Congratulations, Atlanta!

DMZ · February 22, 2009 at 3:21 pm · Filed Under Mariners 

You placed second in the Ken Griffey Jr. Sweepstakes! Your prize is…

GARRET ANDERSON!

On a one year, $2.5m deal, even though there’s really no where else he could go.

In the words of Precious Roy, y’all are suckers.

I look forward to reading increasingly tortured explanations of how Anderson’s going to help the Braves next year.

Comments

23 Responses to “Congratulations, Atlanta!”

  1. bratman on February 22nd, 2009 3:26 pm

    hilarious … thank god we didn’t settle for him. Good riddance Garret Anderson.

    Don’t come back soon.

  2. Patrick517 on February 22nd, 2009 3:48 pm

    Thank God we dodged that one. Although if Griffey is in the Outfield this year I might kill something.

  3. galaxieboi on February 22nd, 2009 3:56 pm

    Oh, no.

  4. eponymous coward on February 22nd, 2009 3:59 pm

    GA is considerably more useful to Atlanta as a LH platoon bat in the OF than Ken Griffey would have been, because he’s not a complete disaster with the glove, though they probably are overpaying a bit, given the down market.

    This isn’t tortured at all- Griffey vs. Anderson on Fangraphs makes it pretty obvious that if you’re looking for a DH, you want Griffey, but if you want an OF, you want Anderson.

    All in all, Atlanta and Seattle got the right players for their needs. At worst, Atlanta might have overpaid a bit, but if Anderson’s a 1-1.5 WAR player for Atlanta at 2.5 million, it’s not a terrible deal at all.

  5. Rain Delay on February 22nd, 2009 4:00 pm

    Being both a Braves and Mariner fan, this is torture. Wren screwed the pooch on this one, I would have rather gone with Matt Diaz/Brandon Jones platoon instead, not to mention it’s viable cheaper option.

  6. DMZ on February 22nd, 2009 4:01 pm

    I agree that’s not a tortured argument… and not what I’m looking forward to.

  7. BurkeForPres on February 22nd, 2009 4:20 pm

    Thank god for Sifl and Olly, and thank god for 1st price in the sweepstakes.

  8. emonger33 on February 22nd, 2009 6:13 pm

    is GA really that much better in the field than ‘the kid’?

  9. arbeck on February 22nd, 2009 6:19 pm

    Sifl and Olly make this post worth it.

  10. DMZ on February 22nd, 2009 6:35 pm

    Yeah, if anyone has a line on the “lost” 3rd season, they should drop me a line at once.

  11. jjracoon on February 22nd, 2009 6:51 pm

    Am I missing something here on Griffey and Anderson??

    Last year if we could of had Griffey in RF instead of Wilkerson and Anderson in LF with Ibanez either at 1st or DH wouldnt the Mariner have been a better team??

    I know defense is important but doesnt there need to be a balance??

  12. Marinerfan4life on February 22nd, 2009 7:08 pm

    I never would’ve been able to cheer for Anderson had he come here because he’s an ANGEL!

  13. Rydogg2122 on February 22nd, 2009 7:10 pm

    And don’t forget we had TURBO! at DH batting 2nd most the time the last two seasons.

  14. amanalone11 on February 22nd, 2009 7:53 pm

    Ah, I love Sifl and Olly. A friend of mine found a guy on eBay, I believe, that burns copies of all three seasons. I’m not sure exactly who it is, but I can do some checking with my friend if you can’t find anything on there. The copies I own have DVD labels and cases that have Sifl and Olly emblems on them, and he made menus for all of the episodes, so they’re pretty nice.

  15. amanalone11 on February 22nd, 2009 7:58 pm

    So I just looked on eBay and couldn’t find anything except the final season, listed at $125, so I’ll check with my friend and shoot you an email.

  16. eponymous coward on February 22nd, 2009 8:17 pm

    is GA really that much better in the field than ‘the kid’?

    Yes. Ken Griffey Jr. has basically been of NO value above any random AAA OFer (replacement value) to his teams the last 3 years, because all the offense he’s provided has been given back on defense.

    GA is a league-average OF, and though his bat’s worse, that gave him some reasonable value above replacement over the past 3 years.

    I know defense is important but doesnt there need to be a balance??

    While it’s true you can’t win ballgames 0 to -1, Griffey’s defense is just terrible enough that he just shouldn’t play the field. In the end, runs saved defensively are still runs.

  17. SonOfZavaras on February 22nd, 2009 10:19 pm

    Dis is PRECIOUS ROY. BUY my disposable left-handed power bats…SUCKERS!

    Man, I loved that show…especially when they became ninjas…

  18. usabaseballfan on February 22nd, 2009 11:59 pm

    I’m totally on board that Griffey is the better fit for the M’s, but I guess I’m a little confused as to why GA is considered such a deadbeat. I just got done looking at his comprehensive stats and his numbers have been solid pretty much every year it seems like. I’m not saying the M’s should’ve gotten him, but he seems to be a pretty serviceable hitter. Let the lambasting begin…

  19. jjracoon on February 23rd, 2009 12:01 am

    I guess it is hard to argue with the numbers on Griffeys fielding ability but does that take into account injuries?? Obviously you cant change the age issues other than training harder but wouldnt injuries cause much of the slowness to get to the ball or is it all reaction to the hit??? (like when Ibanez stood out there and watched a ball bounce and hit the wall before he could move!!!)

  20. Paul B on February 23rd, 2009 7:52 am

    Obviously you cant change the age issues other than training harder

    When people get older, they run slower.

  21. JMB on February 23rd, 2009 9:52 am

    Here in Atlanta, the thinking seems to be, “The AJC is reporting it? Anderson will be signing with the Royals tomorrow.”

  22. henryv on February 23rd, 2009 6:32 pm

    Here in Atlanta, the thinking seems to be, “The AJC is reporting it? Anderson will be signing with the Royals tomorrow.”

    Ha ha… Good stuff.

    I guess it is hard to argue with the numbers on Griffey’s fielding ability but does that take into account injuries??

    The guys did a pretty good job of showing that in 2007 that he fielding was even worse, when he was healthy.

    I completely agree that getting Griffey was a big deal for this team, rather than GA. Sure, the numbers aren’t a HUGE difference, in reality, but what is is that Griffey will increase gates, increasing revenue, and GA would have been a meh player as far as the fans are concerned. Like it or not, you have to pay for these players some how, and Griffey is going to bring in enough revenue (not just in gates, but in gear too) to more than account for his (fairly low) cost.

    Who pays for the M’s rosters? It’s not the real fans who fret and watch every game. Its the people in the luxury boxes and the season tickets. Its the pink-hats and the people who travel for thousands of miles from Japan to see the team, and buy every piece of merchandise they can. And its FSN and the radio stations. And they are going to pay more, and go more, to see him.

  23. TumwaterMike on February 24th, 2009 12:38 pm

    Everthing else being equal, Griffey will put butts in the seat, Anderson won’t. Butts mean money and money means a better chance next year in the FA market. With all the one year deals that are being signed this year, there should be some really good FA’s next year.

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