Friday, February 06, 2004
More Details on the Failed Quest For Burks
Are available in this David Andriesen article
"We called soon after the (Kazuhiro) Sasaki departure was confirmed (freeing up salary money for Seattle), but apparently he'd gone down the road quite a bit with Boston," Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi said. "Because he'd gone down the road with Boston, we had to be aggressive. I'm pretty sure our offer was better than theirs."
And - is the right bat out there...
"We hope so," Bavasi said. "If there is, we'll try to find one."
Headlines: In other glancings at the Seattle papers... headlines like this one really hack me off.
Reitsma loses case, gets raise
Chris Reitsma lost the first arbitration case to go to hearing (as is updated on the Arbitration Scoreboard). And the headline could just read that. But it has to say "gets raise", as if he really won (he gets a raise from near-league-minimum $350K to $950K instead of the $1.4M he asked for). With the sole exception of Gabe White, EVERYONE going to arbitration will get a raise. Its not news! The arbitration years are the first years that a player has a chance to escape from the complete indentured servitude of his first (two to) three years. A pro-player headline could read... Reitsma Finally Getting Paid Near What He Could Get As a Free Agent, But Not What He Wanted.
Okay, maybe that's not the best example, but you get the point. Either headline presents the facts, but one is designed to have sympathy for the owner (or raise ire against player that he still gets raise), and one is slanted to give sympathy to the player. Why not just say... Chris Reitsma loses in Arbitration or something neutral like that. Anyway, headlines like that irritate me. I'll jump off soapbox now.
Big Bat Update: Others have chimed in for the best choice for a Big Bat on the Bench, but Sons of Buhner may have gone too far. They propose actually putting a giant baseball bat on the bench. My question would be... maple or ash?
Rice Owls Basketball Update: I'm slipping this Rice Owl update in under the covers. We lost at UTEP by a score that may require us to win the WAC conference tournament to earn a tourney bid. Ouch. And you think being a Seattle Mariner fan is hard...
MBSBL gaining momentum: I grabbed Carlos Beltran in the MBSBL so I could see what all the fuss is about. If you're paying attention to the draft, you can find running commentary from The Mariner Optimist, and from Jeff at San Shin, who likes my Giles and Lopez, but is not so fond of my Posada. I'm keeping a date on the links at right so you'll know when this and the Arbitration Scoreboard are updated. Others defending their picks on their blogs include host Sodo Oh No and Cracking the Safe defends Edgar Renteria, and I heartily agree. I hoped that he would slip another round or two, but I had him as the best shortstop on the board. One Hundred Sixteen explains choosing Pujols over Bonds, and adds the league-wide lack of complete understanding how injuries, benchings will be played out in this simulation. Do I get to start every player for 162 games? I'm going on the assumption that there is a reason we need our bench, but I may be very wrong. Should I grab a middle reliever with 3 IP but a 0.00 WHIP and turn him into my ace - I hope that doesn't work.
"We called soon after the (Kazuhiro) Sasaki departure was confirmed (freeing up salary money for Seattle), but apparently he'd gone down the road quite a bit with Boston," Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi said. "Because he'd gone down the road with Boston, we had to be aggressive. I'm pretty sure our offer was better than theirs."
And - is the right bat out there...
"We hope so," Bavasi said. "If there is, we'll try to find one."
Headlines: In other glancings at the Seattle papers... headlines like this one really hack me off.
Reitsma loses case, gets raise
Chris Reitsma lost the first arbitration case to go to hearing (as is updated on the Arbitration Scoreboard). And the headline could just read that. But it has to say "gets raise", as if he really won (he gets a raise from near-league-minimum $350K to $950K instead of the $1.4M he asked for). With the sole exception of Gabe White, EVERYONE going to arbitration will get a raise. Its not news! The arbitration years are the first years that a player has a chance to escape from the complete indentured servitude of his first (two to) three years. A pro-player headline could read... Reitsma Finally Getting Paid Near What He Could Get As a Free Agent, But Not What He Wanted.
Okay, maybe that's not the best example, but you get the point. Either headline presents the facts, but one is designed to have sympathy for the owner (or raise ire against player that he still gets raise), and one is slanted to give sympathy to the player. Why not just say... Chris Reitsma loses in Arbitration or something neutral like that. Anyway, headlines like that irritate me. I'll jump off soapbox now.
Big Bat Update: Others have chimed in for the best choice for a Big Bat on the Bench, but Sons of Buhner may have gone too far. They propose actually putting a giant baseball bat on the bench. My question would be... maple or ash?
Rice Owls Basketball Update: I'm slipping this Rice Owl update in under the covers. We lost at UTEP by a score that may require us to win the WAC conference tournament to earn a tourney bid. Ouch. And you think being a Seattle Mariner fan is hard...
MBSBL gaining momentum: I grabbed Carlos Beltran in the MBSBL so I could see what all the fuss is about. If you're paying attention to the draft, you can find running commentary from The Mariner Optimist, and from Jeff at San Shin, who likes my Giles and Lopez, but is not so fond of my Posada. I'm keeping a date on the links at right so you'll know when this and the Arbitration Scoreboard are updated. Others defending their picks on their blogs include host Sodo Oh No and Cracking the Safe defends Edgar Renteria, and I heartily agree. I hoped that he would slip another round or two, but I had him as the best shortstop on the board. One Hundred Sixteen explains choosing Pujols over Bonds, and adds the league-wide lack of complete understanding how injuries, benchings will be played out in this simulation. Do I get to start every player for 162 games? I'm going on the assumption that there is a reason we need our bench, but I may be very wrong. Should I grab a middle reliever with 3 IP but a 0.00 WHIP and turn him into my ace - I hope that doesn't work.
