Story Published:
Apr 3, 2008 at 5:42 PM PST
Story Updated:
Apr 3, 2008 at 5:42 PM PST
It is what it is. The Mariners had to pick up at least one solid starting pitcher this off season and while a four year deal at an inflated 48 million dollars may be hard to stomach, they had the means to do it, and like his numbers or not, Carlos Silva improves this team now.
The Mariners were in a tough spot having two rotation spots to fill. If you followed the national press during the Winter Meetings the Mariners ceased to be the Mariners, rather, they were referred to as “The Mariners Desperate for Pitching”. Not a good bargaining position to be in. An even worse position to be in in the spring.
So they identified the top free agent pitchers and went for it. Was Kuroda their number one target? Maybe, but an uneasy one. The M’s were more willing to go over the top for Silva because he was a known quantity, both in baseball and in the American League. No one knows how Kuroda will adapt to American baseball and America itself. He could be Matsuzaka or he could be Igawa.
The team had to travel to Japan to get to know this guy because there weren’t enough people who knew him off the field. With Silva, enough people knew him (even Eddie Guardado who was a teammate in Minnesota put in a call and a good word); everyone in the organization had seen him pitch. He had survived in the American League. If they were going to have to go the extra year and the extra dollars, this is what they felt more comfortable with.
In a conversation that will run Sunday at 7pm on KOMO, I asked Bill Bavasi about this deal knowing that the years and dollars of the contract may raise some eyebrows. I asked him after the press conference in knowing that he is generally uncomfortable offering four year deals to pitchers, what went into the decision to give it to Silva? Was it something they saw in him that they really liked or was it maybe because that is what the market dictated. He answered,
“That s exactly right. Unfortunately, that’s the answer. It is too simple an answer for some people, but it is the answer. The market is what it is. I would prefer to be paying a dollar fifty a gallon for my gas too. But do you know what, if I want to drive I look around for the best deal I can get and I am going to fill my tank and go.”
While acknowledging that they were no doubt the most aggressive team going after Silva, going so far as to say that they knew they beat out the second choice and probably did so by a significant amount, Bavasi explained why they got so aggressive.
“In this case we find the best pitcher on the market and we try to negotiate hard, but you are trying to do two things. You are trying to get him signed, now, and you are trying to get him off the market before prices go up because prices do not go down as time goes by. Even within the off season. Unfortunately you have to get aggressive when you want to get a guy off the market early and believe it or not, it is still early.”
What about shorter deals with lesser pitchers or pitchers coming off injury? Bavasi did not like what he saw in that group, and with spots filled in the rotation, doesn’t even like those guys for a fifth spot. He said that what they have in the fifth spot now, what he defined as Ramirez or Morrow, is better than what is left on the free agent market so the team will turn their energies towards focusing on trades.
An aside here. I was sold on the possibility of one year with Bartolo Colon. I had heard that he was very motivated to get a good year in then go for the big pay day he has never had. Why not give him a Weaver deal? In talking to several executives with other clubs the consensus with them was that he is still a huge injury threat. They don’t think he will be sound. The last I heard was the best deal Colon had was 1 year 7 million from the Nationals.
The Mariners have the door open on multiple pitching trade fronts, including Bedard and Santana. Bavasi admitted that it would be highly unlikely that they would trade Morrow, but said it wasn’t impossible. I asked if the team was solid in knowing what they were willing to give up. Bavasi, without giving up too much let me in on the parameters.
“We are solid in how high we are willing to go, it usually ends up that depth is the question. You see these deals with so many players involved. We have to be careful of that. We know how high we want to go as far as talent on the individual basis. I think we are the type of people who when you are buying your house, we will either give you your terms, or your price, but we don’t want to give you both.
In other words, if there are a lot of player involved, then there is going to be less quality in those players, but if someone wants to keep the numbers down a bit, there will be a couple of pretty good players involved, if there is a pretty good player coming back the other way.”
Doesn’t sound to me that he is going to “fleece” the system as some worry he will. I maintain as I have throughout the off-season, that Adam Jones as he is now is replaceable and that a number 1 pitcher is a rare find. The question for me is, is Adam special or is he merely good. Good to special is not a bad range to fall in to. But good is replaceable. Is he Junior, or is he Torii Hunter? It is the gamble that you take when you trade prospects. For the Mariners sake, if he is traded, I hope he is good. If he stays, I hope I regret ever even broaching the possibility of anything less than special.
Whitney Houston, superstar of records, films, dies at 48 (Photo Gallery) 
