Comments on: Times: M’s sign Ibanez to two-year, $11m extentsion

By: msb

msb — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 16:08:05 +0000

#68– I think it’s been pretty well established this last week or so that if Finny has a fact-checker, he/she/it didn’t make the trek to Peoria.

By: BelaXadux

BelaXadux — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 07:55:04 +0000

And yes, Bill B. has a well-documented record of doing what his boss wants, even where that’s half-crazy. Go back to the Mo Vaughn signing in Anaheim, which he stated was dictated to him by his owner at the time. Several of the moves made in Bavasi’s first few months on the job were handed to him by the previous regime, too; he only did what he was told. I’ll take back a little of my screed against Bavasi accordingly in that I doubt that this was wholly of his doing. Bill has not, however, done enough with the acquisitions he’s free to make to make up for those handed down by the Ms brain(dead)trust. The shrewd, small moves, like the first acquisition of Villone, or picking up Bazardo, or the trade for Carvajal, speak well of the talent assessment team he has put in place. But the bigger deals he’s made just don’t aggregate enough talent.

By: BelaXadux

BelaXadux — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 07:47:29 +0000

I don’t doubt that the Ibanez offer/signing is 90% a PR move; that’s written all over it, with phrases hand-fed to their ‘outside’ PR guy, Finnegan, such as ‘successor to Edgar’ only confirming the play. After two, ugly, 90-loss seasons, this offseason was, to be extremely kind, a wash, which in the circumstances where significant talent inflows are needed, makes it a failure. Some few may know that possible breakouts by YuBet, J-Lo, and a couple of others offer something to look forward to. The Ms are and should be worried about a serious attendance decline on the part of the ‘me-too’ fan—so a big media push of real or invented fan favorites is their tried and true solution. Enter Raul the Leader, stage right (ignore those FO handlers ill-concealed behind the curtain elbowing him toward the TV camera to sell, sell, sell, baby) . . .

Ughh. Raul, of course, wants to play, and would be a fool to turn down ten very large guaranteed. I don’t blame him for any of this, but.

By: ChrisK

ChrisK — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 06:25:28 +0000

Ibanez is a 5-tool player in the eyes of the FO:

Tool #1: Nice guy
Tool #2: Family guy (had his kid in his arms at press conf)
Tool #3: Former Mariner (prodigal son returns)
Tool #4: Good in commercials
Tool #5: Media friendly (accessible, won’t complain if team sucks)

Can’t wait for those Raul & Willie commercials!

By: peterrabbit

peterrabbit — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 06:21:11 +0000

So maybe just maybe an explanation for some of these bizarre contracts is under the table kickbacks. I won’t mention possible names. There are lots of possibilities and combinations. The Mariners do have some absentee ownership right? Who could be vulnerable to ????

By: Jake Brake

Jake Brake — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 04:41:04 +0000

Re: #68
That’s the level of excellence we’ve come to expect from good ol’ Pocket Lint. Not only was his assertion factually incorrect, it’s logically irrelevant. Holy cow! Ibanez had a (semi-)clutch hit in a playoff-clinching win! How did we let this guy get away? Did I mention Willie tore it up for a couple of months his first season in the bigs? He’s indispensible! etc. etc.

Eponymous Coward: you can build nicely constructed arguments against it all you want (and you do a beautiful job of it, by the way), but how many examples do you need to see? I didn’t claim that Lincoln’s strategy of business 1, winning 2 was being successfully executed, only that it is the operating ethos. The management hires (Bavasi, Hargrove, Melvin) have been brought in because they won’t make waves, not because they have a demonstrated history of success. Is anyone really surprised that Bavasi’s (or Hargrove’s, or Melvin’s) performance has been mediocre at best, and right in line with his past performance?

By: sankthetank

sankthetank — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 03:41:56 +0000

Something to make you giggle: Finnigan writes in this article, “Although Ibanez tripled in the winning run in the Mariners’ playoff-clinching win in Anaheim at the end of the 2000 season, he was let go to free agency after that season.” This is factually incorrect, as David Bell’s HR in the 7th put the M’s up 3-2, and the Ibanez triple put the M’s up 5-2, which was the final score. Way to fact-check, Finn-dogg!

By: Mr. Egaas

Mr. Egaas — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 03:04:38 +0000

You can live without a spleen!

By: Dave in Palo Alto

Dave in Palo Alto — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 01:15:35 +0000

Not crazy about the deal, but not sure I subscribe fully to the pipeline clog theory. It assumes Krazy Karl remains a lineup fixture, and I don’t make that assumption. I can easily see Karl going Aurelia on us and leave before his contract expires. Even the M’s wouldn’t block talent to keep him in the lineup (would they?). So far nobody’s accused Everett of being the heart and soul of the team.

Maybe the spleen.

By: little joey

little joey — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 01:08:13 +0000

The Mariners signed C Jose Yepez, who played last year in the Northern League (independent) and before that in the Blue Jays system. Too bad he’s not an alternative to Ibanez.

Actually, his minor league stats are ugly, and he didn’t do much in the independent league either. Must be a helluva catcher. I remember being really excited by the big wave of indy guys- Madritsch, Randy Williams, Greg Jacobs. The only one who still has a chance to do anything is Sherrill, who is pretty cool.