Mariners sign Carl Everett
Announcement imminent (update: it’s up)
It’s a bad signing if you have any kind of sentimental attachment to the players who put on the uniform of your team.
It’s a bad signing if you like baseball, because Everett makes the game look bad. You can see this in his fight with umpire Ron Kulpa, or his crotch-grabbing, spitting act towards Jamie Moyer.
It’s a bad signing if you believe that a team’s ability to get along plays any part in their success. He’s been hustled out of almost every organization he’s been in, fought with team members highly regarded by their peers, clashed with his bosses. If you’re a teammate, a coach, or a manager, you’re probably wondering what’s going to happen when you report this spring.
It’s a bad signing if you’re a baseball writer, because the chances you get socked next year just went up dramatically, which almost certainly outweighs the easy quotes and possible ink from fights and arguments with teammates, coaches, and the manager.
It’s a bad signing if you like the Mariners’ family-friendly reputation. [edit: see this later post for a full summary of what happened when with the child abuse saga]
It’s a bad signing if you wanted the Mariners to improve this season. Spending millions to have Everett do a job that almost any minor league veteran could do for league minimum takes money away from the pursuit of valuable targets, like pitchers.
It’s a bad signing if you like to see the Mariners win. Ibanez will move back to the outfield, where he’s below-average defensively, and that’ll hurt the pitchers. Everett’s not a good hitter any more.
2003: .287/.366/.510
2004: .260/.319/.402
2005: .251/.311/.435
Against right-handers, which he’s being brought in for:
2003: .299/.382/.557
2004: .272/.332/.450
2005: .246/.317/.441
Before that, he wasn’t even an average hitter in 2001-2002. The Mariners may be hoping that he follows a 2 bad/1 good pattern. An AL DH hit .258/.336/.436 last year. Bringing Everett in is a step back from trying to get over 80 wins.
There’s a chance that this all works out. Everett behaves for a year, provides power as a DH that we haven’t seen from him in years, and the team gets a bargain. That doesn’t make it a good risk, and it’s not going to get rid of the nasty smear on the team’s reputation.
It’s a bad signing.
Comments
300 Responses to “Mariners sign Carl Everett”
#249: The lone Democrats during that survey are now departed … Randy Winn and Bobby Madritsch. My understanding at the time was that most Mariners were Republicans because they felt the GOP would protect their salaries from “excessive” taxation.
Carl Everett hit .251/.311/.435 last year. If the season started two days ago, our everyday DH would be Greg Dobbs, who hit .246/.288/.331 last year. Everett has a good chance to hit even worse this year but Greg Dobbs is probably more likely to have an even larger decline from his career year.
That’s an increase of .134 OPS points. That’s like replacing Jeremy Reed 2005 with Johnny Damon 2005 or Richie Sexson 2005 with Albert Pujols 2005.
There were other cheap options (Mark Sweeney? Jeromy Burnitz? Magical trade?) but all of them had their flaws just like this one. It’s been argued here before, but most of next year’s improvement won’t come from having a new superstar bat, and instead come from taking PA’s and IP’s from guys like Sele, Meche, Valdez, Bloomquist, and Greg Dobbs. I just hope the M’s find a decent bench guy to take over when Everett is injured.
That’s the performance side. I hate hiring a bigot but, honestly, I’d rather have him come here than join a team like the Astros where his kind of nonsense is tolerated and/or encouraged.
Now, they could have made a run at Thomas or Nomar on a one-year deal. But neither of them can play the outfield …
Really, neither can Jurassic Carl. He can stand out there and catch what’s hit right to him, but Sexson could do the same if you needed to stick Thomas at 1B. And Nomar is open to playing anywhere in the infield or outfield, though he is indeed an injury risk.
Carl Everett is a mediocrity risk. And that’s the upside.
Thanks, Jim! I thought those two might have been the blue staters. I had thought maybe Spiezio, too. But then I saw that God-awful tattoo, and knew he was a fricken ditto-head like the rest of them.
