Mo Vaughn
I’m going to continue to do free agent writeups for guys you may have overlooked or for whatever reason haven’t been part of the conversation yet!
Your attention please: this, and the other post, are jokes. The joke being that unlike Dave, who’s been writing quite serious and in-depth profiles, given the keyboard I would write bizarre, error-filled, badly-reasoned profiles of the wrong people.
As we talk about the need for left-handed power in Safeco, one heavy name in free agency’s gone unmentioned: Mo Vaughn. He’s a huge left-handed power bat, he’s always drawn walks, and he’s been trying to get back in the game.
Now, the injury is an weighty issue — his 2003 was severely curtailed when his knee went out, but as late as 2000 he played in 161 games! And after a full season rehabbing, all the nagging aches and strains that slow most players down, nagging them through the off-season, aren’t going to be a problem. That he missed a year will raise some eyebrows, sure, but when he was with the Mets, he fought with their medical staff constantly to get back in the lineup — with their financial problems and their desire to shift Piazza to first, they wanted to collect the insurance money more than they wanted to have his monster bat in the lineup.
And if bringing Richie Sexson in isn’t an issue, why would Mo Vaughn be any different? Who wouldn’t want a career .293/.383/.523 hitter in the middle of their lineup?
Plus, Mo Vaughn brings intangibles. He’s a gritty player who thrived under pressure for East Coast teams. If we’re looking to bring grit and veteran leadership to the team, Mo would bring a ton of it.
Comments
72 Responses to “Mo Vaughn”
Mo would bring a ton, all right. And that’s before he eats from the pregame spread.
Thanks, I’m here all week, tip your servers well.
I don’t like this idea as much as I liked Whitey Herzog for manager.
Could you write up Robin Ventura next? I’m sure he’s the answer at 3B.
i like it… minimum contract. and if he goes down, oh well. plus, we know bavasi has a history of signing Mo Vaughn, which could work in our favor when in competition with all the other GM’s.
Seriously i can’t tell if you are joking or serious, and i don’t care. maybe mo would be the miracle we need.
and maybe the team can be competitive next year.
and maybe monkees will fly out of my ass.
preferably not.
but maybe.
Has anyone other than Mo hit one into the upper deck in rf at Safeco during a game? I imagine Delgado could put one up there and maybe that kid first baseman for Texas. If I was Mo I would be putting in a call to Bowden about now. If Vinny Castilla is worth a two year contract, Mo ought to be able to talk his way into a least a one year deal with the Washington Nationals. Peter Angelos in Baltimore must be as happy as a man can be with the news that Guzman and Castilla will be making up the left side of the Washington infield in 05.
Mo Vaughn, Sara Vaughn… maybe a package deal? Sara might bring a quicker initial move to first base, though.
Man, I wish Stevie Ray Vaughn was still around.
Not nearly enough strip clubs in the PNW for Mo’s liking.
If he really wants to play that much and will accept incentive contract why not.Make his contract conditional on him maintaining a healthy weight as well. I’d prefer this contract to Glaus, Sexson,or Delgado injury risks.
How about Moe Drabowsky for set up? Or Moe Howard for clubhouse leadership?
What is Richard Vaughn doing? Now that shows like “Diagnosis: Murder” and “The New Love Boat” are off the air, he should have plenty of time to bring in some good clubhouse presence and veteran leadership.
How about Robert Vaughan – make the rest of the league cry U.N.C.L.E.
I agree. I think Derek’s auditioning here for an Onion internship.
Why not Greg Vaughn? Or Von Joshua? Or Claus von Bulow?
I don’t like it.
Two Vaughns don’t make a Wright.
So what would Bavasi give Vaughn…..lets see he’s like 36 and 300 pounds, hasn’t played ball for 2 years……lets calculate that out in Mariner finance… give him a 3 year $13.5M contract! Plus a stimulation that if he wins MVP he gets another $2M!! and don’t forget to add that extra $2M to our total 2005 payroll since it could happen. Gotta be ready to pay out all incentives incase they are met…..
