Archive for July, 2005

The Mariners’ release isn’t online yet, but MLB.com has a little article about the deal, mostly from Florida’s perspective.

The M’s send Villone to Florida for minor league pitchers Yorman Bazardo and Michael Flannery.

Bazardo is the prize here. You’ve no doubt heard everyone say he’s the #3 prospect in the Marlins farm system, and their #1 right-handed pitching prospect. He’s a 21-year-old, hard-throwing (93-97 mph) rightie who spent most of this season with the AA Carolina Mudcats. Some background:

2001: 7-2 with a 2.43 ERA in the Venezuelan Summer League
2002: 5-0 with a 2.72 ERA in the New York-Penn League
2003: 9-8 with a 3.12 ERA in the South Atlantic League
2004: 5-9 with a 3.27 ERA in the Florida State League
2005: 8-6 with a 3.79 ERA in the Southern League

Here are his full 2005 stats with the Mudcats and the one game he played in with the Marlins in May. And here’s a Yorman Bazardo photo gallery.

Mike Flannery is a 25-year-old RH reliever who has been Bazardo’s teammate at Carolina this season and spent some time at AAA Albuquerque. With Carolina he’s posted a 2.21 ERA and 13 saves in 31 games. Good control, too — only 6 BBs in 36 IPs, not to mention 39 Ks. Got hit around a bit at AAA and walked some batters. He seems to be a throw-in on this deal, though perhaps a much better throw-in than someone like Ojeda last night.

Here are his full 2005 stats, and a Mike Flannery photo gallery.

Following up on that thought from a couple hours ago, Miguel Olivo is obviously not the Mariners’ catcher of the future. He’s been sent to the Padres for two minor leaguers — catcher Miguel Ojeda and right-handed pitcher Natanael Mateo.

Hard to imagine what the M’s see in Ojeda, a 30-year-old catcher hitting below .200, especially when there’s already a catching backlog on the 25-man roster. Yawn. Give him a one-way ticket to Tacoma or San Antonio even.

Mateo, on the other hand, could become an interesting pitcher. He’s got solid numbers in AA and was a Southern League All-Star earlier this month. Last year at Lake Elsinore, he struck out 59 and walked only 11 — in 51.1 innings. Good numbers — which means there’s reason to be optimistic about this deal. That the M’s got anything for Olivo is pretty much a bonus.

The Mariners have sent Randy Winn to the Giants for C Yorvit Torrealba and SP Jesse Foppert.

Torrealba is a lifetime .250 hitter with a modicum of power (13 HRs in 605 career ABs, .393 career SLG pct.). He’ll muddy up the catching situation even more than yesterday’s Gonzalez-Borders switch. Is Miguel Olivo getting the message that he is not the catcher of the future? The M’s probably feel they only need someone for about two years, when Jeff Clement might be ready.

Foppert is a 25-year-old with a lot of promise. But he’s also had arm trouble (Tommy John surgery) and has terrible control problems (82 BBs in 122 career IPs).

In other words, he’s Gil Meche, Jr.

Not exactly the kind of deal to get excited about.

While bigger names like Ramirez, Soriano and Burnett are getting tossed around more often, it seems the real hub of MLB’s trade deadline activity this weekend is Seattle. You can only imagine how much time Bill Bavasi is spending on the phone. With a little more than 24 hours to go, here’s a quick look at what’s being talked about:

- Teams looking at Ron Villone include the Marlins, D’Backs, Giants, Angels, Mets, Astros, Yankees and probably a few others (Indians, Red Sox, etc.)

- M’s are asking the D’backs for a top prospect in exchange for Villone

- The Indians have actually asked about Sexson, Beltre, and Ibanez

- Yankees are thought to be interested in Villone, Eddie Guardado, and Jamie Moyer

- Very little mention of Randy Winn in the last 12 hours, which may mean nothing at all

- In the P-I, JP Morosi says the M’s have lowered the asking price on Guardado.

- Also, in the P-I link above, Morosi says Felix Hernandez’s Mariners’ debut “may be near”, especially as roster spots come open via trades.

Trades or not, I’ll say it again: DFA Sele and bring the kid up.

If it was time to cut Pat Borders so we can find out who our catcher-of-the-future is, isn’t it time to cut Aaron Sele, too? He has no business being on a major league roster. Please, spare us all another start and send him packing.

