Koskie to Jays
DMZ · December 13, 2004 at 10:27 am · Filed Under Mariners
Well, he won’t be a Mariner. Three years, $17m pending the physical, ESPN and others report.
I don’t understand this, either — the Jays are a reasonably smart team, but I agree with Dave’s write-up on Koskie. On a shorter deal, I still think he’d be okay as a fill-in if he came cheap, but this is a long commitment for a lot of money, and it’s unlikely he’s going to be worth what he signed for.
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35 Responses to “Koskie to Jays”
First time poster, longtime reader. Great site.
How does everybody think this affects our chances of getting Beltre, if it has any effect at all? I had read Koskie being discussed as one of the Dodgers’ options to replace Beltre, will they make a big push to resign him now?
It just means we can’t fall into the trap of signing Koskie if we lose out on Beltre. It won’t effect the Dodgers at all. Jeff Kent is their backup plan, and they already signed him. They weren’t signing Koskie. That was media speculation that had little basis in reality.
Dave:
Whew.
Do we still have the best offer on the table for Beltre? I’m excited about the possibility of the Mariners signing him, assuming his 2004 wasn’t just a contract-year push I think it could resolve a position that’s been a big disaster for the Mariners for as long as I’ve followed them.
Yep. There’s been no movement on the Beltre front. The M’s offer is still the top one, financially.
It’s basically going to come down to whether DePo is willing to match what the M’s are committing (and then, if the M’s are willing to go even higher, which isn’t out of the question). Only DePo knows if he will or not. I think this will get resolved this week. I’m praying its done by the feed, or I’m going to get peppered with questions I probably won’t be able to answer.
How many other teams are seriously considering Beltre? Dodgers, Tigers, anybody else? I know that a team can appear out of nowhere (re: Angels and Vlad last year), but, from reading various media reports, it does not seem that Beltre has a large number of suitors. Moreover, it seemed that Koskie had at least a half dozen suitors. Compared to other signings, he must have APPEARED to be a bargain. I feel confident that if the M’s had signed Koskie, he would have immediately conjured up memories of Barry Bonnell. In fact, as a Blue Jay, he still conjures up memories of Barry Bonnell
I don’t think it makes any sense to pay nearly $6m per year for an aging Koskie, especially when it means that they might have to use Hinske at first if they can’t trade him or come up with someone better. I doubt I’m alone in this sentiment.
Why anyone would want to pay that much for Koskie, rather than $3m more per year on a 25-year old Beltre, is beyond me.
Phweh. If we had to be stuck with either Sexson or Koskie, I’d prefer Sexson. This is good news in M’s land.
Onward and upward. Give Beltre the 7 years he wants. It’s now certainly Beltre or Bust, baby!
Skydome is a hitters yard, so he will put up enough numbers that people won’t see this as that bad a deal when it is all said and done. The silver lining is that he isn’t Seattle’s 3B for this price, although it would have been nice to see him sign with LA instead!
I am also of the opinion Beltre the #1 priority.Perhaps the signing of Sexton will help as from what have read he is above average defensivly big target over there. Also was surprised Bucky was agile & picked the ball well their with a bum knee.
Not a great need position but if it helps land Beltre Ok..If healthy even better.
Could always trade to Brewers for Overbay.
Would like to believe have chance for Drew but here is a guy who has always been difficult. Just does not seem he would play here prefers the south.Probably have to offer A-Rod type money.
Where does that leave M’s? What trades seem possible & benefical?
Don’t you just wish M’s were in a different division so they could be in the Tim Hudson trade talks?
Being Canadian, Koskie has marketing value to the Jays that he doesn’t have for other teams. Just as Ichiro has more marketing value to the Mariners than he would for other teams.
I think the Koskie signing is a PR move because he’s Canadian – hey maybe that contract is in Canadian dollars 8^)
Now, if Sexson fails his physical and someone outbids for Delgado, we’re in decent shape…plus we’d likely target J.D. Drew.
What are the chances that Sexson will fail the physical? Anybody know?
Sorry, posted in the wrong thread. My question was supposed to be in the Sexson thread.
Five plus years at Safeco and the M’s still cannot find a lefthanded power hitter to take advantage of the ballpark. Palmeiro? No. Delgado? Apparently no.
I hate watching opposing team’s lefties outhammer the M’s at home.
Solution: We need to develop more lefties here in the Pacific Northwest, because we can’t seem to attract any free agents without local ties.
What happens to Hinske now?
Traded, possibly moved to first.
On Beltre, i think this actually might move faster. The M’s have the top offer, but it’s been public that if they win out on Delgado, they’ll back out on Beltre. If that happens, Boras will have to get the tigers and dodgers to bid back up to what the M’s are currently offering. The dodgers have a backup plan already, and have other projects they’d like to invest the cash in, so they dont seem like a great candidate for a bidding war.
But who knows.
probably the wrong place to ask this question, but is there any interest on the M’s part in Milton now that things appear to have fallen thru with the Yanks?
#19– Wright re-took his physical and passed.
In regards to #10, Steve, how much PR value would Koskie really have? Even though I only attend a few M’s games a year, I can visibly see the PR and monetary value of Ichiro. Does Koskie have the power to attract Canadians for Alberta and Nova Scotia and sell a ridiculous amount of merchandise?
#19 – Milton? He’s a mediocre pitcher with nothing but a nice run support inflated W-L record. I hope we’re not interested.
#19,20,22- sorry. lack of reading comprehension there.
#21:
As “Corey Koskie, #47”, he has no marketing value.
