Ibanez to Philly
Dec/080
Raul Ibanez was a pretty good Mariner. One of the few bright spots on a bad team, but at the same time he was everything that was wrong with the Mariners. He was bad at defense and the team didn’t realize it. He was more valuable at 1B or DH and the team didn’t realize it. He was signed for his track record and not for what he might do going forward. He did a good job, but his leaving is symbolic of the M’s future with Jack Zduriencik. No more overpaid veterans who will be bad by the end of their contract, we’ll leave that to the Phillies.
They do realize they signed him for his age 37 -39 seasons right? And are paying $10m/year for it? Here I was thinking the Mets would be the stupid NL East team to sign him. Pat the Bat turned down a 2yr/22M offer earlier, but you have to wonder if a third year would have kept him. For a couple more million they could have had someone 5 years younger who isn’t as atrocious in the outfield. Terrible signing.
I feel bad for Raul though, he seems like a nice guy (look at that picture! He bowls!) and the Philly fans are just going to absolutely murder him. His defense is terrible, will get worse and his OPS has only one way to go. I guess he’ll deserve it, but still.
Mariners sign Branyan
Dec/080
Our long cold winter is over, finally something has happened in regards to MLB free agency. The Mariners signed Russell Branyan. I always like Branyan as he’s a total TTO (three true outcomes: walk, strikeout or homerun) guy and those guys are always fun. Some think this is a precursor to Beltre being traded as Russell could step in as a platoon 3B, but I don’t think that’s the case. For one, I think Jack Z realizes the value of Adrian Beltre and is going to do what it takes to re-sign him. For another Branyan would be pretty bad defensively at 3B and would be better served as a platoon 1B/DH type. I can definitely see him hitting 15-20 homeruns for the team next season.
FUN WITH MATH
Russell Branyan career OPS: 813
Mariners 1B 2008 OPS: 680
He’s like what they thought Richie Sexson was going to be except cheaper and without the DUI.
Let him go Jack
Nov/080
The Cubs want Raul Ibanez. Let them have him. Off of MLBTR.
Ibanez would play right field for the Cubs, even though he allowed 18 more bases than the average left fielder this year.–MLBTR
They’ve got to be nuts. You could watch one Mariners game and see how bad Ibanez was in the outfield. Pick one of the 153 and you’ll find a bad play, guaranteed. I’m no whiz with defensive metrics, but without Ichiro and Reed in center I could see that number being even higher. He definitely doesn’t have the arm for right, that’s for sure. Ibanez is best served being a DH or a bad first basemen at this point.
This move has all the fingerprints of Lou Piniella wanting more bats. (It’s like he played all those years with Bucky Dent and said to himself “Never again.”) The lineup would be pretty deadly (At best Ibanez bats fifth in that lineup, more likely sixth), but they’d need to score a lot to make up for Soriano and Ibanez in the corners. A lot, a lot.
Seriously, Jack. If there is rumors that both the Mets and Cubs want Ibanez, he’s not going to stay. Offer him arbitration, get turned down, take the draft picks and let his defense become someone else’s problem.
JACK ZDURIENCIK
Oct/080
Jack Zduriencik is the Mariners new General Manager. I find it funny that the same year I watch around 100 Brewers games is the same year that the Mariners steal their scouting director to be their GM. I’ve been scouring the internet for interviews with him to try and figure out who this guy is and the consensus seems to be he’s the best scout around. Not only that, but he trains the best scouts around and knows the game very well. He also thinks it’s his time to be a GM.
“I look at it as an opportunity that wasn’t meant to be, for whatever reason,” he said. “I’d like to be a GM and I would hope I’d get a chance to do it. I want to do it because I know I can do it well.
I really hope that’s true, but a lot of questions remain. Who’s going to make up his staff? Does he have the ability to evaluate talent at the major league level? Does he have a “plan”? Those questions will be answered another day though, right now I am just glad to have the GM who drafted Ryan Braun (we took Clement instead) who won’t be so quick to give up compensation picks.