Random news of the Tuesday
DMZ · January 9, 2007 at 4:49 pm · Filed Under General baseball, Mariners
We thought he was coming here, but it turned out he was just a backup plan they never called back. Now John Thomson’s signed with the Blue Jays.
Javy Lopez agrees to a 1yr deal with the Rockies
Edmonds went in for surgery
The Yankees, who it appears did not learn their lesson the first time, agreed to a 1yr deal with Miguel Cairo.
Comments
53 Responses to “Random news of the Tuesday”
DMZ -
What are your thoughts on Thomsen/Ramirez risk comparison? Is it possible there are some non-public concerns over his health that differ from Ramirez to explain for his signing a 1-yr 500k base deal?
I’m glad it wasn’t us getting Lopez or Cairo.
At that price, he was worth throwing into the mix for the 5th starter battle. Wow.
I don’t know of any non-public concerns over his health. And yeah, at that price, why not?
Antonetti NOW.
After signing Sean Burroughs to a $450,000 contract, the M’s had no money left over for Thomson.
Thomsen is a much worse risk … a 41-year-old soft-tossing righty who hasn’t played above high school ball.
Thomson’s contract can be worth 4 million based on number of starts. Put probably if he gives that many starts, he’d be the “Frank Thomas” of this offseason, as the contracts are practically similar. And if he reaches that start total, he will been an innings eater for half the going rate. But I’m sure his health isn’t that good. Hopefully he heals in the offseason…our rotation needed it BAD!
oh, wait! things aren’t that bad! Mike Morse thinks the off-season moves have made the team just so much better!!!
Did they get rid of Mike Morse?
[pah dum pah!]
on the other hand, Adam Jones has put on weight and is planning on his annual pre-spring training visit & hitting with Tony Gwynn.
Hopefully he didn’t put on the Gwynn type of weight.
13-If putting on that weight means a .330 career average…I’ll send him some Jack in the Box Tacos via Fed Ex right now
On the other hand, if putting on weight means King-ish shin splints and a move out of the outfield (and into Yet Another Immobile 1B/DH) feed him to Kirstie Alley, right now!
Jones is pretty lanky, he could use some weight.
In the HOF discussions on ESPN, Peter Gammons gave Gwynn the ultimate insult: He was built like a sports writer.
I hope Jones has found a tutor for fielding as well.
A small risk and possible decent return for the Jays. This is a much cheaper option than dangling Rios out there for some pitching.
At $500G base price plus incentives, why could the M’s not offer something similar? Maybe scouting actually did their job and saw something that the Jays people did not?
How likely is that, with this crew?
I think the Jays had a decent off-season. They’d be better if they’d managed to hold onto Lilly (before Randy Johnson arrived, Lilly was the only left-handed starter in the AL East), but at least they didn’t gut their offense (they can cover the loss of Catalanotto) to buy pitching.
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yeah I agree. I don’t think Thomson is that healthy. It’d be a miracle if he pitched a full season or near to it of league average innings…but thats why its the role of the dice. If it comes up 6′s (if we’re playing that over/under game in the price is right) then its good and low risk. Even JP Riccardi said he was healthy, but I’ve learned to never listen to anything he ever says.
21-How does $500,000 to an injured pitcher, who could turn out to be the 2nd best pitcher on our staff if healthy warrant be a bad move? I could see your argument make sense if he wanted 4-10 million a year and we hoped on him pitching 200 innings, but I dont think anyone believed he could stay healthy for an entire season. Therefore, $500,000 to eat up some innings and be probably the 3rd most talented pitcher in the rotation would have been a great deal.
How is $500,000, in this free agent market, such a huge risk? I mean WFB is making nearly twice that and the best hit I’ve ever seen him have was when he spit a sunflower seed into a cup.
Sure, Thomson isn’t healthy, but is Vidro, is HoRam? No one knows…but we do know we are guranteing those guys a lot of money in comparison to what we’d gurantee Thomson.
21. Very well said indeed! I really think this winter has water logged some people’s brains up here! It must be in vogue to bitch without knowing the facts or to blindly agree like sheep. Kind of like Republicans!
Speaking of facts, for the heck of it I decided to do a little checking. Contrary to popular belief, the M’s are getting better!
Team Games better or worse than 2005 Season
Dodgers 17
Cleveland 15
Detroit 14
Mets 14
Minnesota 14
Colorado 10
Mariners 9
Toronto 8
Cincinnati 7
San Diego 7
Kansas City 6
Oakland 6
Angels 4
Philadelphia 2
San Francisco 2
Yankees 2
Pittsburgh 1
Texas 1
Arizona -1
Baltimore -3
Florida -4
Houston -6
Milwaukee -6
Tampa Bay -6
Boston -7
White Sox -8
Washington -10
Atlanta -11
Cubs -13
St Louis -16
All this and they still had a 11 game losing streak!
