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Will Mariners Finally Move Sexson?

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Call it educated speculation, but U.S.S. Mariner is wondering whether the Ms will try to trade Richie Sexson this winter.  Derek Zumsteg suggests that recent vibes put out by the team’s broadcast crew may portend a future trade of Sexson or even Jose Lopez.

Even more interesting to me is the note that the Mariners "could have let Detroit pick [Sexson] up on waivers."  We learned back in August that Sexson was claimed off waivers but withdrawn.  It puzzled us at the time, because most GMs would be dying to unload Sexson’s $14MM for 2008.  Anyway this is the first indication I’ve seen of which team actually won the claim.  The Tigers were apparently willing to take the risk.

Mariners Close To Extension With Guillen

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According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Mariners are close to completing a three-year contract extension with right fielder Jose Guillen.  The deal would replace Guillen’s ’08 option, running from 2008-10.  Guillen’s bounced back from Tommy John surgery to hit .293/.360/.467 with 19 HR and 83 RBIs so far this year.

Geoff Baker said recently that the Eric Byrnes contract might serve as a model, so Guillen might be in line for about $30MM.  As I mentioned in this post, Wladimir Balentien seems to be the odd man out in Seattle’s outfield.  And in order to give Adam Jones a regular job next year, Raul Ibanez, Jose Vidro, and Richie Sexson would have to rotate between the first base and DH spots.  More likely, Jones doesn’t play every day unless someone gets hurt.  Remember, the Ms had a chance to dump off Sexson’s contract and chose not to.

U.S.S. Mariner doesn’t like the idea of a Guillen extension.

Odds and Ends

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Some random rumors and links for Tuesday afternoon…

  • The Rockies signed Mark Redman to a minor league contract.  It makes sense to add some depth, but I like the team’s plan of using high-octane arms Ubaldo Jimenez and Franklin Morales instead of the safe veteran options.
  • Rick Sutcliffe’s thoughts on showboating.
  • At one time, it seemed that Jason Jennings would be primed for a big payday this winter.  He still could get a Marquis contract despite his 6.45 ERA in 18 starts.  But prospective buyers have to be concerned that he replied "I don’t know" when asked if he is healthy.  By the way, that link details a failed ballpark marriage proposal that resulted in popcorn being dumped on the guy’s head.  On the Jumbotron.
  • It wouldn’t be the Kansas City Star without an enormous pixellated close-up of the player in question.  This time it’s Mark Grudzielanek, who’s been extended through 2008.  Grudz wouldn’t have reached the 500 PAs needed to guarantee his $4MM option for ’08.
  • The Red Sox still haven’t spoken to Mike Lowell about a contract extension.  He wants to stay, and Nick Cafardo suggests Jermaine Dye could be the comp at two years, $22MM.  That’d be a major concession for Lowell, who’d be the best free agent third baseman unless A-Rod opts out.  One scenario has Kevin Youkilis moving to third base and some sort of league average first baseman stepping in, like the newly acquired Chris Carter.  Another has the Red Sox signing Alex Rodriguez.  The middle ground to those extremes is just to agree on a two-year deal with Lowell.  It’d make sense for the Red Sox to hold off on Lowell until they see what A-Rod does.   
  • The Eric Byrnes contract may serve as a model for Jose Guillen.
  • Tom Koch-Weser of STATS, Inc. has a new WHIFF profile of San Diego’s Chris Young.  A must-read as always.

Stark On Waiver Happenings

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Jayson Stark’s column today was a goldmine of waiver-related material.  I updated my Players Who Have Cleared Waivers post with his new info.  Two thoughts from that group:

  • I was surprised to see that no one wanted a piece of Troy Glaus’s contract, which really isn’t scary at $24MM over 2008-09 (assuming he exercises his player option).  I’m sure his no-trade clause would’ve been a pricey obstacle, but what’s the harm in making a claim?  Why would the Angels, Phillies, and Dodgers pass on him?  Maybe clubs talked to J.P. Ricciardi and decided it just wasn’t worth it.  And to be fair, Glaus hasn’t done anything since June and is dealing with plantar fasciitis.
  • I wonder if Jim Bowden was embarrassed that no one would touch Dmitri Young’s silly new contract.

Another group Stark had was the Claimed But Withdrawn.  Here they are:

Jon Garland
Scott Hatteberg
Kei Igawa
Jacque Jones
Mike Lamb
Mark Loretta
Corey Patterson
Chad Qualls
David Riske
Richie Sexson
Miguel Tejada
Matt Thornton
Javier Vazquez
Dan Wheeler

Just one jumps out at me here.  Richie Sexson is a huge burden at $14MM next year.  And Bill Bavasi passed on the chance to unload that contract.  The guy is hitting .208/.299/.405 as a 32 year-old; his OPS has cracked .800 in only one month this year.  This is a team that can’t find playing time for Adam Jones.  What’s the logic here?  $14MM could’ve bought something nice in 2008.

