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Thursday, July 15, 2004 |
Olerud Gone
Mariners Wheelhouse reports long-time M's first baseman John Olerud has been moved off the roster. He has a no-trade clause in his contract that has prevented trading him to another team; one such move he already rejected was a salary swap with the Giants for ex-Angel J.T. Snow. The Mariners will owe him the balance of his $7.7 million salary for 2004, or $3.4 million. David at U.S.S. Mariner has a good piece on what he now claims is in fact a DFA. Once designated for assignment, Olerud will have to accept whatever team makes a claim on him; his no-trade clause will no longer be enforceable, or so goes the speculation.
The end of a franchise player's career is never pretty, but in this case it wasn't unexpected.
Comments:
Olerud is still useful as a left-handed bat with good OBP and for his glove. He's not worth his contract though; that's why the Mariners couldn't move him.
If he clears waivers, he can be had for minimum salary, and he should have suitors.
With the Mariners, at this point he was clogging the roster. They need to see what Bucky Jacobsen can do, and they can't get Bucky up without clearing either Olerud or Martinez. They will never release Martinez, so Olerud is the one who goes.
The other interesting part is that the Mariners office is acting as if they finally understand the concept that a contract is a sunk cost.
If he clears waivers, he can be had for minimum salary, and he should have suitors.
With the Mariners, at this point he was clogging the roster. They need to see what Bucky Jacobsen can do, and they can't get Bucky up without clearing either Olerud or Martinez. They will never release Martinez, so Olerud is the one who goes.
The other interesting part is that the Mariners office is acting as if they finally understand the concept that a contract is a sunk cost.
this from u.s.s. mariner:
"Okay, so I just heard that tonight was John Olerud's night to honor kids with disabilities at Safeco Field. And, showing an unbelievable amount of class, he showed up in street clothes and went through with the promotion.
Three cheers for John Olerud. That's awesome. And, seriously, they couldn't have DFA'd him tomorrow, knowing that he was part of the pre-game ceremonies tonight?"
always liked Olerud, hopefully he doesn't go to SF and make us root against him.
mattkew
"Okay, so I just heard that tonight was John Olerud's night to honor kids with disabilities at Safeco Field. And, showing an unbelievable amount of class, he showed up in street clothes and went through with the promotion.
Three cheers for John Olerud. That's awesome. And, seriously, they couldn't have DFA'd him tomorrow, knowing that he was part of the pre-game ceremonies tonight?"
always liked Olerud, hopefully he doesn't go to SF and make us root against him.
mattkew
# posted by 
: 7/16/2004 02:58:00 AM
: 7/16/2004 02:58:00 AM
Another good crack from USS Mariner:
With 1B vacant, Spiezio can play more first, [3B prospect Justin] Leone more third, and that at least makes me happy. Though if you thought Olerud wasn't hitting well enough to stick at first, start leaving those tomatoes out in the sun because you're going to want something squishy and rotten to throw at Spiezio before too long.
I'm not much on Bavasi as a GM -- in fact, all of the Mariners' blogosphere had been hypercritical up until the Freddie Garcia trade, which met with surprising applause. But we can say with some certainty that Stoneman is a better GM than Bavasi, if only because he didn't long-term Spiezio. That said, it wasn't as though the Angels had an obvious hole in the infield where they could plug him in, and it became a choice between Spiezio and nobody. Once the team got Guillen, Erstad had to be moved to first, period.
With 1B vacant, Spiezio can play more first, [3B prospect Justin] Leone more third, and that at least makes me happy. Though if you thought Olerud wasn't hitting well enough to stick at first, start leaving those tomatoes out in the sun because you're going to want something squishy and rotten to throw at Spiezio before too long.
I'm not much on Bavasi as a GM -- in fact, all of the Mariners' blogosphere had been hypercritical up until the Freddie Garcia trade, which met with surprising applause. But we can say with some certainty that Stoneman is a better GM than Bavasi, if only because he didn't long-term Spiezio. That said, it wasn't as though the Angels had an obvious hole in the infield where they could plug him in, and it became a choice between Spiezio and nobody. Once the team got Guillen, Erstad had to be moved to first, period.
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