Sunday, December 14, 2003
YOU READY FOR THIS?
Okay, I know I've alluded to it before, so be ready for it.
Ichiro and agent Tony Attanasio (not to be confused with Trey Anastasio of Phish) is rumored to be millions of dollars per year apart on a new contract for Ichiro to avoid arbitration. Numbers have been bandied about on what Ichiro and agent are looking for per year.
From the Times on 10 Nov --
The two sides talked before [Mariners CEO Howard] Lincoln paused to direct Seattle's widespread GM search, and found themselves far apart, with the club thought to have offered about $10 million per year for three years and agent Tony Attanasio seeking at least $15 million.
From the P-I on 11 Nov --
As for the Mariners, the amount of money they pay Ichiro will impact what else they do. A $15 million contract for Ichiro, for example, might mean right-handed starter Freddy Garcia, likely to make in excess of $8-9 million next year, might have to be traded.
FIFTEEN FRIGGING MILLION PER YEAR?? What the hell has this guy done to even come close to justifying getting $15M per year? For that money, the kind of stat line I would expect from Ichiro would be 25 HRs, 60 SBs, a consistent .370 average, 15 3Bs, etc. In other words, a hell of a frigging lot better than the lines and especially the crappy second halves that he's put up the last two years that are just begging him to be labeled as overrated.
Seriously, though, what has he done to deserve $15M/yr that DOESN'T have to go with profits at the gate, and do such things occur at any point OTHER than the first half of the 2001 season?
I have two memories of Ichiro running through my mind right now, one from either side. The first is him gunning T-Long down at 3rd base in Oakland. The other is not really a moment, but sort of a combination...the stretch last year when he hit a couple home runs and then convinced himself that he was a fly ball hitter and then was popping up lazy fly ball after lazy fly ball.
There's flashes of brilliance, yes, but I'm fairly convinced that the typical year we're going to see out of Ichiro is what happened last year. And the year before that. Consistency, anyone? I didn't want "consistenly crappy in the second half."
In summary, if Ichiro is asking for a penny over $10M/yr, I hope this Mariner brass (highest ownership be damned) tells Ichiro to not let the door kick him in the ass on his way out.
There's better ways to spend such a large sum of money. The Orioles were putting up 5 years and $65M for Vladimir Guerrero, who does way more for a team than Ichiro does -- you're getting maybe a little less speed, a ton more power, and you're barely losing anything on the throwing arm in RF. The Orioles offer averages at $13M/yr. I'd give him 5 yrs and $75M WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY before I'd even think about offering Ichiro the same deal. And yes, that'd be for the $15M/yr that Ichiro is asking for.
In the span of the last few months, I've done a couple things that I don't think I've seen others do. One was to reiterate that Ray Rhodes should be wide open to criticism as defensive coordinator of that horrid Seahawk defense. The other is to hammer Ichiro for not being anywhere close to worthy of a contract heftier than $10M/yr.
And no, Sports and B's will NOT light up the Quinton McCRACKenpipe.
Ichiro and agent Tony Attanasio (not to be confused with Trey Anastasio of Phish) is rumored to be millions of dollars per year apart on a new contract for Ichiro to avoid arbitration. Numbers have been bandied about on what Ichiro and agent are looking for per year.
From the Times on 10 Nov --
The two sides talked before [Mariners CEO Howard] Lincoln paused to direct Seattle's widespread GM search, and found themselves far apart, with the club thought to have offered about $10 million per year for three years and agent Tony Attanasio seeking at least $15 million.
From the P-I on 11 Nov --
As for the Mariners, the amount of money they pay Ichiro will impact what else they do. A $15 million contract for Ichiro, for example, might mean right-handed starter Freddy Garcia, likely to make in excess of $8-9 million next year, might have to be traded.
FIFTEEN FRIGGING MILLION PER YEAR?? What the hell has this guy done to even come close to justifying getting $15M per year? For that money, the kind of stat line I would expect from Ichiro would be 25 HRs, 60 SBs, a consistent .370 average, 15 3Bs, etc. In other words, a hell of a frigging lot better than the lines and especially the crappy second halves that he's put up the last two years that are just begging him to be labeled as overrated.
Seriously, though, what has he done to deserve $15M/yr that DOESN'T have to go with profits at the gate, and do such things occur at any point OTHER than the first half of the 2001 season?
I have two memories of Ichiro running through my mind right now, one from either side. The first is him gunning T-Long down at 3rd base in Oakland. The other is not really a moment, but sort of a combination...the stretch last year when he hit a couple home runs and then convinced himself that he was a fly ball hitter and then was popping up lazy fly ball after lazy fly ball.
There's flashes of brilliance, yes, but I'm fairly convinced that the typical year we're going to see out of Ichiro is what happened last year. And the year before that. Consistency, anyone? I didn't want "consistenly crappy in the second half."
In summary, if Ichiro is asking for a penny over $10M/yr, I hope this Mariner brass (highest ownership be damned) tells Ichiro to not let the door kick him in the ass on his way out.
There's better ways to spend such a large sum of money. The Orioles were putting up 5 years and $65M for Vladimir Guerrero, who does way more for a team than Ichiro does -- you're getting maybe a little less speed, a ton more power, and you're barely losing anything on the throwing arm in RF. The Orioles offer averages at $13M/yr. I'd give him 5 yrs and $75M WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY before I'd even think about offering Ichiro the same deal. And yes, that'd be for the $15M/yr that Ichiro is asking for.
In the span of the last few months, I've done a couple things that I don't think I've seen others do. One was to reiterate that Ray Rhodes should be wide open to criticism as defensive coordinator of that horrid Seahawk defense. The other is to hammer Ichiro for not being anywhere close to worthy of a contract heftier than $10M/yr.
And no, Sports and B's will NOT light up the Quinton McCRACKenpipe.
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