Everett Herald on Reed
Lots of quotes, speculation, other good stuff. Check it out.
Rumored return of Cammy
We keep getting requests to talk about the continued rumors, particularly the Seattle Times story that the M’s might bring back Cameron. We’ve talked about whether this is wise before (Jason: yes, Dave: maybe, me: no). But as to whether there’s any truth in the rumors: I don’t think so. Please remember that this story’s from the writer who refries the Griffey story once or twice an off-season, and there’s no chance there. The story essentially says “there are rumors that maybe something might happen and this one source says it makes sense”… but why?
Anyone who’s been around here a while knows that I love Cameron, and feel he was hugely unappreciated in his time here. But his contract is heavy and players with his offensive skill set don’t age well at all.
Meanwhile, the M’s have two guys who can perform as well for not that much money. I’m not a huge Randy Winn fan, and I think he’s likely to perform worse next year offensively, but he’s a good center fielder for the money. Jeremy Reed would be okay there, and then Winn plays LF, where he’s really good defensively.
There’s no need to trade for Cameron, and the Mariners are going to be better off spending that money elsewhere in 2006 onward.
Sure, it might happen. But even as Cameron’s big fan, I don’t think it’s in the best interests of the team, and I haven’t heard anything more than the vague rumors. I suspect that much of the noise on this is generated out of the NY press machine, capable of turning any speculation into rumor and then making that into a story. I don’t think there’s anything here.
Me in the PI on Hargrove usage patterns
My latest bit’s now up, on Hargrove and his use of starting pitchers.
Helpfully, in a previous thread a random passer-by offered places you can write if you want these columns to keep going, or if you’d like to see this stuff in print.
Big Board Update
I just updated the Big Board, including the signing of Yuniesky Betancourt.
Please remember not to put any stock in player placement below the major league level. In some ways, this update is less valuable than the one I did a month ago; since that time, I moved some minor leaguers around, didn’t move others, made a few guesses, etc. In other words, some guys are where we think they’ll be in 2005, and some are still where they ended 2004.
Anyway, the Big Board right now is valuable in that you can see who’s in the organization, who’s on the 40-man roster, and (new! new!) who’s not on the 40-man but getting an invite to spring training. Those players — Felix Hernandez, Benji Gil, Adam Jones, etc. — are shaded yellow for your convenience.
As always, leave a comment if you see something amiss.
Update: Added RHP Aaron Sele and his NRI, made P Nate Bland a lefty, made 1B Daniel Schwab a lefty, moved IF Jose Lopez from Seattle to Tacoma and replaced him with IF Justin Leone.
M’s sign Betancourt
The Mariners signed 22-year old Yuniesky Betancourt to a “major league” contract, according to MLB.com and other sources. The major league contract means he goes on the 40-man roster, which mean Aaron Looper got DFAd.
The stats on Betancourt are… well, I have an extremely low opinion of the value of Cuban stats in making any kind of decision about his talent. We’ll know more once he plays against a level of competition we can reliably gauge.
Bavasi:
“Yuniesky is an athletic, offensive shortstop,” Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi said. “We view him as the equivalent of a first- or second-round draft pick.”
Which is good, since the team hasn’t done real well with drafting shortstops lately.
Anyway, I have no idea if he’ll pan out or not, and won’t have a clue until next year, and possibly later.
Mariners season preview
I’ve heard that yesterday the M’s had a “Season Preview” event at Safeco Field, with Hargrove, Bavasi, and others. Did anyone get to go? Anything interesting happen?
Hargrove hiccup
Hargrove once, by not turning in a proper lineup card, lost the DH in a game. He had Manny Ramirez as DH, though he’d decided to play him in RF. When Ramirez trotted out to right, that was it for the DH. Charles Nagy went 0-2. Check out the boxscore.
I love the stuff I stumble across doing unrelated research.
Marlins sign Delgado
The Marlins gave Carlos Delgado a 4 year, $52 million contract with a vesting option that could push it to 5 years, $64 million. Overall, this is a similar contract to the one the Mariners gave Richie Sexson. And, yes, like the Sexson contract, it’s a great way to waste resources for a franchise that can’t afford to do so.
Spending big money on aging first baseman almost never works. The Marlins will get good production and value from Delgado in 2005, when his salary is only $4 million, but as soon as November rolls around, he’ll be virtually untradeable. The Marlins just gave themselves one year of production for a three year albatross. Bad idea, bad move.
Spring Training
While it is unlikely that any of the three of us are going to make it to Arizona for spring training, we’re certain a large number of you guys will be going down to Peoria and enjoying the sun in March. So, as a service to our readers who enjoy meeting other readers, and because of multiple requests, I’m creating this thread as a Spring Training Information catch-all. If you’re going and want to meet up with other USSM readers, just drop the dates that you’ll be in AZ in the comments, and you guys can use this thread as a way to organize and communicate with others.
We’ll put this on the left navbar and leave it up through spring training. Enjoy.
Mariners in the winter
John Hickey writes in the PI on what M’s prospects are up to. It’s a good read (Thornton — great! GMs inquire within! King Felix not throwing at all), though a couple of points:
Hernandez, who turns 19 April 8, may turn out to be the most-hyped pitcher in Mariners history.
Even with us cheering him on and badgering random passer-by about him for as long as I can remember, King Felix’s got a long way to go before he hits the kind of hype around Ryan Anderson.
General manager Bill Bavasi said there is virtually no chance Hernandez would break camp with the big leaguers, but he added it would come as no surprise if Hernandez were in the big leagues sometime during the season.
I’m not sure what virtually no chance means, and I’m happy the team is reluctant to push him to the majors (because it starts his service clock, and also because I want to see him babied). But there’s a chance. He really is that good. Hargrove hasn’t seen him yet, and we don’t know what’ll happen when he gets to check him out a couple times over the course of spring.
Also, the M’s are considering bringing in Pedro Astacio. And no, there’s not another Pedro Astacio out there. And Masao Kida had some of elbow injury that required surgery we didn’t know about.