Yup, Ichiro wants out after this year
Unfortunately, the hot rumor mongering appears to have a good basis in reality, and the report on Japan Baseball Daily holds up. Dang.
You may use the machine translator of your choice if you’re not Deanna or another cool person who can read Japanese.
Short version: M’s suck, he wants to play for a contender.
We’ll link to the denial/clarifications/refutations as they come.
Update: For instance, see the denial, two posts up.
Hot slow news day rumor mongering: Ichiro gone after 2007
Japan Baseball Daily (“Voted Worst-looking Web Site of 1994”) offers this hot hot hot rumor:
Ichiro Tells Sankei Sports that he is out of Seattle after 2007!
His answers concerning the state of the Mariners were described as “dripping
with sarcasm.” Says that he is at the stage of his career where he wants to
accomplish personal goals, one of which is to win a championship. So he is angling
to go to a contender once he obtains free agency at the end of the schedule. Ichiro
in Boston or New York? Stay tuned!
I want out of Seattle after 2007, too, but no one interviews me about it.
On the Sankei Sports site, though, Google translates the MLB headlines as
* Entirely record above previous season…Jojima, to 2nd year real starting!flag photo
* You adhere to the door closer…Otsuka, in Sendai independent [tore]
* Ikawa in Ibaraki of the local end which “finishes securely†independent [tore] reopeningflag photo
* As for [suuini] relationship is not [bonzu] apologizes in declaration
* Matuzaka, in Los Angeles to arrival independent [tore] piling up campflag photo
And there’s not a word of it anywhere else yet. So… uh… yeah. We obviously have no idea until the story either gets out (and is clarified/denounced) or is denounced. But there’s nothing else going on, and I know this is going to be thrown out in comments 90 times if I don’t write this up, so… here! Go nuts!
What does this mean? A trade? Have tension, dissention, and apprehension begun? Who knows?!? But feel free to work yourself up into a frenzy over it.
Changes to M’s broadcast crew
This has been discussed in the mid-week news thread and we ran the Sims thing a while ago, but here’s the word, from Larry Stone at the Times:
Former Mariners’ infielder Mike Blowers will join the team’s broadcast crew in 2007, along with veteran play-by-play announcer Dave Sims.
…
Blowers replaces former analysts Dave Henderson and Dave Valle, who may appear in more limited roles.
Woo-hoo! Until we get tired of Blowers, that’s great news! At least it’ll be a change. How will this all work? Stone attempts to run down the complicated scenario:
The Mariners’ plan is for Niehaus to begin each game in the TV booth for the first few innings with Blowers, and then move to the radio booth with Rizzs. For most games, Rizzs will work on the radio side only. Sims and Blowers will team up when Niehaus goes to the radio booth.
Except on Tuesdays. On Tuesdays the Moose does color on the radio for innings 1-4, then radio 6-9. In the event of extra-inning games, he’s replaced in the 10th by anyone still in the stands.
Random news of the Tuesday
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.
Cheater’s Guide Cover
Since I have a copy of the cover, I thought I’d share.
As always, you can pre-order The Cheater’s Guide to Baseball
That is, if you’re curious, a DZ logo on that hat. I’ve asked if they can have a real one made up for me, and they’re looking into it.
M’s rumored to be interested in further self-harm
In the form of Darin Erstad and, though they likely won’ get him, Brian Lawrence.
Dave Sims joins M’s broadcast team
Does college football, college basketball, and CBS NFL. You can hear him call the Giants-Eagles game tomorrow. He did ESPN baseball in the 1990s.
Wow, he’s got a substantial Wikipedia page. I didn’t even need to research this. Hooray for sloth.
Seems much more like a play-by-play guy than a color man, though lest we forget Fairly did pick up some substantial chunk of that work during the season, especially around Niehaus’ annual mid-season vacation.
No Reynolds, though. I wonder if they couldn’t work out the money or what happened.
Reitsma makeup chart
“He’s got the stuff, and his makeup as a closer is off the charts.”
— Bill Bavasi
M’s sign Chris Reitsma
Wondering how they’d fill the hole created in the bullpen by the loss of Rafael Soriano?
Say hello to Chris Reitsma, who the M’s signed today. One year deal, club option for 2008 with a $700,000 buyout. It’s either going to be a 1 year, $2 million deal, or a 2 year, $4 million deal.
Like every other pitcher they’ve acquired this winter, he’s a groundball guy, so that’s a positive, but unfortunately, that’s about where the good news ends. He’s a failed former prospect turned decent enough reliever who was terrible in ’06 due to an elbow injury that cost him most of the year after having ulnar transplant surgery. The Mariners are hoping he returns to his ’04/’05 form when he was simply decent, but he’s not significantly better than guys like Justin Lehr. He costs a lot more, though.
Future Forty Update
Since we’re now in 2007, I have released the offseason update of the Future Forty, giving us a look at where the organization stands in terms of young talent that they can build around. The picture isn’t as bright as it was six months ago, as the subtractions of Chris Snelling, Shin-Soo Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera, Francisco Cruceta, and Emiliano Fruto have thinned out a significant portion of the talent pool that could have helped the Mariners in the near future.
As you can see from even a quick scan of the updated version, the strength of the system is now predominantly long term projects who are years from reaching Safeco Field. Seven players are categorized as “Projects – Projected Regulars, Several Years Away”, and of that group, only Ryan Feierabend is legally able to drink. It’s a talented group with quite a bit of potential, but they are so far from the majors, it’s nearly impossible to project when they’ll reach the big show. While the organization now has more guys who I rate as 7+ in the potential category than any time in recent memory, they also have an overwhelming amount of players who rank as a 3 or less in the present value category. Of the 40 guys listed, 28 of them – 70 percent – have a present value below 4, meaning they’re incapable of serving any useful role in the major leagues right now.
There is talent in the organization, but the ticket buyers at Safeco won’t see any of it for years. The thought of a rotation with guys like Felix, Ryan Feierabend, Brandon Morrow, Tony Butler, and Chris Tillman may be exciting to dream about, but these same unfilfilled fantasies have been lived out by Mariner fans for years. Remember when the Anderson-Meche-Pineiro-Heaverlo rotation was supposed to carry the M’s to a dynasty? Unfortunately, we’re returning to the days of putting the future of the franchise on the shoulders of 19-year-old pitchers.
When we look at the positives of the Bill Bavasi regime, we have to point to the amount of talent that has been brought into the system in the past year. In the past 12 months, the Future Forty has added new acquisitions such as Brandon Morrow, Carlos Triunfel, Tony Butler, Chris Tillman, Alex Liddi, Greg Halman, and Mario Martinez. The M’s spent 2006 stocking up on high ceiling youngsters. Whoever is running the team in 2010 should be appreciative of their efforts on that front, at least.
As always, you can use this thread for any minor league questions or prospect conversation.