FL has 4 above league replacement to great starters on their MLB roster. It doesn’t appear they have much sitting in AAA. I wouldn’t expect any of the 4 Marlins decent starters could be had for just Reed. Would a Reed for a AA starter be too cheap? They have a few guys who look to have a future in: Paul Mildren (L), Adam Bostick (L), and maybe Jose Garcia (R). I don’t know much about any of these guys other than they are young and have decent stats in AA this year. Could we get more for Reed?

I read the whole thread, including the comments.

Lefty hitters discussed:

Edmonds
Barry Bonds (a bit)

Lefty pitchers discussed:

none.

Every other player anyone’s talked about bringing in is a righty.

Did I miss something? I don’t think so.

Manny does have decent power to all fields relative to other righty sluggers, but wouldn’t you rather invest in someone with power to right field? Wouldn’t you rather invest in pitchers who better neutralize lefty sluggers? Assuming the Ms bring in talent for about the same price as other teams, the Ms are getting less per dollar out of the players who don’t fit the park.

Speaking of that there’s been alot of talk on one side that the M’s need more LH power and on the other that LH power is rare. I don’t see how something being rare makes it non-essential.

LH & SW hitters with High OBP and power/High OPS…Hafner, Howard, Ortiz, Berkman, Thome, Chipper, Bonds, Beltran, Giambi, Morneau, Delgado, Sizemore, J.D.Drew, Matsui, Edmonds, Tiexiera, Utley, Abreu, Helton, Giles, Laroche, McCann, Hawpe, Overbay, N. Johnson, Posada, Swisher, Dunn, Damon, Duncan, Adrian Gonzalez, Mauer, Floyd and Ibanez.

That’s 34 players plus or minus. This list isn’t all inclusive, you may argue that a couple don’t belong and/or are missing. Point is there’s more of these type of players than there are reliable closers. A reliable closer is essential. I say even more so because it’s rare (not less so.) You are even less likely to have one than someone who’s made it a priority.

Only 2 of these are Free Agents at the end of 2006: Barry Bonds and Cliff Floyd. You can watch Floyd this postseason in the NL’s best lineup with 2 others that fans in recent years wanted to see sign with Seattle (Beltran and Delgado.) You may notice that the other team with 3+ of these is the other NY,(also in the postseason/AL’s best lineup) who has 4. Although some will consider Damon a stretch, others might argue that Cabrera will be there in a year or two.

These players were all developed by a Minor League system. Aprox. half of this list has signed FA contracts with at least a second team. They aren’t entirely unobtainable either, are they.

Others that may be available are (obviously Edmonds via trade or buyout/FA sign) J.D. Drew who can opt out of his contract after 2006 season (doubt it will happen) and a Yankees OFer if you’ve got SP to trade for one.

Floyd, although turning 34 in December, looks like a good answer to me. He hasn’t played in the AL aside from 47 games with the Red Sox in 2002. It all depends on what his market is.

If he could be had for a reasonable price I’d go after Abreu. Since the M’s don’t have SP to part with, the price would probably not be reasonable for them.

P.S. I wouldn’t mind Cabrera or even Matsui.

I think he deserves to be on the list, but I’d tread carefully there, especially on the injury side of things.

1. Offense

Though I think pitching is more of a priority than hitting, it could do better. The Mariner’s offense was not too awful, I still hate the fact that it heavily relies on Sexson and Beltre so a trade for Manny would be the perfect solution. Ichiro is Ichiro, Ibanez is doing good, and the youngsters are definitely developing, so the offense is bound to get better as long as there aren’t any huge injuries. Johjima is proving a consistent bat as a catcher, something the Mariners haven’t had in a while, and there is no reason why he should not continue to be consistent. Though Beltre was showing signs of improvement towards the end of the season (and so was Sexson), I still cannot trust these two, so at least one has to go… As long as the Mariners are able to aquire a good power hitter to score Ichiro, they should be fine. I actually think Bonds could be worth it depending on the price, but since Bonds will probably contribute the most by walking, you still need a big bat to drive him in. Bonds will be a nice No.3 hitter, but the key to success will be the No.4 hitter. So in other words, in terms of offense Manny (or somebody close to his calibur) should be their No.1 priority. (and probably one good hitter like him is worth more than 2 above-average hitters)

2. Pitching

Though I rather watch a team with great offense, pitching is what wins games. For example, though this is not the best way to prove my point, the easiest way to see is to check the top run scoring teams vs. the top low-ERA teams.

Top runs scored

Yankees
Cleveland
White Sox
Phillies
Braves
Rangers

Lowest ERAs

Tigers
Padres
Twins
Angels
Astros
Mets

Yes, obviously it all has to do with balance, and stadiums will have a huge effect on these numbers, but you can see that the lower list contains 4 playoff teams + 1 which almost made it, compared to the 1 playoff team in the higher list…

Felix should improve we hope, he probably won’t be like a Liriano but has the potential to become something close to that. Signing Matsuzaka will be tough, it will cost a ton (my guess is the Yankees will bid at about 30M, not sure if the Mariners can afford that), but I am sure it will be worth it. (not just as a player) His toughness and stability is something the Mariners need. So, like most people have said, signing him should be the No.1 priority. On the same line, picking up another Japanese SP and/or RP would be good. One option could be Igawa of the Hanshin Tigers who wants to come to the Majors. He is not a monster like Matsuzaka but he also is pretty tough and consistent. They could also look for a RP whilling to give the majors a try for cheap, and it will not be a huge risk since Japanese pitches (especially relief pitches) have already proven themselves, like Sasaki / Hasegawa of the Mariners, or Otsuka and Saito who are both great closers right now.

I am not too sure if breaking down the bullpen is such a great idea unless you have a good idea on how to build one back up quickly and efficiently. I am not expert on the prospects so I will let the experts decide, a good bullpen is always good to have and usually pretty cheap to make (with the exception of the closer, but no need to worry about that for a while)

With all that said, I really hope something like what Dave proposed will happen… this club has such potential…