Mariners Attempting to Make Newsworthy News

Other real-world responsibilities pulled me away from baseball most of the past week and a half. Looks I didn't miss much until the past few days. The Mariners have been reportedly busy without much to officially show yet. Frankly, that doubles as a description of their whole offseason. In case you need an update going into spring training (starts Tuesday!), here you go:

• Maybe Felix Hernandez is about to sign a huge contract. Ryan Divish at the TNT has a nice summary blog post up today with the latest grumblings about some sort of elbow problem that might be a reason King Felix and the M's haven't agreed to a 7-year, $175 million deal that was reported a few days ago. My guess (pure speculation) is that they found some sort of normal wear-and-tear that would be expected of a workhorse like King Felix, and perhaps also explains his gradual dip in velocity over the last few seasons. The Mariners want Felix, and Felix wants to stay with the Mariners. Maybe the deal includes some sort of injury clauses, but my prediction is that it gets done. I'm so sure of it I still named my fantasy baseball league after King Felix this season.
• Maybe Joe Saunders is about to sign a modest contract. I feel like there has been speculation about Saunders for the better part of a month now. The speculation strengthened the last few days to reports that a deal is in place, pending a physical. Saunders will essentially replace Jason Vargas, and on paper there is a very good chance that his impersonation is a dead ringer. I also love the idea of Saunders crushing his former team, the Angels, but we will have to see if that happens.
• Kelly Shoppach officially signed a deal, and the Mariners DFAd Shawn Kelley to make room for him. I am not in love with this move, but it is rather minor so it is hard to have much emotion about at all. Shoppach is the backup catcher, Kelley was a middle reliever. I feel like the Mariners could find similar backup catchers by offering minor league deals with invites to spring training, thus saving Kelley or someone else for another month. Seems a bit to me like the Mariners spent more than they needed to get Shoppach, and gave up more than they needed to at this point.
• Jon Garland was given a minor league contract with invite to spring training. Welcome this year's Kevin Millwood to camp! Garland isn't quite as much of a grizzled veteran, but he pitches to contact and got lost in the off-season shuffle because he did not pitch at all last season. I think Garland is better than fellow revival project Jeremy Bonderman, which makes him in my view closer to a dark horse than a long shot to grab the fifth spot in the M's starting rotation.

Spring training starts slowly, but it will be nice to talk about something besides all the things maybe or maybe not happening. It's time to play ball, or at least have pitchers and catcher play games of catch that replace clips of amazing squirrels on local sports broadcasts.

Bonderman Signed, Others Still Available

The Mariners signed Jeremy Bonderman to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.  In other words, he will show up in Peoria with a shot to crack the Mariners starting rotation. If he doesn't, the M's aren't out anything really. Bonderman hasn't pitched anywhere competitively for two full seasons so I don't expect him to make the roster. However, this is a risk-free move, so there is nothing to complain about.

Bonderman's signing speaks to a need on the Mariners roster. The starting five looks something like this as of right now:

1. Felix Hernandez
2. Hisashi Iwakuma
3. Erasmo Ramirez
4. Blake Beavan
5. Hector Noesi/Danny Hultzen/Andrew Carraway/pray for rain

That's an interesting rotation in every sense of the word. Adding others to the mix would make the interest a little less dangerous.

Progress Report: Pitchers

Congratulations to you for making it through a month and a half of Mariners' baseball! If you're reading this, you haven't completely given up on the M's this year (yet). You also haven't gouged your eyes out from watching this team throughout the roller coaster ride it has been since they opened the year in Japan back in March. Since then, we have seen winning and losing streaks, blown saves, and the Athletics. Boy, have we seen alot of Athletics baseball. In fact, Mariners fans have probably been to more Athletics games than Athletics fans have this year (Zing!).

Since we've been through more than a month of baseball this year, I think it's time for a progress report. Remember back when you got progress reports in school? Remember when you would try to check the mail before your parents did so that way they never knew about that 'F' you got in Home Economics? Well, this is nothing like that. This is just me throwing out grades which I feel approximate how well the players have done so far and are in no way scientific. Simply put, these are my opinions. Feel free to disagree in the comments, I love a good argument.

For part one of this series, I'll focus on the pitching staff.

The Aftermath

So, the Mariners lost last night. In one of the most frustrating fashions in which they could have lost, they lost.

Since last night, I can't shake the feeling of disappoint that came over me after Brandon League gave up the narrow one run lead in the 9th.

When I can't shake something from my mind, I write about it. So, here is my attempt to shake my disappointment over last night, the same way an alcoholic might try to make sense of his latest bender the morning after.

Millwood a Ranger

The Rangers have needed pitching for several years and now they are finally making a serious effort to improve it. Texas signed Kevin Millwood, the AL ERA champion just last season, to a 4 year, $48 million deal with a club option for a 5th year. The last time the Rangers gave a pitcher this monstrous of a deal, it was Chan Ho Park and he did not exactly pan out. I am guessing Millwood will not be worth the money either, though he should be better than Park.

Millwood definitely got a huge contract, but considering that he has Scott Boras as an agent and the market for pitchers this offseason, the deal could have been much bigger. The scariest part of the contract is the length, as it is highly unlikely that Millwood will continue to perform at his current level when he is 35, especially considering his medical history. Still, Texas was able to make Scott Boras budge slightly, which is remarkable.

