You would not believe the crap I took on another site for supporting Beltre through his struggles in 2005. In fact, I cited those very numbers in support of my position. Essentially, I argued that Beltre’s contract was reasonable, that his glove was worth gold at third base, and that Beltre was only 26 and would get better (which he has).

Finally, I just got through defending Beltre against those who tried to blame him for not discovering the torn ligament sooner.

I would rather have Jones and/or Balentien in the outfield than Wilkerson. I would rather have Soriano and Sherrill in bullpen. I want a lot of those kinds of things, but as long as Bavasi is GM, they are not going to happen.

Year OPS+

‘98 73
‘99 101
‘00 114
‘01 91
‘02 97
‘03 88
‘04 163 (!)
‘05 93
‘06 105
‘07 112

Hope it all lines up.

Sometimes you have your career peak at 25 (Beltre so far), sometimes it’s in your 30’s (Boone). That doesn’t make a categorical argument to me that we can’t acquire Player X because he’s an NL player. Jose Guillen has switched leagues MULTIPLE times, and been consistent (his big leap came playing in Cincinnati, but it was at an age where that often happens). There’s Jim Thome. Richie Sexson. Carlos Beltran. Mike Cameron. Mike Lowell. LOTS of players switch leagues without a) collapsing in the AL or b) going from mediocre to Hall of Famers in the NL.

Vidro sucks, and Bavasi should not have acquired him.

Which is irrelevant to the question of whether or not his performance IMPROVED coming from the NL to the AL- and it did, by any objective standard.

Griffey in the NL? Injuries.

Griffey spent the 2000 season healthy until the end of the season. It’s not particularly different from his 1999 season except for that.

Basically, the argument you are making comes down to having to special-case and say that being a Mariner screws you in some special way if you are an NL player, except if your name is Vidro or Boone. I don’t buy it. Martin, Cirillo, and Aurilia can all be easily explained by a) they were in middling at best players, in their 30’s and b) they came to a tough park. Period. No special pleading needs to be made that their time in the NL screwed them for coming to the AL, and we CERTAINLY should not keep from acquiring useful players under 30 because guys in their 30’s collapsed in Mariner uniforms. The lesson we should learn is “quit acquiring mediocre veterans as patch jobs and use free talent better”.

Thanks for being courteous and fair.

In regards to Beltre, however, he didn’t return to his average stats prior to 2004, he fell off a cliff in 2005.

Dave described it in detail:

“…Obviously, that first year was rough. He couldn’t have started his Mariner career any worse. His first two months in Seattle, he received 199 at-bats and hit a staggeringly terrible .236/.264/.357…”

http://ussmariner.com/2007/09/10/the-value-of-adrian-beltre/

Before anyone gets the wrong idea, I fully supported signing Beltre. I also support an extension.

You learn something new every day.