The Mariners will continue their decline until Howard Lincoln is no longer involved with the team. He’s the baseball equivalent of Bob Whitsitt with the Seahawks and Wally Walker with the Sonics.
Re. #249 & #253:
Well, as it is, I’m a Libertarian; thus, there are just a few professional athletes who share my political perspectives.
Yet, that notwithstanding, I manage to view the Seattle Mariners — along with the Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Supersonics, et al. — as a collective group of ballplayers; therefore, I don’t get angry or upset toward the doltish individuals who comprise the team.
Lastly, for whatever it’s worth, Scott Spiezio is an idiot—regardless of his political beliefs and values.
I just can’t believe with all the past history of this guy that BB still signed him. This guy is a ticking time bomb and it’s not a matter of if he’ll explode it’s when. I can see it now. Carl grabbing his package at an opposing player or spitting at the ump, the fans booing him, and he drops trow at the fans. When that happens I doubt BB will be thinking about running down to home plate and kissing the behind of his left-handed bat with sock. Mariner fans we deserve better than this front office, coaching staff,and anyone else responsible. I have been a big fan of the Mariners for a long time but this signing makes me want to quit.
Yet, that notwithstanding, I manage to view the Seattle Mariners  along with the Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Supersonics, et al.  as a collective group of ballplayers; therefore, I don’t get angry or upset toward the doltish individuals who comprise the team.
As poster jacklamabe65 put it on Sons of Sam Horn: “They come, they go. We stay.”
I just wish Everett had skipped the first part.
Matt, others
I’m a screaming leftist and I don’t expect many bazillionaire baseball players to share my political views.
I do however ask that my team not sign players who abuse their children.
Whatever happened to Bucky Jacobson? Wasn’t he supposed to get called up after rehabbing?
Will one of the few brave, foolhardy Everett advocates produce a single baseball reason why Everett will help the team next year?
Where does Carl’s ‘smash mouth’ baseball equate to above average production from a DH? The only mouth he’s smashed in the last few years probably belongs to one of his children.
How exactly are the M’s better off for signing Crazy Carl rather than engineering a trade for, say, Karim Garcia, to pick a name from Jim Thomson’s list? Better OBP, slugging, defence, versatility, or value for money? What about Carl makes you believe that he’s worth more than a kick in the arse?
And I’m particularly pissed of at that ‘Mariners’ jerk. Assininee, cherry-picking reasoning, arrogance and still lousy grammar. It’s “Would you rather HAVE had Frank Thomas…”.
‘of’ isn’t even a verb.
Bucky’s crocked, fat, out of shape and out of baseball. It’s a bit of a shame.
#259. Bucky was released from the Mariner organization in September. He is an unsigned free agent, last spotted camped out at Big Bubba Burger in downtown Hermiston, Ore.
Bucky is gone and not the answer either. However, a non aswer is better than the wrong answer. Everett is a step backwards. This definately effects my feelings towards this team. I can’t agree more with the article. We may get lucky, but why rely on luck? This is the most foolish move since sending Varitek and Lowe to Boston for Slocum. At least it isn’t as bad as that.
#237 Choska – Thanks for the best laugh today! Sign me up! : )
#248 Thanks, you said it better then I could in comment 234.
Ugh. I don’t particularly like Carl Everett as a ballplayer or a person, but this outcry is a little nuts.
Carl Everett improves this team. He takes the place of Gregg Dobbs as the everyday DH, meaning we go from a player who is probably worth -.5 wins to one who is worth 1.5 or so. That’s two wins, and let’s subtract a half win b/c of Raul Ibanez’s defense just to be fair. That’s a net gain of 1.5 wins with a complete lack of optimism by me about what Everett will do with the bat next year.
So there you go: the Mariners are a better team by replacing Gregg Dobbs with Carl Everett. That doesn’t mean the signing is an effective use of resources. In fact, most of us agree it is a poor one. But the Mariners as of 12/14 are a better team than the Mariners as of 12/13. I just wish we had chosen a “better” way to get better, but they are better.
