Wednesday, December 15, 2004
SEXSON IS A MARINER, FINALLY
Our long national nightmare is over.
Well, if you are one of those fans who didn't want the Mariners to sign Richie Sexson, your nightmare has just begun.
However, I'm in the minority here about Richie Sexson. Is he overpaid? We don't know the contract details yet and we will know sometime tonight (press conference is scheduled for 4 p.m. Pacific). But let's face it, the Mariners have to improve their ballclub this offseason.
Is Sexson the big bat that the Mariners need? He's ONE of the big bats that they need to improve a lineup that couldn't do didily poo offensively in 2004, save for Ichiro.
As some of you may know if you've visited Sports and Bremertonians before today, David and I are big Richie Sexson fans. Now, we won't be total homers here and tell you that we aren't concerned about Sexson's left shoulder, because we are. But as big of a risk as Sexson is, there isn't one guy out there on the free agent market that isn't a risk.
Sexson is signed for 4 years, contract details to be announced later this evening. For a franchise that didn't believe in signing players longer than 3 years, I'm impressed by this move. Does signing Sexson make up for not signing Miguel Tejada last winter? Hell no. But that was last winter. Nothing can be done about last winter now.
For the first time in over a year and a half, I'm enthusiastic about the Mariners. Bob Melvin has been fired and Mike Hargrove is the new man in charge. Of course, with the signing of Sexson, there is going to be talk of Hargrove bringing in "his guys". Lou Piniella brought in his own guys (Norm Charlton to name one) and Melvin did as well (Quinton McCracken, ugh). It is very safe to say that Sexson is the best of the "Hargrove guys" that will come to Seattle.
Before hurting his left shoulder early in the 2004 season, Sexson was one of the more proven middle-of-the-order hitters in all of baseball. He did hit 45 home runs and drove in 124 runs during the 2003 season in Milwaukee, his last season as a Brewer. If Sexson can hit at least 30-35 home runs in Seattle, I'll be just fine with that.
Now that Sexson is aboard, I'm hoping that the Mariners throw some of their money at Adrian Beltre. I don't want to see Sexson in left field, because that would be a waste of time. The man is very good defensively at 1st base. Why sign Carlos Delgado when you already have a damn good 1st baseman on your roster already? That's nothing against Delgado, because I think he's a damn good player in his own right. But the Mariners don't need to spend big bucks on two first basemen. Sign Beltre and put him at 3rd base, a position that is just as big of a black hole as left field has been for the Mariners historically.
You're probably asking yourself, is this for real? Is Jeremy actually being positive about the Mariners for a change? Yes, this is for real. I can't help but be excited about Sexson coming to Seattle. I know there are a few fans out there who wish that Sexson gets hurt again, so they can be right. But I'm not one of those fans, because I am better than that.
Richie Sexson is a Seattle Mariner. Deal with it.
Well, if you are one of those fans who didn't want the Mariners to sign Richie Sexson, your nightmare has just begun.
However, I'm in the minority here about Richie Sexson. Is he overpaid? We don't know the contract details yet and we will know sometime tonight (press conference is scheduled for 4 p.m. Pacific). But let's face it, the Mariners have to improve their ballclub this offseason.
Is Sexson the big bat that the Mariners need? He's ONE of the big bats that they need to improve a lineup that couldn't do didily poo offensively in 2004, save for Ichiro.
As some of you may know if you've visited Sports and Bremertonians before today, David and I are big Richie Sexson fans. Now, we won't be total homers here and tell you that we aren't concerned about Sexson's left shoulder, because we are. But as big of a risk as Sexson is, there isn't one guy out there on the free agent market that isn't a risk.
Sexson is signed for 4 years, contract details to be announced later this evening. For a franchise that didn't believe in signing players longer than 3 years, I'm impressed by this move. Does signing Sexson make up for not signing Miguel Tejada last winter? Hell no. But that was last winter. Nothing can be done about last winter now.
For the first time in over a year and a half, I'm enthusiastic about the Mariners. Bob Melvin has been fired and Mike Hargrove is the new man in charge. Of course, with the signing of Sexson, there is going to be talk of Hargrove bringing in "his guys". Lou Piniella brought in his own guys (Norm Charlton to name one) and Melvin did as well (Quinton McCracken, ugh). It is very safe to say that Sexson is the best of the "Hargrove guys" that will come to Seattle.
Before hurting his left shoulder early in the 2004 season, Sexson was one of the more proven middle-of-the-order hitters in all of baseball. He did hit 45 home runs and drove in 124 runs during the 2003 season in Milwaukee, his last season as a Brewer. If Sexson can hit at least 30-35 home runs in Seattle, I'll be just fine with that.
Now that Sexson is aboard, I'm hoping that the Mariners throw some of their money at Adrian Beltre. I don't want to see Sexson in left field, because that would be a waste of time. The man is very good defensively at 1st base. Why sign Carlos Delgado when you already have a damn good 1st baseman on your roster already? That's nothing against Delgado, because I think he's a damn good player in his own right. But the Mariners don't need to spend big bucks on two first basemen. Sign Beltre and put him at 3rd base, a position that is just as big of a black hole as left field has been for the Mariners historically.
You're probably asking yourself, is this for real? Is Jeremy actually being positive about the Mariners for a change? Yes, this is for real. I can't help but be excited about Sexson coming to Seattle. I know there are a few fans out there who wish that Sexson gets hurt again, so they can be right. But I'm not one of those fans, because I am better than that.
Richie Sexson is a Seattle Mariner. Deal with it.