck in the outfield THIS year if the organization weren’t so opposed to having so many youngsters in the outfield.

It seems to me the Mariners will have more holes to fill then prospects to fill them with in the next couple of years, and unfortunately (given this front offices track record) that means this team is going to probably look to free agency or worse, trades.

Yes, I understand that free agency and trades aren’t necessarilly a bad thing, and some teams have built excellent rosters through these means, but the Mariners aren’t one of them. For every free agent in the plus column (Johjima, Ibanez, Beltre, even Batista…) there seems to be three or four acquisitions that are just horrendous mistakes.

The Mariners farm system has finally started to recover from the disastrous Gillick era, but the team is still going to have to patch some holes–through free agency or trades, and I don’t have any faith in the ability of this front office to do so.

But that certainly doesn’t mean the team should not unload those two if they can. They have a prospect in the minors that has no spot to play, and could get one if they unload both guys or just Sexson and re-assign Vidros role — the right things to do.

But, we know they don’t always do those things, so…

My post wasn’t just to address this off-season, but also the Mariners longer term goals. Certainly unloading Sexson’s contract would be very beneficial to this team in the short term…

My general point is that while the Mariners could (and should) replace guys like Vidro and Sexson, but even IF they do do that (and I’m still not convinced that they’re aware or even care about a lot of 2007’s short-comings…) we will simply end up with more of the same.

After all we still have a front-office with an almost inexplicable fascination with “Veteran leadership” to the point of almost trumping talent. It certainly bought Sexson, Weaver, Ramirez, Carl Everett, Rich Aurilia, Scott Spezio, Jeff Cirillo, etc. etc. a lot more playing time then they ever deserved; And at the cost of the teams young talent and playoff chances.

Basically, the M’s are going to be perpetual “also-rans” until they learn to spend their money wisely, and I don’t think any amount of Sexson type contracts are going to fix that.

The advantages of getting rid of Sexson go further than just not having to put a struggling, aging bat in the lineup everyday.

If Ibanez is the guy, at least you replaced Richie with a left-handed bat to better balance the lineup, and even when Ibanez struggles we’ve seen that it’s not nearly to the level that Sexson did a year ago.

And the Mariners don’t need to put up league average numbers at first in order for it to be an upgrade. Richie was nowhere near league average a year ago.

Second, it opens the door for the addition of another player.

Just because Vidro is here doesn’t mean the team is married to him as the DH. He’s got one year left on his deal for 8.5 mil, six of which the Mariners are responsible for.

It’s much more feasible that they’d send him packing, too, than maybe you realize — or use him in a different role.

Money isn’t an issue and even if all the M’s save when dealing Sexson away is like $4 million, it allows them to go out and look elsewhere for a 1B/DH — or both if they stick Raul in RF to replace Guillen.

Either way, keeping Sexson is not the answer. No matter which way Adam looks at it.

Certainly we can get rid of the underperforming, aging and expensive first basemen currently on our roster, but to replace him with whom?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know Ibanez or Vidro can play first, but both are free-agents next year and both are about as likely to see a Sexsonish collapse as they are to put up league average numbers in the position. Then what?

Another free agent coming off a career year, another inflated salary, another B-grade and/or aging “all star” player–If recent history is any indication anyway. And then the M’s are right back in the boat with “wannabe teams” like the Cubs and Giants.

Teams with loads of money to spend, and they are all quite sensitive about their fan bases seeing them spend it, but they couldn’t spend it prudently to save their lives.
It’s kind of like giving your 10 year old son $60,000 and telling him to purchase the new family vehicle. You’re going to end up with tricked out neon purple Civic with a huge spoiler and only minor engine issues.

Or maybe we could just trade for an ace like Barry Zito.