In the spirit of Pocket Lint Finnigan, here’s my plan of action for the M’s off-season after I make his miracle trade.
1. Trade John Olerud and Freddy Garcia to the Yankees for Nick Johnson and Alfonso Soriano.
2. Take the Royals up on their Beltran-for-Soriano offer.
Ding! Order up!
And then maybe fire him a third time
Kim Ng, formerly an Officially Endorsed Candidate for Mariners GM, is in the news for the wrong reasons — Bill Singer of the Mets got drunk and made an ass of himself in a hotel bar after an Arizona Fall League game. From the New York Daily News which has the only detailed account I found this morning:
According to people at the conference with knowledge of what happened, an apparently drunken Singer approached Ng and belligerently asked: “What are you doing here?”
“I’m working,” Ng replied.
“What are you doing here?” Singer repeated.
“I’m the assistant general manager of the Dodgers.”
“Where are you from?” Singer asked.
“I’m from Indiana,” Ng said, referring to her birthplace. She was raised in Ridgewood, N.J.
“No, where are you from?” Singer asked.
“My family is originally from China,” Ng said.
Singer then allegedly started speaking gibberish, making fun of Chinese – which led Cashman to act, sources said.
—
The Mets are still employing Singer, though they’re waffling on whether or not that might be the case. They’ll probably try and gauge public reaction to see if they have to.
They should have fired him on the spot. Oh, I know how hard it is to actually fire people, and the lawsuits you can incur, but this is a clear case where you have to fire someone and come out and say “I only wish we employed other members of his family and his friends so we could fire them, too. We’re considering re-hiring him so we can fire him again.” And if he fires a lawsuit on the termination, you counter-sue for damage done to your organization and get to destroy them on the stand in front of a jury, and the worst thing that happens is some of your lawyers are tied up for a while making an expressive point about your organization’s feelings about the matter.
This is just stupid.
I did like that Ng made Singer run around the block before he could act like an idiot. “Where are you from?” indeed. She’s from America, you racist slack-jawed yokel, same as you. Get over it or move to Russia.
Early contender for most comical trade suggestion of the off-season: Freddy Garcia and John Olerud for Alfonso Soriano and Nick Johnson. Uh, yeah, the Yankees would go for that one.
Wait — Finnigan has something nearly as comical in the very same article. “If the Phillies discuss a deal for [Freddy] Garcia, former Seattle favorite David Bell’s name could come up. Passion like Bell’s was sorely missed by the Mariners the past two years.”
I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.
Dear readers, if you’re like me, you’ve often thought to yourself “where can I get a baseball card of that one guy we thought would be okay or good but never amounted to anything….” and then you think of what, ten, fifteen different guys off the top of your head, and one of them is Marc Newfield, right?
Well, someone out there thinks $9.99 is a good starting point for bidding on a Marc Newfield rookie card.
You’ll note, of course, that they haven’t gotten any bids. For one-tenth the price, you can get a Russ Davis autograph. At least Russ Davis had some value to the Mariners at some point.
Also, I know this isn’t going to change anyone’s methods, but I have never looked at an item listed with a description like “Seattle Mariners MLB *WOW* L@@K L@@K Nice”
I mean really, come on. Do I look like some country bumpkin, easily duped into looking at items with vague descriptions and come-ons? If I wanted to be treated like that, I’d hang out at the county fairgrounds.
A couple readers have emailed us to say that Melvin hinted at an M’s event that there was a pleasant surprise in store for M’s fans w/r/t shortstop.
What’s that mean?
a) M’s are trading for someone… but who’s available out there they’d get? This seems unlikely.
b) M’s are signing someone… but who? Matsui seems the obvious big candidate, not a serious Guillen upgrade. Sanchez did well by the team, though that hollow average is cause for concern, and we should rightly worry the team saw something there that would lead them to offer a bad contract. Tejeda’s going to want more money and years than the M’s will offer. That leaves… well, some ugly options, none of which are pleasant surprises. My deepest fear is that Melvin’s gotten the team to bring on another ex-Diamondback, free agent Tony Womack, who for years has at once been one of the worst offensive and defensive shortstops in the major leagues. Royce Clayton? Jose Hernandez? Rich Aurilia?
The best option here is Matsui (well, it’s Tejeda, but the best realistic and probably best-for-the-team’s-health option is Matsui). So here’s hoping.
Guillen made $2.5M last year, and if there’s one truth about arbitration, it’s that players get raises (deserved or not). Let’s suppose the M’s file at $3M, a marginal raise. Guillen’s agent knows they’ll offer at least a small raise, so now he’s likely to file for at least $3.5M. For discussion purposes, I think we probably should figure he’ll make $3.5-$4M next season.
However, I think it’s easy to save some money in order to pay him (and potentially Cameron more than $5M if needed). How? Don’t sign Batista for $4M. Don’t get me wrong, I think he’d be a nice guy to have, but at the same time there are guys like Rett Johnson, Clint Nageotte, Bobby Madritsch and even Julio Mateo (think about it!) who could take that 5th starter spot and make next to nothing doing it.
