While Kenny Lofton, Corey Patterson, Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia and Sammy Sosa are still seeking employment, there are clubs in both leagues that continue to look to build their roster for the upcoming season.
Including the Seattle Mariners.
The M’s are apparently still open to adding more lineup depth and have had talks with a number of the remaining free agents and have made at least a few calls to clubs to talk trade.
Trot Nixon wanted more money and more assured playing time than Seattle was able to offer, prompting the 10-year veteran to sign a deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“I think there’s a better possibility that we do something later in the spring,” said a Mariners front office representative. “Right now we have to find out what we already have and then we can act accordingly. I think a lot of clubs are in the same position.”
The Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox are not among those teams, however. Cubs GM Jim Hendry is still itching to add second baseman Brian Roberts to the top of his lineup but Baltimore Orioles front man Andy McPhail has held out for ransom packages.
One National League executive all but guaranteed that by the time the Cubs head to Las Vegas for the final two games of their Cactus League schedule, Roberts will have made the flight from soggy Florida.
“It’s not that different than the deal with (Erik) Bedard,” he said. “He’s (McPhail) just trying to get all he can and when the smoke clears he’ll get a good enough deal.”
The most likely trio of talents heading to Baltimore at this point, according to this NL Central rep, includes infielder Ronny Cedeno and right-handers Sean Gallagher and Kevin Hart.
But for the deal to get done, it sound like the Cubs will likely have to replace Hart or Cedeno with one two outfielders, Felix Pie or Tyler Colvin.
It is also believed that while the O’s prefer to get a potential shortstop in the deal, Cedeno, they are much more convinced that second baseman Eric Patterson will perform offensively in the majors.
The Red Sox have re-contacted the agent for right-hander Bartolo Colon to inform him of their potential interest. Colon is looking for guaranteed money for more than one season, but there are rumors that he’d take a one-year deal to go to Boston.
Boston’s interest hinges on the state of their rotation once they get a more definitive word on the immediate future of Curt Schilling.
Other Spring Notes
Lofton is going to play in 2008, and at least a half-dozen clubs have been in constant contact with his agent… Colon has minor league offers from four teams; the White Sox, Cardinals, Giants and Indians… Patterson wants to start for a playoff team, which is likely to lead him back to the National League. None of the top six teams in the junior circuit are seeking outfield help, though Patterson would be a great fit in left field for the Tribe. San Diego has shown interest but there’s at least one Braves scout that has recommended Patterson to play center field for Atlanta until top prospect Jordan Schafer is ready… The Orioles are expected to watch the progress of right-hander Daniel Cabrera very closely during the season’s first 10-12 weeks, and then shop him as they have Bedard and Roberts.
Mariners Notes
There are two players getting a lot of attention this spring of which fans and media alike should temper their enthusiasm. Infielder Yung Chi Chen is a solid ball player, and might earn regular time with the M’s this season, but he’s no future star and is better suited as a reserve. He’s a better bat than Willie Bloomquist, is an above-average base runner, and is a solid glove at second and third base. But the 24-year-old is void of a plus tool and lacks ideal extra-base power to soak up one of nine lineup spots on a regular basis.
Right-hander Phillippe Aumont, the club’s first round pick last June, has created a buzz already in his first spring training as a pro. But ignore anyone - I mean anyone, Bill Bavasi, John McLaren, Mel Stottlemyre, the beat writers, and even me if I try and tell you that Aumont has any chance to break into the big-league rotation next season. He’s 19 years old, has no professional experience and some scouts are a bit worried about a few things. “With that arm slot he hasn’t as much room for error as he develops his pitches,” said one scout whose club was set to draft Aumont with a pick very near where Seattle snagged him at No. 11. “He throws hard, and he’s a big, physical arm, but with that high-3/4 slot throwing a true curve ball might be tough, and maintaining a consistent release point could be a problem area, too. I really like him, but he’s probably not going to move very quickly.”
Aumont has already hit the mid-90s with his fastball this spring, and brings a useful changeup and slider to the table.
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Anyone expecting Aumont in the rotation in 2010 is a bit optimistic IMHO.
He’s a heck of a talent though, and I’m thrilled that we snagged him in the draft.
