Josh Hamilton's asking price of seven years and $175MM is too rich for the Mariners' blood, but if that price drops to $80-85MM over four or five years, Larry Stone of the Seattle Times feels the M's should make a play for the outfielder. We heard yesterday that the Mariners were interested in Hamilton, as the club continues to pursue free agent hitters for the less pitcher-friendly Safeco Field.
Some more news from around the AL West…
- Angels GM Jerry DiPoto said that his team is interested in Japanese right-hander Kyuji Fujikawa and that the feeling is apparently mutual, reports Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times. Fujikawa has been considered to be Japan's top closer for the better part of a decade and is available to be signed without a posting fee. The Dodgers and Red Sox have also been rumored to be interested in Fujikawa.
- The Rangers apparently made a posting bid on Korean left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu, reports Evan P. Grant of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter), though he doesn't have full confirmation. Teams had until 4PM CT today to place a bid on Ryu, and if the KBO's Hanwha Eagles accepted the highest bid, Ryu and agent Scott Boras could then negotiate a contract with that MLB team.
- The Rangers are interested in right-hander Joakim Soria, reports FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi (Twitter link). At least eight teams have checked in on the former Royals closer thus far, and Soria has also said he would be happy to pitch for the Yankees as Mariano Rivera's set-up man.
- The Astros project to have a very low payroll in 2013, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Houston's payroll could be around $30MM, a big drop from the Padres' $55.2MM league-low payroll on Opening Day 2012, though Rosenthal notes that the MLBPA and Commissioner's Office aren't likely to object given that the Astros are in the first stages of a major rebuild.
It’s so weird seeing the Astros under AL West stories. That’ll take some getting used to.
MLB needs to make the Astros have a higher payroll. There needs to be a floor. At 30 mil they are basically not using any of their own money. It’s ridiculous.
I agree. a floor, or base-minimum would be a step in the right direction to improving parity across the league.
Yes
A minimum and a max.
Should put some serious consequences against exceeding the salary hard cap as well.
In the NHL, the floor dramatically increased salary inflation while doing essentially nothing for competitive balance. I don’t think MLB’s going to look to imitate that result.
If the Astros have a 30 mil payroll, what it’s going to do is give a lot of wins to the other AL West teams, which is not fair to the teams in other divisions of the AL who are trying to get one of the wild card spots. Since it looks like you are a Twins fan, maybe you would care about that.
You don’t know that the payroll is going to be only $30 million. You’re relying on Ken Rosenthal, who himself has no clue what it will be. This article is just condescending speculation. Do you think it would be smart for Luhnow to come out and say exactly how much he’s going to spend in free agency this offseason?
Larry Stone is speculating he doesnt know what we may be willing to pay or not
I’d really like Hamilton. Even if he doesn’t get 30+ HRs, it brings people to the games. Attendance was so low.
Attendance was so low because the Mariners sucked. I feel like I might have been one of the only non-season ticket holders who went to 10+ games. Nobody wants to waste money on tickets, beer, and hot dogs when the team sucks. Win, and people will show up. Signing Hamilton won’t change much in the way of attendance.
Winning puts people in seats IMO, not name-brand players.
Has anybody seen more info on Ryu’s post?
No. I would think it would have been more heavily covered since this is the first time the KBO-MLB posting system has been used (at least to my knowledge).
Larry’s right, the M’s FO isn’t stupid. They aren’t going to pay an aging, oft-injured 4 WAR player $25 million a year, for 7 years.
LOL Rosenthal is being very condescending and has no idea what the payroll will be. Luhnow has said over and over again he will try to add free agents. I am laughing that someone named cano says we need to spend. Especially with the yankees being stuck with A-Frauds contract.