Hey, I may only buy nose bleed seats with my buddies(I’m pretty sure I see some of you up there too)but I see this team getting better and it sure is going to feel good when I am sitting up there with my beer and a dog saying, “I told you so” when they start putting this thing together.
And as a side note, I am still waiting for some people (and you guys know exactly who I mean) to admit they were wrong when they posted how dumb it was to not bring Bucky Jacobsen back because Bucky was this and Bucky was that. Exactly how many Major League games has he played since the M’s cut him loose? Let me help you with this, ZERO!
Fwiw regarding Gwynn & his less than cut physique, would you believe he was an outstanding college basketball player? So much so, he was drafted in the late rounds by the Clippers.
I’ve always found that surprising.
Tony G was pretty svelte at one time.
But consider the source…and what that source’s track record has been in spotting, diagnosing and handling injuries. And then consider the cost, and what other pitching was brought it.
Check out this “thin” picture of Gywnn:
The guy did average 34 SB over a 6 year period.
looks like his son …
25, 26, 28–Grew up in S.D. in the 80′s, still consider Tony my favorite player, although Ichiro is steadily gaining ground. When you watched him on a daily basis you were amazed at his athleticism, even with that conspicuous spare tire he had from about ’86 on. I remember a day when he had 3 SB, 2 singles, 2 doubles, a spectacular diving catch of a foul ball, and topped it off by robbing Mike Scoscia of a home run. (always hated Scoscia when he played—that’s why this day sticks out in my mind). The best part was, these sorts of days happened frequently throughout his career. Congrats Tony. Anyway, sure hope he can pass along some of that study/work ethic and genuine appreciation of the game along to Jones.
Oops, Sciosca.
Gammons sez Mulder goes back to the Cards
hmm. John Thomson says he turned down the Mets because he just wasn’t crazy about the idea of LoDuca or Floyd backing him up…
Speaking of facts, for the heck of it I decided to do a little checking. Contrary to popular belief, the M’s are getting better!
Team Games better or worse than 2005 Season
Yeah, it must be tough to improve a 93 loss team, especially considering that insignificant ~$90 million which was spent in player salaries. Nice high standard we have: to improve.
Which, by the way, doesn’t mean that they are getting better, it means they did improve – last year.
Only recordwise, per se, at that. Who says that a record after a sample of 162 games determines who is actually good/bad/better/worse, or simply who won and lost the most over that period? I’m all for cherishing good records and lots of wins; I love seeing those, but it doesn’t mean the team is good any more than it would mean a winning pitcher was good.
On top of that, to legitimately get better, you have to be good in the first place. They simply were less awful last year than in 2005. That doesn’t make them better, nor good.
Still, it wouldn’t be that hard to see an improvement over 84 losses with this team, if the core stays healthy. Will we then hear “Mariners Baseball – Getting better every year after our 2004 collapse!”?
I can’t wait to break .500!
Contrary to popular belief, the M’s are getting better!
First off that number for the Indians can’t be right? Are they MINUS 15 perhaps?
And look at the team at the bottom of the list. St. Louis sure had a sucky year, didn’t they? The problem is the list values the baseline as much as it does 2006 performance.
I’m pretty sure Chicago, Cleveland, and Arizona will be near the top of that list next year and Detroit and Minnesota will be near the bottom; that has little to do with how the teams have improved/declined; it’s just that they have a head start.
Yes the Mariners won more games in 2006 than 2005. Hard to argue with that fact. But I think they still underachieved and had a disappointing year given the $90M payroll, but that’s all opinion.
As well, I don’t see moves this off season that have made the team better than the 2006 team.
The team sucks and will likely do so for the foreseeable future. At least Felix pitches once every 5 days and occasionally real baseball teams play a few games at Safeco. If you live in Seattle, it’ll be better for your health if you stop caring what the M’s do and just enjoy the fact that you can go watch various good teams play every now and then.
34 and 35
Please understand I am not taking a pot shot at your character but that is the most asinine statement I have EVER heard regarding a team’s won-loss record. It’s akin to the saying, “Aside from that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?†The bottom line is to win games. Period! And it doesn’t matter how you do it because you don’t get style points! This is definitely condescending but you have to get better to get to the top and clearly they are getting better!
First off this team IS getting better. Take a look at how many young players who have yet to hit their peak are in the starting line-up. Secondly, did you ever consider just how remarkable a feat that Johjima accomplished in 2006? Here is a guy who had virtually never faced any the Major League pitching, not even in the Minor Leagues, and still had one helluva year with the bat, especially for a right handed hitter playing half his games at Safeco! Want more? This guy had virtually no prior experience calling games against of the opposition Major League hitters. I can’t even fathom how much he had to overcome and neither can you! So you mean to tell me that his overall game won’t improve from last year? Come on! Not only that but his pitching staff will be better now that he knows the league too.
