Sunday, February 01, 2004
"GOOD, BUT NOT GOOD ENOUGH"
Steve Kelley, he's money and I'm not sure that he knows it...
It isn't that the Mariners haven't done anything this winter. But they haven't done enough. It isn't that they are worse than they were last season. It's that they aren't that much better.
And rightfully, people are angry.
Even when they get $9.5 million worth of found money from the salary of departing closer Kazuhiro Sasaki, they use some of the most creative accounting this side of Halliburton to boil a $9.5 million gain down to about $3.5 million.
And instead of using that money as part of a plan to go after free-agent catcher Pudge Rodriguez, or maybe Chicago White Sox outfielder Magglio Ordonez, it appears they will use some of it to get a left-handed setup man like Ron Villone.
That's like a movie producer settling for Howie Mandel in the lead role of his new comedy when he was hoping to get Bill Murray. It's like deciding on a bucket of chicken wings when you went looking for coq au vin.
Seattle deserves better, and you can read the city's disappointment in the chatrooms. You can feel it on the streets. Fans feel as if they've been betrayed. Again. Like they were in July of 2002 and July of 2003.
Seattle does deserve better, I'm in total agreeance here.
As for Howie Mandel, don't say his name too loudly, Steve. The Mariners marketing department needs to make up another promotional day, so expect the first 15,000 kids at a July weekend afternoon game to receive a "Bobby's World" bobblehead doll at the gates.
Now, I hope this is the only time Mandel is ever mentioned in the same sentence as Bill Murray.
And if the M's sign Ron Villone, then why not Marc Newfield? Hell, let's have fun here. Bring back Keith Comstock. Or Tim Leary.
No Mariners fan would be surprised if they walked into the team's Safeco Field offices and saw a motto over the door: "No long-term contracts. No big deals. Period."
The Mariners aren't Pittsburgh, or Kansas City, or Tampa Bay. They aren't even the old Mariners. That's Seattle's good news.
But this ownership still acts as if the league has imposed a salary cap on it alone. That if it dares drift over its $95 million budget, there will be dire consequences.
As a matter of faith, the team owed it to the fans to do something out of the ordinary this winter. Any extra money it would have spent would have come back to them in good will and ticket sales.
Damn right.
We bitch and moan not because it's the fun thing to do, but because there's a reason for it. I'm sick and tired of seeing the M's choke their ass in the second half. The song cannot remain the same, Howard, Chuck, Hiroshi, etc.
Anaheim bought itself into the role of World Series favorite. Oakland still has the best starting pitching in baseball. And the Mariners? Well, they're still the Mariners.
Well, the Angels aren't "the" favorite, but they will be one of the favorites, and with good reason. The A's offense will be putrid, but they still have Eric Chavez (for one more year). Oh, and their pitching kicks ass. Yep.
The Mariners? Hey, Raul Ibanez is a "world-class human being".
OK, that's enough from me. But say what you will about Steve Kelley, the man is dead-on here. Maybe Larry Stone dripped some voodoo into his head or something...
It isn't that the Mariners haven't done anything this winter. But they haven't done enough. It isn't that they are worse than they were last season. It's that they aren't that much better.
And rightfully, people are angry.
Even when they get $9.5 million worth of found money from the salary of departing closer Kazuhiro Sasaki, they use some of the most creative accounting this side of Halliburton to boil a $9.5 million gain down to about $3.5 million.
And instead of using that money as part of a plan to go after free-agent catcher Pudge Rodriguez, or maybe Chicago White Sox outfielder Magglio Ordonez, it appears they will use some of it to get a left-handed setup man like Ron Villone.
That's like a movie producer settling for Howie Mandel in the lead role of his new comedy when he was hoping to get Bill Murray. It's like deciding on a bucket of chicken wings when you went looking for coq au vin.
Seattle deserves better, and you can read the city's disappointment in the chatrooms. You can feel it on the streets. Fans feel as if they've been betrayed. Again. Like they were in July of 2002 and July of 2003.
Seattle does deserve better, I'm in total agreeance here.
As for Howie Mandel, don't say his name too loudly, Steve. The Mariners marketing department needs to make up another promotional day, so expect the first 15,000 kids at a July weekend afternoon game to receive a "Bobby's World" bobblehead doll at the gates.
Now, I hope this is the only time Mandel is ever mentioned in the same sentence as Bill Murray.
And if the M's sign Ron Villone, then why not Marc Newfield? Hell, let's have fun here. Bring back Keith Comstock. Or Tim Leary.
No Mariners fan would be surprised if they walked into the team's Safeco Field offices and saw a motto over the door: "No long-term contracts. No big deals. Period."
The Mariners aren't Pittsburgh, or Kansas City, or Tampa Bay. They aren't even the old Mariners. That's Seattle's good news.
But this ownership still acts as if the league has imposed a salary cap on it alone. That if it dares drift over its $95 million budget, there will be dire consequences.
As a matter of faith, the team owed it to the fans to do something out of the ordinary this winter. Any extra money it would have spent would have come back to them in good will and ticket sales.
Damn right.
We bitch and moan not because it's the fun thing to do, but because there's a reason for it. I'm sick and tired of seeing the M's choke their ass in the second half. The song cannot remain the same, Howard, Chuck, Hiroshi, etc.
Anaheim bought itself into the role of World Series favorite. Oakland still has the best starting pitching in baseball. And the Mariners? Well, they're still the Mariners.
Well, the Angels aren't "the" favorite, but they will be one of the favorites, and with good reason. The A's offense will be putrid, but they still have Eric Chavez (for one more year). Oh, and their pitching kicks ass. Yep.
The Mariners? Hey, Raul Ibanez is a "world-class human being".
OK, that's enough from me. But say what you will about Steve Kelley, the man is dead-on here. Maybe Larry Stone dripped some voodoo into his head or something...
/ Click for main page
