Had an enjoyable evening at the PI Sports Star of the Year banquet. Always fun to take the Hot Stove League Show on the road. Right out of the gates we had Bill Bavasi on. Bill sat down and immediately pulled out the Blackberry. We teased him about what message might be on it and he did laugh. Wasn't able to get a peek however.

Didn't really need to. Bill was pretty forthcoming about just where the Mariners were in regards to a possible trade. He still very much wants to pull off a deal for an elite pitcher and says he thinks they have the ability to make that deal. What's holding it up? The other side.

Clearly, there have been things going on between the Mariners and Orioles the past week. The Mariners have the pieces the Orioles want, but Bavasi has dug his heels in on what he is willing to give up. Geoff Baker in the Seattle Times called it a high -stakes game of chicken today and I think that is a good description of what is going on, but for Baltimore, much more than Seattle.

The Mariners consolation prize is much better. If Adam Jones, George Sherrill and Carlos Triunfel go to the runner up, I would have to think long and hard about sandbagging the race. For Baltimore though, with the Reds supposedly dropping out and the Mets not willing to part with their most prized prospect, I have got to think that the take for Bedard is not going to get any higher than it is now.

So the most newsworthy item from Bavasi is that he is still going for it on the trade front. We also talked with John McLaren who said that he took a lot of flack for comments he made at the winter meetings regarding Richie Sexson bouncing back to form this year. He said that he stands behind those comments and believes that Richie has put the work in this off season to have a good year. He once again said that he has full confidence in Richie's abilities.

He also talked of wanting to push it on the base paths. He wants to see Ichiro steal more. He doesn't think that 80 stolen bases for him is unreasonable "Heck, Ichi can get 40 running backwards" he said with a laugh. He also wants the team go for more first to third. He wants them to look more like Anaheim on the base paths.

On to other stuff.

I enjoy scouring the internet to find out what is going on in international baseball. It can be a challenge though as translation sites (why did I take French?) translate rather strangely. If you have never used one before, for fun, find a baseball article in Spanish and use the Google language translator to translate it. Most of it is pure comedy. For some reason, Sammy Sosa translates to "insipid Sammy". I have learned that a gardener is an outfielder. A quadrangular is a homerun. Adam Jones was the first leaflet or brochure (draft pick) of the Mariners. The Mariners are "Sailors", the Cubs "Puppies" and for some reason the White Sox come up as the "Average Whites". Japanese translations are even worse.

With the help from a Spanish speaking friend, and Adam Jones, who also speaks Spanish but more importantly is there, I now have a better picture of what is going on in the Venezuelan League playoffs and thought some of you may be interested as well.

The Mariners prospects have been playing for the Lara Cardinales. In the winter leagues, major league players usually do not play the entire season which starts in November. Players from the M's organization that have played for Lara this season include Adam Jones, Sean White, Jose Lopez, Brandon Morrow, Rene Cortez, Cesar Jimenez, Stephen Kahn, Ryan Roland Smith, Bryan LaHair, Oswaldo Navarro, Wladimir Balentien and Charlton Jimerson.

Jones, Lopez and Jimenez I believe are the only ones there currently. The team finished second in regular season play but first in the playoffs. The finals (which are best of seven) against the Aragua Tigres start Wednesday. The winner advances to the Carribean World Series that will take place Febuary 2-7 in the Domincan Republic.

Over the last week the two teams have been battling it out for the services of Francisco Rodriguez with Lara ultimately winning. The team that wins the finals can make roster moves that from what I understand basically means they can grab any player from any of the teams to take to the Series. If Lara makes it, Bill Bavasi told me that any Mariner player selected for the final roster would be allowed to play.

McLaren loves the idea of some of his players playing in the Series. He said that it is a whole different pressure representing a country, especially if you are a guest of that country and that country is baseball crazy.

Adam is pretty excited about the possibility of advancing. He told me that Jose Lopez, who has played almost the entire season, has been looking great, hitting the ball hard to all fields. If you are interested in following Lara MiLB.com has a series page that updates rather slowly. Or you can try the Google translator!