Here's the latest from the Mariners' camp…
- Corey Hart would have taken a lesser offer than the Mariners' one-year, $6MM contract in order to remain with the Brewers, but Hart told reporters (including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) that the Crew's offer "wasn’t really close at all." While Seattle offered Hart $6MM guaranteed with another $4.65MM available in incentives, the Brewers' best offer was a $4MM deal with an extra $2.5MM in incentives. "I even talked to [Brewers GM Doug Melvin], and he basically said, 'I couldn’t turn that down, so why would you be expected to?’ They understood there was a huge gap," Hart said. "It was one of those things where I would have liked to stay if it was close, but in the long run it wasn’t that close, and they weren’t pushing like [the Mariners] were." Hart also noted that several Brewers coaches reached out in an attempt to convince him to stay, but none of his teammates made similar overtures.
- Stefen Romero's case for making the Opening Day roster as a backup outfielder is looking better and better, MLB.com's Greg Johns writes. Romero is a right-handed hitter and already on the 40-man roster, plus he offers versatility due to his experience at both second and third base. Romeo, a tenth-round pick in 2010, has an .863 OPS over 1426 minor league PA and has been hitting increasingly well this spring.
- The M's were rumored to be looking for pitching in the wake of injuries to Hisashi Iwakuma and Taijuan Walker, but MLB.com's Tracy Ringolsby notes that the solid performance of the team's internal arms has put that speculation to rest. With Iwakuma and Walker both on pace to return at the end of April, the Mariners will turn to a list of replacements that includes Blake Beavan (who had been pitching well before a poor performance in today's game), minor league southpaw Roenis Elias and veterans Scott Baker and Randy Wolf.
The third bullet point could use a little editing. Otherwise keep up the good work, Mark.
So much of the Ms’ success is going to hinge on their young players, and hopefully it doesn’t all fall apart like last year. In spite of the wheels spinning in the mud, I like this team. I expect them to gain at least some traction this year, at least enough to make it somewhat interesting.
There’s still a chance all these young guys show up at once and start to play well. If they can just battle through those down times rather than disappearing all together, they might even be able to keep it interesting into August.
Paxton is the real deal people. Get him in your fantasy league and you won’t regret it.
I’d take a long hard look at Brad Miller as well.
I like Miller too but can’t believe how many people are sleeping on Paxton. He’s better than 2/3rds of pitchers being drafted. Obviously I’m high on him but I was a big fan of him in the minors and am fully buying into what he did his September call-up (he was Wacha good; maybe better but gets no hype). Thus I made a great move snagging him in the 25th round. ESPN had him ranked 489th overall. I think he’ll have a better year than Iwakurma (yes I believe that).