An Alternative Mariners 2013 Offseason Plan

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 →