What idiot believes Aumont will be ready in 2010? If they’d said Tillman or Butler I might have believed them, not that it matters now.
Our biggest problem with letting those two go is it created a huge void between our ML ready guys and our not even close guys. There’s now no middle development guys who could be rotation help.
Even if we draft more advanced players with this year’s selections, they wont be ready any quicker then Aumont. Bavasi really has screwed our rotation possibilities for at least 4 years.
TIF,
I’m not worried about the gap at all. Here’s why…
Five starters are under contract for at least two more years. In two years when Wash and Batista are done, there will be other potential assistance in the system.
Going into 2010, Aumont will likely still be a year or more away, but Juan Ramirez could be ready… the club has two drafts until then and could snag a college starter and plug him in within 1-2 years.
Morrow hasn’t disappeared, either. Even if he’s in the pen again in ‘08, it doesn’t mean he can’t/won’t start in ‘09 or 2010.
We’re only looking at needing two back-end starters by 2010. Those aren’t tough to find. Feierabend could even be one of them.
If the M’s don’t extend Bedard, they’ll a frontline guy, and won’t have anyone anywhere near ready to team up with Felix, but neither Tillman nor Butler were going to be ready for that kind of performance by 2010 anyway.
The deal sucked because of the talent sent to Baltimore, not because of the gap. Originally, I thought the time gap was a concern, too, but since there’s almost no way now, they don’t offer Bedard the world to stay, they aren’t likely to be hurt by that gap.
Also, I don’t see how you can claim another more advanced pitcher drafted in 2008 or even 2009 wouldn’t be ready before Aumont.
That’s just not true.
Aumont is a very raw 19 and is at least three years away, even if he’s rushed. Most likely four.
A college kid drafted in 2008 could easily be ready by mid or late 2009, early 2010 at the latest.
Hey Jason I ran across this MLB mock draft and though its extremely early with the college season just getting underway do you have any thoughts on the 4 proposed prospects headed to Seattle?
1. Gerrit Cole RHP Santa Ana, CA 6′3″ 190 R,R
2. Ray Hanson RHP Wilson HS CA 6′8″ 195 R,R
3. Jermaine Curtis 3B UCLA 6′1″ 190 R,R
4. Jordy Mercer RHP Oklahoma State 6′3″ 192 R,R
I think we should have just given up Jones/Morrow/Sherrill/Mickolio like they originally wanted. I dunno Id rather have done Morrow than Tillman/Butler. I think they just wanted to keep Morrow around because hes a name known to the common fan and so he could fill that bullpen role. People read the paper and see we gave up two pitchers they probably havent heard of to get Bedard and are ecstatic. Just a guess here, not trying to make a statement or anything.
I do realize the trade is done and over with, so no need to dwell on it, but I was just wondering, whats got more value, Tillman/Butler or Morrow? And didnt the Orioles want Morrow more anyway?
I’m guessing this is round by round…
I think the M’s, though they’ll never ever admit it, will be after as much college talent as possible. Not to say they won’t draft a prep kid if he’s just plain better than any college kid available when they pick, but if it’s equal or really close in talent and value, they’re going college.
So I think that four is actually backwards in terms of the type of talent they’ll be looking at and when.
I’d guess it up this way instead.
1. Christian Freidrich, LHP - Eastern Kentucky
2. Reese Havens, SS - South Carolina
3. Grayson Garvin, LHP - Norcross, GA
4. Tyler Rahmatulla, SS - Santa Ana, CA
The O’s originally asked for Jones/Clement/Morrow, then Jones/Morrow/Butler/Sherrill.
So the question becomes, what’s more valuable, Tillman and Mickolio or Morrow?
Any word on the Bedard extension? How much of a priority is it now or will they wait till mid season? Any idea what both sides are offering in terms of #’s?
Something will probably get done before the stretch run hits this summer, if not sooner.
I’m hearing five guaranteed, vesting options for six, maybe even a seventh year if they were to get a deal done before this season started and year one of the contract was 2008.
Thanks for clarifying how the trade developed. I get angry when people go on about how Bavasi “bid against himself”. The M’s decision was that Morrow was more valuable than Tillman and Mikolio.
