MLB.com:
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Bavasi said he and his staff are in the process of identifying which MLB teams might have the best matches for trades. The Mariners, who need more offense, have the kind of starting pitching that other teams covet.
Most teams are still in process of determining whether they will be a buyer or seller leading up the July 31 trade deadline. Bavasi wants to be in the group that adds players for the second half of the season, but it’s up to the present players to make it happen.
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Nice indirect quote. It’s also up to the manager and general manager to make that happen, and they’re doing a pretty good job at making sure it doesn’t happen.
I love that the Mariners have the kind of starting pitching other teams covet. If Garcia’s turned around and pitching right, he’s still expensive. Pineiro and Meche are question marks. Franklin would be an effective back-end rotation guy who goes deep into games for relatively cheap and do well for a team with a good defense, but what contending team meets those criteria, and what can they offer the M’s?
More importantly, I like that the team is still unable to figure out what’s wrong with on the field, or why they’re losing games. Smart people saw the flaws before the season even started, we know the Mariners know what the criticism of their team have been, and we know that those criticisms were spot on.
I cannot understand how any business can run like this.
“Hey, your fruit stand is on fire.”
“No it’s not.”
“It is, seriously, and I mention this because I like your fruit.”
“You must be some kind of complainer. I will ignore you now. Now where did all the customers go? I note that, totally independent of that first dude, that it’s unusually hot here. I will call to have an expensive air conditioner installed.”
This latest news is ill tidings for the Mariner fan: if you thought Bavasi did a bad job patching (and opening new) holes in the ship’s hull this off-season, take a second to imagine what’s going to happen when he decides to rebuild the ship entirely in his image.
Blub blub.