Marinerds, etc.

I'm sure that in some alternate universe, the Mariners trading Chris Snelling and Emiliano Fruto for Jose Vidro makes sense.

But not this one.

I'm usually the one around here going, "Hey, guys, it's okay, this isn't that bad, it's just a stupid trade, just a stupid roster move, there's no reason to start raising the pitchforks and punching your walls," etc -- but even I'm completely puzzled by this and a little bit saddened by the idea of not getting to see our favorite adorable Australian anymore. Looking back to May, when I had the realization that I simply didn't love the Mariners anymore, I said the only player on the 40-man roster that I really adored was Chris Snelling. I'd like to hope this trade doesn't go through. Even though Snelling might not have seemed like a huge contributor to the team on the surface, the emotional attachment one gets to certain players can be pretty strong. I mean, it's been fifteen years and I'm still residually pissed at the Phillies for trading away Von Hayes.

It's sort of like the helpless feeling like being a kid and having your best friend’s parents move across the country and take your best friend with them. You know you might keep in touch, but it’s just not going to be the same.

Man, the offseason sucks. And I'm really debating whether I need a more general baseball name for this blog, being as I really don't feel like writing about the Mariners very much lately. I could just change it to "Chiba Lotte Marinerds" and only write about the NPB from now on, maybe...

Abreu and Lidle Traded to Yankees

Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle go to the Yankees; the Phillies get a former first-round shortstop C.J. Henry, LHP Matt Smith, rookie league catcher Jesus Sanchez and RHP prospect Carlos Monasterios.

Also, they DFA'ed Ryan Franklin to make room for Randy Wolf, which honestly doesn't soften it any for me. Wolf started today and the Phillies won, but he only went a little over four innings and threw about ninety-seven thousand pitches.

I can't imagine Abreu in a Yankees uniform. I was positive they weren't going to come up with enough stuff to make it worth trading him.

I'm going to cry.

Well, not literally. I'll probably be over it in a few days (though it'll be tough when the Yankees come here in two weeks). It's still just shocking. For years, "Abreu trade rumors" have been exactly that, and every little kid in Philadelphia knows that Bobby's still gonna be there the next day smiling and signing autographs and kicking ass. Until now, of course.

As usual, there's discussion on the roster moves (including yesterday's Bell trade) in various threads on Beerleaguer, Phillies Nation, and The Good Phight, and I'm sure there will be more tomorrow in the Phlogs that don't update much over the weekends. Consensus seems to be, generally, that "this was a really bad deal and an unnecessary salary unload to restock some prospects in a stupidly-depleted farm system".

Even my MOTHER sent me email like "Please explain to me why the stupid Phillies traded a great hitter like Bobby Abreu to the NY Yankees for 4 draft picks?"

I had such high hopes for this year's Phillies team, I really did. The idea that the Mariners have more of a shot at the postseason than they do is just astounding to me.

Friday: Shin-soo Choo. Homers off Felix in the 6th, Mariners lose the game 1-0 on that homer.

Saturday: Ben Broussard. Homers off Brian Sikorski in the 9th, Mariners win 3-1 on the insurance run.

Brian Sikorski? Wow. Last time I saw him pitch, he was in Japan.

In theory, for this trend of "traded guys homering against their former teams" to continue for the weekend, Eduardo Perez has to hit one tomorrow off of Cliff Lee.

In more fun trades, David Bell was just traded to the Brewers, and he hit a double and scored two runs in today's game. It feels like half of those Brewers weren't on the team two weeks ago. Graffanino? Mench? Bell? Cordero? Yeah. Being as I'm the only person I ever actually heard cheering for David Bell when I went to Phillies games, I'm sure there's not too much of an outcry in the Phlogosphere, though Tom Goyne made a David Bell Tribute Page which is kind of funny.

Anyway, today is July 30, 2006. On July 30, 1996, exactly ten years ago, the Mariners made one of their best trades in club history when they traded Darren Bragg to the Red Sox for Jamie Moyer. Paul at NGFT linked a pretty good "Still the Same Jamie" article which is a good read. For a good laugh, check out the ten years of Mariners commercials up on their site and see how much or little Jamie's changed over the years -- starting with, of course, 1998's "Killer Changeup". Happy ten years of Mariners baseball, Jamie!

Shin-soo Choo and a PTBNL traded to Cleveland for Ben Broussard

Sweeeeeeeeeeeet.

I'm going to miss seeing Choo's son running around the stands in Tacoma -- he really is one of the cutest little kids in existence -- but damn, Ben Broussard! Now there's some lefty sock! I think it's really ironic that the Mariners ended up acquiring both sides of the amazing Cleveland first-base two-headed monster platoon. Now the question is, does this mean Big Richie's also in for a Big Switchie?

I keep meaning to get Broussard's CD (in case you don't already know, he considers himself a musician as well), since hearing him perform "With Or Without You" on the Oh Say Can You Sing CD last year. He has a really nice voice, even counting the part where he does some beatboxing on Coco Crisp's rap song on that same album.

And for the obligatory female comment, adding Snelling and Broussard to the team and subtracting Everett raises the team cute factor by quite a bit!

One thing about this trade, though -- the Mariners are heading to Cleveland to play a series this weekend. So Broussard will effectively end up reporting to work the same as always on Friday... just he'll be in the visitor's clubhouse instead. That's got to be sort of harsh, playing in your former home stadium right after being traded. And Choo's gonna be the Big League Choo soon enough playing against the Mariners, as well.

Still, sweet. My desire to head to Safeco tonight is rising, even though I know it's a really bad idea.