| By Jason A. Churchill |  | By 01-19-2011 |
There are 25 days between now and the day pitchers and catchers report for spring training on February 13 -- the rest of the squad will report no later than February 18 with the first full-squad workout slated for the day after. The M's first spring game is the annual charity game versus the San Diego on the 27th with their first Cactus League matchup the following day against the same Padres.
Minor leaguers won't report until the second week of March, though these dates are more of a deadline than the day most players show up for camp.
In any case, we'll be here daily to round up the thoughts and ideas as the club heads closer to the 2011 season, lending you all anything you might need to get yourself ready.
Arbitration
If you haven't heard, the M's agreed to deals with right-handers David Aardsma ($4 million), Brandon League ($2.25 million) and left-hander Jason Vargas ($2.45 million), avoiding arbitration with all three.
As @LarryStone points out on Twitter Tuesday, Seattle hasn't gone to arbitration with a player since 2003 -- Freddy Garcia.
Aardsma got about what I expected, though I did think League would get a bit more, and Vargas a bit less, but for payroll purposes, it all washed out about as I expected.
Milton Bradley
Another "if you haven't heard," but Bradley's felony arrest for threatening a female could ultimately be the end of his career -- both in Seattle and in baseball altogether.
Felony threats are serious threats that include serious crimes such as homicide, rape, and similar acts, so it's difficult to believe Bradley will be in Seattle this season. But one thing we have to do is wait this out. Yes, Bradley is a nut bag, and yes, I believe he is capable of that crime, too, based on his previous issues with anger and depression.
And yes, there is a chance Bradley's contract could be voided, but he would have to be unavailable to report to the Mariners for that to occur, and that seems unlikely unless he is tied up in court or sent to prison.
The baseball issue here is whether or not the M's make a move to add an outfielder if Bradley isn't going to be with the club. Ichiro, Franklin Gutierrez and Michael Saunders are likely the Opening Day starters, and the M's have Ryan Langerhans and Mike Wilson in on an NRI, and could add more between now and the time full squads report.
I do not expect another major acquisition, as it's probably best that Saunders doesn't have any competition. I know the M's want to push the kids, but despite saying all the right things in Lake Buena Vista, Eric Wedge could fall in love with some veteran and sit Saunders far too early and far too often if he starts to struggle.
Greg Halman may get an extended look in spring training, too, but there is almost zero chance he makes the big club barring last-second injuries.
Fanfest 2011
The M's Fanfest will feature some of the best young players in the organization on Saturday and Sunday, January 29 and 30 from 11am to 4pm.
Those that will be signing autographs on both days are: Felix Hernandez, Brendan Ryan, Brandon League, Michael Saunders, Jason Vargas, Miguel Olivo, manager Eric Wedge and prospects Dustin Ackley and Kyle Seager, former teammates at North Carolina.
Chone Figgins will sign on Saturday only and M's legend Jay Buhner will do so on Sunday only.
That's a pretty freakin' good lineup, if you ask me.
Click here to get tickets; I'll probably be there one of the days, and, as always, if you see me and come say hello, beer or soda on me!
25-days
Comments
The following 23 comment(s) for this article are shown below:
| 1. By: shortstop9 on 01-19-2011 09:03:13 This is what I was talking about when I said he would not be available for most of the season.We need to find a LF who can hit left handers and be able to handle all 3 spots. |
| 2. By: jgstecker on 01-19-2011 10:05:32 Saunders is a capable CF and RF, so really the 4th outfielder just needs to be able to handle LF. I suppose Tui is the best in-house candidate, though he's hardly ideal. Hard to imagine his defense being worse than Bradley's, but he hasn't hit at all in the bigs yet. If there is any salary relief from voiding Bradley's contract, it probably will be too late to do the roster any good. In the remote chance that it should happen, it might give the M's some leverage at the trading deadline or perhaps they bend their rules and spend a little more on the draft. But there isn't going to be any extra cash to bring in a replacement before the season starts. The Hairstons would be good fits, but Scott has apparently agreed to terms with the Mets on a minor league deal and Jerry wants too much money. Lastings Milledge might be an interesting name on an NRI. Rocco Baldelli too, if he's still interested in playing anywhere outside of Tampa. Some cheap potential trade targets: Darnell McDonald, Shelley Duncan, Justin Ruggiano, Steve Pearce... |
| 3. By: shortstop9 on 01-19-2011 11:22:12 I was thinking Millage too.How about trying to trade with teams that have a young OF who is blocked : Ryan Raburn (Det),Kalish (Bos.)etc. |
