Times reports Washburn deal is done pending physical
Jeff · December 16, 2005 at 10:44 pm · Filed Under Mariners
I am refusing to post the link, because I refuse to believe that this is happening. If I refuse to acknowledge what Derek just called “the worst offseason [he] can remember any team having in recent memory,” it is not real. We can have a fun gathering tomorrow night, and we will all be just soggy with effervescence and good cheer.
I am happy in my happy place.
Comments
57 Responses to “Times reports Washburn deal is done pending physical”
The Mariners might as well just sign me at this point … I can pitch ten times as badly as Washburn for ten times less the money.
We love Derek for his passion. But as much as this deal sucks, and we don’t like the Everett one, we still got a steal in Marcos Carvajal and a great signing in Kenji Johjima.
Worst offseason in recent history? How about any of the recent Tigers offseasons? Magglio Ordonez and Troy Percival? Kenny Rogers and Todd Jones?
This just might actually be that offseason. It’s not just the hopeful beginning manifesting itself into a biblical smackdown. It’s the idea that with the right planning, this could have been a playoff contending team. Not just in 2006, but set up extremely well for beyond 06. And the right moves were being taken. Bavasi made it 90% of the way through the minefield and then for some reason decided he didn’t trust those signs the minesweepers put up so he decided to test one out by stepping on it. Sans one leg, but still unsure, he decided to do it again.
What’s worse; how bad these moves are, or how simply ignorant the local coverage of them will be?
Thank you Bavasi, you just killed my optimism for baseball.
Hyperbole sometimes feels like the appropriate response. And that Washburn contract, if it’s anything like has been reported, is a big, herring-fattened albatross.
I try to comfort myself by remembering how awful I thought the White Sox off-season was last year.
It doesn’t actually help, but it makes me think about something else.
I actually find the Kansas City Royals’ recent acquisitions to be entertainingly silly. Mientkiewicz, Grudzielanek, Bako, Elarton, Dessens, McEwing, Redman … how do any of these players represent components of a coherent plan?
It’s true we got a good signing in Johjima, and the Torrealba trade’s nice. And it’s also true that I’m easily excitable and floored by the Washburn signing.
But has there ever been an off-season like this where a team’s worst designs have been thwarted by fate and luck, and their backup plans, nearly as bad, allowed to succeed?
Seriously, just to hit the big ones — we dodged a Matt Morris bullet, there was the crazy trade for Juan Pierre, the Everett signing’s a bust, Reed-Clement talks are still ongoing, they may be after John Garland as the discarded pitcher off the White Sox rotation. This is an off-season alternating between terror at the latest rumor that doesn’t happen and terror at what the team’s after now.
Reading any Times/PI/TNT column about what the M’s are looking for now is enough to give a fan heart palpitations.
The Royals seem to be working towards the all-role player team.
Actually, I don’t entirely hate what KC has done. They’ll still suck, and maybe some contender decides it needs “veteran leadership” or some such nonsense and gives up some B or C-level prospects for their collection.
I want an official USSM analysis of WTF Bavasi is thinking right now. Because, while acknowledging that I don’t know the man at all, I’d wager he has very little clue of many of the fundamentals of performance analysis. How could a guy that *does* have a clue possibly sign a pitcher as middling as Washburn to that deal? How?!
Adding up the offseason moves:
Guardado: bad. I’d call it terrible, but with just a one-year deal, at least the contract will go away when Bavasi does. Of course, with guys like Braden Looper getting fat contracts, a smart GM would have already traded Guardado…
Johjima: good/great
Torrealba/Carvajal: OK (I’m less impressed than Dave. Leave it at that)
Everett: just stupid. Not really terrible, becuase it isn’t a huge commitment, but… stupid.
Washburn: Terrible. Stupid, and damaging to the future as well.
Add it up, and Bavasi lucked into Johjima because of the team’s Japan connections and made a bunch of other mediocre to terrible decisions.
