Adding Robinson Cano to their lineup was the start of many changes in Seattle, and Corey Hart turned out to be the next piece of their puzzle. Seattle today announced the signing of Hart to a one-year contract. Reportedly worth a guaranteed $6MM, Hart will have the opportunity to earn an additional $7MM via incentives. Hart is represented by CAA Sports.
Hart, 32 in March, missed the entire 2013 campaign after undergoing surgery on both knees. In his most recent healthy season, Hart delivered his typical brad of strong pop from the right side of the dish, batting .270/.334/.507 with 30 home runs. In the three seasons prior to his injury, Hart slashed .279/.343/.514 and averaged 29 homers per season, meaning his 2012 campaign was a good representation of his talent level when healthy.
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports noted that, Hart will slot into the Mariners lineup behind Cano, adding some much-needed offense to a club that has struggled to score runs in recent seasons. The Mariners will likely use Hart in right field, notes Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Though he has proven to be a capable first baseman, the Mariners also acquired Logan Morrison from the Marlins at this week's Winter Meetings (in exchange for right-hander Carter Capps). Morrison could see more time at first base, though like Hart, he has experience in the outfield as well.
Hart and Morrison will provide new manager Lloyd McClendon with another pairing of new bats to add to the lineup behind Cano in an effort to bolster a lineup that finished the 2013 season 22nd among all Major League clubs in runs scored despite ranking second with 188 home runs.
USA Today's Bob Nightengale reports (on Twitter) that the Brewers were willing to offer Hart a contract that could reach $8MM after incentives. At one point, Hart had said he would take a discount to remain with Milwaukee, but his ties to Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik (Milwaukee's scouting director when Hart was drafted), the recent addition of Cano and his larger payday all could have factored into Hart's decision to head to the Pacific Northwest.
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports first reported that the agreement was in place (Twitter link). Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reported that Hart would be guaranteed $6MM with enough incentives to take him up to $13MM (also on Twitter).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Good move for them. Hart could be a real power bat next to Cano.
Plus if he rebounds he can probably earn a QO next year.
I don’t understand how your comparing the m’s move to the blue jays. Lol. They got all sorts of past all stars we have Injuried Hart and a struggling Morrison. They both have great chances to have comebacks here in seattle but they are not as proven as say Reyes and Buerhle were when they were signed
huh?
Excellent! This doesn’t make me upset at least. That is until I see the contract.
Its only one year it isnt going to hurt at all
What it it’s one year, $100MM?
yes 100 m&m’s.
1 year with a player option every year for the next 9 years. That can be worth 240 million if he stays for 10 years.
On a 1 year deal, they’d have to pay him A LOT to make me upset here.
I must admit the M’s are making things interesting…. Signing Choo up for CF could quickly make them relevant.
I can’t see any way Choo is playing CF next season anywhere.
You dont want him anywhere near CF
Well, RF is *near* CF…
Choo and Gutz
If this means the M’s won’t be signing Nelson Cruz, there should be a conga line of joy forming in Pioneer Square.
My thoughts exactly.
why is that? why would you be happy your team signed a WORSE player?
From the outside looking in… because Cruz is overrated to begin with and Hart, if healthy, is just as good. Plus if the reports of Cruz turning down a ridiculous 5/$75MM from them are true, I’d much rather have Hart at this price.
The “if healthy” is not something to ignore for Hart, but it’s a much better gamble on 1-year than the “ifs” involved with signing Cruz long-term at big money post-PEDs.
They just gave $240 million to a guy who doesn’t know how to run to 1B, who cared more about getting RBIs then helping the team by batting 2nd in the lineup. In other words, they’re not about being cheap. Cruz is a batter pitchers pitch around. Hart isn’t. I just don’t see it helping all that much ,epseically when he hurts his knee in april and they have to rely on minor leaguers to fill out the OF.
Maybe I haven’t watched enough TEX games but I’m not sure about him getting pitched around. He doesn’t walk that much and strikes out.