We’ll see if they’re right, but they have their own internal reasons for that choice.
Regardless of how you feel about Bavasi, from all I’ve seen of his dealings, he’s not been one who doesn’t understand who he’s dealing and how much the market is willing to bear. It can be argued that he and his talent advisors can come into question about value, but Bavasi himself doesn’t at least understand the Mariner value of those players.
Oops…..Fraudian slip…..that he DOES understand the Mariner value of those players.
Is it a sure thing the M’s go with an arm in the first round? Because a guy that caught my eye is Allan Dykstra, lefty bat 1B. 6-6 210. 3 years of college and he could be ready just in time to take over for Sexson, or perhaps a season later? What kind of prospect is Allan Dykstra?
No, Corey, certainly not.
But if Perry or Freidrich were there at 20, there’s probably little chance they pick Dykstra over either of those two.
Jason, because the M’s have no first base prospects, and this draft has like 5 or 6 solid first base prospects do you think that if one of them falls to the M’s they’d be likly to take him? I really like Yonder Alonso.
Here is the link to the mock draft sorry i forgot it before.
http://www.mlbdraftsite.com/
If Alonso fell, highly unlikely by the way, yeah, i’d think he’d be an easy choice. I don’t see it, though.
And I doubt very seriously that that site has the top three correct, let alone the first four rounds.
With Longoria and Pena in the fold at the corner, Alvarez probably isn’t Tampa’s top choice, and most scouts I have asked like Smoak better anyway.
I think if Tampa takes a bat it’s Smoak they tab, but I think Matusz is the best pick.
Couple questions…
• How does Matusz rank compared to other recent college lefties like Andrew Miller and David Price?
• Any insight into how the Lance Lynn negotiations went down last time around? Any grudges on either side?
1. Matusz doesn’t have quite the upside of Price or Miller, though he’s not far off at all.
But he’s already got three quality pitches, average or better command of all three and his breaking ball has gotten better every step.
2. I wouldn’t say a grudge, but I don’t think Seattle goes down that road again.
Jason,
Thanks for the spring rumors. We all know the M’s were interested in Trot Nixon, so obviously they are looking for another bat. Are there any rumors out there connecting the M’s with Patterson? I just think he makes a lot of sense in left field, then we could move Ibanez to that 1B/DH platoon with Vidro and Sexson.
The more I think about it, the more I’d prefer a RH bat for a corner OF spot. Since, you know, all of our current OFers are LH. Wlad’s a RH bat, so it might make a bit of sense to keep him with the team, too.
Losing Guillen really hurts in that the M’s were actually quite decent against LHSPs last year. A good lefty masher would help. Has Reggie Sanders signed w/anyone yet? I wouldn’t exactly call him a “masher” — especially at age 40.
nah, the M’s need more lefties. Who cares if the other two OFs are lefty, the entire infield, including Joh, is right-handed.
Will Dykstra be in the M’s range?
I haven’t talked to anyone that seems to think Dysktra, a 6-5, 230-pound left-handed hitting first baseman, is going to go anywhere in the top 20.
So, yeah.
And I see Boston finalized that deal for Colon…
hmmm…
I am confused Batista wins the most games on the team and has the second lowest E.R.A. of the starters and he is the guy who is the 5th starter and guy out of the pen? Something doesnt sound right to me how about you jason? Actually he won more games then both Bedard and Silva also last year yes im scratching my head a little bit.
Where else would Batista go. They are not going to put two lefties back to back and Silva had a better ERA and WHIP then Batista last year and if Batista did get skipped he is the only one of the 3 that is able to pitch in the bullpen.
Umm, yeah, it makes sense to me a trillion reasons.
1. Who cares how many games he won?
2. Even though he had the second best ERA, the biggest thing to look at is what’s he most likely to do in 2008. One front office man, and you probably know which one I’m talking about, told me that Batista was as good in ‘07 as he’s going to be, which means he can only get worse.
His ERA means jack, too.
3. He’s easily the guy best suited for a role where they might use the 5th starter in relief on occasion.
None of the other starters make any sense. Washburn’s stuff just doesn’t translate, and Silva wasn’t given 48 mil to be used in relief, even a few times.
