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Mariners In Lead For Jeff Weaver

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According to Ken Rosenthal, the Mariners are the frontrunners to sign free agent starter Jeff Weaver.  An agreement could be reached tonight once the number of years is decided. 

This would be a Bill Bavasi signing I actually wouldn’t mind.  Pushing Baek/Woods out of the rotation is a good thing, and the commitment to Weaver shouldn’t be huge.  It’s a revamped rotation for Seattle, though Weaver doesn’t fit the groundball mold of a lot of their other offseason acquisitions (Ramirez, Batista, Reitsma). 

Ichiro Is Top Priority For Ms

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Bill Bavasi said yesterday to the AP that signing Ichiro Suzuki to a contract extension is a "top priority."  John Hickey thinks it could get done sometime this spring.

If he did reach free agency, Ichiro would join the strongest crop of CFs in recent memory.  His move to CF is long overdue, in my opinion.  It maximizes his value.

Past speculation had the Giants as a possible suitor.  Do you think four years and $60MM would be appropriate? 

Brian Lawrence Update

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According to Kevin Towers on XX Sports Radio in San Diego, Brian Lawrence is waiting to see what happens with David Wells.  Towers expects an answer from Wells today.  If Boomer doesn’t sign with the Padres, Lawrence probably will.

Meanwhile, the Seattle Times reports that the Mariners, Rockies, and Pirates are all still competing for Lawrence. 

Mariners Sign Chris Reitsma

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According to RotoWorld, the Mariners have signed right-handed reliever Chris Reitsma for $1.35MM with an option for ’08.  Not bad for a guy with an 8.68 ERA, eh?

Reitsma had July elbow surgery (not Tommy John) and hopes to be ready for spring.  The 29 year-old is yet another groundballing addition to the Mariner pitching staff (they’ve already got grounder-lovers Felix Hernandez, Miguel Batista, and Horacio Ramirez).

Mariners Talking To Thomson, Ohka

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According to the Seattle Times, Mariners GM Bill Bavasi has been looking at John Thomson or Tomo Ohka as possible additions.

A month ago, the Mariners requested the medical files on Thomson and seemed close to signing him.  The 33 year-old had a rough year health-wise in 2006, so those files were probably pretty thick.

Haven’t heard much on Ohka in the past few weeks, though the Cards, Nats, Red Sox, Diamondbacks, Pirates, and Mariners have expressed interest in the past.  Maybe he’s waiting for Mulder to sign first. Here’s my Ohka profile if you’re interested. 

Yankees After George Sherrill?

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Nice find by RotoWorld – at the bottom of this Bergen Record article, there’s mention of the Yankees’ interest in southpaw reliever George Sherrill.

Presumably, Sherrill would be a backup plan if the Yanks can’t acquire Mike Gonzalez.  From what I hear, there are still a handful of teams involved on the Pittsburgh reliever. 

Sherrill has an interesting stat line that doesn’t seem repeatable – fewer than seven hits per nine, zero home runs in 40 innings, a 4.28 ERA despite six walks per nine.  If used as a strict LOOGY, though, he should be pretty good.

Mariners In On Randy Johnson?

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I scoured what seemed like a dozen Randy Johnson articles, most of which had the same themes we were hearing yesterday: the Yanks don’t have to trade Johnson, the vacancy could go to Zito or Clemens, the Diamondbacks are in the thick of things, the Padres are the frontrunners, the Dodgers are just driving up the price, and the Giants and Angels are the dark horses.

Joseph A. Reaves of the Arizona Republic has a slightly different take, though: he says the Mariners have surfaced as a potential trade partner.  It’s just a one-line mention, but I haven’t seen it confirmed elsewhere yet.  I will try.  Additionally, Reaves writes that the Dodgers are not interested.

Newday’s Ken Davidoff weighs in on the side of reason: he doesn’t want to trade a decent 200 inning starter.  I also agree with him in that Kei Igawa can easily be pushed to the pen for two-thirds of a season if Roger Clemens is brought aboard. The Yanks aren’t so stacked with good starting pitching as to make Johnson expendable.

Mariners Considering Beltre Trade?

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According to Ben Maller, the Mariners are considering trading Adrian Beltre to clear room on the payroll for Barry Zito.

While he hasn’t lived up to expectations as a Mariner, Beltre may yet earn his contract.  He’s only 28 next year, and his .285/.340/.552 line after the break fosters hope.  He also plays superb defense by most accounts.  If Beltre, a Scott Boras client, were a free agent right now, would he top three years, $36MM?  Certainly.

Given that the Mariners don’t have a viable replacement for Beltre, shopping him seems unwise.  The Padres wanted him back in July, but they’ve since acquired Kevin Kouzmanoff.  Just speculating, but the Orioles could make some sense.

UPDATE: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold confirms this rumor at the bottom of his column today, but doesn’t have details.

The Barry Zito Market

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First, let’s start with the White Sox.  Multiple emailers have told me that SNY’s baseball insider Seth Everett reported yesterday that he thinks Chicago might join the Barry Zito chase.  I can’t vouch for this report as I didn’t see it myself.  Regardless, the rumor is making the rounds.  Here’s why I think it would be highly unlikely:

1. While no team loves Scott Boras, the White Sox have a particular distaste for him.
2. Jerry Reinsdorf has a policy: no contracts over three years for pitchers.  That came into effect after they signed Jaime Navarro for four years (he was awful).
3. It doesn’t fit in with Kenny Williams’s apparent plan at all.

Meanwhile, Jon Daniels is "not terribly encouraged" of the Rangers’ chances at signing Zito, mentioned on the heels of his Brandon McCarthy acquisition.

The New York Daily News reports that the Mets have not yet made an official offer.  It appears that the Mariners and Giants are still involved.

Mariners In On Zito?

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Larry Stone of the Seattle Times calls the Mariners a "decided longshot" in the Barry Zito sweepstakes, but also writes of rumblings in the baseball world that they could make him an offer.  Given the likely price and commitment, I don’t think a Zito signing would redeem Bill Bavasi’s offseason. 

The rotation as it stands today:

Felix Hernandez
Jarrod Washburn
Miguel Batista
Horacio Ramirez
Jake Woods

Basically, King Felix plus four guys who pitch to contact.  The White Sox made it work in ’05 with great defense, durability, and a little luck.  Will the 2007 Mariner staff have those qualities?

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