I agree that Hart isn’t going to give them a big enough boost to contend, but I’d take him on a 1-year deal with incentives hoping he’s healthy rather than throwing 5 years (at big guaranteed dollars) towards a PED-less Cruz. If you compare their average stats over a full season, they’re very similar players too, and that was with Cruz juicing in a hitters park and Hart very likely not.
Edit: If you’re not being cheap and already willing to spend over $75MM on Cruz, may as well go for Choo at that point who is an infinitely better bet to be productive over the next 5 years.
i’m just someone who believes if you give out $240 million to one player, you need to surround him with talent. He needs to see pitches. This was the first year he HAD to be the star in the lineup, and was very good, but he can’t carry a team alone. Adding Morrison and Hart seem like desperation moves. Adding a Choo or Cruz might have given them a little more respectability to future FAs. They’re still a couple of hitters away so if they add1 more real big bat, ok, then hart’s a good move. But if he’s supposed to be the 2nd best player on the team, i think Mariner fans are in for a long season.
My point is that if both play full seasons, Hart and Cruz are pretty much equals in my eyes. Both have their risks attached with injury and PED history respectively, but signing Hart at this price and length gives you way more flexibility to add more pieces than Cruz would.
When you consider how similar the two players are and that you’re taking a risk either way, give me the 1-year risk all day while also saving money to add more impact players to the lineup this offseason.
If Cruz fails, it would hurt the Mariners chances to win during the next few years when they have their window to contend in Cano’s prime. If Hart doesn’t work out, it’s only a $5MM loss and they can replace him and take another shot with his roster space to build around Cano. Only being committed to Hart for 1 year allows them to not worry as much if they did add a guy like Choo and have him on the books beyond this year.
If Hart is healthy, I like him much better than Cruz. This move also keeps the door open to add another player. If they signed Cruz at that kind of salary they would have limited themselves on the rest of the offseason.
Amen… though they tried to but Cruz declined. He wants Cano money 😀
GREAT. anybody want Ike Davis now?
not for that price
I’ve read that the Brewers are more interested in Logan Morrison right now and that the Rays are looking at Loney. This leaves probably only the Pirates, unless I’m missing someone.
hmmm. no homerism but i think id rather have Ike then LoMo…
Same here.
Sweeet.. Lets get some more players mariners.
No harm in a solid 1-year deal like this, but still nothing can be guaranteed from Hart. Mariners still need another ~2 bats to make the Cano signing mean anything. I still feel they are the 4th best team in that division after the Angels picked up those arms yesterday.
Those “arms” the angels picked up don’t make up for losing Vargas.
You are wrong sir. Hector Santiago is absolutely better than Jason Vargas and Tyler Skaggs has more talent (albeit less experience) than Vargas.
hahahahahahaha
PLEASE tell me how you are right. I’d love to learn your reasoning.
Vargas: 30 years old, 4 year deal, career 4.30 ERA, 5.9 K/9 in a pitchers ballpark.
Santiago: 25 years old, pre-arbitration 3.41 ERA career, 8.7 K/9 in hitters ballpark
Skaggs has been one of the highest rated prospects in the minors for years and has 6 years of control left. Look up videos the dude is electric. I’m BAFFLED at how many people voted up your comment supporting the idea that Jason Vargas is better. Making up for losing a #4 starter is no huge feat.
Granted some of that was in relief, but going forward he is likely to do a lot worse then what his ERA has been in the starting rotation. There were some clear numbers that he put up that are unsustainable (LOB%) etc etc. In other words, he isn’t a very good starter, like a number 5 type…And that is likely why they were reluctant to package him while he actually has some sort of value to select few teams.
good argument…
I’ve never been impressed with Vargas, so that’s not saying much!
Hard to know about that just yet. But, those arms are probably better than Vargas + Blanton. Plus, they save money to possibly sign another pitcher or player. And, because of the atrocious nature of Hamilton’s play and Pujols’ injuries and sub-standard play last year, it seems likely that they both contribute substantially more this year than last.