Side note amongst the weeping and gnashing of teeth – it would appear that MAYBE BB jumped on the Washburn bandwagon because he was not offered arbritration (I believe) thus saving a draft pick that would be sacrificed if Millwood was signed. Maybe in Bavasi’s odd little world, he believes he is contributing to the “Greater Good” of the franchise by trying to re-stock the farm system. Considering the condition of the farm system, maybe not a bad motivation – but it does not negate the idiocy of the signing.
Ryan Franklin is almost certainly a dream player by KC standards. I bet Aaron Sele gets an NRI from the Royals, too.
Maybe he will fail the physical. (Nothing against Washburn personally)
The last reject we signed from the Angels, it turn out to be Scott Spezio. I hope Washburn is not another reject like Spezio that cost the Mariners salary cap problems and roster position.
the signing would be easier to swallow if it is closer to 30 mil rather than 40 but still a bit steep for Washburn. Wonder which figure he will pull 8mil a yr is easier to swallow than 10 mil per year.
The 2005 Yankees offseason, resulting in Womack, Pavano, and The Wrong Wright, has to have been worse than this. Womack less useful than Everett (though Everett is projected to be awful), and while Pavano’s signing may be sligtly better than Washburn’s, Wright’s was surely and obviously worse.
That said, this is pretty much awful. The Mariners are now an example case for how rich teams can suck due to bad management.
The only people that should be in favor of this deal — 8 million a year, 10 million a year, whichever — ought to have the last name “Washburn.”
We’re going to non-tender his right-handed equivalent. There are numerous freely-available pitchers that could put up comparable numbers. And we’re going to lock ourselves to him until he’s 36? That’s … insane is the word I keep coming up with.
This is surely karma for making fun of the Reds and Diamondbacks for Milton and Ortiz.
Re: the draft pick nonsense
I have seen this posted on this site so many times in the last few months, and its really starting to drive me nuts. Let me refute the draft pick argument step by step:
1) The Mariners 1st round pick is protected this year because they were so bad, even if they were to sign a top free agent all they would lose is a second round pick.
2) A second round pick is worth significantly less than a first round pick. The difference in quality between a high first rounder and a second rounder is greater than between a second rounder and a fifth rounder.
3) As such, losing your second round pick in order to pick up a guy like Millwood should be of almost no consideration.
Thus, there is no way they made the washburn signing in order to avoid losing a second round draft pick. If they did, then it makes this signing even more stupid then it already was.
Gotta agree with Jeff, Maybe, and I really mean Maybe, Wasburn for 8 mil. but only for 1 year. A team option for a 2nd year? sure. 4 years? This is INSANE!
Guys don’t give up yet on the possibility of signing Millwood… Maybe Bavasi is going to spend a little more this year to get us a rotation of:
Millwood
Washburn
Hernandez
Moyer
Piniero
That rotation would be nice and signing millwood and washburn would take a huge amount of pressure off of Felix
As least Morosi in the P-I isn’t afraid to accentuate the negative, going out of his way to point out the following:
• Jarrod Washburn had made fewer than 30 starts the past two seasons. He went 19 days between starts this July because of an elbow injury, and 15 days between starts in September because of tendinitis in his left forearm.
• Washburn’s opponents’ batting average increased from .235 to .256 to .269 to .274 the past four seasons, while his ratio of strikeouts per walk declined from 2.36 to 2.19 to 2.15 to 1.84.
I can only imagine that BB looks at Washburn, and just repeats to himself, “3.20 ERA, 2002 World Series ring, a guy I liked when I ran the Angels.” I can see him getting that awful contract singed, and then running into to his office, locking the door, and hiding under the desk while he repeats that phrase over and over again. And there he’ll stay, encased in his own bubble, for the next 11 months. And if, somehow, this team doesn’t lose 90 games again, he’ll proclaim success, and ask for a contract extention.
