News of the day
DMZ · October 31, 2007 at 8:00 am · Filed Under Mariners
The Angels may be in or out of the A-Rod bidding, depending on who you read and when. Mostly in. Also, the Dodgers.
Former M’s centerfielder Mike Cameron got popped for a 25-game suspension under the stimulant policy, which’ll probably put a dent on his search for a new multi-year deal.
Curt Schilling posted a list of teams he’d be willing to sign with if he didn’t return to Boston. Seattle’s not one.
Yeah, I’m sure there’s another Dave Myers clone out there somewhere…
So, using a fairly arbitrary scoring system, Bill James rates young players and declares Felix the 5th best player under 30. Cleveland (Carmona and Sizemore) and the Mets (Wright and Reyes) are the only teams with two in the top 10.
More interesting than the rankings (at least to me) is his declaration
James also delivers this gem
I realize it is a slow news period for baseball, but did Geoff Baker actually need to write an article about whether or not the M’s would accept the one year option on Guillen? Guillen has no intention of signing it, Guillen is now officially a type B free agent, and some even might want to keep him if it were only for one year…
From Buster Olney and ESPN, updated at 10:40 AM PDT this morning: “Before Alex Rodriguez opted out of his contract with the Yankees earlier this week, the team was told that it would not be able to meet with the third baseman unless it presented an offer of at least $350 million, sources say.”
This is awfully reminiscent of the Boras/ARod negotiations with the Mets’ then-GM Steve Phillips, who told them “thanks but no thanks” after receiving the demands for those outlandish perks and requirements from Boras/ARod, then later denied vehemently by Boras/ARod.
When outlandish claims and proposed crazy money are brought up over and over again, and the connection is the same MLB player and the same agent, do you finally conclude that the allegations and the rumors and the leaks are based in fact?
Later in the ESPN story there’s also this: “In an interview with ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick on Thursday, Boras said, We have had no economic discussions regarding Alex Rodriguez with any major-league team.’ “ I’d have to guess that the adjective “economic” is the difference-maker in this comment that makes it “true”. Leave “economic” out, and Boras undoubtedly HAS had discussions regarding Alex Rodriguez with (any/some) major league team, and undoubtedly had them before Alex Rodriguez opted out.
Baker needs to write an article every day. The Media Beast must be fed. He may have written that a couple of weeks ago and then, hung over from Halloween and desperate for content, tossed it in the general direction of his editor while he scrambled to find something worth writing about.
Sorry, left out the link to the Buster Olney story…
Fox should be relatively happy with the World Series ratings. Game 4 was the number 2 watched show of the week (#1 being, oddly, Dancing with the Stars, probably from all the people who got hooked tuning in to see Dave’s cousin…)
All four games were in the top 20, along with a show that I’m assuming was mislabeled, the pregame show for Game 5.
I wonder how different those World Series ratings would have been if the Indians were able to win the last game against the red sox.
Re: Arod – I remember a debate a couple years back on what cap Clemens would wear when he entered the Hall of Fame & someone quipped that the cap on his bust should just have a ‘$’ on the front. In Arod’s case, I really can’t imagine what cap they could possibly include on his bust given how unpopular he is with the fan base in every city he’s played in.
Maybe it’ll work out for him this time but color me ultra-skeptical. In his case the ‘$’ might actually be the least controversial.
M’s decline Guillen’s option.
http://tinyurl.com/22z5a4
Also on #111’s link, Reitsma was cut loose. Both addition by subtraction situations?
Okay, maybe not “cut loose,” but not intentionally retained.
#99– thinking about it some more, if Bowa goes to LA to coach 3B, then everybody’s buddy Rich Donnelly is out of a job …
What the…
Why decline the option on Guillen when you know darn well he has no intention on signing a one-year agreement? Isn’t that just wasting 1/2 Million? I don’t get it. Can somebody explain what I’m missing here?
better the $500,000 you know than the $9M you might get stuck with if he gets no other offers?
