Tuesday, December 14, 2004
MOTO mania
It seems to me, that as of this moment, the M's are the highest bidder on not one, not two, but three Middle-of-the-Order (MOTO) hitters. 3-year, $33 million (or 4-year, $45 million depending on who you ask) on Richie Sexson. 3 year, $36 million for Carlos Delgado. 5-year, $62 million for Adrian Beltre.
Could we land all three? Certainly! Is it the best allocation of our resources? Probably not, as Sexson will remain a big (6'9") risk in left field, but boy it would make things interesting for 2005.
What would it mean for our team? Either Raul or Bucky would lose playing time as a result, but the bench gets a powerful bat to pinch-hit for our shortstop or catcher in the late innings. Our outfield defense would get weaker still (unless you buy into the PI forum rumor of us dealing Randy Winn to the Mets for... Mike Cameron!). And there will always be a cool breeze at Safeco, as the whiffing will increase dramatically. But, then, so will the long ball, and that's what its all about, kids!
And while it might be better to sign some pitching help, we would now have excess hitting available for trade during the season. And wouldn't this be a fun lineup to see on Opening Day:
RF Ichiro!
3B Beltre
1B Delgado
LF Sexson
2B Boone
DH Jacobsen/Ibanez
CF Winn (Cameron:-)
SS Lopez
C Olivo
Personally, I think that we will only land one of Sexson/Delgado, and that the "going for both" approach is just posturing. But if we were going to allocate the funds for three MOTO players, then maybe we should leverage the resources a little better. Forget about the $11-12 million per year on Sexson or Delgado, and toss in an extra $3 million per year, and make it say 6-year, $90 million for our new centerfielder:
RF Ichiro!
CF Beltran
3B Beltre
1B Delgado (or Sexson)
LF Ibanez/Winn
2B Boone
DH Jacobsen
SS Lopez
C Olivo
Any way you slice it, if the M's sign 3 big-dollar guys, they will have put their money where there mouths are, and ponied up to help bring a World Series to Seattle!
Stay tuned...
Could we land all three? Certainly! Is it the best allocation of our resources? Probably not, as Sexson will remain a big (6'9") risk in left field, but boy it would make things interesting for 2005.
What would it mean for our team? Either Raul or Bucky would lose playing time as a result, but the bench gets a powerful bat to pinch-hit for our shortstop or catcher in the late innings. Our outfield defense would get weaker still (unless you buy into the PI forum rumor of us dealing Randy Winn to the Mets for... Mike Cameron!). And there will always be a cool breeze at Safeco, as the whiffing will increase dramatically. But, then, so will the long ball, and that's what its all about, kids!
And while it might be better to sign some pitching help, we would now have excess hitting available for trade during the season. And wouldn't this be a fun lineup to see on Opening Day:
RF Ichiro!
3B Beltre
1B Delgado
LF Sexson
2B Boone
DH Jacobsen/Ibanez
CF Winn (Cameron:-)
SS Lopez
C Olivo
Personally, I think that we will only land one of Sexson/Delgado, and that the "going for both" approach is just posturing. But if we were going to allocate the funds for three MOTO players, then maybe we should leverage the resources a little better. Forget about the $11-12 million per year on Sexson or Delgado, and toss in an extra $3 million per year, and make it say 6-year, $90 million for our new centerfielder:
RF Ichiro!
CF Beltran
3B Beltre
1B Delgado (or Sexson)
LF Ibanez/Winn
2B Boone
DH Jacobsen
SS Lopez
C Olivo
Any way you slice it, if the M's sign 3 big-dollar guys, they will have put their money where there mouths are, and ponied up to help bring a World Series to Seattle!
Stay tuned...