I wanted the Mariners to get Kevin Millwood and I am unhappy that an A.L. West team signed him, but Texas can have him at that price. It is an awfully risky deal. With signings like this and the 5-player super swap with the Padres, I wonder if John Daniels will be the Rangers' GM when Kevin Millwood's contract expires. It is possible Daniels is just trying to make a splash, especially considering how young and green he is, but continuing to make deals like this will run the organization into the ground. Texas has a Texas-sized budget, but it's certainly not Yankee-sized.

Quick Hitters on the Winter Meetings

With the last day of baseball's annual winter meeting coming tomorrow, I take some time today to reflect on what has already happened and take a look at what will happen:

WHAT HAS HAPPENED

-The Athletics traded for Chad Gaudin, another pitcher with starting experience. This seemed to be an extremely strong indication that the A's were looking to trade Barry Zito, but their G.M. Billy Beane continued to deny rumors involving the star pitcher and said the team was not looking to trade him. Since Beane has already left the meetings, he seems to be speaking the truth.

-The Marlins continued their roster purge by trading Paul LoDuca to the Mets and Juan Pierre to the Cubs. The purge is complex and deserves a post all by itself for a complete breakdown. Watch for that in the not-so-distant future.

-The Indians signed SP Paul Byrd to a two year contract, leaving no doubt that Kevin Millwood will be pitching for a new team in 2006.

-The Blue Jays continued to spend like the Yankees by signing A.J. Burnett to a 5 year, $55 million deal. The deal is big, but not as inflated as the relief pitcher contracts have been this off-season. That is good news for teams like the Mariners, who are in the market for starting pitching.

-The Orioles traded RP Steve Kline to the Giants for RP LaTroy Hawkins. This was essentially a swap of two disappointments.

-The Padres shipped 3B Sean Burroughs to the Devil Rays for SP Dewon Brazelton. Both are young players who were prized prospects that have not developed as anticipated. Both teams say it was just a swap of disappointments, but I believe the Devil Rays clearly got the better end of the deal.

-The Pirates have made a pair of interesting moves so far by acquiring 1B Sean Casey from the Reds and RP Jonah Bayliss from the Royals for SP Dave Williams and SP Mark Redman, respectively. The Pirates dealt from their strength (left-handed starting pitching) to fill holes so, though the trades look like washes on paper, the Pirates did improve. Both were very good moves for them, as well as their trading partners.

-Rafael Furcal was signed by the Dodgers for 3 years, $39 million. The Dodgers overpaid for him, and it's not clear where he will play when Cesar Izturis returns from injury. Furcal is an upgrade, but the Dodgers could have spent their money more wisely.

-The Braves traded Johnny Estrada to Arizona for relievers Lance Cormier and Oscar Villareal. Neither team looks to gain much from the trade, though it is a clear indication that youngster Brian McCann should get a chance to be the starting catcher for the Braves next year.

-The Astros did not offer Roger Clemens arbitration, which likely means that Clemens will retire.

-The White Sox did not offer Frank Thomas or Carl Everett arbitration, which means neither will return to the reigning world champions.

-Trever Hoffman re-signed with the Padres instead of signing with the Indians.

-The Red Sox have agreed in principal to trade backup catcher Doug Mirabelli to the Padres for 2B Mark Loretta. If Loretta comes back from the injury he suffered last year, this will be a terrific deal for the Red Sox. This may also signal that the Padres are ready to give prospect Josh Barfield a chance to start at second base next year.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN

-The Rule 5 draft is tomorrow, so expect a breakdown of the players taken.

-Trade rumors continue to swirl around Manny Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano, and Bobby Abreu. Whether any of the rumors are true is hard to tell.

-The Red Sox and Braves are talking about a deal involving SS Edgar Rentaria and it is rumored that they want C Brian McCann and 3B Andy Marte, one of the Braves' best prospects, in return. I doubt that the Braves are willing to trade McCann now considering they just traded Johnny Estrada, so if the rumors are legitimate, this deal will not happen.

-Javier Vazquez has been rumored in many deals, which is not surprising considering he has requested to be traded, which he can legally do with the contract he has. The Mets are rumored to be interested, and that would be a good fit. If the Mets were to acquire him, they would likely turn around and trade Kris Benson, whom the Royals are rumored to be interested in.

-The Mariners have shown interest in SP Kevin Millwood and SP Matt Morris. They must also decide whether to offer arbitration to Gil Meche and/or Ryan Franklin by tonight or they will become free agents. My guess is they will offer Meche arbitration, but let Ryan Franklin go.

-I am convinced Barry Zito will not be traded by tomorrow, but I am not convinced that he will be an Oakland Athletic to start the 2006 season.

-The Rangers are desperately trying to add pitching, both through the free agent market and through trades. They even are rumored to be willing to trade Hank Blalock and some of their top prospects, which they were not willing to do at the beginning of the off-season.

-The Cubs are rumored to be interested in acquiring Milton Bradley, and that rumor seems to be valid.

There are plenty of other rumors I have not touched on, but those are the biggest ones that seem to have some validity. Check back tomorrow for more analysis on whatever has happened.