Where’s David Wells Headed?

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Another August, another David Wells trade.  Which teams would consider the 44 year-old southpaw?

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe believes there’s a small chance the Diamondbacks or Dodgers could be interested.  Wells’ agent, Gregg Clifton, specifically mentioned the Mets, D’Backs, and Dodgers as teams the pitcher would strongly consider.

However, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic indicated Friday that the D’Backs "do not appear to have interest" in Wells.  Similar story for another West team, the Mariners.  Larry Stone of the Seattle Times says the Ms "don’t appear to be interested."  Stone says Wells has a strong preference to stay in the NL.  I don’t blame him.  I wonder if Wells is on Atlanta’s radar.

Mariners Still Talking Extension With Guillen?

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According to Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, the Mariners are offering something like two years plus an option to right fielder Jose Guillen.  Guillen is hitting .286/.357/.439 as the Mariners’ #3 hitter.

Back in mid-July, I speculated that it might require something like three years and $36MM to retain Guillen.  Guillen still has a decent shot at 100 RBI.  I think that still holds some weight among decision-makers, like it or not.  Guillen’s actually probably a touch below average offensively for a right fielder. I’m not sure what to make of Guillen’s platoon split – he’s been far better against lefties this year but had the opposite split in 2005 (his last full season).  By most accounts Guillen’s a plus on defense. 

It’s clear that the future Mariner outfield will have Ichiro Suzuki and Adam Jones playing regularly.  They’re locked in with Raul Ibanez and Jose Vidro in 2008, seemingly filling the DH spot.  The odd man out seems to be 23 year-old right fielder Wladimir Balentien.  Wlad’s had two awesome months out of four at Triple A this year, leaving him with a nice .308/.378/.561 line with 24 homers.  The Mariners seem to view him as expendable, apparently offering him for Octavio Dotel.  If they sign Guillen through 2010, Balentien will find himself in many more trade rumors this winter.   

Failed Trades

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Let’s take a look at some deals that almost happened yesterday.

Kyle Farnsworth for Bob Wickman.  This would’ve been fun, reunions with former teams for both players.  However, the Braves wanted the Yankees to pick up all of Farnsworth’s salary, apparently.  Brian Cashman didn’t want to make him go away that badly, and Wickman would probably be a nonfactor back in the AL.

Mariners acquire Mark Loretta.  Eh.  Let’s not overstate the abilities of Loretta.  It sounds like Tim Purpura wanted some kind of legitimate prospect for him.

Rockies send Jeff Baker and others to Tampa Bay for Dan Wheeler.  We can’t really evaluate this one without knowing who else would’ve been involved.  And the Rays don’t really have a place to play Baker; they’re already squeezed finding playing time for Jonny Gomes.  If Rocco Baldelli ever gets healthy they’ll really have a pickle.  I mentioned in a recent interview at D-Rays Bay – Wheeler would probably be one of the ten best relievers available if he was a free agent after the season.  The Rays can pump up his value and get a promising young pitcher next year, as the Royals did with Octavio Dotel.    

Brewers send Tony Gwynn Jr., Zach Jackson, and another minor league for Eric Gagne.  This could’ve been the difference-maker that Scott Linebrink ain’t in a tight NL Central race.  But it doesn’t seem like Doug Melvin got a chance to counter the Red Sox offer, so you can’t really fault him.

Red Sox send Wily Mo Pena and Craig Hansen to White Sox for Jermaine Dye.  Well, there has to be some statistical way to evaluate whether this pair beats two draft picks.  You’d have to know the attrition rates of first/second rounders, and get some scouts on Pena and Hansen to see if they can ever reach their potential.  If I was the Kenny Williams I probably would’ve made the deal.  I think Pena gets docked in value from where he was two years ago, but still has pretty much the same upside if you manage him right.  Who knows, maybe Williams will go after Pena again this winter.

Phillies Obtain Julio Mateo

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The Phillies are attempting to corner the market on scumbags.  Today, they acquired 28 year-old reliever and wife beater/biter Julio Mateo from the Mariners.  Performance always wins out, and Mateo had allowed just four runs in 32.2 Triple A innings this year.

Kudos to the Mariners for leaving Mateo in Triple A and getting him out of the organization.  He should move directly into a late-inning role for the Phillies.

Mariners Discussing Jeff Clement For Al Reyes?

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It was established yesterday that the Mariners are after Devil Rays reliever Al Reyes, desiring a young catcher in return.   Naturally, we raised Jeff Clement’s name.

Today U.S.S. Mariner comments on that idea, saying that Clement for Reyes has legs.  Needless to say they don’t like the idea.  I agree – it would be a steal for the Rays.  As noted yesterday, Reyes hasn’t been effective since mid-June.

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