Ohhhhh….. you said Pitcher friendly park. My Fault.
Fig Jam
You gotta hand it to Mariner’s General Manager Bill “funny shaped head” Bavasi. It looks like he has finally taken a look at the parameters of Safeco Field and come to the conclusion that a couple of good pitchers could go a long ways towards winning some ballgames.
The Mariners appear to be on the verge (or have already completed) of a deal for Eric Bedard, one of the top 10 pitchers in the bigs. If Bedard does in fact come to Seattle he immediately becomes the staff ace, relieving the pressure on youngster Felix Hernandez to carry the staff. I think this will help Hernandez a great deal in terms of confidence. Bedard will be the centerpiece of what should be one of the best rotations in the league. Bedard – Hernandez – Silva – Washburn – Bautista. Assuming the bullpen is still solid, the Mariner’s should be in a position to compete with the Angels in their Division.
I love this move by Bavasi. He finally seems to have stopped trying to sign guys who can mash it over the fence at Safeco (see generally Richie Sexson) and is returning to the mold that brought the M’s so much success a few seasons ago. With guys like Edgar, Olerud, Guillen, and Ichiro, the Mariner’s put on a clinic on how to play small ball and followed that up with great pitching and defense. Whether this year’s Mariner’s will be defensively sound is questionable, but at least they are tailoring their team to suit their park this year.
What generally baffles me about Bavasi is how it took this long for him to figure this out. While I admit that the Mariner’s circa 2001 were generally thought to be “one big bat” away from the title, I think the proper way to view that sentiment is “one big bat, in addition to the pitching, defense, and smallball that they already play really well.” It seems like ever since the new Regime over at Safeco has stepped in, they let the pitching staff slide, lost their depth in the bullpen, and tried to replace the entire offense with “big bats.” It didn’t work. I’m glad to see they are back to working with a formula that has proven to be a winner and hopefully it will provide results that will get Seattle interested in the Mariners once again.
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I really don’t think Bavasi has figured anything out. This improves the rotation but the loss of Jones is going to hurt outfield D, and in the cave that is the Safeco outfield that can save a ton of runs. So who are they looking to pick with Jones leaving? Um, Luis Gonzales? I thought you said Bavasi stopped trying to sign vets who can mash it over the fence? Um, oops.
I’d love to be proven wrong, but the main part of that is that I don’t believe we really were that close last year. I just don’t think a slightly above average team tossing off prospects for one big arm is going to make all that much of a difference. But good lord I hope I’m wrong, because if we get taken to the cleaners by Angelos that’s really embarassing.
I know shit about the Bombs, and ussmariner is against this trade…but the facts are that Bedard is presently viable and Jones is not. I hope this continues to be the case.
I am for this potential trade. Why? Excitement.
I doubt this will get us into the playoffs, but I think it will make us a better team and we’ll at least be in the race through August. Plus, I know I’m much more likely to head down to the park on days Bedard will be pitching than, say, Horacio Ramirez.
Having Bedard on fantasy – I routinely watched him put up silly strikeout numbers. There’s nothing more enjoyable than going to the park and watching your guy mow down opposing hitters. You get to stand up on two strike counts and yell at the batter as he walks back to the dugout. (You don’t even care if he gives up a three-run homer here and there.)
I wouldn’t be so sad to see Adam Jones go, simply because there are oodles of decent corner outfielders we could sign to fill in next year. Shannon Stewart or Preston Wilson would be my choices (not Brad Wilkerson):
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Ak13PsHhGS6qHRiE2rIDco4RvLYF?slug=sh-freeagentsale012108&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Obviously, none are franchise players like Jones but I was never that impressed with him last season (for all of his tools he’s not that great at defense as everyone is asserting) – although I still think he would have been a better play than Vidro.
Basically, if you have a chance to get a guy like Bedard, you make that move. The only problem is he may just play the one year and bounce.
On the negative side… For the money, you aren’t going to find a better value than Jones, who is still paid relative peanuts. Sherrill and the other guy are also bang-for-the-buck players. USS Mariner says making this trade will improve us by only 3-4 games this season, so it looks like we’ll be out of the playoffs again. But I do think that it will help Felix relax not being the No. 1 – I think this is a large part of the Mariners rationale to make this move.
Now if only we could renege on that Carlos Silva contract and give B. Morrow a chance…
WOW, I have so many issues with this thread I dont even know where to begin . . .
With regards to building your team around your ballpark, I agree completely. However, I totally disagree with your conclusions. The last legitimately good Mariner team featured an outfield of Randy Winn, Mike Cameron, and Ichiro. Notice anything there? 3 excellent fielders who cover a LOT of that spacious outfield. Pitching and defense are so inter-related that baseball statisticians are still trying to figure out new methods to judge pitching without the influence of defense. To think that you can pick up pitchers, ignore your defense, and significantly reduce your runs allowed is silly and naive.
As for Adam Jones, people act like he is an unknown commodity, HE”S NOT. To judge him on his 1-month call up where McFaggot used him every third day or so, is asinine. Everyone knows baseball stats are all about sample size. So what DO we know about Adam Jones from his meaningful statistics? That he absolutely DESTROYED triple A. He wasn’t Jeremy Reed, where he did pretty well in triple A, lets-see-how-he-does-at-the Show-type-good. No, he killed it. AT WORST he is an average hitter for a major league outfielder RIGHT NOW, at worst. Add in the fact that he’d probably play center (one of the premium defensive positions where you should be willing to trade some O for D) and you have yourself a plus player. I wont even get in to the fact that he makes peanuts and isn’t eligible for free agency for 4 or 5 years.
Now Eric Bedard is no slouch, definitely one of the better pitchers in all of baseball. Also, because of his high strikeout totals he’s actually a pitcher who could have some success with a crappy defense behind him; Batista, Washburn, Silva . . . not so much.
This move screams of desperation to me. Bavasi has been told, “win more games than last year or you’re gone.” Now I dont blame Bavasi for wanting to make this move, he’s in win-at-alll-cost mode because his job and his hefty paycheck are on the line. If I had to “win now” I would do the same thing as him. However, even with Bedard that looks like an 85 win team to me and the Angels are loaded; it will take an awful lot of good luck for us and bad luck for them, for the Ms to have any chance and Im not willing to gamble the future of the franchise on such whimsical fantasy.
I disagree. I think Jones is still properly categorized as a ‘potential’ talent whereas Bedard was legitimately in the conversation for the Cy Young last season before he got hurt.
Making a move for a pitcher of that Caliber is not desperate. Holding onto Jones based on his potential is not critical.
Plus I believe Bedard has 2 seasons left on his contract, but I don’t feel like doing the research to confirm that statement. Is that right?
Bedard does have 2 season left and Jones has 5 (at a ridiculous fraction of the price).
You want to talk about unknown quantities? Number of times Bedard has pitched at least 200 innings in his career . . . 0. Not exactly the proven #1 workhorse you’re looking for.
I haven’t even mentioned Jones’ potential (which is substantial). Im just talking about what he brings you RIGHT NOW. He is AT LEAST an average MLB hitter who plays a premium defensive position in a stadium where that defensive position is at a premium. And we obviously can’t ignore the fact that he might turn out to be someone very special. At worst he’s Mike Cameron (although not there defensively yet), at best . . . who knows.
Adam Jones is like the Adrian McPherson of the MLB. A big Sparko favorite, and probably the next star of your Everett Aquasox
Eh, pull the trigger on Bedard.