Its rather easy to know that just yet actually. Blanton was one of the worst pitchers in baseball and Santiago is better now than Vargas was at any point in his career. Tack on a top left-handed starter prospect with 6 years of control and is pretty obvious they upgraded.
I think you are right about Santiago, but I honestly haven’t seen him pitch much personally to make too bold of a statement. His numbers sure look good though. Vargas has never been amazing, but he pitched decently for the Angels for the most part. I DO know that not having Blanton in the rotation instantly makes them better, of course, I knew that last year before they signed him, after they signed him, and every day that he was slated to pitch (if you want to call it that). I agree with you that they definitely upgraded and I think they made a very good trade. It might take a couple years before Skaggs reaches potential though.
Even if Skaggs flames out, Santiago pre-arbitration >>> paying Vargas $8 million for 4 years. Im not arguing with you, i’m just saying ask 10 people in a front office who’d they’d rather have at this point and I bet all of them would say Skaggs/Santiago over Vargas.
Unless of course one of those 10 people is Dayton Moore.
I agree 100% if you are talking about the next four years. I was focusing more on the upcoming season only. I still think that Santiago very well could be better than Vargas next year, but he and Skaggs next year could go either way in my opinion. I am hopeful though, and definitely believe the Angels upgraded for the future, including next year.
Heard that. Lets say for arguments sake that Santiago and Vargas end up being a wash next year and Skaggs spends the year in the minors. Even in that scenario the Angles/Mariners have pretty much the same rotations as they did last year and the Angels at this moment obviously have the better offense still. So unless Robinson Cano and Corey Hart can make up the 7 game difference, I still think the Angels with healthy Pujols and (possibly) rebounding Hamilton are better than the Mariners.
Therefore supporting my claim that the Mariners are the 4th best team in the division at this moment without the addition of ~2 more legit bats (Logan Morrison does not count as a legit bat to me). This is the point I was trying to make when Jason Vargas homeboy up there for some reason laughed at the idea.
Yea, I understand your point and absolutely agree the Angels are still better than the Mariners.
Heard that. Lets say for arguments sake that Santiago and Vargas end up being a wash next year and Skaggs spends the year in the minors. Even in that scenario the Angles/Mariners have pretty much the same rotations as they did last year and the Angels at this moment obviously have the better offense still. So unless Robinson Cano and Corey Hart can make up the 7 game difference, I still think the Angels with healthy Pujols and (possibly) rebounding Hamilton are better than the Mariners.
Therefore supporting my claim that the Mariners are the 4th best team in the division at this moment without the addition of ~2 more legit bats (Logan Morrison does not count as a legit bat to me). This is the point I was trying to make when Jason Vargas homeboy up there for some reason laughed at the idea.
Well Cano can add a couple more WAR just from those 2 SPs.lol
Possibly. You can likely deflate your expectations for Cano’s numbers moving forward in general since he is: 1) Hitting in Seattle instead of New York half the time; 2) Has no protection in the lineup so will see many less pitches to hit; and 3) Won’t have anyone to drive in even if he does see a pitch to hit.
No protection… kind of like last year?
You are not wrong that last year’s Yankees were bad and injured. He has been in a pretty solid lineup every other year, though. And it definitely doesn’t change the fact that Seattle is a much tougher hitter’s park than NY is, especially for lefties with the short porch.
True, that short porch in New Yankee’s Stadium played well for him. But Safeco actually has a bit of a short porch in right field as well, so I guess we’ll see
I agree. Vargas is better than both of those pitchers Kevin has mentioned.
I wonder how many acres of grass they are paying his billy-goat looking self.
Those arms are backend rotation arms, both with horendous WHIPS.
Yet 30-year old Jason Vargas is a backend rotation arm getting paid #3 starter money for the next 4 years. Any major league WHIP stat with Skaggs can essentially be thrown out since hes basically still a rookie.
Santiago admittedly has walk problems, but he’s still a better than average pitcher with pre-arb and arb-years left. He’s certainly better than Jason Vargas. Skaggs has sixty eight big league innings at ages 20 and 21 with not-awful walk numbers for those ages. He’s got electric stuff- a 9.0 H/9 isn’t going to last as random variance goes away and his skills improve. He’s got 6 years of team control though and could easily be better than Vargas this year.
