The M’s management needs to figure out whether they can live with declining attendance over the next few years, or should they gamble and beef things up this year to avoid the plunge?

It sounds like an easy choice to me, but the M’s management team doesn’t seem to think the same way I do.

It looks like the first thing they are going to do is try to trade, Boone, Shiggy, and Spiezio. If Bavasi can do that I will be pretty impressed. That would clear some salary.

a. Howard Lincoln
b. Bob Finnigan
c. Rick Rizzs

This is truly a tough one, but I’ll say Lincoln, only because Finny and Rizza pretty much take all their cues from Howard anyway. Can you imagine the magnitude of BS that would be generated if these 3 ever got in a room together?

Was that seriously his response word-for-word? I hope the editors for the Times who have to proof read his articles get paid well.

“i wrote what i think is correct so thats all i can tell you. pls dont get into a debate. ichi is 12.5, moyter 8, boone is 9.25, guard is 6, cirilloetc is 5.5. i counted cabrer in at 1.5 figure from there.”

This guy writes for a newpaper…?!?

Anyhow, his numbers aren’t correct.

Guardado has a 4.5 million player option and a 6 million team option. He might have a clause for being the closer. However, the base salary is 4.5 million.

Ichiro will get 11 million next year. His incentives for plate appearances max out at 250K/year until 2007.

Moyer has a 1.5 million base salary. He got a 1.5 million bonus for games started. He has a max incentive of 4.5 million for innings pitched, getting the full amount at 210. He only pitched 202 innings, so he won’t get the full amount. I have talked with other people on this blog about his incentives, and it is possible that he will get part of this 4.5 million bonus. However, his salary will be less than 7.5 million regardless (somewhere between 3 and 7.5).

Boone will get 9 million.

I have a feeling that Finnigan is confused about other salaries, but his numbers are at least 5 million off from the data he sent me in his garbled email. So it is not as bleak as it might look from that article.

These are the numbers I have:
Ichiro $11 million
Bret Boone $9 million
Eddie Guardado $4.5 million
Joel Pineiro $4.5 million
Raul Ibanez $3.75 million
Randy Winn $3.75 million
S. Hasegawa $2.95 million
Scott Spiezio $3.1 million
Ryan Franklin $2.5 million
Jamie Moyer $3 million + possible incentives
Cirillo/Wiki/Jarvis $7 million

Grand total: $55.05 million

That leaves 33 million free if they go to 88 million total payroll, and 37 if they go up to 92 million. Not too shabby.

Most teams view the 5 tools as:
1. Hitting for average
2. Hitting for power
3. Running
4. Fielding
5. Throwing

In contrast, the M’s 5-tool system is based on the following skills:
1. Ability to be born in WA state or have PNW ties
2. Ability to have been an ex-Mariner
3. Speed (to sign contracts of 3 years or less)
4. Being a splendid human being
5. Ability to be lovable in at least one of their commercials

With this sophisticed eval system, it’s not wonder they value the likes of Vizquel, Bloomquist, Villone, Ibanez, etc. Take Omar Vizquel. Nice player on the surface, but upon closer examination – he’s an ex-Mariner, lives on the Eastside, had a year left on his contract, and seems like a nice, lovable guy. Hey, that’s a 5-tool player baby! Willie Bloomquist…4-tool player!

Maybe I should also note the HOF FA the M’s landed — Ricky Henderson.

Or maybe not.