Dan Evans has left the Mariners FO
Jose Guillen on a 1Y/9M contract is good value. They shouldn’t have been upset if that came to pass and there’s no chance it would have anyways.
That that pretty bad when even Guillen is laughing about it. I could think of alot better ways to waste a half million dollars.
Keeping Guillen coupled with the stated desire to keep and play Jones would make the logjam at 1B/DH even more of an issue than it is already. Also no one has to “risk” hurting Raul’s feelings or upsetting the team’s chemistry by telling him he can’t play OF anymore.
Jose Guillen on a 1Y/9M contract is good value. They shouldn’t have been upset if that came to pass and there’s no chance it would have anyways.
Agreed. Worst case, that’s a very tradable contract.
“There had been conflicting reports of this, but Cot’s Baseball Contracts had it right. Guillen’s player option is for $5MM, and he’s already said he’s declining it. The Mariners pretty much wasted $500K in declining the club option.”
Is this true?
Any to close the loop, can anyone more mathematically inclined than myself give a good estimate for what percentage of the net profit for next season resulting from the “premium game” ticket price bump the FO just pissed away by declining that option? Just curious…you know, because I’m not cynical at all.
ESPN is stating this on Guillen:
“If Guillen decides not to exercise his part of the option, he won’t get a $500,000 buyout. He must decide within five days.”
The AP story (which is probably what ESPN is running) quotes Bavasi:
I suppose the M’s figure with Jones in hand they’ve got the advantage (because they can’t see what a liability Raul is in the field). Meanwhile, Guillen has to decide how much he values serenity vs money
Let’s assume for five seconds that Ibanez doesn’t somehow end up at first base next season, if they keep Jones in left (which seems to be a good idea), is Ibanez as big a black hole defensively in the not so spacious right field of SafeCo?
I’d say no…but the fact that his throws rainbow worse than my sister’s doesn’t bode well for throwing anyone out, either.
[Sexson]
SexSon. What is the issue with people having a problem remembering / typing that?
the TNT catches up with … Greg Dobbs.
Anybody else a Jon Stewart fan? He had David Wright on the show last week. Stewart (a Met, not a Yankee fan), was saying that ARod brings bad vibes to every team he’s on, etc., and asked Wright how he would react if ARod came to the Mets. Wright said even though they both play third, he’d like to win a Series and would welcome the help. Stewart made a comment about how it would screw up team chemistry. Wright said 54 home runs can produce a lot of chemistry.
Team chemistry, IMO, isn’t the issue. Arods the best player, I doubt he screws up chemistry and even if he does, he’s the best player and he’s worth it. The problem is payroll. Even out of the few teams that can afford and are willing to sign him, he eats up to much payroll for other players. I think the with the dollar figures he’s likely to command only the Yankees (and believe me, despite what you hear I bet they are in the bidding) and Red Sox can afford to sign him and field a championship team around him. So if he wants a ring, he’ll end up at one of the two, unless some team changes their payroll dramatically to include him AND others around him.
I don’t see any reason for the Red Sox to be in the bidding. He’ll eat a huge chunk of their payroll (remember there’s the luxury tax too), limit their flexibility, and they already won the World Series without him. In fact, the only good reason for the Red Sox to get ARod would be to prevent the Yankees from getting him and thereby ensuring an automatic championship.
Oh, wait.
Personally, I think ARod is headed to LA. The LA teams have money, the media environment is better, the town loves big-ticket celebrities whether they deliver or not (see Beckham, David), and there’s plenty of opportunities for endorsements. I just hope he ends up on the Dodgers (where he could take back the home run record from a certain Giant by the end of his contract), but I fear he’ll be batting behind Vlad.
But the Mets have that new ballpark money coming in ’09, and there are some other dark horses — Heyman at SI did a decent rundown</a of the possibilities.
would that be the same Heyman believed to have broken the “Arod opting out” story for Boras last week? 🙂
Well, if the odds he supplies come straight from Boras, wouldn’t that be… interesting.