Anyone else not like that about incentives when it comes to the M’s? If a player has incentive clause, that money is instantly put into the total payroll. Yes, the team must be prepared to pay it all out…BUT not all incentives are met and if the team has $10M total possible, but most likely only half or less will be made its a shame to see $5-6M never be spent and immediately go into Lincoln’s wallet at the end of the year. Same with the signing bonuses….how the M’s spread it out over the course of the contract instead of having it a sunk cost when it is handed over when the contract is signed. Do any other Major League teams run this way? If so I’ll shut up, but I bet not.
What, isn’t Albert Belle available?
Was this post really necessary?
#19 – Was yours?
Just kidding. ;D
Uh, Dave, uh, well, see, I think the X-Box has possessed Derek. Take back the keyboard.
Please?
Oh, I get it. Peter Gammons has figured out how to hack into WordPress and is currently cloaking himself as Derek.
I’ll admit that the injury parallel between Sexson and Vaughn is something to at least ponder. Different, uh, joints, but same seriousness.
Quick, Dave, pull back the pinch hitter, and re-insert yourself into the FA write-ups. Before Derek strikes out.
Or did you mean Arky Vaughan?
The thought of a NRI-League-minimum deal does sound at least a little interesting. Dude could just destroy the ball. One of my fondest Kingdome memories (a few notches below the game featuring RJ’s 19K’s and McGwire’s 550 foot blast off The Big Unit just below the big screen, though) was sitting just below nosebleed section and having Mighty Mo blast one a few chairs over from me. That was during the fierce “Throw it Back” days, and the kid followed our “suggestion.”
It’s far too early in the morning (for me, anyway) to be reading things like this. But it was funny once I’d gone ‘meh?’ for about 20 seconds and worked it out.
No, let’s sign Greg Vaughn.
#20 — isn’t that the point? (Or is it?)
re #3: KC, it is Stevie Ray Vaughan. I agree with you, though.
oops, I was referring to #7, not #3. I am a little embarrassed, now.
Call the California Penal League and see how Rick Vaughn is doing.
How about Von Hayes?
Vince Vaughn is an Oscar worthy actor too!
Did DMZ add this later after he originally posted, or is this somehow difficult to understand? Or did the coffee supply in the greater PNW all get dried up today and nobody’s awake yet?
Re #8: Dude, Tacoma has plenty of strip clubs… let Mo start the year in AAA and he may “come” around.
Thank you! Try the london broil, it’s wonderful.
Jimmie
Watch out DMZ, Thinking like that might get you a job in the front office.
Wait, its all coming clear! DMZ is the love child of Bavasi/Lincoln.
I can just see it now. Here is next years super-duper lineup:
1. Ichiro (rf)
2. Bloomquist (1b)
3. Ken Griffey Jr. (cf)
4. Mo Vaughn (dh)
5. Jay Buhner (lf)…lured out of retirement by the chance to be in this superduper special lineup.
6. Bret Boone (2b)
7. Justin Leone (3b)
8. Jose Lopez (ss)
9. Dan Wilson (c)
Of course, we had to trade winn, Ibanez, Spiezio, and Bucky Jacobsen to get Griffey… but who wouldn’t make that deal?
pitching:
moyer
franklin
wright
meche
Anderson (we could afford to take a flyer on a fifth starter with such a solid 1-4)
It’s perfectly balanced. It’s like the yin and yang. We’ve got young and old. We’ve got gritty (Vaughn) and soft (Griffey). We’ve got past and future.
Talk about transcendent
If we go into spring training still needing bullpen help, do you think Canseco has a shot at making the club?
#31: The only thing wrong with your lineup is that the M’s hired the wrong manager to most effectively use those players. Fire Hargrove(find some Backman-esque details), hire Dick Williams, and the M’s will be ready to roll.
Would Mo be better in the field than Bucky?
Only if someone with quick feet pushes his wheelbarrow around.
I once had a serious discussion with Will Carroll in which I insisted that if Mo Vaughn had simply accepted his knees were shot and had them surgically replaced (with artificial knees) after the 2002 season, he’d already be back and playing by now.
Will disagreed.
Re: #15. I would argue that one Vaughn actually makes two Wrights.
2 words.
David Segui, Darren Bragg.
ok, that’s 4 words. But, by golly, they are gamers & scrappers and the kind of words that will run through walls for you.
