Casey Kotchman refused an outright assignment and is now a free agent, the Mariners announced. The move is essentially an early non-tender. Kotchman had zero trade value and would have been non-tendered in December, so the Mariners are allowing the first baseman to hit the free agent market a month early.
Kotchman, 27, earned $3.5MM last year and even a modest arbitration raise would have guaranteed him an unnecessarily high salary. He batted .217/.280/.336 last year in 457 plate appearances. Kotchman has a reputation as a good defender and he posted an .840 OPS in 2007, but he does not hit enough for a first baseman.
Bye bye
Correct me if I’m wrong, but with the Mark Teixiera transactions with Kotchman being involved in 1, in a span of 1 year (Mid 2007 to mid 2008), and as far as active players on MLB roster (not prospects)
The Braves lost Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and eventually Mark Texieria (despite gaining him, they eventually lost him)
And in the end 1 year later, all they got, was Casey Kotchman, and for only half a season as well?
Now there are bad transactions, and then there are BAD transactions
(Yes Braves fans I know, Yankees have made 1 or 2 BAD ones themselves but Ouch bang)
This was obviously a no brainer by the Mariners
Well at least the Rangers and Angels made out… you can’t win ’em all.
Definitely can’t hehe
this is why i laugh when braves fans yap about other GM’s. the fact that they went from laroche…to tex…to kotchman…then back to laroche…and lost 2 young all-stars and a top catching prospect in the process must serve as the ultimate muzzle.
Well I’ll be honest and say I’ve never seen a Braves fan yap about other GM’s. I’m not saying that don’t happen, but myself personally I’ve never seen it.
See posts made about Omar Minaya.
then again to be fair. everyone makes fun of Omar Minaya.
Good luck finding a job, Kotchman.
The Angels would probably sign him to a minor league deal.
Their better off signing someone better than Kotchman. He’s arguably the worse free agent first baseman.
Say goodbye to a guaranteed contract. It’ll be minor league contracts from here on out.
Cubs
The Kotchman trade was one that really didn’t work out for the Mariners, but it was worth a shot. I would be surprised to see him land a major league deal for 2011.
He’ll be signed as a backup/defensive replacement. Think Travis Ishikawa. Plus he played in one of the worst hitter’s park in the majors. Why do you think nobody but Ichiro could get hits there.
and Edgar and Junior and Buhner and Alex and …..I suppose that was the Kingdome…..if people would learn how to hit instead of trying to hit homeruns…Giants did it…the old Dodgers did it…etc…hit for average…play smart ball….pitching….I see they let Branyon go again…sigh……I still think Chone is a cancer….I like Saunders, but how long do we wait, but sometimes we don’t wait long enough (Adam Jones)….and I hope Lopez is gone….what else? Griffey needs a proper farewell………..
The Mariners did the right thing. A first baseman has to at least hit the ball a little bit right? He hit .217 and nine home runs.
Justin Smoak is their guy at first and he will do well.
Casey Kotchman Hits Free Agency.
I was so excited that he’d FINALLY hit something in 2010….then I realized it was just the headline.