Tempest in a teapot. He’s a potential contributing stop gap until Adam Jones, et al, is ready. If we get something better then his 2005 numbers for a 1 year 3 million deal, I will find someway to live with this.
Serious overreaction going on here.
Will one of the few brave, foolhardy Everett advocates produce a single baseball reason why Everett will help the team next year?
Dude, haven’t you been listening? 20 HR, 80 RBI.
I’m feeling optimistic.
3 Million. 1 year. That’s not that much commitment, and really not that much money, considering.
He takes the place of say, Greg Dobbs, our DH at the end of last year. Ah well, Dobbs sucks.
Everett is one of those lunging lefty hitters that primarily pulls the ball. One of those kinds of guys that would always launch the ball into the right field seats against the medeocre Mariner pitchers over the years. I can’t think of the last time we had a power hitting lefty guy capable of reaching that area on a regular basis. It’s the Safeco short porch, and we haven’t taken advantage of it after Griffey’s short Safeco stint.
I’m not saying it’s a good signing, but it’s not as bad as it could be either.
The Mariners are a pretty soft, boring team. Everett brings forth the fire. One of those cheap players to spike an opposing shortstop sliding into second to break up a double play ball. Maybe the Mariners NEED somebody like this. I’m not saying this is how baseball should be played, but it’s how a lot of other teams play. We haven’t had any fire since Lou moved to Tampa. Whining Boonie doesn’t count.
He works out, behaves himself, hits 30 homers and drives in 100 runs, and fans rejoice, and he’s around for 2007 as well. He sucks, well, we deal him at the deadline and give somebody else a shot.
Perhaps another reason to watch the games.
Voting for the “wrong” party is not a crime. Beating your kids is.
Voting for the other guy isn’t a social faux pas*. Grabbing your crotch and acting like a jerk in front of several thousdand fans (some of them young kids) is.
* – if you think it is, please realize that whoever you voted for last year, about 60 million fellow Americans voted for the other guy. In a healthy democracy, you respect each other’s choices, even the ones you disagree with.
Re. #260:
I, too, am not fond of either poor grammar or idiocy; nevertheless, I find it absolutely amusing that you, while ranting about poor grammar in your post, misspelled the term asinine.
Anyhow, no matter Carl Everett’s deteriorating skills and social ineptitude, Seattle Mariners VP/GM Bill Bavasi should’ve signed Jeromy Burnitz to play left field for the ballclub—there is no doubt ’bout it!
Well, crap! I spent the entire evening fixing my PC, finally got that done, logged on to USSM to find…this. So the team spent coin on someone who by most accounts is a head case with a declining skill set? Yeah, I hope CE goes out and is a model citizen and hits 30+ bombs too…of course, I also keep hoping that I have the winning Lotto ticket.
I’m sorry…it’s been a loooong day…but if the team’s goal is to “build for the future” how does a 1 year band aid signing help that…and an odd band aid at that???
Oh well…on the plus side maybe we can now go get Kenny Rogers and the 2 can take turns taking swings at people.
Rogers is a Tiger for the next 2 years.
Re: Everett replacing Dobbs.
Sure, Everett was better than Dobbs in 2005. But, Dobbs at least might improve, and he costs $3 million less.
And really, this isn’t a question of Everett replacing Dobbs. Everett is displacing whatever player we put there if we don’t get Everett. Chances are: not Dobbs. There are any number of journeymen available who would offer better DH production than Everett.
Even if they’re not left-handed. Another random player who hit better than Everett last year?
Jeff Cirillo.
I smell Speizio all over again, but with a little more power is all. YUCK!
#274: Jeff Cirillo
Good call. OPS+ of 110 versus Jurassic Carl’s 94 last year (and that’s a park-adjusted stat, too). And Cirillo’s only making $850k guaranteed! If we eat a few million of JC’s contract, you think the Brewers will make a trade?