There’s a bit of joy in that article, though:
“At this point, the only arbitration-eligible player not expected to be sent a contract by the deadline is pitcher Ryan Franklin.”
The only way to rationalize Bavasi’s decision in this case, is that he’s giving back to the Angels, and the job that he had with them, by signing some of their trash to lavish contracts.
I’m not rooting for the M’s next yr, and Bavasi and Co. should go to hell.
“In addition, Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi is very familiar with Washburn from Bavasi’s tenure as general manager of the Angels from 1994 to 1999.”
Bill Bavasi, everyone, the world’s laziest GM. “Hey, I knew this guy a decade ago and he was pretty good so he’s still good now, right, guys, right?”
Once again our only hope is a badly failed physical and that’s not much hope.
I’m developing a deep dark hatred for Mr. Bavasi.
If Benji Molina signs a $4 million one-year deal somewhere (anywhere) and Jojima doesn’t put up an .800 OPS, he’s not a great deal. He might be fair market value at that point.
I know you all don’t want to hear this, but Washburn ain’t that bad. He put up a “lousy” 3.20 ERA because his home stadium killed him (and has for years now). Look on the bright side: we’re getting the 4th best ERA in the AL and moving him to a park where he’s much more suited and giving him a better defense. His K/BB, GB/FB, BAA all suck, I guess. But Washburn’s got something that makes up for all that. We just don’t know how to categorize it.
Is he worth what he’s getting? Its all monopoly money to me anyway.
Re. #20:
For the Seattle Mariners to sign Kevin Millwood, it would probably take the following three things:
1. Millwood’s agreeing to play in the Pacific Northwest;
2. A contract for approximately five years, worth roughly $55 million;
3. The trading of Joel Piñeiro and/or Eddie Guardado, so as to free up salary, for lower-tier prospects.
At any rate, though, a starting rotation of Felix Hernandez, Jarrod Washburn, Millwood, Jamie Moyer, and Gil Meche would likely be one of the most unproductive in Major League Baseball.
If Washburn is our only FA starter then Felix had better be our opening day starter. The day Washburn is the opening day starter of my team, I’m sure I’m being overdramatic and I’m not even going to make any threats, but it’s depressing.
27. More unproductive than the Kansas City Royals?
Okay, that’s not saying much, but still….
#18 joebob
I am assuming you are refering to my post – where in my post did I mention anything about a first round draft pick? I appreciate the lecture, but I clearly understand the parameters of the compensation for losing a free agent. How could you expect any rational thought from a FO that just signed CE as their “Left handed sock”? I could CLEARLY imagine Bavasi using the 2nd round draft pick as one excuse to rationalize signing Washburn over Millburn – along with the 2 million + in savings. If anyone was expecting logical behavior from this front office, that should have gone out the window long ago with the Guillen trade. I am just thinking through the probable “spin” that will be presented to the media/season ticket holders to keep them spending money on tickets and overpriced food.
The deal’s not done and already Steve Kelley is ripping on the Mariners for it — http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2002688583_kell17.html.
Wow, Spleen sure vented there.
Okay, that’s the second time I’ve botched the usage of the href tag. I know I’m not the first; I wish there was a tutorial somewhere. Spelling the URL out (and I’d be grateful if the previous post got deleted), I’ll repost.
===
Pocket Lint writes in the Story that Must Not Be Linked To: If Meche is not included, the Mariners are expected to turn their preference for Bronson Arroyo into a demand.
Does Bavasi even realize which way the gun is pointed? Why does he think he’s in a position to demand anything from anyone? The Red Sox aren’t waiting for him to talk to them; they’re also talking with Cleveland about a deal for Coco Crisp.
http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/view.bg?articleid=117476
Unlike Reed, Coco can actually hit a little bit. His OPS+ for the last three years was 78, 106 and 119. If Boston has a choice of dealing anyone for either Reed or Crisp, Reed is not going to be at the top of their list.
