Q&A Thread
Dave · November 26, 2007 at 9:03 am · Filed Under Mariners
We realize that the posting has been a little light here the last few weeks. Derek, Jason, and I have all been pretty busy with the non-baseball part of our lives, and it’s not like the Mariners have been making huge news either. I have a few posts that are in various stages of being finished, but since I don’t have the time to wrap any of them up today, I figured I’d throw up a question and answer thread, where you guys can fire off questions in the comments and we’ll do our best to answer them if we can.
Stay away from the usual topics that aren’t allowed, but other than that, this is probably the thread for you if you’ve had an off topic question that you’ve been wanting to ask. Fire away.
well, you CAN go to Deanna’s blog to read about Japan 🙂
or should we cross our fingers for a chance at Depodesta type, who is qualified and available?
DePodesta lacks social skills. That makes him an excellent assistant GM, but if you put him in charge he just rubs everyone the wrong way and soon all of his scouts, coaches, and the local media hate him.
I would like to see the M’s go after a pitcher with some upside like Mark Prior – Cubs are reportedly shopping him around.
The risk isn’t worth giving up any top of the line prospects though. Some team might be willing to take the dive and do it. Should the M’s shoot the moon for Prior, or should they pass this one up?
Speaking of, if the Angels traded for Johan Santana AND Miguel Cabrera, we can be pretty sure that they will dominate the division for one year but having sold the farm will quickly fade from the top or go broke. That would make it more in the M’s interest to “rebuild” some more and ship off valuable veterans as well as the worthless ones.
Also, since he’ll miss the first 25 games on suspension, Mike Cameron might be a bargain that would improve the outfield defense immensely….
Dave:
How do you feel about Rock Raines as a Hall Of Famer?
Dave:
How do you size up Kenny Williams? Can the same GM who made a smart move in getting Orlando Cabrera for Jon Garland really have signed Scott Linebrink for four years and $19 million? (Is that a worse or better move than the Orioles last year getting Jamie Walker for three eyars and $11 million?)
Wait, what? That’s all she talks about nowadays…
well, you CAN go to Deanna’s blog to read about Japan
Yeah, I meant here at USSM. It was always a reminder that there was more going on than the sinking M’s in the MLB sea. Sort of a little dash of wasabi in our steady diet of ichi-rolls and garlic fries.
Speaking of which (sort of), what does it say that the M’s biggest competition for talent so far this offseason is the Kansas City Royals? I feel like the tweener stuck at the kids’ table at Thanksgiving, tiny chair leaving my knees hunched up to my chest, plate full of nothing but bland mashed potatoes, looking enviously at all the delicious, meaty platters being passed around by the adults at the big table.
Hey Dave or anyone else,
I was reading an article yesterday about partial and full shares from world series money for the red sox and the rockies, and well as other teams. What do they mean by that? Is that each player gets a full share of money for playing or what?
Dave,
Do you think any GM’s read your website and reconsider the value they once assigned a player, that you considered under or overvalued?
It looks as though we have 3 catchers (Johjima,Johnson, Clement) near the major league level. 1-2 of these will never have a regular job with the Mariners. It seems like a few other clubs (mets, etc.)could use a catcher. Can’t we get something for these guys?
Here is a fairly decent breakdown of the post-season shares awarded this year (hey, even the M’s got $9,112 per). Essentially each team that is eligible for post-season money votes on how to divide it up (I believe the 25 man roster are the voters, but I could be wrong). They can vote a full or partial share, or just a flat cash payout, to anybody they want (though ultimately the GM has to sign off on it). Players get full or partial shares (that September call-up that was left off the post-season roster probably isn’t going to get a full share, for example); other random people get “tips” — the clubhouse attendants, the guy who washes the players’ cars, the guy who signed for those packages addressed to Guillen at the Oakland Coliseum, whatever.
The Rockies voted a full share for Mike Coolbaugh’s widow, which was a damn fine thing to do.
In other news, MLB doesn’t own player stats, despite their claims to the contrary. This is the only sane outcome, but since law and sanity don’t always agree (particularly in the realm of intellectual property) this is still good news to all of us who (at least indirectly) live and breathe baseball statistics.
Dave…
Would someone like Mark Prior be interesting to you? How about to Bavasi?
I like the Prior idea, high risk high reward move. Do you think a reliever like Sherrill plus a mid level prospect would be enough. I think if you add a Colon or Kuroda and back that with a Prior trade that our pitching staff would be set and with any injuries you have RRS, Morrow and Baek in the waiting. Pick up Jenkins and I call that a successful off season. In your opionion would that be a success Dave?
Also Dave, if Sherrill is traded do you think Jimenez has a chance to break with the big club. He has gone 14 scoreless in the Winter league with strong K rates.
don’t forget the D-backs…
From a CBS Sportsline article…
“GM Pat Gillick’s comments heading into the playoffs last month were telling. During a radio interview before the Philadelphia-Colorado first-round series, Gillick, speaking of the Phillies’ stirring comeback against the New York Mets in the NL East, noted that this was the first time in all of his years in baseball that he was convinced that chemistry, and not simply sheer talent, is important. This from the architect of the 1992 and 1993 Toronto world championship clubs. Rowand’s grittiness is what convinced Gillick. There are those in Philadelphia who view Rowand as the glue who held the ’07 Phillies together.”
Are we sure Pat Gillick isn’t a sarcastic USS Mariner poster??