Those would have to be some crazy bionic knees.
Some suggestions:
1B: Vaughn (natch)
3B: Caminiti (a gamer, a scrapper, a power bat, former MVP, great clubhouse guy…what’s that?)
LF: Kevin Michell (see Caminiti)
Setup: Norm Charlton (gritty guy, clubhouse leader, come right at hitters, and he’s had a lot of rest, so the arm should be good, right?)
Closer: (do I even need to say it?)
Bobby Ayala (see Charlton–gritty, intense competitor, comes right at hitters) – the next Kaz, if you ask me.
Speaking of which, in all seriousness, if the M’s add another closer who throws nothing but forkball/fastball/repeat, I’m becoming a Rangers fan. Hitters just look fastball every time, and when the forkball doesn’t “fork” (which happens about 1 in 8 times no matter how good you are), it usually gets “forked” over the center field seats.
And then your team is seriously forked.
Hey, plus Vaughn has incredible career numbers playing in Anaheim! We would have a guranteed Angel killer in the lineup.
Caminiti… I don’t mind satire (and actually endorse it highly), but picking on the recently deceased either smacks of a lack of knowledge of current events or just a bad attempt at humor.
i do have to say i like how Wilson (C) was copywrited.
and wish i would have come up with the Ricky Vaughn suggestion… he could be exactly the late inning guy our bullpen needs…
I can’t believe the name Von Hayes hasn’t been mentioned. They used to call him “5 for 1″ and Mo Vaughn is “5 in 1″.
Where’s the Dickie Thon profile?
Fred Manrique? Or hell, how about Ernie Whitt?
Hey Emily, Von Hayes was mentioned way back in post #27. It’s ancient history. Now is about the time when people start suggesting Van Morrison.
Well, scratch Troy Percival off your wish list of overpriced / injured players. Too bad. Bad hip to go with Guardado’s bad shoulder…if we had both, we’d have a heck of a closer. TIC.
If we’re going after recently retired players, how about that ultimate scrappy guy?
JOHN KRUK!
12 million for Percival? 6 million/year? Damn. What is going on. When Boras was saying that the market was going to move away from the recent frugality, I figured it was just his typical rhetoric. But this offseason is off to a bad start for the owners and a great start for the players. Vizquel gets 3 years, 12 million, Lidle gets 2 years, 6.3 million, Vinny Castilla gets 2 years, 6.2 million, Christian Guzman gets 4 years, 16.8 million, and now Percival gets 6 million/year. I was surprised by all of these deals except perhaps Vinny Castilla. I know that none of these guys are going to ‘set the market’ for any players that the M’s might have interest in, but at some point you have to wonder if the market is getting back to the excesses of 4-5 years ago.
How much does Urbina make this year? Apparently, the Tigers will try to trade him. I wonder if they’d take Winn for him…although I’m not sure if I’d even want that trade…
Not sure.
Urbina had a pretty lousy year. 0.1 Adjusted Runs Prevented, in 54 innings pitched. He was almost exactly a league-average reliever.
I believe that Urbina makes $4 mill. this year.
Maybe we could get Rex “Wonder Dog” Hudler to put his bong and microphone down and had some clubhouse presence and scrappy play to the squad. Hey, there’s a tie to the Angels! It could happen!
I think I’d trade Winn for a hard-throwing 30-year-old reliever to serve as our set-up guy or back-up closer. Winn’s $3 mill. for his $4 mill. straight up. The more I think about it, I’d do it in a second. Would the Tigers? Maybe?
We’d add just $1 million to our payroll and pretty much solve the bullpen until Soriano gets back.
Input from the insiders? Dave?
Winn for Urbina straight up.
Why not make a team of V’s?
1B: Ty Van Burkleo
2B: Zoilo Versalles
SS: Coot Veal
3B: Jim Viox (no extra “x”)
OF: Arky Vaughn
OF: Vince Ventura
OF: Fritz Von Kolnitz
UT: Peek-A-Boo Veach
SP: Vito Valentinetti
SP: Dazzy Vance
SP: Tony Van Fricken
SP: Rip Vowinkel
CL: Hippo Vaughn
Okay, I guess this has run it’s course…
I don’t think the Percival deal sets any market this winter. The Tigers said last year that they would have to overpay to get anyone to come thier way, and it looks like this year won’t be any different.
