Two Interesting Developments
Two notes from the AL today that could have a ripple effect on the M’s.
The White Sox offered Abreu $8 million on a one year deal, which probably puts him out of range for the M’s. Chicago is a great place to hit, especially in the summer, and if he’s looking to re-establish some all-star numbers and get a big payday next winter, he’s got a better chance of doing that in Chicago than in Seattle. That means the M’s would probably have to spend around ~$10 million to land Abreu, and given the available alternatives and their respective costs, that doesn’t make much sense.
However, a new, lower cost option may be opening up. The Orioles signed Ty Wigginton to a two year deal at just over $3 million per season. Wigginton best fits as a 1B/DH, but the O’s already have handed Aubrey Huff the first base job and moved Luke Scott to DH to make room for Felix Pie in left field. Scott isn’t thrilled with the idea of DH’ing, and he shouldn’t be – he’s an above average defensive corner outfielder, and his skillset makes him more valuable in the OF than being used as a bat only guy.
So, the Orioles should have some incentives to move Scott to a team that could use a lower cost, left-handed outfielder with some power and a decent glove. Like, say, the Mariners. He’s not an all-star, and at 30 years, he’s not going to get much better, but he’s a solid player who would help the M’s offense more than he would hurt their defense. At $2.5 million for 2009 (and arb eligible for 2010 and 2011), he’s a lower cost option than guys like Abreu or Swisher.
So, the Abreu option might be going away while the Luke Scott option emerges as a possibility.
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If Abreu does sign a one year deal for 8mil with the White Sox, can we have a “kick Chuck Armstong in the nuts day” at Safeco Field?
If you look at Scott’s splits verses Wiggington’s splits, it looks like they will make a great platoon. Also, the O’s have an aging third baseman and a second baseman they will move for the right price. There is a good chance that Pie never becomes a productive major league hitter and then Scott will still be needed in the outfield. Because of all this, I don’t think that the Wiggington signing means Scott is available for cheap. If Roberts stays, Mora stays good, and Pie hits, then the O’s end up paying 3.4 million (Scott’s salary plus Wiggington’s) for a valuable platoon. If any of them fail, Scott or Wiggington will be able to fill right in. The only way I see Baltimore trading Scott is if they believe that Nolan Reimold is for real (so far I don’t believe they do) or they get blown away by a ridiculous trade offer.
Camden Yards is still a bandbox right? So why would they be that interested in an overpaid flyballer (though the Ms would probably have to eat some salary to make that work). Even if Washburn has some value it would seem like the Os are a terrible fit.
Am I wrong?
yikes – sorry, Wigginton not Wiggington.
Actually only a little more than 1% more flyballs turn into HRs there than an average park. They have very mobile outfielders that can track down many of the flyballs that Washburn gives up. That and an average season of Washburn is at least a couple of wins better than whatever pitcher he replaces in that pathetic rotation.
The White Sox didn’t make an offer to Abreu.
Fair enough – I stand corrected.
Luke Scott flew under my radar. I have to admit it. But, acquiring him would make perfect sense.
And it wouldn’t take a humongous offer to get him- normally, Rob Johnson is the name I first think of as a tradeable chip…but the Orioles need him like they need a hole in their head, and I doubt they’ll feel so remorseful for raking us over the coals last year that they’ll just give us a freebie.
The problem is it’s obvious the Orioles know our system very well: they hit every one of the juicier secondary names that we had in Tillman, Butler and Mickolio. So we won’t be getting Scott for any Coke machine.
But, I think a guy like Maikel Cleto would get the deal done. Call it Cleto and Feierabend if a second player is needed.
Man, the Orioles are actually a pretty good organization now. Then again, so are the M’s. What a bizarro world.
So acquiring Scott would make Chavez the reserve outfielder and leave Balentein as trade bait. Yea, this would be good.
They have very mobile outfielders that can track down many of the flyballs that Washburn gives up
Who’s that center fielder again…hmmm…
The White Sox didn’t make an offer to Abreu.
