The audacity of hope, Mariners edition
Oct/080
Dave Cameron at USS Mariner posted his (what seems like) annual offseason plan. In the past his plans would have worked out a lot better than what the team actually did. His plan boils down to this:
Trade Jose Lopez, Wladimir Balentien, and Jarrod Washburn to the Brewers for Corey Hart and Brad Nelson
Sign Rafael Furcal to a 3 year, $40 million contract
Sign Milton Bradley to a 3 year, $36 million contract with a vesting option for a 4th season based on PA
Sign Reed Johnson to a 1 year, $3 million contract.
Sign Jeremy Affeldt to a 1 year, $4 million contract
And he moves Betancourt to 2nd.
This is a real good plan and here’s why.
The Brewers trade: I love this trade (though I’d prefer Rickie Weeks over Corey Hart) because it actually helps both teams. Wlad would fit a lot better in Milwaukee (where his one skill fits the park). It’s probably best for Lopez to start fresh somewhere else at this point and Washburn is from Wisconsin. The Brewers will need to add a starter for depth this offseason and Washburn’s expiring contract is a lot better than heading into a free agent market where Kyle Loshe just got 4y/41m. Corey Hart is absolutely adored in Milwaukee and has the skillset to be a superstar, I doubt he’ll ever put it together (judging by his bases loaded at bat in the final game of the season (yes, I just judged a player’s entire career path by one at-bat)), but he’ll be good for a long time and his defense is excellent. Not only that he’d immediately become the fans 3rd favorite player. We know my son is a fan.
- Reed Johnson: He should be re-signing with the Mariners instead of signing with them, but that’s another rant. Johnson and Corey Hart joining Ichiro would give us one of the best outfield defenses in the league.
- Betancourt, second basemen: I’d love for Yuniesky to no longer be a Mariner, but I really can’t see him and Lopez leaving in the same offseason. So if he has to stay, this is the best place for him.
- Rafael Furcal: I’ve been a fan of Furcal for a bit now (even if he did partially ruin my fantasy season) and like this move. He’s likely to be undervalued in the market thanks to his injury history, but if he’s healthy he’s one of the better offensive shortstops in the game making the risk worth the potential reward. His addition would also mean that when Ichiro gets the dayoff we aren’t faced with the prospect of WFB leading off. This is almost worth $36 million on it’s own.
- Milton Bradley: Crazy is among my favorite qualities in a baseball player, but did you know Milton Bradly led the American League in OPS+? He’s like the new Albert Belle. SIGN THIS GUY. As long as he doesn’t retire.
These moves are all very sensible and really help the team better than a Ben Sheets or a Mark Teixera possibly could. Which is why they won’t happen, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is we get a general manager in place that thinks like this and realizes that championships aren’t built with $100 million dollar free agents. Whoever the new general manager is comes in with a pretty good farm system, a pitching staff that looks to be very good in 2009 with no major changes and a team that is only a few moves away from hypothetically contending. How many teams can say that? This season has been rough, but our future could be bright.
(Ignoring obvious, lame, ESPNesque Corey Hart joke.)
