U.S.S. Mariner

A really long toss-off post in which I abruptly reveal that I know too much about sports betting
Out of curiosity, I looked up what the lines on teams are for this season and I’d like to reward you, dear readers, with some easy money tips. All lines were quoted at -115 either way unless otherwise [...]

Randy Winn signed a 3 year contract extension with the Giants today, covering the 2007-2009 seasons, worth $23.5 million. He’s under contract for $5 million this season.
So, for the next four seasons, the Giants are committed to paying Randy Winn $28.5 million. $7 million per season. Randy Winn, folks. [...]

Big news of the day: Kevin Appier may have one of the shortest comeback attempts ever. The PI writes his first outing was awful. See if you wince along with me:
If the problem is simply that he’s going through the “dead arm” phase many pitchers encounter in the spring, he’s got a chance for [...]

…to change a lightbulb?
Two versions:
1: I don’t know, but about 30,000 a night show up hoping to see the lightbulb turn itself around.
2: Changing lightbulbs is unncessary for Mariner fans, who bask endlessly in the luminous goodness of Raul Ibanez’s soul. (props to Jonah for the idea for this one)

No announcement of the Ibanez signing. Presumably they’re working on setting up the parade and related infrastructure, like the platform where Edgar Martinez, gun held to the small of his back, will pass a fake torch while ownership applauds.
Former M’s cavalcade:
Mike Cameron (Moore, PI), Bret Boone (Stone, Times)
Guardado passes up WBC in favor of the [...]

Using the Baseball Musings Lineup Analysis tool (see also this link for more info) and the 2006 PECTOA projections:
The best lineup it came up with was (surprisingly)
Johjima
Sexson
Everett
Ibanez
Beltre
Betancourt
Ichiro
Lopez
Reed
at a whopping 5.016 runs a game. Fun fact: in the “best lineup” section, Sexson bats 2nd every time and Johjima or Reed bats first.
Worst lineup, at 4.792 r/g:
Lopez
Betancourt
Reed
Everett
Ichiro
Ibanez
Beltre
Johjima
Sexson
Of [...]

TNT: Moyer watches video! Shocking! Roberto Petagine wants to break into the majors.
In the Times, Bob Finnigan writes about what the team’s doing with their shortstop surplus, but if you only read one article, check out Larry Stone’s great piece about former Mariners in spring training with other teams. This is why we love Stone [...]

The big story: the Mariners reported an $8m profit in 2005 to the Public Facilities District. [Seattle Times.]
Also, Bucky signed a minor league contract with the White Sox. [Seattle Times
The Times also reported that Ibanez’s contract will be finalized after they get the results of “a blood draw”. What could come back in that would [...]

February’s a short month — the first batch of the USSM Limited Edition shirts are about to disappear, never to be seen again. Do you want people to ask you about the traffic in McCall, Idaho? Do you want to support our continuing efforts to spread fear and suspicion, negativity and navel-gazing? Do you wish [...]

Starting Center Fielder: Jeremy Reed
Dave
Like Jose Lopez, we’ve written a lot about Jeremy Reed the past year and a half. Like Lopez, perception of his abilities have been all over the board, as people responded wildly to performance spikes. After he nearly hit .400 in a September trial last year, the public opinion [...]