Sunday, January 11, 2004
...AND I'M SICK
Bob Finnigan is up to his old tricks. I frankly can't believe Bret Boone said the horrible towing-the-company-line-type things he says in the article and I wish the Mariners still had Jeff Nelson so he could tell everyone what the players REALLY think about the Mariners' offseason moves. I found some stuff to mess with in this article...
But while Seattle may have afforded the ex-Expos slugger if it had put the combined $11 million that Ibanez, Spiezio and Randy Winn will make toward Guerrero, it chose instead to spread its money around. What the Mariners didn't want to do was sign Guerrero and surround him with the likes of Jose Cruz Jr. in left, Denny Hocking at third and Deivi Cruz at short.
I'm supposed to believe that Ibanez, with his soon-to-be-sunk-by-Safeco stats and stone glove, is better than Jose Cruz Jr.? If this is about hitting for power, last year Cruz hit 20 bombs and his team played in Pac Bell Park, a pitcher's paradise. Ibanez in 2003 hit eighteen homers (that's LESS) for a team that played in hitter-friendly Kauffman Stadium. Sure, Ibanez drove in 90 runs to Cruz' 68, but Cruz walked 102 times to Ibanez' 49. Just some Cruz-friendly stats here, but the point is, Cruz had MORE homers playing half his games in a pitcher-friendly park while Ibanez had less in a hitter-friendly park. But the worst statistic is this: the Mariners gave Ibanez 3 years and $13.25M. Cruz got 2 years and $6M from Tampa Bay. Oh yeah, Cruz won the Gold Glove last year.
So I've grilled that paragraph for implying that Ibanez is better (and more powerful) than (switch-hitting) Jose Cruz Jr. I'll say something else: I'd take Deivi Cruz at short and Denny Hocking at third if the Mariners got Vlad Guerrero. I would. There, I said it. That paragraph in the Times does not faze me. And quite frankly, Denny Hocking would probably be a better defender at third than Scott Spiezio anyway. I'd take on the ineptness of Hocking and Deivi Cruz if the Mariners got the big stick of Vlad Guerrero in that lineup. Nice try, Finnigan.
Boone said he thinks acquiring Ibanez alone made up the four games by which the Mariners missed finishing first. "Ibby beat us that many times by himself last year," Boone said of Ibanez, who hit .412 with three home runs last season against the Mariners. "He killed us."
He did kill the Mariners. Trident-loving John did a little research and found that Raul Ibanez had a decent OPS of .755 against the AL West. Take Seattle out of that, and Raul's OPS was a grand .588. Great. Just frigging great.
Well, enough of Finnigan. Larry LaRue did double-duty for Sunday's Tribune, mailing in an article introducing Bill Bavasi to the Tacoma readership, and penning another article going over Bavasi's moves.
Some of the implications are ridiculous.
LaRue notes that Bavasi "[t]raded Greg Colbrunn, who could play one position - first base - for Quinton McCracken, who can play anywhere in the outfield or pinch run." Did Larry LaRue type this with a straight face? Colbrunn was brought in to spell Olerud and most notably, HIT, and hit FOR POWER off the bench. Crack can "play" the outfield, but God knows Ugueto and Bloomsuck will be roaming the Mariner bench once again, so what's the use for another pinch-runner? I can't believe how badly the readers of Tacoma are being misinformed here.
LaRue also notes that Bavasi "[t]raded Carlos Guillen, first for shortstop Omar Vizquel - who failed a physical - then to Detroit for two young players, including backup infielder Ramon Santiago." Why didn't LaRue just say that the Mariners traded Carlos Guillen for next to nothing? He basically just said Guillen was traded for a backup infielder and a second guy that he didn't even name in the damn article.
Bavasi also "[s]igned free agent Scott Spiezio, a huge piece of the puzzle in Anaheim when the Angels won their first World Series in 2002. Spiezio will play third base this season, but could shift to first base next year if Olerud retires." Guess what? Spiezio was a big part of those 2002 Angels. AT FIRST BASE. I heard the words out of Bavasi's mouth when he said he thought Spiezio could play 150 games next year as a third baseman. Is this a realistic expectation when Spiezio has played a total of 132 games at third base in his entire career? As for the Olerud retiring thing...screw Spiezio, I want Sexson.
