I just read something that seems interesting to mention. It looks like Bedard is really not happy with our organization and wants t oknow where he stands by spring training... if not the Super Bowl.
The GM for the Mariners announced they would have a deal in place for a #1 starter soon. Are they in the Santana derby? NO! Bedard Stakes? Photo finish...
My gut says he is gone by Feb 3... my heart says he gone tomorrow morning... if Seattle has Adam Jones on the table... centerpiece for the future... dynamic duo... the A.J and M.K. show...
Just updating the blog.
Are the Mariners ready? (N/A) (72.81.181.131)MoveDeleteEditQuoteReply In case you have been sleeping under a rock the past 24 hours, Dan Haren ( a stud ) starting pitcher of the Oakland Athletics was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a eight player deal.
Dan Haren is my opinion is a more polished pitcher at this point than Erik Bedard. The Oakland Athletics recieved 6 players in return for Haren and a minor leaguer. By all accounts the A's got some pretty good players in return.
But I'm not here to talk about Dan Haren and the A's or Diamondbacks. I want to talk about the aftershock of the deal involving Haren.
I was so happy to see this deal done, that at first I thought of writing a letter to the Los Angeles Dodgers on behalf of Andy MacPhail to reiterate how important having Bedard on their staff would mean to them winning the division in the NL West.
Than I thought, wait....... ( that's me waiting )....... what team NOW needs a number one starter to win their division? Plus, what team NOW has the players we want in return to sell the deal?
See the whole idea is to make the playoffs, and you first do that by winning your division. The A's just got a little weaker in the rotation, so that means they probably are looking to compete in about 2 to 3 years.
The Angels won the west last year ( 94-68 ) finishing six games ahead of the Mariners. Six games. That's how close the Mariners came to taking their division last year.
It's the Mariners, not the Dodgers who need Bedard more than any other team. With Bedard in their rotating, they easily have a one-two combination with Felix Hernandez that will match up with any other one-two.
Mariners have the player(s) we want. Adam Jones will not be missed in Seattle. Take a look at their lineup. Sexson, Vidro, Betancourt, Beltre ( who had a great year in 2007 ), Ibanez, Ichiro, Johjima. I'll take that lineup for two hundred, Alex.
The Angels went out an obtained John Garland for Orlando Cabrera earlier this off season. They also signed in my opinion the best free agent available Torii Hunter to secure a bat behind Vlad and a Spider-Man like skills to protrol the outfield.
One great move, one so-so move. Now it's time for the Mariners to ante up.
We would be so glad to send Bedard and Huff ( to play right field ) to you for a package of players centerd around Adam Jones ( Ken Rosenthal called him potentially the greatest African American to wear the Baltimore jersey since Eddie Murray ) and Brandon Morrow.
Why wouldn't we or they do this deal? Seattle is primed to win their division this year and they need one more big arm in their rotation to compete for that title.
( Phone rings ) " Mr. Bill Bavasi, the Orioles are holding on line 2 ". Yeah baby yeah!
Who's ready? I know I am, but " Are the Mariners ready?".
Unfortunately, I think that all Silly Billy (Bavasi) and his cohorts in the M's Front Office are ready for is to run this team further into the ground. You are 100% right that they NEED to trade for Bedard, and do it NOW, no matter what it takes. They lost out on Kuroda today, which makes the need all the greater.
What will they likely do, though? My guess? Pick up either Kyle Loshe and/or Carlos Silva (though I guess they could re-sign Weaver, since I don't think he has signed elsewhere yet), to go along with the silliness of tendering a new contract offer to Horacio Ramirez after his "stellar (giant sarcasm alert)" season last year.........UGH, I don't even want to think about it.
Last edited by sleeplessinseattle on December 15th at 7:59 PM.
Bedard is one year away from free agency, and the Orioles are looking for a similar haul as the Twins are for Santana. Santana too is only under the Twins control for one more year, however, Santana has a no trade clause and will require an extension to void it. If you're going to give up the system for a single pitcher, you might as well pony up the $ for Santana and get 7 years of the best pitcher in baseball. If you get Bedard and he'll make $8M in arbitration and then you'll have to be the highest bidder to keep him. Also, Bedard has never pitched 200 innings in a season and last year Santana had his lowest innings total since becoming a starter at 219 innings. That extra 40 innings is practically like getting a relief pitcher in the deal.
I was upset to see this trade. Haren was originally in the Cardinals organization before he was traded to the A's. I really wanted to see him back in St. Louis , especially considering how badly the Cards need pitching.