Are we sure Pat Gillick isn’t a sarcastic USS Mariner poster??
No, he clearly hates us, and wants to give ammunition to our enemies.
(Note: he clearly doesn’t actually believe what he’s claiming. Consider what he’s really saying: the 2007 Phillie team, which he said has great chemistry, didn’t win a WS. Those ’92 and ’93 Toronto teams, which apparently didn’t have great chemistry, did win rings. So is “chemistry” necessary for a team to win a WS? Or does it merely help a middling team overachieve enough to reach the first round of the playoffs? Or maybe it’s completely irrelevant: perhaps if the Mets hadn’t had a collapse of epic proportions the Phillies would be just another 2nd place team, like the M’s, and the whole question of chemistry wouldn’t even have come up?)
What’s your favorite beer?
If you could trade 1 player straight up for a player at the same position on another team (i.e. , who would be traded for who?
Dave doesn’t drink.
Derek on the other hand …
the Angels are introducing Garland and Torii, live on mlb.com, wearing their nasty red hats.
You don’t seem to be answering questions on this thread anymore, but here goes anyway:
What’s up with Stephen Kahn? He was on the Future Forty a couple of years ago, but then went down with an injury that caused him to miss all of 2007. He’s back and pitching in the Winter League, so is there a chance he might return to prospect status? He’s shown great K/9 rates at some levels, but are his control problems insurmountable?
134- I disagree on becoming a professional writer. Find a job writing about things nobody wants to write about (tech journals, trade pubs.). Take that job. Learn to write. Have your editor hand you back pieces that were cut to shreds. Continue to follow your individual interests and write about them on the side.
Now, with professional writing experience and a demonstrable expertise in your preferred field, go back to the bottom of the ladder writing about that thing. Work your way up.
You will not get rich doing any of this.
Thoughts on the Rays and Twinks trade that is reportedly going down? Still as high on the Rays front office as once before?
It appears Cinn,(pitching starved), is looking to trade Josh Hamilton. Sherrill and a AA/AAA pitching prospect might do it. Hamilton can play all outfield positions and is young,cheap and has a huge upside. ???
173 — I was about to ask that same question!
It seems like Young is involved in a lot of the Tampa Bay trade rumors. What doesn’t Tampa Bay like about him?
It seems like Young is involved in a lot of the Tampa Bay trade rumors. What doesn’t Tampa Bay like about him?
For one, he was an out machine this year. Really pretty poor for a corner outfielder. It was, of course, his rookie year, but he lost a little of his luster. Rather than a superstar, he now looks like he will be an above average player.
Secondly, he has a long history of behavioral problems (remember the minor league bat flip?). The Rays are probably overly concerned about this due to their experience with Elijah Dukes.
I like Garza, so I don’t think it would be a horrible trade for the D-Rays. In fact, they may get the better end of the deal.
What is your opinion on trading for Coco Crisp?
The BoSox have moved on to the younger, cheaper (better?… we’ll see in ’08) Ellsbury in CF, thus making Coco available for trade.
He is locked up for the next few years for a reasonable price. (2/$10.5M + 3rd year $8M club option)
Crisp, Jones and Ichiro would make make for a STELLAR OF and would rival the Winn, Cammy, Ichiro OF of the past.
But will he be too weak offensively to play a corner OF position? Cost too much?
Thoughts?
His personality probably. Remember, he was the guy that threw a bat at an umpire. He’s not exactly nice.
If the Twins and Rays make that trade, then they’ll be shopping pitchers. JP Howell anyone?
I’ve been toying with his numbers, and love his peripherals. He misses bats, even at the MLB level, he walks people too much, but that’s improving and should be expected to improve, and he should keep the ball on the ground at an average or possibly slightly above average rate. Dave’s right, Howell and Colon would be a huge offseason IMO. Felix, Colon, Howell, Batista, and Washburn would be a good rotation.
Ok, it looks like the Dodgers are chasing Kuroda too. This is going to get expensive.
“Salt on the roada
makes my car Kuroda…”
There’s no loss of draft pick for signing Kuroda. All of the “known” American entities are lacking in this market.
#136 AndyP’s quote from ESPN Page 2: “…According to Page 2 sources, here are some other preliminary talks going on around the majors: Mariners: In preliminary talks of trading J.J. Putz to Atlanta for some crappy starting pitcher.â€
It’d be just our luck that the Mariners would trade Putz to Atlanta for Mike Hampton…didn’t someone ask “Is it possible that once GMs like Bavasi and Gillick run out of players they remember from their old teams…[followed by Mariner fan fantasy]”?
(who, if you haven’t read the latest on ESPN/MLB.com, has recovered from his 2 elbow surgeries that have kept him from pitching since 2005, but after pitching in the AFL and doing pretty well, he just blew out his hamstring in the Mexican League and is on the shelf until February)
180: Tee-hee!
Actually, I think “Kuroda” was also the name of a Toyota model from the late ’60’s… 🙂
Dave, how do you assess the Twins/Rays trade?
I’ll take a crack at this…
Dave, Jason Churchill mentioned the Mariners might have interest in Brad Hawpe. For his career he hits almost as well away from Coors (.855 OPS) as he does at Coors (.873 OPS)…I know those are basic stats, but do you think Hawpe would be a good fit for the Mariners? And what do you think it would cost to acquire him?
Thanks Dave.