Bavasi also "[s]igned free agent shortstop Rich Aurilia, an offensive player with viable clubhouse presence." Clubhouse presence is overrated. Heavily. And hopefully Aurilia really is an offensive player, as opposed to a player whose performance I would consider offensive (stress the second syllable that time in case there's confusion).
LaRue also says that "[Bavasi] has changed the look of the bullpen, brought three new players into the starting lineup and given manager Bob Melvin a more flexible bench." Do we mean "flexible" as in redundant, crappy, and giving a big middle finger to deserving kids in the farm system (don't forget the fact the Mariners took on money in the Crack deal)? Seriously, for how much longer have the Mariners held back the career of Chris Snelling by signing Ibanez for three years? We can only hope that Rich Aurilia's one-year contract is a seat-warmer for Jose Lopez and not Willie Bloomcrap. Spiezio's contract at third is also holding back some prospects, if only for a year.
If there's one thing about these writers sometimes, I wish the rose-colored glasses would just come off a few more times than they actually do.
At least Larry Stone wrote an okay article, basically calling the Angels frontrunners in the AL West, whereas I basically handed them the division title and told them to find a way to screw it up.
[Edit ~12:13pm: More from the Finnigan article...
The anticipated loss of Mike Cameron required someone to play center field. Melvin's call was to have Ichiro remain in right, and how could anyone argue with the manager's extreme reluctance "to move the best right fielder in the league, if not in the game."
I can argue with that. The best rightfielder in the baseball now plays in Anaheim. Two of the best outfield arms in the Majors play the corner outfield spots for Anaheim (Jose Guillen in left). All that said, I think having the centerfielder being able to cover the most ground is more important than having the rightfielder posessing the best arm. Randy Winn's just not going to be able to cover those gaps like Ichiro would if he played CF. In that aspect, the defense in CF would be a more seamless transition from Cameron. Then again, if left field is the only place you can hide Ibanez' defense, you can't put Randy Winn's arm in rightfield. So we come full circle -- they never should have signed, let alone overpaid Raul Ibanez.]
But while Seattle may have afforded the ex-Expos slugger if it had put the combined $11 million that Ibanez, Spiezio and Randy Winn will make toward Guerrero, it chose instead to spread its money around. What the Mariners didn't want to do was sign Guerrero and surround him with the likes of Jose Cruz Jr. in left, Denny Hocking at third and Deivi Cruz at short.
I'm supposed to believe that Ibanez, with his soon-to-be-sunk-by-Safeco stats and stone glove, is better than Jose Cruz Jr.? If this is about hitting for power, last year Cruz hit 20 bombs and his team played in Pac Bell Park, a pitcher's paradise. Ibanez in 2003 hit eighteen homers (that's LESS) for a team that played in hitter-friendly Kauffman Stadium. Sure, Ibanez drove in 90 runs to Cruz' 68, but Cruz walked 102 times to Ibanez' 49. Just some Cruz-friendly stats here, but the point is, Cruz had MORE homers playing half his games in a pitcher-friendly park while Ibanez had less in a hitter-friendly park. But the worst statistic is this: the Mariners gave Ibanez 3 years and $13.25M. Cruz got 2 years and $6M from Tampa Bay. Oh yeah, Cruz won the Gold Glove last year.
So I've grilled that paragraph for implying that Ibanez is better (and more powerful) than (switch-hitting) Jose Cruz Jr. I'll say something else: I'd take Deivi Cruz at short and Denny Hocking at third if the Mariners got Vlad Guerrero. I would. There, I said it. That paragraph in the Times does not faze me. And quite frankly, Denny Hocking would probably be a better defender at third than Scott Spiezio anyway. I'd take on the ineptness of Hocking and Deivi Cruz if the Mariners got the big stick of Vlad Guerrero in that lineup. Nice try, Finnigan.