4. Felix and Bedard sure aren’t going to be the two.
The decision came down to two guys, Washburn or Batista. They picked the guy that is 1) best suited and 2) more than willing.
As long as he’s the fifth starter, though, I don’t see Batista pitching out of the pen a whole lot.
But this whole idea brings up a bigger subject: Might the M’s use six pure relievers instead of the seven they have the past three years, which would allow for five reserves?
I’ll ross my 2 cents into a couple different pots here.
Firstly, I think signing Patterson would be an excellent move by the M’s. He’s nothing spectacular, but if Vidro or Sexson bombed to start the season he’d be able to push Ibanez into either role while not totally punting the offense and/or defense as a Cairo, Norton or Boomer fill-in would.
Second, it’s almost rediculous to predict the MLB draft with any certainty. Just look at the Mariners last few draft picks. In ‘05 it was down to the wire that the M’s were gonna take Tulowytski (sp?) and then they decided on Clement. In early ‘06 no-one saw Morrow as a top 20 pick. And in ‘07 nobody knew for sure that Aumont would fall as far as he did. You can certainly indentify likely candidates for team needs, but you may as well go to Vegas if you think you can predict it this early with ANY certainty.
Finally, the M’s starting pitching situation won’t be a huge problem (at least as far as the team is concerned.) This team has almost ALWAYS filled roles from free-agency. Overlooking internal talent has been one of this organizations biggest flaws–Until recently anyway.
I’m not so sure that the M’s wont look to upgrade their rotation BEFORE Washburn/Batista hit free-agency. If either really struggle this year then you can bet Bavasi (or his successor?) would be looking to throw more cash at the problem with next years FA pitching crop.
Enough ranting and run-on sentences for now. =)
Agreed, of course.
Not really. It was speculated by some that the Mariners, who had shown a lot of interest in Tulowitzki, had settled on him, but that’s what you get for reading and trusting the mainstream media.
You could say that about dozens of players every year.
Nothing is for sure. But what was very certain to most was that the clubs drafting 6-15 was going to have a chance.
Forecasting the draft right now before the top talents have finalized their resumes, however, is ridiculous, absolutely.
April is about the earliest any mocks make any sense. But you can always project what king of player certain teams will go after. Florida is as predictable as any team in sports when it comes to the draft.
Plus with the draft you can be a top 5 talent but be a Boras client and there is a good chance you can fall to the 20’s. I think the league really needs to change the way the draft is, its one thing when the yanks and sox can buy free agents but its another thing when they can buy the best players in the draft even though they draft at the bottom of the round.
The only change I would make to the draft itself is teams’ ability to trade their picks.
Of course, there should be strict regulations within the trading of picks, such as the rule NBA has that prohibits clubs from trading their first round pick two years in a row, and…
2. A limit, maybe two three picks in the top 10 rounds, five per draft total, something like that. Can’t have small market teams trading their picks to save money every year.
3. I wouldn’t allow teams to trade picks they were given through the draft compensation process, whether it be due to losing a free agent or via their failure to sign a pick from the previous draft.
4. Maybe allow them to trade EXTRA picks (more than three in the top 10 rounds, more than five in a single draft and their compensatory picks), if they are traded for picks (or players drafted) in the same round of that same draft.
The commissioner’s office needs to shut the eff up about bonuses. They have been all about parity in the league and the bonus reccomendations only hurt the small market teams, even though it’s designed to help them.
Oh, one more change I would make…
- Disallow a player to enter two drafts in a row. This would be tough to get the union to allow, but if the league agreed to do away bonus recs, they might agree to it.
This would, in turn, eliminate some of the reasons for ,players, mostly Boras’ clients, to hold out and re-enter a draft the following year.
It hurts teams, especially small market clubs; they either avoid drafting a Boras client, who might be the best talent on the board when they pick, or they run the risk of having to vastly overpay or simply not getting anything from that pick.
Granted, they get the pick directly after that slot the following year, but it still stings.
Can you imagine what the Rockies 25 and under team would look like if they just took the best player available instead of Greg Reynolds?
Tim Lincecum? Andrew Miller? Evan Longoria? Even Brandon Morrow.