Oh man…the PI is basically saying the Reed/Arroyo deal is done if the Sox don’t sign Damon. The hits just keep on comming.
“If it’s Arroyo,” said one industry source with knowledge of the situation, “they’d both fit.”
Who is this guy and what the crap is he smoking?
I guess all we can do now is beseech $deity that Washburn didn’t mention the bizzare MP3 player accident that sent his labrum into an alternate reality where it is currently governor of California.
But since the M’s have no luck right now… at least we aren’t the Royals or the Rockies. Yet.
After reading Kelly’s article in the times in which he says, “This is becoming the winter of discontent for Mariners fans,” I thought maybe this could cheer some of us up:
http://www.hjo3.net/discount_tent.jpg
I know I needed it.
Wow … did Steve Kelley just become the sixth author of USS Mariner? That’s just … weird.
Jim, I hear you. After all the hate mail I’ve been sending to the press for being softies I had to drop him a line to give him some kudos on that piece. Too bad it’s a little to late to have any real impact.
I say sign this future Cy Young, but they should also go after millwood too!!! After that we can start ordering our replica world series rings.
discount_tent.jpg gives a permission error.
Hey, maybe Washburn could fail his physical! Does anyone know how to get in touch with Tony Soprano?
Try this:
http://tinyurl.com/8pqx2
I’ve kept the URL small so as not to upset the higher powers.
Maybe the only person more disappointed with the Washburn signing than everyone here is, of all people, Willie Bloomquist. Considering that, what, half of his career hits are against Washburn, this has got to hurt.
Well looks like I don’t have to waste any time driving up to Seattle to watch any baseball games this summer.
I don’t know how to get a hold of Mr. Soprano but I can drop a line to my Uncle Vito….
Ouch. That’s just… Ouch. Man that has to sting. I hope someone actually reads that because they deserve it.
For the sake of being optimistic and playing devil’s advocate…
Say Jarrod Washburn signed a pact with said devil, and somehow his ability to keep runs off the board is less related to his peripheral numbers than 99% of all other pitchers. Over the past 5 seasons, Washburn has managed an average WARP of about 5/season. The worst case published salary for ‘Burn has him at $9.5M/season. If, miraculously, Washburn turns out to continue to be a 5 win/season pitcher, despite all of his declining peripherals, this signing clocks in at about $2M/win, which is surprisingly not that terrible.
Everyone knew going into this off-season free agent picking were slim at best.So lets not all drink the kool-aid just yet.
Bavasi has a handicap of being a GM for the Mariners. How many players are clamoring to join a last place team in a city that has to travel umpteen more miles then any other team in the history of baseball. Gillick knew this and tried to sign as many”local” players as possible.You love Seattle, I love Seattle, but I know I can’t pitch.You?
With an inflated market for FA this signing will be well within the Parameters all ready established.As for Millwood, A five year deal is something that I think is so filled with potential disaster ,it’s not worth persuing.
In Reality anything that breaks up that Meche,Franklin Pineiro routine is a vast improvement. So, we don’t get our ace this year but are we better? Yep This team is younger, faster more athletic, and a drive to compete is evident in each signing so far.(Eddie,Evertt,Wasburn).I am looking forward to watching a team that wants to win,not just punching a clock.
With the indescribably awful Washburn signing following the smarmy nonsense of the Everett press conference, I was about to post up here with a screed the equivalent of my head exploding in a lateral plane (which would please some, I know). Then, a small, pleasant voice of unreason said, “No, wait until mid-January when _all_ the deals that are going to get done get done. This is so bad a hit on the port rail there may be a ‘good shoe’ left to drop on the starboard side to keep the old tub from turnin’ turtle.” And why not? I can punt off the Mariners just as well 3+ weeks from now as I can at this moment, so. I expect no improvement whatsoever, so if it comes it’ll feel doubly good. Till then, I’ll just caper and larf.
