Wednesday, February 04, 2004
Spending Found Money
Larry Stone does a nice job summing up why the M's haven't acquired anyone with their Kazu-found money yet.
The M's blogosphere have chimed in with a few thoughts of their own on both the free agent and trade markets...
Like me, Buhner and Sons laments that Eric Karros is off to Oakland and not our bench. Disappointing that we did not make a play here.
Less disappointing is the news that Ellis Burks is likely headed to the Red Sox. I think this is a case where Burks will get more playing time with the Sox, and truly wants to be there as he has been pursuing Boston as much as they are pursuing him. It may be hard to convince someone else to do what Greg Colbrunn did - sign a 2-year deal as Edgar's backup this year, and to be the DH next year, seeing how well it didn't work for Greg and his 58 at bats.
Fire Bavasi made a case for Mike Lamb, but I don't see that he is an improvement over anyone we have at AAA. His glovework is abominable, and his bat never reached the heights hoped for. Let him go.
Gabriel at The Safe suggests saving it toward Trot Nixon. And with the first pick in the third round of the Mariners Blogosphere Simulation Baseball League, The Safe picks... Trot Nixon. Hmmm... may be a pattern to follow here. Keep up with my MBSBL commentary (and add your own) here.
Suffice to say, it looks like our roster is probably set going into Spring Training. M's brass might be wise to make a "splash" pickup to douse the torches lit by the blogosphere and pessimist villagers, but since no splash free agents remain except the huge luxury that would be Greg Maddux, and no deals look likely, they will have to bide their time. Picking up a veteran lefty like Ron Villone for anything other than pocket change may cause more blogsites to burn Bavasi in effigy for spending money where its not needed. I recommend that they focus on one "name" bat like maybe Andres Galarraga, i.e. someone who will not cost much, and might be a good backup to Edgar/Olerud in case of injury. And then feed a bunch of articles to the M's hyping their youth in AAA that is waiting in the wings and ready to step up in both the bullpen or at the plate in case injury or ineffectiveness make them needed.
The M's blogosphere have chimed in with a few thoughts of their own on both the free agent and trade markets...
Like me, Buhner and Sons laments that Eric Karros is off to Oakland and not our bench. Disappointing that we did not make a play here.
Less disappointing is the news that Ellis Burks is likely headed to the Red Sox. I think this is a case where Burks will get more playing time with the Sox, and truly wants to be there as he has been pursuing Boston as much as they are pursuing him. It may be hard to convince someone else to do what Greg Colbrunn did - sign a 2-year deal as Edgar's backup this year, and to be the DH next year, seeing how well it didn't work for Greg and his 58 at bats.
Fire Bavasi made a case for Mike Lamb, but I don't see that he is an improvement over anyone we have at AAA. His glovework is abominable, and his bat never reached the heights hoped for. Let him go.
Gabriel at The Safe suggests saving it toward Trot Nixon. And with the first pick in the third round of the Mariners Blogosphere Simulation Baseball League, The Safe picks... Trot Nixon. Hmmm... may be a pattern to follow here. Keep up with my MBSBL commentary (and add your own) here.
Suffice to say, it looks like our roster is probably set going into Spring Training. M's brass might be wise to make a "splash" pickup to douse the torches lit by the blogosphere and pessimist villagers, but since no splash free agents remain except the huge luxury that would be Greg Maddux, and no deals look likely, they will have to bide their time. Picking up a veteran lefty like Ron Villone for anything other than pocket change may cause more blogsites to burn Bavasi in effigy for spending money where its not needed. I recommend that they focus on one "name" bat like maybe Andres Galarraga, i.e. someone who will not cost much, and might be a good backup to Edgar/Olerud in case of injury. And then feed a bunch of articles to the M's hyping their youth in AAA that is waiting in the wings and ready to step up in both the bullpen or at the plate in case injury or ineffectiveness make them needed.