Jason who cares how many games he won? Isnt that what pitchers are judged on ERA and wins and loses? Why not just stay on a 5 man rotation ? These guys according to the local scribes are all supposed to be able to win games and go deep into games so why not a 6 man pen? Why not a 7 men pen the bench never gets used anyways in the A.L. does it? Yes i think our bench needs help we are very week Bloomy,Cairo,Burke and whoever looks like we forgot to work on that area of are club.I think we are a better club but like any other club if one of are main position player starters go down we have issues for the reason where do we go for a player? Tacoma looks dry and are bench guys dont excite many of us that arent from port orchard! Yes i do agree Batista is the best guy to be a swing guy but also remember he is im guessing here between 35-39 years old and arms tend to do funny things in that age group especially bouncing back and forth between the pen and rotation.All that said Jason do you think we truly compete with the Angels i think they are about 6 games better myself.
Two things here… Yes, but that was last year, for one. Second, wins are terrible indicators of how well a pitcher actually performed. Wins are reliant on offense, defense and the bullpen coming through, too.
If wins were the end-call, Kevin Millwood wouldn’t have received half of the $55 million deal he got in 2005 after a 9-win season.
ERA is certainly better than wins, but when we’re talking about a cat in Batista that is 36 years old, walked 85 guys, pitched half his games at Safeco Field with the support of an offense that was better than the ‘08 model is likely to be, last year’s ERA and wins go right out the window.
Batista is clearly the starter best suited to be the rover, but I don’t believe Batista will bounce back and forth at all. I’d bet that unless he starts for half the year and moves to the pen full time, he doesn’t see relief more than three times all year.
If it was a scenario where he was actually going to be swinging back and forth, I’d have a problem with it.
And yeah, I think if both Seattle and L.A. have the same luck with injuries, bounce backs, regressions, etc, the Halos are 5-7 games better.
Jason said: “You could say that about dozens of players every year.”
My point exactly. =)
I will agree with you that you can profile a team based on its pick number, history, needs and general philosphy.
So Jason, do you think the M’s go after a lefty hitting corner fielder or another college arm with #20 or will it simply be best available talent?
I think they will lean toward a college player, probably a bat, if all else is very near equal.
If there is a discrepancy in talent, they’ll take whichever player is the best without regard to position or experience level. If Brandon Crawford is available at No. 20, the UCLA shortstop, I could see them taking him.
I expect that at the least HoRam gets traded by the end of Spring Training. He’s spare parts, but lefthanded spare parts. From initial reports, he’s throwing better. Not sure what they’ll bring back, but teams will always take chances on iffy lefties, because they are in short supply.
Morse might also be a trade possibility, though he’d probably go for a minor leaguer with options left. Chen is really the utility guy of the future, anyway.
Baek either gets claimed or goes back to Tacoma.
I’d have like to see them get Mench to platoon with Wilkerson, but that’s me.
I’m sure we can expect a few moves.
Here’s to hoping Dickey makes the club.
Jason,
Are the Mariners at all linked to Corey Patterson? What kind of move(s) do you see the M’s making during Spring Training? Will something significant happen or will it just be trading guys out of options (Morse, Baek, etc)? Also I wanted to get your thoughts on this…obviously the M’s spent a ton of money on Silva this offseason. Do you think they jumped the gun on that because they were so desperate for pitching? I mean, if you look at some of the guys still out there, one could argue that Loshe would be the better investment than Silva and he’s still unsigned. I guess what I’m asking is if the M’s would have shown some restraint after losing out on Kuroda do you think the M’s could’ve signed Sliva (or Loshe) for less money? I didn’t see many other teams knocking down Silva’s door. It’s just interesting to think about that in this market if Bill would’ve waited we might not have had to sign him for that much money.
I have not heard that the M’s are linked to Patterson at all. And while that doesn’t mean they aren’t, I doubt they have an interest.
He’s not going to be okay with a part-time gig in Seattle and the M’s aren’t going to get smart all of a sudden and send Ibanez and Sexson to the DH/1B role and Vidro the bench so they can play a better defensive left fielder.
Patterson has also been known to be really protective of his center field position, and it’s possible, though I haven’t heard that specifically, that he’s demanding to play center.