On a brighter note, Phil points me toward this ESPN E-Ticket feature on Ichiro. The article is good, though it’ll be a while before I get the image of Japanese high school baseball teams taking a communal bath out of my mind. Just as interesting is the presentation — magazine-style with large photos filling up an entire “page.” And if memory serves, no advertising.

It’s hard to argue with Jeff Merron’s take on the most overpaid players in baseball, a list which includes Adrian Beltre at No. 5 and semi-ex-Mariner (well, he’s still on the payroll, right?) Bret Boone at No. 2. (Oh, and Phil, it also includes two Orioles…. hehehe.)

Beltre, at least, is having his best month of the year right now in terms of power production, with 6 HRs and 15 RBIs. But yeah, spread that out over 6 months (36 HRs and 90 RBIs) and you’re still below what you expect from a guy who signed a $64 million deal.

Boone, on the other hand, shows no signs of earning anywhere near his $9 mill, and Merron let’s hime have it with a couple good zingers:

“We would have had more sympathy for Boone when he was released by the Mariners if he weren’t blowing his nose with piles of C-notes.”

“Just playing Boone is a downside.”

Ouch. But so true.

On the other hand, how is Bernie Williams at No. 10 on that list? His numbers are fairly similar to Boone’s, and at least Boone gives you some defense every now and then. That’s my only beef here.

Some currently collected links relating to the Seahawks training camp, which opens tomorrow (!) in Cheney, and relating to the upcoming season.

Training Camp / Seahawks.com

Daily schedule at EWU
Directions and spectator info.

Seattle Times

Training camp preview: 10 hot topics about the Hawks
Seahawks roster
Seahawks schedule

SI.com

Ten Burning Questions: NFC West
Ten Key Players: NFC West
Seahawks Team Preview

NFL.com

NFC West Season Preview by Vic Carucci
Seahawks pre-season primer

ESPN.com (which buries way too much of their stuff behind the money wall)

NFC Questions by John Clayton
NFC Player Movement Chart (good stuff)

It’s a win-win for both sides. The Hawks have signed Shaun Alexander to a 1-year deal and he’ll be at camp later this week. It’s the same money as the franchise tender offer, but not the same contract. This one has some niceties for Alexander, according to JM Romero — no trade without Alexander OKing it first, no franchising him again next summer, so he can become a UFA at year’s end, and fully guaranteed money.

So Alexander wins because he gets a better deal than what the tender involved, and the Hawks win because they get their offense back together, and at full strength — no holdouts, nothing — before camp begins. Ruskell has been quoted as saying the Hawks were pleased and ready to go without Alexander if they had to, but that’s just a lot of hot air.

So the Hawks buy themselves another year to either sign Alexander to a long-term deal (don’t hold your breath), or start grooming/finding a long-term replacement at RB.

I’m ready for camp. Bring it on…..

So much for the momentum from that season-changing 4-game sweep of the Angels right before the break. And let’s kill any talk about “lingering hope”. Stick a fork in the Mariners.

The non-waiver trade deadline is next Sunday, and it’s time for the Mariners to start selling.

Half the guys in the bullpen will get interest. Everyone, it seems, needs bullpen help — NY, Boston, Minnesota, Texas, Cubs, maybe Atlanta, etc. The Nationals are said to be coming hard after Eddie Guardado, with the Mariners wanting starter John Patterson in return. According to MLB.com, the Nats said “No, thanks.”

Several starters will get interest — Moyer, Meche, and possibly Pineiro.

The Yankees seem like the obvious home for Randy Winn. Raul Ibanez will draw interest, but the M’s won’t deal him unless it’s a staggering offer.

As John Shea writes in today’s SF Chronicle, it should be a wild week.

It needs to be said even though it’s the most obvious thing to say…

This is really, really sad: Lakers’ Turiaf must undergo heart surgery. He’s said to be one of the Good Guys, and well-loved by all at Gonzaga. (Though you’d never know it judging from the Zags’ official site, where all they could do was post an AP story with what appears to be a hastily-added comment from the AD tacked on the end. C’mon……)

And then there’s this: Robinson back in trouble. But that’s a sad story of an entirely different nature, isn’t it?