Thursday, October 07, 2004 |
Pickoff Moves
OT: Now, That's What I Call "Getting Out The Vote"!
Bang! (Warning: ever so slightly R-rated. Okay, really R-rated. Okay, NC-17. But funny. Very, very funny.)An Autopsy Of The 2004 Mariners
U.S.S. Mariner has an autopsy of the 2004 Mariners today. Interestingly, he brings up something that I've never heard tell of before, namely that, far from the destroyer of worlds a certain blog used to take its name from, Bavasi was -- at a critical point during the offseason -- a sock puppet of the old Gillick regime:Bavasi appears in public with strings attached to his mouth and Pat Gillick’s hand inserted in his back.The M's are clearly looking to spend a bucket to retain credibility before the team collapses back to its pre-90's awfuless, with all the implications that implies towards losing. Will Bavasi find another Mo Vaughn for the M's? Hard to say. None of the top free agents in this year's offseason look like they'd fit that profile (immobile slugger with gaudy home run numbers), but then, neither did Griffey, Jr. at the time his contract was signed.... Over the past year, the club has transitioned in stages. First we had run by Gillick, followed by Gillick telling Bavasi what to do, then Bavasi begins to make bad moves of his own accord, and finally Gillick and loyal subjects leave organization. As the transition has occurred, there has been a noticable change in my conversations with organizational folks. The company line is towed far less often. Dissension was pretty clear starting in about April. By June, you could call the organization a house divided, and it didn't stand long.
So, we’re almost to a Gillick-free era. What organizational philosophies are leaving with him?
1. The lack of importance of “star players". ...
2. First round picks are paid out of line with their actual value and should be actively avoided. ...
3. Veteran leadership is the most undervalued aspect in the game, and a team full of players with experience will beat a team full of similarly talented players lacking experience. ...
... The M’s are going to spend a lot of money this winter. I can’t guarantee they are going to spend it all well, but I can tell you that several of the players we would like to see in Seattle will be forced into deciding to take less money from another organization to turn down the Mariners offer. And, with very few exceptions, the high bidder almost always gets the player in free agency.
That isn't to say it couldn't backfire: Peter White sarcastically suggests that the Mets' commitment to be in the top ten in payroll isn't much comfort to their fans. The M's have a ton of payroll flexibility -- or not. Either way, Angels fans will watch warily at the news in the Emerald City, as rumors of Arte's pending payroll reductions precipitate into something more -- or less -- solid.
A Last Gasp For The Rally Monkey
Connected to IVs and on a ventilator, the Rally Monkey might live on -- in Boston. Ben Jacobs explains why: 20% of teams down two games in a best-of-five series go on to win the next three. The Angels are down, hard, but they ain't dead yet.
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