I say, beggars can’t be choosers.
Jose Guillen said that if he would have known that Adam Jones was going to be traded that he would have taken the M’s offer but he did not want to be a DH with Jones there.
That was when the 3/27 offer was on the table.
Once the winter meetings hit, that was off the table.
If Dickey makes the club and with Batista as a bullpen option when/if his spot is skipped, might the M’s keep 5 bench players instead of just 4? Or they may be more open to keeping Baek on the roster in hopes of using him a time or two in long-relief to spark a trade instead of losing him to waivers. Who is more likely to be risked losing on waivers? Morse or Baek? Do you agree that both would likely be claimed by someone?
The chances increase, yes. With 6 plus Batista, they certainly wouldn’t need a seventh/8th guy.
But I just don’t see how they are going to be able to work Batista out of the pen much.
If there are two guys on the staff that the Mariners should not be looking to push physically it’s Bedard and Felix, in that order. If they are going to skip Batista to get back to Bedard and Felix an extra few times, both guys are likely to pass 200 innings in early September.
Any chance the Mariners trade for Adam Lind?
I know he doesn’t solve our OF defensive issues - but then neither would Trot Nixon so that doesn’t seem to be an issue for the FO.
Defence aside - his growing lefty power and cheap contract would fit nicely.
He’d have to bench/platoon with Wilkerson to start with - but our power hitters are so old and prone to falling off the cliff I think he’d get a regular gig by August.
Beyond that he could be the 1B/DH/spot LF of the future (provided Clement catches)
I’ve no idea what Toronto would accept for him? Johnson & Halman?
Not sure why Toronto would trade him. He’s cheap, he’s a Clement-level or better bat, he’s certainly ready for time in the big leagues…
hehe..kind of funny how people are still having trouble coming to terms with Wilk as our RF’er this year. It sucks yes - it’s not the Offense we all want with Raul in LF, Wilk in RF, and Vidro as the DH but that’s what we got. All we can do is hope that they all play well and that we see games in October.
Yeah, if I were Toronto I wouldn’t trade Lind either - but they seem to prefer Reed Johnson & Matt Stairs.
Just seems that if the Jays don’t rate him - there’s an opportunity to get a decent player at slightly cheaper price.
I don’t think people have problems with Wilks primarily.
I think the real issue is that people thought the M’s would look to improve upon the defensive black hole that is Ibanez and the 300lb power-outage at DH over the off-season, and all we ended up doing was shipping out our 3-hole hitter and best young fielder.
If you really want to be optimistic about ‘08 you can hope that Vidro bombs early and often and that the M’s are forced to patch with Clement/Reed/Balentien. Oh, and while you’re at it, get a nice voodoo doll of a lanky dread-locked Angels outfielder and start jabbing it in the lower back.
That, or the M’s pull off some miraculous trade mid-season where they aren’t forced to give up Carlos Triunfel for Dmitri Young. *shudder*
Adam, do you ever see the sun?
A friend of mine posed this really interesting Hypothetical Question:
Would any of you / or do you think the M’s FO would trade a guy like triunfel ++ for Griffey at the Deadline this year assuming we are still in the race for the West?
Personally, Griffey is and always will be my favorite player, and i would love to have him for a stretch run this season, and you know most fans would say the same thing, so the M’s FO would like it, but they could really kill our entire farm system with a trade like that.
I really can’t make up my mind, any thoughts?
I don’t know who told you that, but it’s wrong.
They have been trying to trade Reed Johnson for two months. Lind will play, and a lot.
52.
That is awful awful AWFUL. I love Griffey but he is a late 30’s shadow of his former self. Triunfel is one of the best young prospects in the game. You wouldn’t even trade Triunfel straight up for Junior. Let alone the “++”. Also given that Cinci is trying to content and Griffey is making some solid cash. He would likely sign here as a FA when his contract is up anyway.
You just don’t do a deal like that. At all. Ever.
That said, it would be nice to have Griffey as the RF or DH in 2008. I wonder what it would take to pry him from Cinci if they fall out contention early on. Just would like to see a sub-40 Junior in the Seattle lineup.
Barring injury and minor miracles, Griffey will not be traded to Seattle this season.