Why not make a team of V’s?
What, no Van Lingle Mungo?
On a straight VORP comparison, Winn for Uggie is a bad deal.
Winn’s 2004 VORP: 33.2
Uggie’s 2004 VORP: 9.7
And Winn’s cheaper.
The more I read, the more I think Randy Winn may be the most underrated Mariner. Trading him for Ugueth Urbina, a more expensive middle reliever, does not improve the team one bit.
Winn is a surplus that this team doesn’t necessarily need, and we harped on his deficincies as much or more than anyone. But he’s still a solid player signed to a reasonable contract, (especially in this apparent market) and trading him for a less valuable player who costs more just to dump Winn is not a good idea.
Dave,
I agree on Winn. I enjoy his play, and he is underrated as far as the M’s fan base goes.
However, I feel like plugging Reed in wouldn’t have a huge drop-off. And I think Urbina would serve as a nice set-up guy. Maybe I’m wrong though…I’m don’t know a ton about him other than the fact he seems to have dominant stuff at times.
You all forgot the best Vaughn of them all. The Mariners could use the “Wild Thing” Rick Vaughn. Geezus, with him in the rotation, how could we lose.
re #61: You’re too late. Ricky was mentioned in #26.
or Four Reasons It’s Not So Bad To Be a Mets Fan Today 1) The Mets may stink and the Wilpons may too, but at least they’re not trying to rename the team “The Tri-State Area Metropolitans”. Angels owner Arte…
This may be an upopular opinion, but I would prefer if fake “gag” posts and posts about video games go on a separate blog. I have been trying to convince my father that clubhouse chemistry isn’t what’s missing from the Mariners, and when I suggested he read USSMariner, he found a suggestion to sign Mo Vaughn. If I am in the minority, it’s fine. Thanks.
I can’t believe no one has brought up Vaughn Eschelman yet. Sign that guy up!
#64
If anybody read the mo vaughn post and thought it was for real…. actually I don’t know what to say about that. But even if you thought it was real, you could tell it was fake with this line
“his 2003 was severely curtailed when his knee went out, but as late as 2000 he played in 161 games!”
The post made me laugh
Sabr,
I’m sorry your Dad didn’t get the best first impression of the site. Hopefully you can keep him engaged enough to stick around and read the other 98 percent of the work on here that got you to recommend us in the first place. Perhaps send him links to some of the stuff we’ve written that you’d like him to read specifically?
For me, part of the charm of this blog is that we’re not uber serious all the time. Derek’s going to write some really funny stuff, and I personally enjoy the fact that there’s a bit of levity to go with the more serious analysis.
If you’d like, have your Dad drop us an email, and I’ll answer any specific questions he’d like, no sarcasm included.
Tyler:
I wasn’t trying to milk Caminiti’s for humor, but I can see how somebody would take it that way, so allow me to apologize if anyone was offended. I was trying to make a broader point that people who “can play” and are out of the game are out of the game for a pretty good reason. For every Jose Lima or Ruben Sierra, there seems to be at least as many Ryne Sandbergs, Jim Palmers, Ken Caminitis, Norm Charltons, etc.
it’s cool. wasn’t sure… just thought that was a thin ice to tread on, at least so recently.
personally i thought it funny… but sickly funny. and sad. i’ve seen an awful lot of Caminiti’s… he just happened to have more fame and made it farther before the fall.
great post, DMZ.
and i still say a NRI spring training slot isn’t a bad thing. assuming he can still walk. (which makes me think of the bionic knees comment, nyuk nyuk nyuk.)
Hey, if Mo Vaughn can walk I’d give him an NRI in a flash.
I doubt he can walk.
Good stuff! With the true “Grit” the M’s have been assembling for the roster the past few years (i.e. – Spezio/Arillia signings), why not take a shot at an X-MVP who cannot stand under his own weight. Maybe we can use him as a pitch hitter and have someone run for him like The Babe at the end of his career.
Sign M’s Sign…those other free agents.
And from out you really can’t make this stuff up department…