| 4. By: Jason A. Churchill on 01-19-2011 12:00:10 Why not Langerhans? |
| 5. By: Jason A. Churchill on 01-19-2011 12:02:03 Raburn just signed a multi-year deal with the Tigers. He's not getting traded. And because Ellsbury and Cameron were big injury problems a year ago and Drew is a free agent at season's end, Kalish is off limits. |
| 6. By: Edman on 01-19-2011 12:11:38 Don't expect any financial relief from Bradley's contract until he's convicted. The player's union is not going to allow any contract to be void unless there is a conviction. I doubt that they can suspecnd him without pay. That means Seattle would have to release him outright. And, though I'm not an attorney, I believe outright release means that they would have to pay him in full, minus whatever he might sign for elsewhere, per the CBA. So, for Seattle to void his contract, he's still going to have to be on the roster to claim a morality exclusion from paying his contract. If there's an attorney around to confirm or deny this, I'd like to know. But common sense dictates that you can't take action to suspend the contract until there is a conviction. Innocense is presumed, until proven guilty. |
| 7. By: shortstop9 on 01-19-2011 12:28:28 Langerhans is the same as Saunders .200 hitter and can't hit lefties.Why not bring in Millege NRI and let him compete.We have enough 8-9 hitters on this team. |
| 8. By: Jason A. Churchill on 01-19-2011 13:10:00 Milledge is another potential "problem child," though. Also, you say Saunders can't hit lefties as if he's a nine-year big-league veteran with 1500 PAs against southpaws under his belt. Get real, man. At least let Saunders prove he can't hit lefties before claiming it's true based on 147 plate appearances. And one thing to note: Even really good hitters -- most of them -- have a strong split. In the scouting community, if a lefty can produce at 2/3 the rate versus lefties he does versus righties, that's enough. Eighty percent or better is considered terrific, which is what makes a hitter like Adrian Gonzalez so special. Josh Hamilton, the deserving AL MVP in 2010, OPS'd 374 points lower versus lefties .789) than righties. But it's not an issue because 789 is respectable, it's useful, it's actually decent. Joe Mauer was not "good" versus lefties last year -- a .711 OPS. Carl Crawford was paid well this winter by a very smart organization despite the fact that his career line versus left-handed pitching is pretty darned bad. The Mets have this take on Ike Davis -- if he hits righties at .280/.375/.530 but lefties only at .250/.330/.440 -- so what? He'll face righties 75 percent of the time and isn't so useless versus LHP that he has to be be removed from the lineup as a result. For a player like Saunders, he also brings defense and baserunning to the table, so as long as he can be somewhat useful against left-handed pitching, and hit righties well, he's a regular, with no need for a platoon situation to develop. So this whole "Saunders can't hit lefties" thing I have a problem with for two reasons. One, we don't know that yet. And two, what qualifies for hitting left-handed pitching is A) not the same for every player, and B)not nearly as important as some appear to believe. In the minors, which means just as much as those 147 MLB PAs versus lefties: 2007 at age 20, High Desert: .324/.410/.485 (158 PAs) 2007 at age 20, West Tenn: .333/.4474/.667 (19 PAs only) 2008 at age 21, West Tenn: .268/.369/.423 (87 PAs) 2008, at age 21, Tacoma: .227/.261/.364 (23 PAs) 2009, at age 22, Tacoma: .247/.312/.400 (95 PAs) 2010, at age 23, Tacoma: .286/.286/.357 (14 PAs) Saunders has obviously had some problems in the upper minors after doing well in '07 and '08, but we're talking about 109 PAs, plus the 147 in the bigs. He needs another 200 for me to be convinced he just can't do it enough to warrant everyday play. |
| 9. By: sexymarinersfan on 01-19-2011 14:14:36 When is the best time to get there? I know when I was trying to get in to see Nolan Ryan down in Dallas, I had to spend the night outside in the snow and hope that I was one of the 500 to receive a ticket for his autograph. What time does the gate open and when is the best time to get there? Will they sign any piece of merchandise? I'm guessing its one per person. |
| 10. By: banton on 01-19-2011 14:20:21 Steven Tolleson was DFA'd today by the A's to make room for Fuentes. He bats R, hit .286/.340/.408 in 53 plate appearances SSS applies here)and plays 3rd, 2nd and OF. Would seem like a great, cheap pickup to spell Figgins and platoon in LF. He certainly seems to hit beter than Langerhans. His AAA hitting is outstanding. Thoughts, Jason or Chris? |
| 11. By: Jason A. Churchill on 01-19-2011 14:21:01 I'd get there at 10am and wait in line if getting the autographs are that important to you. Starts at 11 -- so that is about when gates open. I am not sure of the per person thing, but that is a safe assumption, and as far as I know, they will sign anything within reason. |