Perhaps when the Reds decline their option in nine months, Seattle can swoop in and get him if the deal is right.
But they aren’t trading for him.
All things being equal (which they never are), who would the M’s keep for the final roster spot? Morse or Baek?
nice piece on Phillippe Aumont in trib this morning. don’t sound like anyone will be charging the mound while he’s on it.
jason u got him down for eta 2011. have u seen him this spring? sounds like it might be faster than 2011. although it’ll be one level at a time. any word on where the m’s will be starting this monster?
The article was better when Geoff Baker wrote it last week. The structure of the Trib article seemed like such a blatant rip off of the one in the Times on the 17th. The only thing they forgot to borrow was the correct spelling for Aumont’s first name…
BA’s top 100 prospect list came out. Clement - 42, Trinufel - 62, Aumont - 83.
Tillman in the sixties, too, I believe, right Corey?
Tillman is 67
Jason,
Do you think you could at some point maybe do a write up on what you think the M’s will look like in 2009? I know it’s really early to look at that, but I’d be interested to get your take on which players you think will be back, let go, and brought in during free agency. Do you think the M’s spend most of thier money next offseason on bats or do they make a run at C.C. Sabathia? I’m not looking past this season, I just think it might make for an interesting post.
It’s impossible to do that to include trades and/or free agents.
In the book, which is almost two weeks behind, I do show a 2011 projected roster.
I don’t see how we could go after Sabathia with so many holes on the offense. I also think it would be a bit of an overkill. 2 aces on your staff is good enough - trying to have 3 is just getting greedy, lol. And as Jason and some have noted - with Sabathia’s throwing style, etc - he’s an injury waiting to happen and as he gets older - the closer it comes.
I’d rather take that 20mill to sign him and sign Teixiera to play 1B for us instead.
M’s in 2009?
While obvious projecton caveats apply, there are some obvious predictons to make.
-Ibanez is probably back in some role, Bloomquist and Johjima as well.
-Sexson and Vidro are former Mariners.
-Clement picks up time 50/50 with Joh at C and DH.
-Wait for it… Mariners announce new RF/DH Ken Griffey Jr.
I also expect the M’s to make runs at Jason Bay, Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli, Pat Burrell, Carlos Delgado, Bobby Abreu… They’re gonna need corner outfielders.
Beyond that, you’re just throwing it against a wall and hoping for something to stick.
So whats the story on the Salcedo kid Jason? Do all teams have to wait until next year to go after him? Are the mariners in the mix for his services? Getting that kid would seem to make sense to replenish the depth of talent in the farm after the big trade.
Also I completly agree that the M’s need to keep dealing to improve their offense now that they have taken the win now approach. Anything not named Triunfel should be available (It would be preferable to keep Aumont as well).
Its gonna be tough. I just dont see many moves out there to be made. Maybe the Dodgers have got some spare talent they might part with…
Adam, Im not sure the M’s would go after Burrell or Delgado… but then again i never thought we would throw 48m at Silva either.
Trying to give any credit is a tough thing to do as Edtrak has well proven. :p
Trying to give Bavasi any credit that is…
Can we keep it to one, max two posts in a row?
Yeah sure Jason, apologies. So what about Salcedo?
Nobody is going to give him 5 mil,so until Boras buys a vowel, it’s stagnant.
Seattle isn’t in the running.
Is there any truth to Salcedo not being the age he says he is?
Jason,
Could you maybe give us some ideas of players you think the M’s should target getting during the offseason? I think Junior is a natural fit as our DH and I agree that Sexson will be gone, but I’m not sure about Vidro. I’d love to see him gone, but if he gets his PA this year he’ll be here. It would be awesome for the M’s to come away with both Texiera and Junior next offseason, but is there any chance that Texiera would even look here?
Teixeria seems like he’d be a great fit here… if he has any interest.
Any good player is a fit here. So if you know which players are good, you can answer that question on your own. It’s FAR too early, absurdly, to start thinking about who the M’s might try and add, or even should try and acquire, for the 2009 season.
Junior is only a fit at DH, and only if he is willing to DH, which he isn’t likely to be.
He’s not good defensively anymore.
Average arm, below-average range now… and he’s an injury risk.