I recall my mother taking a belt and beating my pet dinosaur with it.Then she hired a series of expensive ‘big guys’. Jeffy, Richie A, Scottie, Brety. None of them were able to hit the dinosaur.
She thought they must all be gaily overpaid. I assured her that sooner or later, someone will smack that dino for less than 8 mil a year; but he may be a jerk.
She’s OK with that. As long as he smacks the dinosaur..
Burnitz was pretty bad on the road the past 3 years, his numbers are helped by Wrigley and Coors. He’s older, more prone to fall off even faster. And, who’s to say that Burnitz even wants to play for Seattle? You can’t just go out and get anybody that you want, it has to be a mutual meeting. Signing Lee doesn’t give the lineup versatility by playing Everett in the outfield now and then. And who’s to say HE even wants to play for Seattle?
Everett actually hit .280 away from Chicago last year. Less power, but it’s expected. Considering the majority of our team fails to hit that well, it’s an upgrade to the schmucks we have. Maybe he backs it off a bit and becomes a better hitter in bigger ballparks. Hell if I know, I don’t think anybody knows what’s going through Crazy Carl’s mind.
My picks for the offseason lefty sock were Huff or Bigbie. Bigbie I feel can outperform Everett, but Bavasi chose for some future arms rather than Bigbie now in the Yorvit deal. Huff would be a step backwards in future contention and makes twice as much as Everett, and Huff himself has been in a decline.
This pretty much fills out the lineup. Johjima is a considerable upgrade over Olivo, last year’s starting opening day catcher. Betancourt has worlds of potential over Valdez, last year’s opening day shortstop, and Everett supplies more power than Winn, last year’s opening day starting left fielder, defense be-damned.
If the M’s sign Millwood, and make a swap or cheap signing for a quality 5th arm, we’ll be a decent club. I’m not saying a good club, but a decent one.
I still hate Bavasi, I’d like to see him out of town after 2006. At least with Everett around I get to open up the paper to potentially see some dimwitted, blunt, ignorant, but almost always comical Carl Everett comments.
#278: At least with Everett around I get to open up the paper to potentially see some dimwitted, blunt, ignorant, but almost always comical Carl Everett comments.
Why don’t you just do like fans have always done in the 29 MLB cities without Carl Everett: read the Letters to the Editor?
279. Fans don’t have near the pizazz that Everett has. I googled a few interviews, Everett is comedy gold. I’d go see him at Giggles if they brought him around for a guest night.
The next comic moment will be how the local mainstream media (TV & print) will tiptoe around Everett’s past, or just spin him as a guy with “fire in the belly and a world series champion”, as KOMO described him tonight. Good times!
Exactly my thoughts DJ…I didn’t want to see him, but He’s an M now so I’ll give him my support. Until he proves he doesn’t deserve it, that is. He could do well here. Ichiro may be partly to blame for this signing. saying that not everyone was playing hard may have caused the FO to look at getting a player who’d yell at ANYONE for not busting thier butt. Everett is that kind of perfectionist.
What do you think about getting SP by signing Damon so that the Red Sox need Reed? Maybe a five year $48mill? I don’t know if we need a lefty to bat second…Maybe if they were moving Ichiro to third in the line-up, but I guess that would make Yu-Bet 2nd by default. Interesting thought I hadn’t looked into until recently. Doesn’t make a lot of sense unless I’m missing something though. I think Reed could become better than Damon is. That would put three lefties in the line-up Who’ve hit 20 HR in a season though, not including Ichiro who hit 20 in Japan. 4 with 15+. although I think those are about career years for all of them…
“He was a key contributor to the White Sox championship season … hitting .300 in the postseason.”
This is a great example of using a small truth to tell a big lie. Mariner management wants you to believe, from this sentence, that Everett was a big contributor in the postseason for the White Sox. He wasn’t. It’s that simple. He was a non-factor.