As Jason pointed out, there are some flaws in my plan, most notably the guesses on what arb. eligible and free agent acquisition players will cost. If I’m off even a little bit on several players, we’re over budget, as I didn’t leave much wiggle room. To answer a few questions, though:
1. Will Guillen really get significantly more than $2.5 million? That was his number this year, and he’s coming off a /.276/.359/.394 line in a year that he only played 109 games. He doesn’t have any sexy numbers that you can look at and say “hey, this guy deserves a raise”. He’ll probably get one just on service time, but I don’t see it being a significant raise.
2. The biggest stretch in all this is Mike Cameron at $5 million. I’m near certain he’ll get offered more than that by the Mets, and that would mean he’d have to take less money to stay in Seattle, which he probably won’t do. But I want to see Mike Cameron stay, and so I’m doing a little wishcasting. If he does leave, then you don’t trade Winn for prospects and sub him into centerfield instead at a slightly lower salary. The defensive downgrade from Cameron to Winn is enormous, though, and people are underestimating Cameron’s effects on this team.
3. Edgar’s base salary is $3 million. I tossed him an extra million since he’s almost certain to reach some of the incentives.
4. No, I’m not sure Justin Leone is ready to be an everyday player on a contending team. But I’d rather give him a chance to fail, then make a move at the deadline if he’s not the answer. These are the kind of risks that, if they pay off, provide a huge advantage for the team. If they don’t, you can still recover and find a replacement in season.
5. Miguel Batista made $3.3 million last year and the D’Backs declined his option for $5 milion. Clearly, they view his value as something less than $5 million, but I have to think he’ll get a raise after a very solid year. Thus, the $4 million number, which could be totally off base.
6. Paul Quantrill opted out of a deal that would pay him $3.5 million next year. Clearly, he’s expecting a raise. After posting an ERA 131 percent better than league average, I’d say he deserves it too. Before you think Dodger Stadium was the reason for his 1.75 ERA, he was better on the road than at home. And I should clarify my “murder on righties” comment; he’s awesome against left-handers too. Quantrill is a two-inning relief ace who can dominate hitters from both sides of the plate. He throws strikes, is durable, and has a strong track record of success. He’s given up 3 home runs the past 2 years. He’s an outstanding reliever, and unless he sees some kind of serious decline, $4 million for his services is a good deal.
7. Taylor is basically a name to fill that spot, but I would give Simpson, Looper, Putz, and Rett Johnson looks at that role as well. I have no problem going into spring training letting the kids fight for the last two spots in the bullpen. The M’s pitching depth is one of their biggest advantages, and they should use it to full strength.
Uh, ditto. I’m speachless, really, at how well it all works out.
OK, so I do have one thing to say — Carlos Guillen will get more than $2.5M in arbitration, possibly blowing your budget but not by much.
I’m so impressed with Dave’s plan, I’m giving it my full endorsement.
Dave’s 2003 Offseason Plan
Just playing around with the roster under the constraints of a $95 million budget. Originally, I built an $82 million team that looked a lot like last years team, just with a better bench and less experienced pitching staff. I realized that I had enough money to upgrade the offense, and went all out and got myself Vladimir Guerrero. I don’t think this will happen, and I’m not advocating these moves in totality, but it does show that the M’s could afford to make a run at Vlad if they so chose. In order to create enough room financially, I’ve traded Freddy Garcia, Randy Winn, and Ryan Franklin for prospects. All three have too much value to earn a non-tender, but none of them are worth their projected 2004 salaries to the Mariners. I also released Jeff Cirillo, eating his entire contract in the process. The free agent signings I’m advocating include a few guys who didn’t show up on my earlier list.
Miguel Batista is a quality pitcher who Arizona let go because of their cost cutting maneuvers. With Safeco Field keeping the balls in the park, he’d be a perfect fit. Also has great stuff to come out of the bullpen if young pitchers step up and demand a look.
Paul Quantrill is one of the most underrated relievers in the game. Murder on right-handers. Perfect compliment to Rhodes as a RH/LH pair.
Ben Grieve slots in as the left-handed bat off the bench. I think he could be in for a nice rebound season in the right environment.
Pokey Reese takes McLemore’s spot as the utility player, but actually provides tremendous defense at short and second as well as being able to handle third base. Solid pinch-running option as well.
Vlad, I don’t need to explain. He’s just awesome.
Here’s the roster:
Position Player Salary
C Wilson 3.50
1B Olerud 7.00
2B Boone 8.00
3B Leone 0.30
SS Guillen 2.50
LF Guerrero 15.00
CF Cameron 5.00
RF Ichiro 10.00
DH Martinez 4.00
Bench Colbrunn 2.00
Bench Grieve 1.00
Bench Davis 1.00
Bench Reese 1.00
Bench Bloomquist 0.30
SP #1 Moyer 6.25
SP #2 Pineiro 1.00
SP #3 Batista 4.00
SP #4 Meche 0.50
SP #5 Soriano 0.30
Closer Sasaki 7.50
RH Setup Quantrill 4.00
LH Setup Rhodes 2.50
RH Setup Mateo 0.30
RH Setup Taylor 0.30
Long Relief Madritsch 0.30
Sunk Cost Cirillo 6.50
Total 94.05