Beltre or bust
Jim Caple writes on ESPN.com gets in some punches —
Had the Mariners invested money when they should have — they didn’t even spend the much-hyped Kaz Sasaki savings, as they promised they would last year — Seattle wouldn’t face the daunting task it does now: Dramatically overhauling a team so old that its clubhouse sound system should be an eight-track cassette player.
He also buys into the Sexson-Delgado-type rumors, saying that they won’t go after Beltre.
Instead, they will go after the next level of more affordable free agents, players who might be able to help significantly but aren’t going to generate Ichiro Bobblehead Night-like lines at the season ticket window.
Still, I’m not despairing. Beyond the rash of local articles mentioning the persuit of Beltre, there’s increasing recognition in the wider press that the team’s serious.
Woo-hoo! I agree with Dave (and many others) that given the state of the team, they need to either spend on Beltre/Beltran long-term or stay away from long-term deals entirely.
I think of it this way: in 2006, when hopefully the team’s looking to add the final pieces around a team with King Felix and some other young, cheap core talent, I don’t want to be resigned to “well, once Sexson and Koskie’s contracts are up next year, that’ll free up $12m we could spend on a top pitcher…”
Comments
67 Responses to “Beltre or bust”
I’m not a huge Pavano fan, and I’d honestly pass on both at that ammount of money. But yeah, Clement’s the better deal out of the two bad deals, in my opinion. The mean difference in his peripheral stats from 2003 to 2004 was a drop in hits/9, and that’s a flukey stat. I’d suspect, therefore, that his newfound ‘ace’ status is not going to last.
any idea on the time-frame for potential signings of beltre, pavano, etc? Being a top Boras client, will Beltre wait months, or should i keep checking the site every half an hour for news?
I’d take Clement for $8m per in a heartbeat. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t go for more. Look at the deals R. Ortiz, Leiber, Wright, Bensen, etc have gotten. Man, what an offseason to be a slighly-above-average starter…
ESPN.com is reporting Steve Finley was signed by the Angels. Confrence is set for 7:30PM tonight.
To clarify my last post, Pavano’s going to get worse, not Clement. I need to proofread things, heh. And just because the market’s crazy doesn’t mean Clement for 8 million is a good deal…
After seeing the D-Backs, a team that I thought owed considerable amounts to back contracts and to MLB, sign both Glaus and Ortiz for nearly $80m I am even more pessimistic.
Espn is also saying hidalgo just signed with texas for $5m/1yr
MLBRumors.com is reporting Detroit has signed 3B Corey Koskie to a 4-year, $18 million deal, with an option for the 5th year. This signing takes one team off the market rumored to be in the Beltre sweepstakes. WOO HOO!!!!
And then I woke up…
Sorry for the jolt. Had to shake off the dust from the lack of activity today…
Not cool Paul, definitely is a slow news day compared to yesterday.
#43 murton,
I read about it multiple times in the boston papers(currently in beantown). That is how I now about it.
I dreamt last night that the M’s signed both Beltre and Beltran. For some reason that fact pissed me off in the dream, though I think I could deal with it in real life. Of course, the odds of that happening are roughly equal to the odds of me checking my back pocket and finding a thousand dollar bill there, but that’s what dreams are for — to make up for a disappointing reality.
I’m not sure why Beltran keeps coming up. Yes, I know everybody wishes for it. But it’s simply not going to happen. You might as well wish for ARod to come back. The Ms are not going to be in the running for Beltran. The price is going to be too high. And frankly, that’s fine: how many WS has ARod won his teams? Let Daddy Warbucks have Beltran, and focus on the other pieces.
Damn, why did Vlade’s deal expire last off-season….what a bargain.
Oh, and I don’t think I’ve heard Kevin Millwood’s name mentioned once, with anyone…..
Beltre is #1 priority.That being done. What is the possibility of trade w/Atlanta for Andru Jones? Do we have personel to interest Braves?
With Hildalgo signed still believe Ordonez maybe a bargan for a year. His injury can not be any worse than Nomar’s.
Of course would prefer Beltran along w/Beltre. Finley signing w/Angels should have been great news for us at the least we will not have to face Beltram and be even more pissed FO did not take serious run at him. Also implies that signing the promising young outfielder from Cuba will be ready soon.
Locke on KJR just reported that koskie went to Toronto for a 3 year deal!!!! Get us beltre baby
See, I’m not going to be able to sleep now.