Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Working Hard or Hardly Working?
Is it just me, or is it hard to get into working when only about 10% of your office mates are in the office? This wouldn't be bad if there was anything happening in the sports world that interested me, but it looks like all's quiet on the Mariners front. The Seahawks don't play again until Sunday. My fantasy football teams are dead thanks to too much reliance on Philadelphia Eagles.
So, I'm left to ponder potential trading partners for Randy Winn, how much we should spend on Odalis Perez (up to 3-year, $24 million), and who should get the 5th spot on the offensive bench (not Willie Bloomquist!)
Assuming no offer blows our socks off, I think trading Randy Winn should wait until after the season begins, if at all. We simply have too many possible holes (starters, relief, outfield, shortstop, catcher) to know which one will be in most need of patching come May. And since it seems that Bavasi is going to keep Jeremy Reed in the starting lineup, then Winn's playing time only comes at the expense of Bucky Jacobsen, a 29-year-old .250 hitter whose upside we have probably already seen.
I like Bucky, don't get me wrong. But there is no need to trade Winn to guarantee that a DH has a full-time job.
There is a lot of posturing in the media that the M's need to trade Winn to clear salary room to add an Odalis Perez. I think going $3 million over budget should not be a problem for a team that came nowhere near its 2004 budget. And look what a rash trade to save this kind of jack did for the Mariners last year. Carlos Guillen would have been a fantastic replacement for an ineffetive (take your pick) Aurilia, Spiezio, Olerud. But we never had the option because we traded him for a bag of jelly beans.
It would appear that Bavasi has learned his lesson from that trade, and will only deal Winn for something shiny and pretty.
In the meantime, the wait for Odalis continues. And now, back to work...
So, I'm left to ponder potential trading partners for Randy Winn, how much we should spend on Odalis Perez (up to 3-year, $24 million), and who should get the 5th spot on the offensive bench (not Willie Bloomquist!)
Assuming no offer blows our socks off, I think trading Randy Winn should wait until after the season begins, if at all. We simply have too many possible holes (starters, relief, outfield, shortstop, catcher) to know which one will be in most need of patching come May. And since it seems that Bavasi is going to keep Jeremy Reed in the starting lineup, then Winn's playing time only comes at the expense of Bucky Jacobsen, a 29-year-old .250 hitter whose upside we have probably already seen.
I like Bucky, don't get me wrong. But there is no need to trade Winn to guarantee that a DH has a full-time job.
There is a lot of posturing in the media that the M's need to trade Winn to clear salary room to add an Odalis Perez. I think going $3 million over budget should not be a problem for a team that came nowhere near its 2004 budget. And look what a rash trade to save this kind of jack did for the Mariners last year. Carlos Guillen would have been a fantastic replacement for an ineffetive (take your pick) Aurilia, Spiezio, Olerud. But we never had the option because we traded him for a bag of jelly beans.
It would appear that Bavasi has learned his lesson from that trade, and will only deal Winn for something shiny and pretty.
In the meantime, the wait for Odalis continues. And now, back to work...
