M’s Notes: Ibanez, Swisher, Ross, Edwin Jackson, Rick Porcello, Joe Saunders

Published December 23, 2012 | By Casey McLain | Posted in Mariners

Yesterday afternoon I was reunited with the bro known as Sean Kramer, and after about 120 oz. of porter early in the day, the rest of the day included even more drinking, and even worse food decisions (including three Doritos Locos Tacos and a hot dog with peanut butter and bacon).

Amid our stupor, some news came across the wire:

The Mariners signed Raul Ibanez. He’s got a $2.75 million contract and it makes very little sense. He’s not demonstrably better than a guy like say Mike Sweeney. He perhaps better than Jason Bay, but at best they’re relatively redundant despite hitting from different sides of the plate. With Kendrys Morales already on the roster, and likely the team’s opening day first baseman, the Mariners are in a position where Ibanez and Bay will either take reps away from Jesus Montero, Justin Smoak, or take more innings in the outfield than they deserve.

Of course, this could be the precursor to other moves. It might not be a precursor to other moves. It may be a move that stands alone, and the move that it precedes is the optioning of Smoak or Montero to Tacoma. There’s no reason to be excited about signing a 41 year old guy that can’t play outfield anymore. Ibanez may hit well next year, though, and even away from home had an average-ish ISO.

Nick Swisher and Cody Ross signed yesterday. Swisher signed with the Indians for four years, $56 million. Ross signed with the Diamondbacks for three years, $26 million. Swisher is from Ohio, and Ross is from New Mexico. New Mexico isn’t in Arizona, but it’s a lot closer to Arizona than Seattle. Both guys may be a bit overpriced, and seemed to give preferential treatment to… Continue reading →

An Alternative Mariners 2013 Offseason Plan

Published November 7, 2012 | By Casey McLain | Posted in Mariners

At some point somebody conducted a study in which they asked people what forms of flattery they were aware of, and of those, which was the most sincere. The result of this scientific study was “imitation” and so was born an oft-used phrase designed to legitimize copycats. It’s in the spirit of that moment in science that I present my offseason plan for the Mariners, borrowing a page from the king of all things Seattle sports blogging, Dave Cameron. My plan is significantly different than Dave’s, and I’ve taken the liberty of waiting a couple weeks to let the beginning stages of free agency shake themselves out (including the Hisashi Iwakuma signing). Here it is:

Sign Kelly Shoppach for a one-year, $2 million deal.

Sign Cody Ross for two-years, $12 million

Trade Chone Figgins, cash, Shawn Kelley, and a mid-level prospect for Kendrys Morales

Offer Joe Blanton , Ryan Dempster, and Shaun Marcum one-year, $6 million, and sign whoever agrees first.

I feel pretty strongly about signing Shoppach, and I’d actually be willing to go two years for him personally. When I initially started looking at this year’s free agents, I noticed that not many people are talking about Mike Napoli. Napoli had a really rough 2012 in terms of batting average, which falsely drives opinion in many cases, but he’s always been a guy that hits for a lot of power, and that mashes lefties. He’s a notch below average defensively, but his bat, and ability to play first base could have made him a particularly good fit for the Mariners. That’s not to say he couldn’t be a fit even with the signing of Shoppach, but Napoli’s price tag is almost assuredly higher than I’d like to pay for him.

Napoli… Continue reading →

Cody Ross

M’s Notes: Ibanez, Swisher, Ross, Edwin Jackson, Rick Porcello, Joe Saunders

An Alternative Mariners 2013 Offseason Plan

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