OK, you might be right, I was basing the statement on him being a FA next year on the fact that he has already signed 2 one year deals to avoid arbitration (2006,2007). So this is his third year of arbitration eligibility and I'm guessing that 4.00 ERA in 141.2 inning in 2005 wasn't enough to qualify as a super 2, yet he has 4 (more or less) full seasons plus 0.2 inning in 2002. He pitched only 20 innings in the minors and none in the majors in 2003. So my question is, was he on the major league DL in 2003 to earn service time or did he qualify as a super 2. If it was the latter than yes he is under the Orioles control for 2 more years.
My point is still valid though, if you trade for Santana you will be getting him for 7 years. If you can afford his salary and the Orioles are wanting just as much in a trade for Bedard, than Santana is the better deal.
Last edited by sawdustking on December 16th at 6:05 PM.
You know that I get sick at this time of year with the decisions the Mariner's organization makes on players. It is like the end of the trading deadline, they can't do what is needed. They do just enough to get by. They are going to make more medicore decisions like they do every year. They don't seem to be able to pull the trigger and take a risk. Am I missing something?? Is it the willingness for players to come to Seattle or is it the Organization decisions??? And I thought being a Cub fan was tough over the years. This is painful watching this organization who I like very much.
Yeah, the Mariners need to trade for Bedard...that is exactly why they (Bevasi or whoever) won't pull the trigger. Seattle has a bad histor of not making needed trades. Too many
trade deadlines have passd us by, too many offseasons without excitement. No chance that they will trade for a needed player. History is doomed to repeat itself and we Seattle fans are doomed.
I want to start off by saying this, we NEED Bedard or some other good front of the rotation pitcher. I think that would really put us over the top since our lineup is pretty good and defensivly we have just about no problems, at the same time we let jose guillen go who was possibly our best power hitter last season and we need to keep Adam Jones. The one thing that scares me is exactly what you said "potentially the greatest African American to wear the Baltimore jersey since Eddie Murray" I want him to be in a Seattle jersey. He's got a heck of a lot of potential and I think him and Morrow is a very huge price to pay both of them I think have potential to be future all-stars. That is just about the same package they were offering for Santana and Santana is way better than Bedard. So I think they should at least try to stay away from letting Jones go.
Yeah, Bedard will be a decent addition but it is not enough to give them a top flight staff or enough to get them over the Angels, and Hernandez is not quite a number1 starter yet. He is either dominant, or strugling, therefore; hasn't figured out how to get out of jams yet.
I do have to strongly disagree with your lineup assesment. The Mariners offense is prone to prolonged droughts and the root cause is their inability to draw walks. The result of this is they never score on good pitching although they rack up nice numbers against bad pitching. Too many 15 hit, 2 run games last year. Unfortunately, this is the hardest part of hitting to teach and I don't recommend they try because last time the Mariners made a huge offensive change and hired Paul Molitor as their hitting coach, several hitters had their worst years ever, like Aurilia, Spezio, Boone, Martinez and so on.
Now the offense is adequate and several players go on prolonged stretchs where the ball just looks bigger. So how do the Mariners maximize that. By pgrading at a postion that is already good. Which one? 1st base? 2nd base? Shortop? DH? Whatever they do will be a risk but the easiest postions are 1st and 2nd. Sexson had his worst year and Lopez is a middle of the road 2nd baseman.
Adam Dunn would be a huge upgrade at 1st and Cincinati is looking to move him. His numbers are better than Sexson, and he draws well ver 100 walks per year. Bat him 5th or 6th, and the Mariner would score 1/2 run a game more without getting any more hits. Or try to get a .300 hitter to play second. Lore
Are you kidding? Jones will not be missed? I laugh at that. And how will that lineup do any better than last years, when so far the only change has been the LOSS of Jose Guillen? Coupled with the loss of Jones' budding ability, and Morrow as a starter, the move still leaves us a pitcher short, and a much weaker offense.
here is something to think about as well....yes, we do need someone like bedard, but look at our track record of giving away prospects and think about all the players we have given away that have turned into big names: Jason Varitek, Derek Lowe, David Ortiz, Brian Fuentes, Shawn Estes, Jose Cruz. now i know cruz and estes and even fuentes may not be the BEST of players, but they all had good seasons after being traded. We need to make sure if we trade someone like jones or morrow, it wont come back to bite us in the rear, and that we make sure we get someone worth the talent (we traded lowe and varitek for heathcliff slocumb. we traded cruz for paul spoljaric and mike timlin. Ortiz was traded for dave hollins. Estes for salomon torres. Fuentes to colorado for jeff cirillo.) If Jones and Morrow, and even Clement are being talked about as future all-stars, and Jones is being called a potential all time great, we must get somebody that will leave a good lasting impression, someone that will be around for a while to come. Look at who we have traded for and think about who made a good lasting impression on you. Maybe Timlin. Look at the rest and some people would be like "who is heathcliff slocumb?" "who is paul spoljaric?" and thats my point.