Boone said he thinks acquiring Ibanez alone made up the four games by which the Mariners missed finishing first. "Ibby beat us that many times by himself last year," Boone said of Ibanez, who hit .412 with three home runs last season against the Mariners. "He killed us."
He did kill the Mariners. Trident-loving John did a little research and found that Raul Ibanez had a decent OPS of .755 against the AL West. Take Seattle out of that, and Raul's OPS was a grand .588. Great. Just frigging great.
Well, enough of Finnigan. Larry LaRue did double-duty for Sunday's Tribune, mailing in an article introducing Bill Bavasi to the Tacoma readership, and penning another article going over Bavasi's moves.
Some of the implications are ridiculous.
LaRue notes that Bavasi "[t]raded Greg Colbrunn, who could play one position - first base - for Quinton McCracken, who can play anywhere in the outfield or pinch run." Did Larry LaRue type this with a straight face? Colbrunn was brought in to spell Olerud and most notably, HIT, and hit FOR POWER off the bench. Crack can "play" the outfield, but God knows Ugueto and Bloomsuck will be roaming the Mariner bench once again, so what's the use for another pinch-runner? I can't believe how badly the readers of Tacoma are being misinformed here.
LaRue also notes that Bavasi "[t]raded Carlos Guillen, first for shortstop Omar Vizquel - who failed a physical - then to Detroit for two young players, including backup infielder Ramon Santiago." Why didn't LaRue just say that the Mariners traded Carlos Guillen for next to nothing? He basically just said Guillen was traded for a backup infielder and a second guy that he didn't even name in the damn article.
Bavasi also "[s]igned free agent Scott Spiezio, a huge piece of the puzzle in Anaheim when the Angels won their first World Series in 2002. Spiezio will play third base this season, but could shift to first base next year if Olerud retires." Guess what? Spiezio was a big part of those 2002 Angels. AT FIRST BASE. I heard the words out of Bavasi's mouth when he said he thought Spiezio could play 150 games next year as a third baseman. Is this a realistic expectation when Spiezio has played a total of 132 games at third base in his entire career? As for the Olerud retiring thing...screw Spiezio, I want Sexson.
Bavasi also "[s]igned free agent shortstop Rich Aurilia, an offensive player with viable clubhouse presence." Clubhouse presence is overrated. Heavily. And hopefully Aurilia really is an offensive player, as opposed to a player whose performance I would consider offensive (stress the second syllable that time in case there's confusion).
LaRue also says that "[Bavasi] has changed the look of the bullpen, brought three new players into the starting lineup and given manager Bob Melvin a more flexible bench." Do we mean "flexible" as in redundant, crappy, and giving a big middle finger to deserving kids in the farm system (don't forget the fact the Mariners took on money in the Crack deal)? Seriously, for how much longer have the Mariners held back the career of Chris Snelling by signing Ibanez for three years? We can only hope that Rich Aurilia's one-year contract is a seat-warmer for Jose Lopez and not Willie Bloomcrap. Spiezio's contract at third is also holding back some prospects, if only for a year.
If there's one thing about these writers sometimes, I wish the rose-colored glasses would just come off a few more times than they actually do.
At least Larry Stone wrote an okay article, basically calling the Angels frontrunners in the AL West, whereas I basically handed them the division title and told them to find a way to screw it up.
[Edit ~12:13pm: More from the Finnigan article...
The anticipated loss of Mike Cameron required someone to play center field. Melvin's call was to have Ichiro remain in right, and how could anyone argue with the manager's extreme reluctance "to move the best right fielder in the league, if not in the game."
I can argue with that. The best rightfielder in the baseball now plays in Anaheim. Two of the best outfield arms in the Majors play the corner outfield spots for Anaheim (Jose Guillen in left). All that said, I think having the centerfielder being able to cover the most ground is more important than having the rightfielder posessing the best arm. Randy Winn's just not going to be able to cover those gaps like Ichiro would if he played CF. In that aspect, the defense in CF would be a more seamless transition from Cameron. Then again, if left field is the only place you can hide Ibanez' defense, you can't put Randy Winn's arm in rightfield. So we come full circle -- they never should have signed, let alone overpaid Raul Ibanez.]
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