News of the weekend
Indians Assistant GM and USSM-Endorsed GM candidate Antonetti interviewed for St. Louis Friday. He’s passed up the chance to interview for other GM jobs, so we know at least that it’s attractive enough for him to pursue it.
LaRue in the TNT argues “Wretched Ramirez still worth keeping”
Ramirez is a 27-year-old left-handed pitcher with a career record of 38-29 and a lifetime ERA of 4.61. In 2007, he was wretched – by any standard – but the week the M’s release him is the week another team picks him up.
[…]
GM Bill Bavasi would dearly love to see Ramirez make that trade with Atlanta last year – sending Rafael Soriano to the Braves – look better. But the real reason Ramirez is still here is that he’s a living, breathing pitcher with a history of winning.
Mentioned at length is Pineiro’s contract with St. Louis. Not mentioned: Pineiro was still not good, and the contract given to him doesn’t make that less true. Mentioned? Ramirez’s overall winning record. Not mentioned: there is no evidence that Ramirez can be an effective major league starter. Unless he shows up at spring training with improved control and better stuff, preferably thrown faster, he’s going to be the same sucky pitcher he was last year. What are you going to point to as reason for hope? Stretches of effectiveness? Nope. Good strikeout rate? Nope.
I’ll stop harping on this. HoRam is a bad, bad pitcher.
And to circle back on our new pitching coach: the good
“I have stolen little bits and pieces from each one of the pitching coaches I have worked with,” he said. “One thing I took from all of them is they all tried to work with people individually and not make everybody the same, which is impossible.”
I do always wince when I hear about pitching coaches who insist that all their pitchers throw with a 3/4ths delivery, or whatever their fixation is.
“I am a big, big believer in pitching inside and I will tell you this, the Seattle Mariners will pitch inside next year,” Stottlemyre said from his Sammamish, Wash., home. “I am not afraid of going on record with that, because pitching inside is an absolute must. I think you have to pitch inside to be successful outside.”
Pitching inside is the pitching coach’s “improved situational hitting”.
Why do people think A-Rod will be a Cub? See past Piniella, the major market and the image to reality.
Unless the Cubs get their ownership situation straightened out in a hurry — with owners who have all sorts of money to burn right out of the gate — they’ll largely be sitting out the free-agent offseason, I would think.
I think there’s a fair chance, actually, that NOBODY signs him. On Boras’ stated terms, anyway. It won’t be collusion as much as a gun-shy offseason in which there’s nobody else to artificially lift up the market — no Barry Zitos or Alfonos Sorianos or Carlos Lees.
I wonder if Larry LaRue was okay with letting Carlos Guillen go for nothing? Or Jeremy Reed, the major haul from the Freddy Garcia trade? Maybe hanging on to Jeff Cirillo for a few more seasons would have eased the sting from seeing Brian Fuentes pitch in the postseason. “History of winning” … Jesus wept, Makes one despair if people will EVER see past pitching wins and losses to what really is.
Drayer (with a few self-described catty moments) blogs about where Alex might end up today
HoRam is fine as a spring training non-roster invite who you can send down to Tacoma when he sucks, and only making MLB minimums.
He’s arbitration eligible this year, and due to make millions. Keeping him on the roster under THOSE circumstances, especially it’s easy to pick up replacement-level talent, would be silly. The M’s should decline arbitration and say “You’re welcome to come to spring training if you can’t find other work”. Let some other team guarantee a bigtime salary.
Also, from LaRue’s article:
They already have their outfield tentatively set for next year – Raul Ibañez, Ichiro Suzuki and Adam Jones. And with Richie Sexson still a one-man logjam at first base, the team will likely try to find at-bats for Ben Broussard in the outfield.
Then there’s rookie Wladimir Balentien knocking on the door from Tacoma.
Guillen did everything Seattle could have asked, and it’s tough seeing a left-handed bat leave the Mariners’ lineup. It just doesn’t seem to be a fit for 2008 and beyond.
Two comments:
– If this is the Mariner thinking for the offseason, it has FAIL stamped all over it. Raul and Broussard as outfielders? Sexson as the primary 1B? Aaaaargh.
– Shouldn’t the beat writer for the team be able to figure out one of the team’s best hitters and potential free agents is a right-handed batter?
#53: Don’t buy into this stuff yet, things are still very early. I’m not going to lie though, I’m wondering why any of the Seattle beat writers haven’t talked ONCE about Kosuke Fukudome being a viable possibility for outfield. Because I think he’d be a very successful doubles hitter in this park.
He’s arbitration eligible this year, and due to make millions. Keeping him on the roster under THOSE circumstances, especially it’s easy to pick up replacement-level talent, would be silly.
Can’t they just cut him if he goes to arbitration and they don’t like the award?
Otherwise, I agree that it’s crazy to give him what he’ll earn in arbitration, and I don’t think Seattle will do that. That would be insanity.
berm – I think that if they offer arbitration, and the player agrees to it, they’re on the hook for whatever the salary outcome is for one year.
Don’t buy into this stuff yet, things are still very early
Note I said “if”… but we’re discussing a team that thinks “Hey, we’re very close to 90 wins!” as opposed to “Hey! Our run differential’s very similar to last year, when we were under .500. Maybe we should rethink this”.
I’m not going to lie though, I’m wondering why any of the Seattle beat writers haven’t talked ONCE about Kosuke Fukudome being a viable possibility for outfield. Because I think he’d be a very successful doubles hitter in this park.
I think Fukudome is probably a .290/.380/.450 hitter at Safeco- basically Johnny Damon with a few more walks and XBH and less stolen bases.
That being saidm I think it’s going to be VERY hard to pry Raul out of LF if Guillen doesn’t come back, especially with Vidro still being the putative DH, and I don’t see that the team thinks “Hey, Raul and Richie’s defense was a BIIIIG problem”… so Fukudome doesn’t make sense when they aren’t bringing back Guillen to start with (I assume to make big offers to guys like Carlos Silva).
berm – I think that if they offer arbitration, and the player agrees to it, they’re on the hook for whatever the salary outcome is for one year.
It’s for something like 1/6th the salary, and even if the M’s WON arbitration, he’d still get a raise from what he made last year. You don’t get salary cuts in arbitration on 3/4/5/6 year players- it’s just not designed that way.
There’s really no reason to keep HoRam under team control and making millions, other than a desire to prove Mariner management didn’t screw up another roster decision. It would be better to cut bait and move on to other players.
#57: Remember though too, if Reed continues to make progress in the minor leagues this year, he could work his way back into the starting outfield in 2009 and prove to be one of those players who just went up and down the minor league several times before staying with the big league club permanently.
So Fukudome would be able to move to DH while Reed would play left or right field. And heck, Fukudome was a decent outfielder in Japan throughout his whole career there anyways.
Lest we forget too that Reed did lead the PCL in hitting this year, so he could end up in an every day lineup still someday.