Lets see what they payed first. While he is a good signing on a 1YR he still is a risk since both knees are rebuilt.
could be an interesting al west this year
Outstanding! Things are coming together nicely for the M’s
I thought Hart wanted to rebuild his value? I question his ability to do that in a pitchers park. Also, so much for the hometown discount he was promising.
While Safeco is still classified as a pitchers park since moving in the fences, more HRs were hit there than in Yankee Stadium last year. He’ll probably do fine at the Safe.
good point
good point
This is terrific. He’s the kind of player the M’s really needed to add. Now maybe the M’s won’t be as hopeless against LHP. Cano also helps since he’s not that bad vs. lefties.
I still want Gutz back too!
Should be around a $2M + incentives for Gutz
Brewers, your starting first baseman.. Ike Davis! honestly Ike seems like a brewer to me, could be a great righty elfty power tandem with Braun if he figures it out
I hope they signed him to DH, ’cause them knees won’t be able to chase those flyballs.
He wouldn’t be playing OF anyway. He was in the market as a 1B. DH’ing a few games doesnt hurt.
Considering Hart was willing to take a discount, how did the Brewers blow this one?
Mariners offered more money + ability to DH which will help Hart prolong his career with his bad knees.
Jack Z actually drafted him….so there is definitely a connection
From what I read he put together a video and was demonstrating he is 100% and versatile in the field. I don’t think it’s appearing his health is an issue at this point. Great sign for Seattle.
idk maybe Ms offered him like a 10Mill contract over the Brewers offer of like 5
What Hart says he will take and what he actually takes once that money is in front of his face are two different things.
Robinson Cano.
I still doubt the Mariners will go anywhere this year..give them credit for trying..Cano, Hart and Ibanez still aren’t exactly Napoli and Ortiz 😀
Ibanez is a FA
Zunino is supposed to be really good. Dont sell the Mariners short. They have EXCELLENT SP and a few good offensive pieces in place.
Zunino will in a few years be the premier catcher in the AL>
Now you have to deal with Beltran. Gonna be a much harder year just because of that
Goodbye Smoak.
I wouldn’t say that actually. This is FINALLY a way to sit Smoak against LHBs!!! And Hart can stay in lineup as DH or RF depending upon the Morales
I think Morales’ days are numbered. They will try and find another bat and can use the DH slot to give hart and maybe their next bat some rest. They do have some good options now.
This certainly increases the chances of Ike Davis wearing a Milwaukee uniform next season.
I hope the Brewers take a good look at Ike now
Keep adding!!
AL West could be fun this year. Still have the Rangers/A’s…now if the M’s could somehow get Choo…
From what some Mariners fans have posted, seems like they have a chance because they have the money to spend. If you ask me, Choo wouldn’t be a bad option there. Doesn’t matter how big the park is, he still can get on base. Plays decent defense and has a cannon. Would do well in a corner OF role with them.
Chances they bring back Morales? While they’ve added Hart and Cano, that just isn’t enough. Adding Morales back to the fold to either primarily DH, or spell Hart at first when he needs days off or possibly plays the OF, wouldn’t be a bad idea. Not sure if Hart will play any outfield, but I wouldn’t rule him out of playing a few games there if he’s actually healthy.
Unless they move Smoak I don’t think Morales is a fit. Hart would likely be mainly DH with the occasional start at 1B.
I see Smoak as the odd man out. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a Ms fan so I could be completely off with saying that. Just seems like the goal is to add offense, and from what I’ve witnessed, Smoak isn’t very good and Morales is decent with the stick.
I don’t think they will give up on Smoak just yet. Even though he fizzled in the second half, he did show some signs that he was starting to “get it” at the major league level. He’s currently the cheaper option, and I think it makes more sense for them to hold onto him for the moment.
Well it’s even more cloudy now with the acquisition if LoMo!
They should bring back Morales as insurance.
