Return of Villone
As expected, Ron Villone accepted arbitration last night, making him a signed player. His presence now brings the 40 man roster to 42. We should get announcements today about the two players being designated for assignment to clear room on the 40-man.
In other news, the Washington Times reports that the Mariners have offered a better deal to Odalis Perez than the 3 year, $18 million contract that the Nationals were hoping to sign him to.
The M’s don’t have $6 million left in the budget for 2005, so if this is true, expect other moves to be made to fit Perez into the payroll.
2005 Game Feed Preliminary Notes
I (and Jason, if he’s up for it) will be leading the first ever USSM feed/game outing. This is going to be a lot less of the planned eat-and-mingle and a lot more of the eat-and-cheer-crazily for King Felix.
Oh yes. We’re predicting that Felix Hernandez will be in Tacoma next year, unless he breaks into the rotation in spring training — which is a possibility. So this is all tentative. If he’s at Tacoma, he won’t pitch the home opener Friday April 15th, so for now, it looks like it’s
Saturday, April 16th, at 6:05 or
Sunday, April 17th, at 1:35
The M’s are on a roadtrip (16 @ CWS @ 11:05, 17 @ 12:05)
Anticipated plan:
- Meet up at Tacoma house of beverages and ill repute (I’ve got some candidates in mind). Probably early afternoon if it’s the Saturday game. If it’s the Sunday game… not sure what happens. Maybe we bolt lunch and go.
- Go to game.
- Return to homes to herald coming of King Felix.
We may investigate bulk buying tickets, or renting the beer garden… but that’s the essential outline. You now have over four months of warning.
USSM Feed 2004
By popular demand! Here’s a place for that feed comment thread you might have been looking for.
As for me, I had a great time. Thanks to Pat Dillon, Mike Curto and Josh Boyd for providing us with a side of things we wouldn’t have heard otherwise. And of course thanks to all of you for showing up. As my wife said, “I can’t believe all these people would give up five hours of their time the Saturday before Christmas to talk about the Mariners.” Luke, incidentally, had a great time as well. I figure he’ll be ready for a speaking part by USSM Feed 2014.
Also, thanks to Jim Thomsen who provided the photography at yesterday’s feed. Here’s a few samples of some of the images from the gathering. Let your mouse cursor sit on each picture for a description of who you’re looking at.
Thanks again everybody!
Mulder to Cardinals
As first reported (tee hee) at today’s USSM Feed — Oakland has traded Mark Mulder to the St. Louis Cardinals for RP Kiko Calero, SP Danny Haren and C Daric Barton. With Tim Hudson gone and Mark Redman sent to the Pirates as part of the Jason Kendall deal, the A’s have now dealt three-fifths of their 2004 starting rotation. If the season started tomorrow, they’d likely run out a rotation of Barry Zito, Rich Harden, Joe Blanton, Dan Meyer and the aforementioned Haren.
That said, I have serious doubts they’ll begin the season with three rookies in the rotation; Billy Beane most likely has something else up his sleeve, be it a free agent signing (Odalis Perez?) or a trade (AJ Burnett?). At first glance, however, yet another piece of good news for M’s fans.
Also — a couple of people have asked about the Big Board. I stand by my promise that we’ll have a new one before the first of the year.
More Market Stuff
Jeff Sullivan has more pretty graphs and charts on his continuing analysis of the strange, bewildering, just downright bizarre spending of major league franchises this 2004 offseason. His evidence brings himself to the same conclusion I mentioned last week; the middle class of baseball has become ridiculously overpaid and teams that spend the most money for the truly great players are getting the best deals right now.
It’s interesting stuff, and is worth your time to read.
Woo.
Beltre!!!!
Unbelievable, both the signing itself and the price. Troy Glaus costs $45M over four years, and Beltre a mere $65M over five? Great, great deal. I haven’t been this impressed with an M’s move since the Freddy Garcia trade, and before that… can’t think of one.
They still need a starter, and I’m still down on the Sexson signing… but that’s for another time. Right now, bask in the glow of this wonderful acquisition.
Last minute feed signups
We’ve had a small rash of last minute cancellations, so I’ve got seven open spots for the U.S.S. Mariner Pizza Feed on Saturday. If you would like to attend (and, seriously, if you had any idea how much fun we’re going to have now, why wouldn’t you), drop a line to our feed address. These seven spots are first come, first serve, so if you’d like to go, let me know as soon as possible. Details on the event are at the the link above, and I’ll send more information when you confirm your interest.
Looking ahead
Because we’re going to get deluged with “Now what?” posts, I get to throw a little rain on the parade of those who have dreams of Beltran or Drew dancing in their heads. The M’s offseason is, for the most part, over. They’ll probably make a trade to clear the logjam in the outfield and remove a bit of payroll and hope to bring an arm in return. They’ll make a short pitch to several lower tier free agent pitchers. The core of the roster, though, is done. With a few minor tweaks, we’re looking at our 2005 Mariners. Beltran and Drew aren’t in the plans.
I’ve got so much work to do that I probably won’t be posting much the next two days. If you’re coming to the Feed (which now should be the most enjoyable five hours in Redmond’s history) on Saturday, we’ll cover all the bases then, and I’ll resume normal posting patterns next week.
Top-tier free agents
Also, to allllllll the trolls who’ve been hanging around, arguing with me (and others), saying the Mariners can’t sign good free agents, never have or will sign a top-tier free agent:
Kiss my (on-order) Adrian Beltre jersey, suckerrrrrrssssssssssssssssssssss.
Update: I’ve now been grinning for so long my face hurts.
Hudson traded to Atlanta
You’d think this would be good news for the M’s. As obsessive site reloader David Corcoran reports, it’s “Cruz, Meyer, and Thomas.”
Um, which frankly… doesn’t help me so much. Dave would probably be able to give full rundowns, because… well, he’s Dave. I still can’t think straight due to some signing the M’s made.
Edit: Dave’s Not Quite Full Rundown:
I’m a big Dan Meyer fan. Been talking him up to anyone who will listen for two years. He’ll get a rap as a crafty lefty because his stuff isn’t top drawer, but it’s not bad. He throws two breaking balls and a good change. He has terrific command, keeps hitters off balance, and has smooth mechanics. He was the Braves best arm and could be pitching effectively in Oakland by May or June. I like him a lot more than Joe Blanton.
Cruz is a power arm with mediocre command who doesn’t know how to pitch. Think Salomon Torres, but with a bit more upside.
Charlie Thomas is a 4th outfielder.
Definitely not as good a haul as Edwin Jackson/Antonio Perez, and probably not enough for Hudson. The Braves gave up less for a year of Tim Hudson than the White Sox did for 2 months of Freddy Garcia.