- Feb 12, 2005
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Hamilton for 3 years is ideal. I'm sure he wants at least 7, but I can see the M's offering 5.
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Anyone got any insight on this guy? seems like a lateral move"Mariners announce they've traded OF Trayvon Robinson to Orioles for INF Robert Andino"
Anyone got any insight on this guy? seems like a lateral move
All I remember was someone making a thread about his profile pictures
http://seattletimes.com/html/mariners/2019770779_mariners27.htmlMoving in the fences at Safeco Field next season has become a key part of the sales pitch the Mariners are using with free agents
Early last week, the Mariners flew free-agent catcher Mike Napoli to Seattle, and one of the first things they did was give him a tour of Safeco Field and explain the planned realignment of the fences. Shorter fences in left-center are expected to help right-handed hitters like Napoli, 31, who the Mariners need as much for his power bat as the positions he plays.
The Napoli visit included an overnight stay in Seattle and a tour of Pike Place Market as well as dinner with team officials. But there was also a lengthy explanation on the study that went into the fence realignment and the impact it was expected to have on hitters.
Last month, when the Mariners first unveiled their fence plans the final week of the season, assistant general manager Jeff Kingston talked about a significant impact on hitters for every additional foot the fences are moved in. The fences are coming in 12 feet in the left-center power alley and up to 17 feet in the portion between left-center and straightaway center.
Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik expressed hope to reporters at the recent GM meetings in Indian Wells, Calif., that the fences move could help the team sign a hitter.
"It's come up already in some discussions with agents," Zduriencik said. "They say, 'Hey, our player knows you've moved your fences in.' "
Napoli is said to be seeking a deal of three or four years and is being courted by multiple teams, including the Boston Red Sox and his former Texas Rangers club. He has hit at least 20 home runs his past five seasons and has a career on-base-percentage of .356 and a .507 slugging percentage.
His on-base-plus-slugging percentage of .812 in a mediocre year for him last season was still better than any Seattle regular. He would also fill an immediate need for a club seeking a regular catcher after the departure of Miguel Olivo.
Talks with the Mariners and other clubs are expected to continue at next week's baseball winter meetings in Nashville, Tenn.
The Mariners have first-round draft pick Mike Zunino working his way through the minors as a potential catcher of the future. Zunino added to a growing list of 2012 accolades on Monday when he was one of two catchers named to the Arizona Fall League's top prospects team.
Mariners shortstop prospect Nick Franklin was also named to the squad — as a second baseman. The Mariners are looking at Franklin as both a shortstop and second baseman and could have him switch positions.
As for Zunino, it's unlikely he'll join the Mariners until the second half of the season — if even at all in 2013. That's where Napoli would help the club in the immediate future on a squad where John Jaso and Jesus Montero had only sporadic catching duties last season and rarely played in consecutive games behind the plate.
Napoli caught five consecutive games for the Rangers in the second half and had two other stints where he caught four games in five days. He also plays first base and has experience as a designated hitter, something the Mariners would lean on, depending on the progress of first baseman Justin Smoak and of Montero as a DH.
#Mariners have officially released Chone Figgins. They had 10-day window from last Tue. to trade or release.
Funny, I liked him as well before he fell off the face of the earth in New YorkSource: Mariners deal with Jason Bay ‘close, but nothing final…yet.’
Posted by Geoff Baker
There have been whispers for much of the day that the Mariners might sign outfielder Jason Bay to a contract. Moments ago, I had a source confirm that the talks surround a major league deal and that the two sides were “close, but nothing final…yet.”
The Mariners first tried to land Bay three years ago at the baseball winter meetings in Indianapolis. At the time, Bay had been offered just a one-year deal to stay with Boston because of worries about his prior knee injury. The Mariners figured they could land him on a shorter-term deal, but that fell apart when the New York Mets came through with a four-year, $66 million contract.
Bay had a disastrous stint in New York, plagued by injury and a lack of production. The Mets let him out of his contract a year early, but are paying him the remaining $21 million owed on his deal. So, he’s a free agent.
Now, before you all go screaming to the heavens in frustration, this deal — if it goes through — is not going to be a substitute for one of those major deals the Mariners have been looking to make. Rather, the Mariners lost some big clubhouse presence this winter when Miguel Olivo and Kevin Millwood both left. Everyclubhouse needs a veteran, steadying presence –and sometimes a policeman — and the team saw that leave with Olivo.
Bay would be coming in here with hope that he could supply some of the higher-upside production he’s shown in the past and at a much lesser rate than the Mets paid. It would be a little like what Adam Kennedy did in 2011 (leadership wise) only with a better supporting cast around him.
And unlike Kennedy, who came in on a minor league invite and had to be added to the roster, Bay would be on the roster to begin.
“If it were to happen, it would be amajor league deal,” my source said.
They werent joking when they said the M's are willing to take anybodyThey're looking at Ibanez??? Really???