Hopefully under the stipulation that he won’t wear his sunglasses at night during games.
I love this signing. I think there is a very good chance the M’s can bring back Kendry’s Morales…which means Smoak is expendable. If the Rays don’t sign Loney, or make a move for Ike Davis or Logan Morrison, I think there’s a very good chance we can package Smoak and Franklin/or Miller…and probably another piece or two, to land Price for 2 years. We won’t be able to extend him. But, wow…if we pulled all that off…the M’s would be officially legit–and I don’t think it’s that far fetched.
With the money the M’s have, their motto this winter should be “sign first, trade later”. If they can sign a few more helpful players, then I think they really ought to hang on to Miller, Walker and Zunino. Colon is no Price, but he’d be pretty good and he’d be lots less expensive, both money-wise and in terms of trading young talent. Sign first, trade later.
Walker & Colon > Price & Maurer/Ramirez/Joe Saunders
Walker & Colon > Price & Maurer/Ramirez/Joe Saunders
There is absolutely zero chance that the Rays trade Price for a Franklin/ Smoak package. Franklin has some value, but not nearly enough, and Smoak is worth next to nothing. They’ll want a minimum of Zunino or Paxton or Walker, and that would be a terrible trade on our part.
I’d rather see them sign Garza or Jiminez, and hopefully get Choo too. But if they’re going to trade for someone, the package should be Ackley and Franklin.
I’m a bit surprised by this signing. I really thought the Brewers would re-sign him.
I think Seattle is a perfect place for Corey Hart to resurrect his career. Seattle is known for traveling more than any other team in the league, which will allow him to showcase his talent all across the country and show he still has the same abilities he was once known for. The only thing he needs is some more hits to keep him relevant.
Sorry… I was thinking this was the singer Corey Hart. Good move by Corey Hart the baseball player too, though.
nice move
Good low risk, high potential move depending on what they paid him. Now hopefully we can get Choo, Trade something for another bat, and get a starter/relief help. After that, we MAY just contend
Now go get Choo and this off season is almost a success!
#All-In-On-Choo
Seriously! If we put Cano, Choo and Hart in the same lineup….. Damn, we might actually be good this year!
Does anyone know who Hart’s agent is?
CAA Sports
Great move M’s! keep em coming!
Love this move! Low risk, high reward and a short termer to boot. Should slide into 1B and alongside Cano nicely.
Enjoy having one of the more fragile players in baseball. He is pretty good when he is not in the training room……..
“I wear my sunglasses at night”
And now they got Logan Morrison slowly building a contender a couple more signings should make them a serious contender to A’s or Rangers
I doubt it. But it’ll be funny watching LAA and HOU compete in the cellar while SEA has a solid season.
Boston and Marlins two years ago, Blue Jays and Angels last year. All picked up big time players by huge spending or trading, and all ended up not contenting. Anyhow, Corey Hart is a great move by the Mariners. The AL West keeps getting stronger at least on paper.
What about the Dodgers?
The Dodgers did well last season, but they picked up the likes of Beckett, Gonzalez, and Crawford the year before and never made the playoffs. The first half of last season after picking up Ramirez, Ryu, and Greinke, they still didn’t play well. It wasn’t until 2nd half of the season when Puig came into play that the Dodgers started winning. The Dodgers made it to the playoffs, but never made it to the world series. All I am saying is going all in at once doesn’t guarantee a WS birth much less a playoff spot based on recent teams.
That’s not entirely true. Ramirez & Greinke came off the disable list and caught fire. It wasn’t all about Puig.