Last edited by AdamJ1010 on December 17th at 1:48 AM.
Sawdust,
I agree with your comments with one exception. Santana will never agree to a trade to Seattle. Santana wants to be a Yankee and all the money that comes along with it. Therefore, trade for Bedard. If he puts up good stats and the M's go nowhere, they could always trade him before the 09 trading deadline, or they can sign him to a long term deal.
Last edited by moojer on December 17th at 2:51 AM.
Moojer, you may have a point, but you don't know unless the trade is made. If he can't be signed the trade falls through and you haven't lost anything. Personally, I think Santana was nuts for not taking the Twins 4 year $80M extension. If he leaves $120M on the table and then gets hurt he'd be in Juan Gonzalez territory. If I were him and he doesn't get traded, I'd have to think hard about taking that extension from the Twins. In 5 years the market will probably be even higher anyway.
If Bedard could be had without giving up Jones, then that might make more sense, but if you have to give up the same package of prospects...
Bedard should wind up on either the Brewers or Cubs. That's based on the strength of Nashville and Iowa. These teams have the most to offer. My bet is on the Cubs. Seattle has a very shallow minor league affiliate with no dominating starting pitching.
I haven't heard a word about either team being in talks with us about Bedard. The Cubs inquired about Roberts.
Now if you trade Roberts and Bedard to the Cubs.....
Maybe that curse would end. It doesn't matter whom we trade with, they just better have the goods.
I think the m's got a great deal. But I don't see Brandon morrow leaving the Mariners. We need the pitching help in the Bullpen. I'm so glad that John Parrish is gone. Jeeze this guy parrish didn't do squat for the m's last season. Just mad the team worse then ever when we are ahead he just keep giving them back to the opponent. Like the other's Rick White and Chris Reistma. What the heck trading soriano for chris restima. Who had elbow problems. Thats a bunch of bull. and has been on the dl 3 times and is not worth signing again. If they do sign him give him lesser then what he gets. But first things first he has to prove to mclaren that he can pitch without saying owwweee my elbow hurts.
If the Mariners are to make the playoffs this year, they will most definitely will need another horse to go with King Felix. No two ways about it.
Is Morrow that good that the Mariners wouldn't trade him? Seems a little over rated to me.
But put him and Jones together, I make that deal.
If the Mariners do not trade for Bedard before Spring Training, they will regret this because come trade deadline, I'm sure the price will go up on Bedard. Strike now while the iron is hot.
I don't think they'll need Bedard anymore if the Mariners can get Silva to sign a 4 year deal contract for $44 million. And we can have Morrow or Ryan Roland Smith to be SP. I think it will be a great lineup. Felix, Washburn, Batista, Silva, Brandon/or Ryan.
I know ur right its just that the GM is not going to give up his prospects for bedard. Pluse we need someone in right field. Whos going to take that place out there when Adam gets traded. Adam is the only one that has experience in the majors.
for one brandon morrow almost untouchable unless your name is santana. Bederd would be great but i dont like th idea of trading our future.....again. Do you realize how many great players come from the Mariners minor league system. Morrow and Jones will be future allstars. can you imagin a mature brandon morrow and king felix leading the rotation. it would be scary. as for our outfield they aint gettin any younger. lets say we did trade jones, wladamir balentine could replace him. but morrow is a major asset. i think we should leave it as is this year. check the pool next year and hopefully we dont have to overpay for overinflated pitching again. not that i dont like Silva. i think he will do very well in the west. he doesnt strike people out, he makes them hit grounders. and remember he is going from astroturf to grass. Safeco should be a great fit for him. he should be very effective. not to happy about the price we paid though
Last edited by busa89 on December 26th at 10:40 PM.
My name is Chip and I reside in Baltimore, Maryland. I have lived in Baltimore all my life and really love the city. I am the biggest Oriole and Maryland Terrapin fan I know. I'm also a huge Ravens fan but I miss my Baltimore Colts. Some of my favorite players I enjoyed watching as a child include Rickey Henderson, Cal Ripken Jr, Bert Jones, Dr. J, Ken Singleton, Roger Carr, Len Bias, Sugar Ray Leonard and Earl Campbell. Though we do not have a NBA or NHL team, I still follow both sports just as much as the others.
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