He hit .300, yes. It was about the emptiest .300 possible. He hit 12 for 40, with one walk, and not a single extra base hit. That’s right, his slugging was also .300; his onbase was a hair better. He knocked in three runs in twelve games.
Key contributor, my ass.
Randy Winn’s SLG, 2004/2005:
.425/.499
Carl Everett’s SLG, 2004/2005:
.402/.425
The OBP’s aren’t very close, and the defense and baserunning…yeah.
Can we PLEASE stop saying Everett is an upgrade in any sense on Randy Winn?
I’m totally pissed. I wrote an email tp the M’s protesting this signing a week ago. I got a form letter in reply. This is more than a step back; it’s a slap in the face. The Mariners can take their $8 beer and shove it. I’m still a fan, but this does nothing to encourage me to drive from Portland to buy tickets. To quote Bob Whitsitt, “I’m not a chemistry major.”
Well, neither is Bavasi.
Larry Stone’s article today indicates that the M’s may be interested in Sir Sidney Ponson. It just keeps getting better.
Let’s just say Bavasi signed his pink slip.
[sorry, I’m posting an update on this now]
I don’t mind the signing, at least it brings an element of intrigue to an otherwise boring team. And who cares about the crotch grabbing incident, it was years ago. Jamie has probably forgotten about it and if he hasn’t and actually still harbors some ill will towards Everett, then he probably shouldn’t be playing professional baseball anymore. Guys get into fistfights with each other on the field and end up becoming teammates the next year people. It’s baseball, not a friendly game of croquet. As much as Soccer Mom and Corporate Dad wouldn’t like to believe, baseball has been and always will be a rugged, dirty hard nosed game and when it’s G rated, most of the time you’ll end up being on the losing end of things.
Let’s just say Bavasi signed his pink slip.
FUnctionally, yes….but I wonder if he went young and unknown, if he would have gotten approval from Armstrong et al or acquiesence from below (as in, Hargrove being an older school manager who’s more comfortable with vets).
#285 Youre right that Everett isnt an upgrade over Randy Winn…. Winn isnt on the roster. By the way, before you crunch the numbers, Everett isnt an upgrade over Edgar either. Griffey is a better centerfielder too. Heck, I bet Floyd Bannister is a better pitcher than Everett (though I havent ran the numbers).
Anyone know who got dropped off the 40-man to accomodate Everett?
This kills me. I can’t even find myself hoping this guy does well. If he does well, he almost definitely will be back for 2007. **GUARANTEE** The FO will release the Sodo Mofo before his contract is up.
#208: Yes, I heard that on the radio last night.
This signing says a lot about Hargrove. As if we needed anything else.
I think there is a better than even chance that Hargrove will be gone this time next year.
Bavasi did what his manager asked for. His manager though, is an idiot when it comes to talent evaluation and knowing what wins ballgames.
It will be a sad and shameful day for Seattle when the Gay Paleo Club shows up at the ballpark to make fun of Carl Everett’s religious beliefs.
#270– “He works out, behaves himself, hits 30 homers and drives in 100 runs, and fans rejoice, and he’s around for 2007 as well.”
fwiw, the White Sox reporter on KJR this morning says that Carl historically comes into camp out of shape.
[error:word ration approached 1:1]
Nice job on spelling Bavasi and Wilson corrrectly. The dinosaures may not be very happy though.
Another reason to hate Carl Everett: Him breaking up a perfect game Mike Mussina had after 8 2/3 IP on Sunday Night Baseball a few years ago. That really pissed me off.
I’m a white sox fan and i have to tell you that everett’s charecter issues didn’t effect him on the field or any of his teamates. While your team obviously has a history with his prior actions give him another chance, how would he win a world series and be such a bad teamate. I’d be more concerned about him batting .250 with 150 strike outs for the year even though he’ll hit 30 hrs with a regular starting gig.(Frank thomas started for a while and took some of everett’s abs)