Predictions on what the M’s lineup looks like on opening day, please.
cf Ackely
3b seager
2b cano
1b hart
dh morles
lf morrison
c zunino
ss miller
rf almonte
Yeah Ackley with his career .315 OBP leading off…
Ackley .290 avg after all-star break…starting to figure it out!!!
cf Ackley
3b Seager
2b Cano
1b Hart
dh Morales or Willingham
lf Morrison
c Zunino
rf Bloomquist or Willingham (bats fifth or sixth sliding Morrison down)
ss Miller or Franklin
RF Choo
SS Miller
2B Cano
1B Hart
DH Morales
3B Seager
LF Morrison
C Zunino
CF Gutierrez
RF Choo
SS Miller
2B Cano
DH Hart
3B Seager
1B LoMo
CF Gutz
LF Saunders
C Zunino
CF Ackley
SS Miller/Frankin
2B Cano
RF C.8art
3B Seager
D LoMo
1B Smoak
LF Saunders/Guti
C Zunino
Util Bloomquist
SP- Felix
SS Miller
CF Guti
2B Cano
RF Cruz
3B Seager
DH Hart
1B LoMo
LF Ackley
C Zunino
SP Felix
The M’s are trying to make the Blue Jays moves look good from last year! I wonder how long til Cano starts thinking its not going to get any better in seattle. B/t signing a guy who’s hurt ever year, and trading for a below average 1B, turning into quite an offseason to be a M’s fan.
It is turning into quite an offseason to be an M’s fan, we are actually doing something productive.
I see the good and bad by trading for LoMo. The guy is great on camera and entertaining which should bring more fans to the park but, as a player I don’t understand it. You just gave up a promising relief pitcher for another Justin Smoak type player. I can see them packaging Smoak, Zunino and a couple of other top prospects for a starting pitcher tho.
PS: Love the Corey Hart signing.
I doubt the Mariners traded for Logan Morrison with the though that it would bring fans back to the stadium. Even if he is a really likeable guy and really funny, there is no way his entertainment factor is anywhere close to that of Munenori Kawasaki.
The M’s have a million promising relief pitchers in the minors and Capps took a real nosedive last season. He lost like 5mph off his arrow straight fastball that he doesn’t have great control over. And he has a slurve that lefties tee off on. It’s no real loss.
Nice, out of the NL Central, take him M’s…Id like to see the M’s compete, they just might with some of the guys their picking up
How about trading Dustin Ackley for Alejandro De Aza now?
Just because the sox tried Casper wells doesn’t mean they want his double ackley.
I was thinking for 2B. He sure looks better than Beckham.
I was thinking for 2B. He sure looks better than Beckham.
Great signing. If he could repeat his play in Milwaukee, he will be huge for the M’s
i actually don’t think this a good idea for hart.. if he wants to establish himself
for one year is safeco the place? I don’t think he could have had a better hitters
park then miller park. other than that good signing for seattle.
Not to worry. There were 170 HR hit at Safeco, more than at 10 other AL parks (fences came in this year). There were 185 hit at Miller Park. Do a stadium overlay of Safeco on Hit Tracker and all 30 of Corey’s 2012 HR would have cleared the fences in Seattle (although overlays don’t show fence heights, so maybe the field would’ve held some of them; I don’t know how high the fences are at Miller Park).
2014 Mariners = 2013 Blue Jays?
Hope not, that didn’t end well.
2014 Mariners = 2001 Mariners(116 wins)!!! GO M’s!!!
Son of Boston Red Sox catcher David Ross.
Yep, and grandson of painter Bob Ross…I’m pretty famous dude!!! LOL
2014 Mariners = 2001 Mariners(116 wins)!!! GO M’s!!!
2014 Mariners = 2013 Los Angeles Dodgers/Pittsburgh Pirates
This only works if his knees work and he can come back strong after missing an entire season.
Boo!
Wow this deal could turn out to be a steal at only 5 Million. Really makes the Chris Young signing look even worse for the New York Mets. Hart would have been perfect for them at 1B. Safeco Field is a disaster for Right Handed power hitters, even if they move the dimensions around. Wishing him the best of luck he’s a great hitter when healthy.
Well if he puts together a season that would make $5 million a steal, he would make up to $13 million because if he has a productive season he will likely reach a fair amount of incentives, depending on what they are.
Incentives in contracts can only be things like plate appearances and innings pitched. Stats like RBI and ERA are never involved.
MVP voting, All-Star, Gold Gloves, Silver Slugger etc are all different types of incentives too.