| 12. By: sexymarinersfan on 01-19-2011 14:43:54 Thanks for the help! Hope to meet you and some fellow fans. This will be my first year back in the Northwest as I've been rooting hard in Arlington at the Ballpark surrounded by constant annoying Rangers fans. I got down the week before they signed ARod and it's been a battle ever since. I can't wait for Fanfest! |
| 13. By: shortstop9 on 01-19-2011 14:54:56 So far Saunders hasn't proved he can hit any major league pitching,so the verdict is still out on him.There is a decent chance he fails and ends up back in AAA.I just don't think he should be handed the job without providing him with some competition(preferably a RH OF).If Millage is a problem child keep him in AAA or cut him loose just bring in more competition besides Langerhans. |
| 14. By: Edman on 01-19-2011 15:13:12 Saunders isn't a lost cause, yet. Granted, he's running out of time, but there's no reason to give up on him. That his how mistakes are made. Look at how many people are already calling for Moore's head because he didn't come in and hit like they expected. I had no such expectations of grandor. Unless you're a very special player, it takes time to adjust to being a major leaguer. Shortstop, just what have any or your suggestions done, that make you think they're much better choices? They're different unproven bodies. Because they come from somewhere else, doesn't mean they're a better option. Saunders should have competition, but he should also be given a little more rope before you draw too many conclusion. |
| 15. By: banton on 01-19-2011 15:14:52 + 1, Edman. |
| 16. By: Bionic_ben23 on 01-19-2011 15:21:14 a big welcome back to ron fairly to the broadcast team on a part time basis |
| 17. By: Jason A. Churchill on 01-19-2011 15:57:21 shortstop9, Just stop presenting "facts" when they aren't, in fact, facts at all. |
| 18. By: Madison Mariner on 01-19-2011 16:49:18 "That means Seattle would have to release him outright. And, though I'm not an attorney, I believe outright release means that they would have to pay him in full, minus whatever he might sign for elsewhere, per the CBA." Essentially, that's it--although it's called an unconditional release, not an outright release per se. I think the word outright is reserved for talking about outright assignments to the minors, usually. Although I don't think you have to be an attorney to know about MLB procedures and such. :) With Ryan Langerhans non-tendered and re-signed to a minor league contract, I'm guessing he, Halman, or someone already in the system(Mike Wilson, perhaps?) will get an extended look as the 4th OF in spring training once/if Bradley is released. Also, thanks for the info, banton--I think Steve Tolleson will get a lot of interest from teams. I'm wondering if the M's will decide to jettison Bradley this week and put a waiver claim on Tolleson? Maybe that's just a pipe dream. (Heck, they could DFA Matt Tuiasosopo right now and use the free roster spot to claim Tolleson, and I wouldn't mind one bit.) |
| 19. By: Edman on 01-19-2011 16:54:37 #16, I'm with you. I'm not one of those who found Fairly irritating. He has a great media voice, wheither people want to admit it or not. No, he isn't a human baseball almanac, but he has real big league experience and is a great story teller. Yes, he repeats the same things over and over, but should he assume that everyone watching the game knows the general points of the game? How hard to you think it is to broadcast 162 regular season games a year, and not be repetative? Welcome back, Ron. I was hoping that you'd be back to do some of the broadcasts. He does provide a link to Dave, in a general way. The story he told about Dave's mismatched sandles at the Memorial was a truly entertaining story. |
| 20. By: banton on 01-19-2011 16:57:35 MadisonMariner- I would prefer Tolleson to anything that we have in the system for a bench bat. He also has extensive time at SS, so when Wilson gets injured and Ryan slides over, he would be a good backup. |
| 21. By: rjfrik on 01-19-2011 17:29:44 Yeesh Shortstop, you are starting to become intolerable. You remind me of my little sister, stubborn and miss-informed. Why don't we just trade Saunders for Crawford. Figgins for Longoria. Wilson for Tulo. We will keep Ackley since you seem to like him. Smoak for Pujols. Franky for Kemp and Ichiro for Upton. Would that do it for you dude. Then you can have your dream lineup and we don't have to listen to your dribble anymore. |
| 22. By: banton on 01-19-2011 17:50:47 rjfrik- Call Jack Z. That sounds like a pretty good lineup. And I am sure that they would easily and happily take Saunders for Crawford and Wilson for Tulo. :-) |
| 23. By: shortstop9 on 01-19-2011 20:37:07 Have no idea what you are talking about.Never threw out a lopsided trade. I really like Saunders I think he is so far a great 4th OF.He may have a good year who knows just think it wouldn't hurt to have another OF compete for the job.I know that was a brutal statement geez get a life rjfrikingjckass. |
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