Also I noticed it kind of funny that the Moneyball team who improved the most was Toronto and they still didn’t improve as many games at the Ms and they dumped a ton of money into that team. Remember how much better Millwood was suppose to make the Ms? Well his team, the Rangers, was exactly one win better than it was the year before and they STILL were not serious contenders. Difference maker my a$$!
Next, have you really taken a hard look at which teams have seriously improved themselves in the AL West for 2007? Angels the same or better? They have a ton of question marks and I can’t see how they improved themselves. Oakland? Let’s see, no Zito (which automatically helps us. I think the last time he lost to us was in 2002 and that was only once!), no Frank Thomas, who along with Ron Washington, by-the-way mentored “nuclear meltdown waiting to happen†Milton Bradley. Tell me how that is working for you in July Billy B! Where did they help themselves in other areas to improve their team? I can’t see how anyone can make a case for the Rangers being better with all that they have lost and counting on a Gagne who has as bad an injury history as anyone out there.
Speaking of Gagne and Moneyball guys, brainiac DePodesta is the guy who ruined his career by not only trading away his setup man, Mota, but insisting he pitch two innings at a time. Idiot! Who could not see that coming? Which brings me to another point, after they got rid of DePo and got real baseball people in there the Dodgers had the best improvement in their won-loss record of any team! Which says something for real baseball people instead of pretenders. I am a huge baseball fan and read a ton but I can’t do the job of the front office personal and scouts and neither can anyone else on this board. It would be like saying because I read a lot about the Space Program I can automatically assume I can fly the damn Space Shuttle!
The argument about Cleveland vs the Mariners is interesting. By everyone’s account Bavasi inherited an awful farm system. Need I point out Cleveland had that headstart in that department too. But you are correct as far as their games in the won-loss standings, I tried to sort this on Microsoft Word and messed it up. My bad. I admit when I am wrong!
All things said, I do believe this 2007 Mariners team are better and I, for one, will not be the least bit surprised if they contend.
Tell ya what, you buy the beer and the dogs at the game and we can have a ton of fun discussing it at the game as MY Mariners team improves this year.
What, still no one stepping up to say they were wrong about the M’s mistake in not signing Bucky? Hmmmm, thought so!
Stop being a jerk, please.
Also, this is not a board.
I’ll bite…who was it who thought the M’s were wrong in cutting Bucky? And what does that have to do with the price of tea in China?
The Cardinals continue to improve… They signed Ryan Franklin today…
What is up with Ryan Franklin? He is becoming the A-Rod of pitchers, shifting from team to team, leaving a trail of destruction and discontent whereever he goes. I guess I shouldn’t put St. Louis down for a World Series repeat when I go down to Las Vegas this spring.
Pretty fitting that a proven illegal drug user would end up in the #1 ranked “most dangerous city” in the country for 2006. He’ll fit right in with the other riff raff that reside there.
It’s not like you grew up in Compton, Sue, with bullets whizzing past your head. You grew up in Anaheim.
money.
#42– my uncle thanks you. my aunt thanks you. my 2nd cousin thanks you.
Key word being “other”, I’m sure your family members are perfect angels.
I don’t think msb actually took it personally; I just thought slamming a whole city as a nasty place was a little unnecessary.
Oops, that is to say “I just think he thought…”
Although it’s true. Me too.
and I haven’t seen my cousin in years– he could be growing up into a little punk for all I know, but I kinda doubt it.
I’m not sure who you’re talking about. I didn’t rank it as the #1 (with a bullet?) most dangerous city in the country. When violent crime goes up 20% in just 2 years, it follows that it just might be a nasty place to live, and there just may be some riff raff wandering the streets. I know that I’m really going out on a limb there, but I’m confident that I’m correct in that assumption. When you pass up Detroit, Flint, and Compton, you’ve got serious problems.
MSB, just to be fair, this survey was only talking about the part of St. Louis that’s inside the city limits, not any surrounding suburbs. Hopefully your family is safe in a civilized part of the greater St. Louis area.
Being a St. Louis native, the survey was a bit annoying. St. Louis is a prime example of a donut city with the old industrial center w/ abandoned buildings and some rough areas while everything surrounding the city has been growing like crazy the past few years… And like Ralph said, the survey only was used for the city limits; not any of the surrounding more affluent areas
It’s only out of respect for the authors that I’m not posting the “head-in-hand man” ASCII picture.
What in the world is going on in this thread?
#52 – I’m glad I’m not the only one who is puzzled by this thread.