This is true Doc, as A-Rod’s awful HR milestones reminds us. Point to make here is there’s no way Hart will be a steal at 5 million. 5 million means he won’t be on the field very much…
I think it’s a flat out great sign. Risky? Yes but the potential reward seems well worth it! Mariners are gonna be more potent offensively next season.
Smoak is either trade bait or Hart will be the DH equivalent of 2013 Morales. Unless they are going to put him in the OF like Morse or Raul…
Smoak, Paxton or Pike/Anthony Fernanex/Romero/Landry or Morban/PTBN for David Price would make sense on order of compete within the division/wild card races.
The rumor is Cory Hart didn’t want to go back to the Brewers because he didn’t want to play with that lying cheating Braun.
Rofl…or how about $$$.
Not sure about the rumor but it’s incentive based so the money isn’t a guarantee.
Brewers offered a base salary of $4M with $2.5M in incentives; versus the $6M with $7M in incentives. ‘Money!’
Wow, didn’t realize what they offered. Even with the discount he said he’d give them that’s a pretty big difference.
Melvin said it was all about risk assessment. Mariners were able to offer the DH to rest Hart’s knees, so they stood a better chance of keeping him healthy – and therefore gamble more $ on him.
Nice to see Melvin finally being cautious in free agency/extensions and being smart with Attanasio’s money.
Now that the Astro’s moved to the AL West the Brewers can rot in last place in the NL Central.
That’s a good deal for both. Excited to see you play Hart!
This is a good deal for both Hart and the Mariners. If Hart stays healthy and produces, he could get a big contract next winter and make 13M in 2014. Meanwhile, the Mariners get a RH bat to balance their line-up and slot behind Cano.
Mariners should chase Uribe.
We will if he gets too close–right out of our midst. Seager’s already got 3B locked down.
Good approach by M’s after signing Cano. Don’t go out and make another huge splash the way the Marlins did. You got your big ticket, now make those key subtle moves to build around him, which they’ve now done with Morrison and Hart.
Dear Mr. Boras,
Tell Kendrys thanks for the 2013 campaign.
M’s really need a CF and SP now if they want to really make a run at something.
The Twins would make sense as a trading partner to acquire Josh Willingham & either Ricky Nolasco or Vance Worley for SP and OF help. Willingham can play RF by moving that position player to CF, while Nolasco can be a solid #2 starting pitcher or Worley as a third starting pitcher.
Yeah like a record not 25 games under .500
Hart and Morrison dammit Seattle.
Mariners did great today. Two low risk, very high reward acquisitions in Hart and Morrison
think whit the team that seattle have TODAY=80 w
80-85 wins after acquiring Nolasco or Worley, Willingham, Logan Morrison, and signing both Cano & Hart if all can stay healthy.
Trade Justin Smoak, Jesus Montero, James Paxton or Tyler Pike & Anthony Fernandez, and John Hicks to the Minnesota Twins for Ricky Nolasco or Vance Worley & Josh Willingham as the Mariners are trying to keep both Jack Z, Cano, and the team happy to bring in some power to compete within the division/wild card playoffs for years to come. The a Twins are in rebuilding mode for a while as Montero & Smoak can use a big change of scenery, esp. Willingham playing in Seattle.
Cards aren’t giving up Miller and Holiday/Jay for that pile of junk!
That would be one of the worst trades STL has ever made!
Yup, as I revised the trade not involving the Cardinals but the Twins.
“Next piece in thier puzzled”. I’m assuming Jack Z. was the first piece of their puzzled.
Hart can be quality major leaguer but he really looks like a tool in that picture.
He looks like a tool in all pictures, but he can play baseball.
And the Mets spent $7.25M on Chris Young?! This guys is a cheaper guaranteed contract and could play 1B if the outfield gets crowded. Not sure why they didn’t go after this guy
I think making the contract being “Performance Laced” may Awaken A Sleeping Giant.** Man, just think, The Mariners in the Playoff. What a Story To Tell.
COT’s has $4.65M with incentives not $7M. Which is it?