Things Gillvasi is considering doing the money they’d planned on spending on Kazu in 2004
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- Go to dollar store, buy 22oz sodas, give two to every fan entering Safeco Field, all year long
- Buy ownership group Oyster Perpetual Datejust model Rolex “timepieces,” stash remaining millions, laugh behind their back as they try on and admire their new watches, because that model’s for the ladies
- Fund highly speculative but interesting biotech firm interested in exploiting critical phenomena in phase transitions
- Spend it on weather control to get Jim Foreman a real storm for once
- Eight $1m outfielders who can out-perform Raul Ibanez, reserve for mid-season acquisition
- Crash program to build heated shelter for predicted crowds of picketers before they show up mid-season demanding his firing
- Former president Clinton made $9.5m on speaking engagements last year, see if he’s available for whole season to give pre-game pep talks
- Buy the Expos
- Grant program to support the importation of Mariners merchandise into hat-starved eastern Europe
- Head down to Indian casino, play roulette
- Buy up every ticket in nation for upcoming “Win a Date With Tad!” then giggle on Monday when box office tallys are announced
- Purchase 711,610 copies of Baseball Prospectus 2004 from Amazon.com, read at least one of them.
- Buy Faberge egg at auction, put it on tee for Boone to hit really far.
I think I’m on the Ivan Rodriguez bandwagon. With Sasaki off the books, that’s nearly $10M ($8M for 2003 plus a $1.5M option buyout) to spend in 2004. After the 2004 season, there are a number of guys coming off the books: Rich Aurilia, John Olerud, Edgar Martinez, Dan Wilson, Freddy Garcia… the money is there, both for this season and beyond. I’m thinking of a three-year, $35M deal.
Alternately, I’d be happy to trade, say, Garcia and Winn for Magglio Ordonez. Or perhaps Jim Edmonds.
ESPN has a translated interview with Sasaki. One part in particular caught my attention:
Question: When did you reach the decision?
Answer: I started thinking about two years ago I wanted to live with my family, and when my agent told me I may have a chance to leave the Mariners before my contract is up, I decided that continuing my playing career in Japan would be the best thing to do. It became a reality this offseason.
Somehow I’m not buying that. If he really was thinking about this two years ago, he wouldn’t have signed that mid-season contract extension.
Really, Jason? 3 years, $35 million for a 32-year-old catcher with a history of health issues who hit .294/.361/.417 after the all-star break last year? That seems like a guaranteed albatross in year three, and probably one in year two. If Vlad Guerrero is only worth $14 million per year in this market, is Pudge really worth $12 million?
I’d offer him one year, $10 million. He would turn it down and sign with the Tigers, but thats his perrogative. I have no interest in locking up long-term big money in a 30+ catcher, regardless of if he’s a first-ballot hall of famer or not.
And yes, its hindsight, because Sasaki going to Japan was unpredictable, and we don’t know if Vlad would have even considered coming here, but here is your obligatory math:
Guerrero’s 2004 salary: $14 million
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Ibanez’s 2004 salary: $4.3 million
and
Sasaki’s 2004 salary: $9.5 million
=
$200,000. Two-hundred grand gets you from Ibanez to Guerrero. Yech.