However, once the PR geniuses in Toronto remake his image and uniform number, he’ll be reincarnated as “CK1 – A Breath of Fresh Aire at Third Base”. People will line up overnight to purchase his T-Shirts and line of signature cologne.
Maybe Bavasi and others could follow the Blue Jays lead with some “Sexson the Beach” t-shirts and other memorabilia. Although it might be a little too much to tie in the “Sexson the Beach” slogan with Richie’s home town — Bush Prairie.
Eric Milton has a career ERA around 4.75, one decent season on his resume, and is used to earning $8million a year. Pray God the M’s have the sense to leave him well alone.
Yes, the Jays overpaid for Koskie but unless we wanted Joe Randa or Tony Batista (once a Jay, never again please) then its something the Jays needed to do. PR here has been positive, b/c everyone realizes J.P. had to make some kind of noise since we lost Delgado.
#15: “Five plus years at Safeco and the M’s still cannot find a lefthanded power hitter to take advantage of the ballpark.”
I’m not sure that the stats back up the idea that the M’s need a left-handed power hitter necessarily. Our problem is a lack of power hitters in general. Safeco, after all, doesn’t suppress HR and 2B overall (according to the splits I found, it actually has a positive value for HR and 2B, with its main offense suppression coming from holding down hits in general). The only splits I found in some quick searching that broke down park factors between LH and RH hitters showed that LH to have an easier time hitting HR, but a harder time hitting for average (both compared to RHB). Without better splits, it’s hard for me to tell if a LH power hitter is really that much better off in Safeco.
You think so, and I think so, but does Bavasi think so? A few days ago he gave an ominous quote to a PI or Times reporter about maybe signing a shortstop (Renteria?) and moving Lopez to third. That’s one seriously underwhelming lineup (particularly if Sexson is in and out of the order with intermittent shoulder problems).
What particularly worries me now is the numbers. Reportedly we’ve offered something like $11 million per to Sexson. We’re on the hook for about a million to Dan Wilson, and we’ve offered arbitration to Villone — figure another two million there, assuming he accepts. That’s $14 million spent, and the org was only recently floating $15-$16 million as the available cash figure. They could still squeeze Beltre in at $13-$14 million per and come back to us with, “See how much we love the Seattle fans?” — but what if they’re still thinking about adding another starting pitcher? That’s when the numbers don’t work anymore.
Still, my gut-level feeling is the front office is in “two bats” mode. The second bat could be Beltre, but they don’t believe it has to be. The next guy who says “yes” will be the second bat, and no matter if it’s Beltre, Delgado, or Renteria, they’ll spin it as a big success. The thing is, most fans will buy it. What we say and think on this blog isn’t keeping Bavasi up nights.
SeattleMariners.com is reporting the mariners are close to an agreement with Delgado
http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/sea/news/sea_news.jsp?ymd=20041213&content_id=921958&vkey=news_sea&fext=.jsp
pedro to the mets? i know it’s not m’s related but it could have some interesting consequences on who the sox look to aquire now.
http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/view.bg?articleid=58655
Can someone explain this deal to me? In all seriousness, what are major league GMs, who do this for a living, looking at that we aren’t? And the Jays aren’t the only team making this type of offer to Koskie.
Sure we’ve thought most signings were a bit high, and a few crazy, but then there’s Koskie. He doesn’t hit lefties well (fact). His numbers are inflated by playing in the Metrodome (opinion with strong support). He’ll be 32 next year (fact). Take away a blip in 2003, his batting average has dropped every year (fact). Dave suggested he wouldn’t pay $1M for him and there’s a reasonable chance he’d be out of baseball in 2007.
To me, Koskie seems overpaid by a factor of 3. I.e., 3 years for $6-7M (total) seems reasonable. Why!?!
I’d rather have Koskie than Raul Ibanez.
Signing Koskie in Toronto isn’t anything _I_ would do, but it’s not an absurd proposition. With Delgado gone south of the border, Ricciari has you basic case of CDE (contract depressurization euphoria), with $18M to play with he didn’t a month ago. Hinske has been a disaster at third, the Birds’ biggest positional problem, and the GM is determined to solve it (figure Hinske as traded for a dented wastepaper basket which is about on par unfortunately). Toronto just isn’t in it for Beltre, and Plan C this offseason is Joe Randa. And BTW Delgado’s offensive production has to be stopgapped _somehow_.
Coskie can play some defense. He has some power which will show even better in the Skydome. The real gamble here is whether Koskie has anything at all to offer in the third year of the deal—but at least it’s only a three-year.
The signing of Koskie in this market is, very roughly the equivalent of the Ms signing Ibanez in last years market. A reach, paying to much, and unlikely to pay off over the full contract’s term; a move which draws derisive laughs from the competition who don’t have to actually field a team. Coskie, even it he gives them ’04 numbers has a nonzero value at least, disappointment though he is almost certain to be. . . . Could Toronoto have, in principle, done better? Sure, and so could the Ms. Ricciardi has a busted pitching staff, and now he can turn his attention to trying to fill some slots there. This is a ‘tourniquet’ signing in my book—and ten miles better than signing a guy with a blown up shoulder that’s the worst non-player injury to happen in five years.
Beltre, another one-year wonder destined for being overpaid. The Dodgers wait three years too many for this guy to finally come around with his supposed bat, and now the Mariners want to sign him? Be serious or don’t spend anything, because anything in the middle is just wrong. Be attentive enough to realize when a guy like Vlad Guerrero is going to a team in your division–on the cheap–and don’t leave your franchise in the position of having to try to retake ground lost to a division rival with an inferior player in line for a (comparatively) larger contract. This irks me.