I am in agreement with #46…this is not an outrageous contract in the state of the game today. Every team has more and more revenue from satellite radio and the Nationals expansion fees. By the time the Washburn contract is up the M’s will have new more lucrative deals from both KOMO and FSN…I think we should spend alot less time worrying about the money that you and I do not directly have to spend. (Chris Lincoln and Howie can cash in some stock options and still be living fine in Medina).
Anything that gets Gil and Franklin off this team should be welcome….we should be WAY more concered about adding offense to a team that was 13th or 14th in the league in every category.
Well that and a populous uprising to dethrown Rick Rizzs(the Scott McClellan of MLB–not so masterful at the positive spin/lying trash/criminal coverup)
This just in…… ***********The Mariners will keep Gil Meche and only non-tender Ryan Franklin next week, according to the Seattle Times.**************
I’d say to make my weekend complete Bill Bavasi will somehow take and fail my last final for me and then come to my room with a baseball bat and break my shit. He’ll also pee in the room, I’d imagine.
The people over at Inside The Park love the move. Go figure!
#31– wow! two off-seasons in a row where Steve noticed what was going on– must be a record. AND it only adds to my unease about the off-season that I actually agree with Steve Kelley about something.
Last year, you may recall, he made the bold statement that the Mariners had to spend money in the off-season (“Let’s be realists. There’s a better chance of Mount Rainier erupting than the Mariners signing either center fielder Carlos Beltran or third baseman Adrian Beltre … At first base, I’d take Carlos Delgado over Richie Sexson. Both come with health questions … Cory Koskie is a good, realistic choice at third base. He can hit .260 with 25-to-30 home runs and 70-to-85 RBI. And he’s good in the clubhouse.”)
It was also last year when he wrote two columns that the Ms had to do something — a big change from previous years where he boldly stepped out with columns about the proposed Alex/Boston deal, the ‘new’ Melvin, Spiezio & his band, Rob Ramsay, the Melvin hire (â€Âborn to do itâ€Â), Bryan Price, a Jan. ’03 column lamenting the fact they didn’t sign Colon, Contreras or Paul Wilson to shore up the staff, a 116 game-love column, a ’shame on the Jays for hiring Ricciardi’ piece, a Buhner retirement piece, more on 116 wins, columns on Boone & Shige…
Being a Mariner’s fan this offseason is somewhat like the hair removal scene in “40 Year Old Virgin”, I just keep seeing things that make me yell random curses “Kelly Clarkson!!!!”
Why so much money? Why so many years? Why Arroyo? Why are you bringing back the teal on the BP jerseys? Everett… say it ain’t SoDo?
Maybe it is our seamnship connection, but I think we are becoming the big payroll version of the Cam Bonifay Pirates. Where every signing was based on a very limited scope of logic. Kevin Young, 1 decent year, let’s sign him to a multi year deal with hopes that he will maintain or improve. Derek Bell, he’s a proven winner, let’s put Craig Wilson on the bench.
Just like Adrian Beltre was the best signing off the off season last year, right guys?
“Add it up, and Bavasi lucked into Johjima because of the team’s Japan connections and made a bunch of other mediocre to terrible decisions…”
Derek I think this is very accurate and on point…The downside which is maybe not so apparent is that Johjima’s jury is still out…I’ve read that his footwork in throwing needs to be fixed and his armstrength is average. None of which we’ll know the validity of, until we see him play and adjust to this level of baseball.
The past two years and this off season has taken on the aspects of two movies, “Groundhog Day” and “Major League”…
There is the suggestion that BB does not rely so much on scouts nor stats in formulating his acquisitions so much as whether the player played for someone that touched his life at some point in his past with the Dodges or Angels. No one thinks Everett or Washburn are top line or even average players. Not scouts or sabremetricians.
Peace.
Why are you guys ripping me up I am worth $40 million. That aint that much.