Mariners Analysis

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Slow part of the off season

The M's haven't made any moves, or even really hinted at one, so we are all left waiting, wishing and wondering.

Two things pop to mind.

First, be glad the Angels signed Hunter. It makes them better in the short term, but hurts them in the long run. If you don't understand why this is good for the Mariners, you will eventually.

(This assumes of course there isn't some mystery move about to happen that ties it all up in a neat package. But even with Cabrera added, there is no way this is a good idea to build a club.)

For those that still think Hunter is a great move by Anaheim, consider this. The Mariners signed Sexson who had one decent year followed by a great one. Since then he's become this untradeable anchor who kills the team financially as well as at the plate. The Angels are making a run on Sexson's right now. They have Anderson, Mathews and now Hunter who will all fall in to the "untradeable" category soon after inking their deal. They are good players getting paid like great players. That is not the long term recipe for building a franchise.

Put another way, the Angels got better with Hunter than without. But the real point is they could have been significantly better using that money elsewhere. Signing a player worth $.75 for a dollar is not something anyone other than the Yankees can get away with long term. (See Bavasi as an example)

The second thing that comes to mind is Santana. This is like trading for A-Rod or Griffey. You know local writers will bring it up, even though there is no way it will happen.

Let me say it for the thousandth time. The Twins don't want our prospects. Sure we have some prospects to trade. There are other teams with far better prospects. Why would the Twins want our players then?

Answer- they wouldn't. The trade for Santana crowd far overestimates our own prospects while downplaying other teams players.

And what about the question of why Santana would sign here?

Think about it. The Mariners haven't been to the playoffs in years. But the best pitcher in baseball is supposed to sign here? What for? Why would Santana pick Seattle unless they vastly overpay what any other team is willing to do?

For the Mariners to get Santana would take us throwing every prospect in the farm system (quantity over other teams quality) and then throwing huge sums of money beyond what anyone else will offer.

Does that sound like a good idea to run a franchise?

People who write about acquiring Santana really need to stop and think about what they are proposing. It's barely above the Bloomquist-for-Pujols type of fantasy we often see among the most casual of fans.