A non-offer makes more sense than an offer would have. With Thome at DH (and Konerko at 1B keeping Thome at DH), Quentin in LF, and Dye in RF, the White Sox are full everywhere that Abreu could be a full-time player.
Crasnick claims it was exploratory interest.
it’s been interesting to see Olney’s continued lobbying for Griffey.
You mean annoying. While I’m sure Jay Buhner is still rooting for his old pal Ken, even he’s starting to understand that it’s time to move on from the nostalgia:
I love you Bone. Don’t ever change.
Hey TIF, you got a link for that? I’d love to read the article.
Some have said we should have just hired Bone instead of his separated at birth twin as GM in 2004. He could hardly have done worse, and he certainly understands the fan community here in ways Bavasi never could.
nah. making all those phone calls would interfere with coaching the kids.
Neither of which I would call outstanding qualifications for a GM. (Yeah, keeping fans happy is great, but giving them a winning team is the best way to keep them happy… and if your primary qualification is “Hey, I’m no worse than Bavasi” can you really deliver on that?)
I’m totally on board. So what would Luke Scott cost? What do the Orioles even need? Would it be something like RRS or maybe Feierabend? I don’t know. Just throwing out ideas. What do you think?
It’s on the main “official” Mariners website page. The actual context of the conversation is about inviting former Mariner greats to Spring Training as coaches and such. Still, at least Bone recognizes that living in the past wont help the team going forward. Another great quote:
[not even remotely close to on topic. I mean, not even in the neighborhood]
[your last three comments have been edited, consider it a subtle hint]
Um, actually…. turns out there’s another option available to us.
psst- Chase, please reconsider or you will end up banned.
As for Bone and his quote about 1995 and 2001, I think we should lobby the M’s to instill that as their new slogan (yeah, I know they just changed it). Letting go of dopey, syrupy nostalgia is great to see. I can’t wait to see what years we have in the next few that we’ll be looking at ten years from now with shock and awe (in the good sense, not the Bedard trade sense).
I got it. Luke Scott from the Orioles in exchange for OF Ezequiel Carerra and LHP Ryan Feierabend.
O’s fan here. This is a great site and I’m glad to see the Mariners are back on track with Z (although I have to admit I miss Bavasi just a little bit).
I’m a big Scott fan, and I think he’s a pretty valuable player given his salary and service time, but he’s probably the right guy for the Orioles to move because he’s miscast as a DH and he might bring something useful back. It’s tough to gauge his trade value given his age, platoon split, and AAAA pedigree, so it could make sense to hang on to him if he’s not valued highly in the trade market.
Some of you correctly identified the O’s needs: infielders and pitching. Washburn would hold no appeal – MacPhail would be looking for players with limited or no ML service time, which might make matching up a bit difficult.
I don’t know the Mariners system well, but glancing at Sickels’ top 20 doesn’t indicate an obvious match. To piggyback off an idea above, I do think the O’s would be interested in getting Olson back in theory, although I can’t see it actually happening (has that ever happened?). How funny would Olson + Cedeno for Scott be?
they should go for it on Scrabble points alone.
The Orioles aren’t dying for outfielders, but Carrera and Feierabend sounds like they’re at about the right talent level. If it’s cool with them, I’d totally do it.
I’m an O’s fan as well:
MacPhail would probably look for young pitching first and infield prospects next. The infield prospects I assume would be close to major league ready, where as the pitching prospects I’m sure MacPhail would be fine if they’re much younger and playing in the lower levels.
Not that the O’s roster is stacked with amazing talent, but it does appear to be almost full in terms of ST competition, particularly in the OF and bullpen.
The infield competition appears to be set and while the rotation might not end up being pretty there are enough starters that a couple multi-millionaires may get paid to stay at home by the Orioles (Jamie Walker, Dannys Baez, Mark Hendrickson). Not too often you see a team dump 10 million in guaranteed salaries before the season but based on the moves by MacPhail it does look like major league ready pitching while it won’t be turned down, isn’t exactly the #1 option…