Not quite three adverbs, but .......

Activity equals progress

How about "2000 Devil Rays"?

Yes, Sexson, Delgado and Glaus are better than Canseco, Vaughn and Castilla, but it's still got that sense of "Look at us! We're signing big names! Please pay attention!"

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
disabled-licious? (not even one word, I know)

How about "jealousy inducing"...

...sure Bavasi did some crazy moves last year, but I think Bauxers would be pretty ecstatic if we signed even 1 of those boppers.

"erraticly ambitiously improving"?

I'd be ecstatic if the home nine had enough money to re-sign Delgado and to sign Glaus. But, the Mariners drew nearly 3 million fans last year despite a losing record. In related news, Nintendo increased its stake in the Mariners today.

Hopefully if they are going to sign Delgado they will be "forfeiting draft picks" to the Jays

Not unless the Jays offer Delgado arbitration.. which would be insane

... or the Mariners sign him before Dec 7

From a Seattle article I read, they don't expect to sign Carlos before the Dec. 7 deadline...

Why not offer Delgado arbitration, given the interest in him?

If he accepts instead, then you trade him.

I don't know - it makes sense to me, even though it's a risk.

Because the interest in him is not at ~$15M (0.8*$18.5) but more likely at sub $12M levels...so the Jays might have to eat >$3M in salary to move him.

There's another aspect, too. If Delgado accepts arbitration, it gives you a big, exclusive window of opportunity to sign him.

I know there are restrictions to trading newly-signed players, I don't know them offhand, but it seems to me that the risk of offering arbitration to Delgado might well be worth the potential reward.

http://me.woot.net
Not to mention the fact that Delgado can veto any trade due to his seniority in the league.

Assuming 'of' doesn't count as a word, my three word description of them Mariners would be:

"Sick of Stranding Ichiro"

I personally think that the risk of offering arbitration is worth the reward. $15 million/year on a 1 year contract, if that is the eventual outcome, will not hamstring the organization when it really counts.

It is possible that Delgado will be able to do better than $15 million for a 1 year contract on the market (preferring $24 or $25 million for 2 years, say, possibly with a team option for a third with a $2 million buyout).

I guess it depends on how much one values the draft pick. If one takes the Sabean approach, you certainly don't.

I'd love to offer it to him.. but 15 per for even one year pretty much writes this season off. We'd have the same team, more or less.

I'm all for offering arbitration but if he accepts that basically blows the budget for this year. Don't expect any new players except by trade or call-up.

IIRC the Jays offered David Segui arbitration fully expecting him to decline but were stunned when actually accepted. Did they not trade him to Montreal for Fullmer the next spring? I think a player signed through arbitration can be traded. Of course, Delgado, I think, is a 10 and 5 guy so he can veto any trade.

Argh. 3 commas in five words.

Order obviously matters- "insanely ambitious" and "ambitiously insane" qualify as two separate answers.

More the latter than the former I'd say. Don't get me wrong, I like all three of the guys mentioned, but I have some concerns about Seattle going this route. Basically, there was a lot wrong with the Mariners last season, and to me the indication seemed to be that they should seriously consider rebuilding. Signing two of those three guys would definitely improve the club but I'm not at all convinced it would make them strong contenders, and it definitely wouldn't fix all of there problems. What it would do, however, is tie up a huge chunk of payroll in two slugging corner infield/DH players coming off of significant injuries (moreso Sexson and Glaus than Delgado). It just seems to me a little to much like following the time-honored Baltimore strategy of hamstringing yourself with unnecessary big contracts to power hitters...

Can you describe Mariner mangement in the post-Gillick era in 3 adjectives/adverbs or less

Screwed.

The Mariners finished last in the AL in runs scored in 2004. Here's where they ranked in OPS among their AL West rivals (totals not adjusted for parks):

5. Texas
8. Oakland
9. Anaheim
12. Seattle

Obviously, they think they need to score more runs to win. But now look at the pitching statistics (again, a very rough guide -- unadjusted team ERA):

2. Oakland
4. Anaheim
5. Texas
8. Seattle

Even in the league's best pitcher's park, the Mariners finished below-average in team pitching; their road ERA of 5.26 was fourth-worst in the AL. Only two of their pitchers threw more than 140 innings: Jamie Moyer, who may finally be done, and Ryan Franklin, who went 4-16, 4.90 and will be 32 next Opening Day. Their two most promising pitchers, Joel Piniero and Gil Meche, are in varying stages of recovery from arm problems; Rafael Soriano underwent TJ surgery in August. In other words, pitching looks like at least as big a problem for this team as hitting, and it's a problem that gets disguised by Safeco Field.

Apart entirely from the fact they're probably fixing the wrong axle on this 99-loss vehicle, the Mariners would be rolling the dice with these guys. Glaus has played 139 games total the past two years and has batted .253 during that time; Sexson may or not have 45-homer power left after shoulder surgery. Delgado is a pretty sound investment offensively, but he will have nagging injuries and he has been merely good, not outstanding, three of the past five seasons. These are the kinds of guys you should pick up at a discount, but with free-agent prices already skyrocketing for mediocre players (thanks, Jim Bowden), the Mariners ought to back away from the table now while they still can.

All of which to say: you could defend these reported moves as buying-time ploys while the farm system matures, expensive trinkets to show fans the club is trying to be competitive. But it's more likely that the Mariners actually think they're a Delgado and a Glaus away from challenging for the division lead -- which they most certainly are not -- and that's why I think they're fundamentally screwed.

I can't see Delgado signing with Seattle unless they throw a whole lot of money at him. Why would he want to leave one last-place team to sign with another one?

The Star today has a truly bizarre addition to this Delgado story. It claims that former manager Melvin was lobbying Bavasi to trade for Delgado after he came off the DL in July. Why would Delgado agree to go to a team that was worse than the Jays when he declined trades to contenders? Why would Seattle trade for a player in July who's a FA after the season when they are 30 games out of contention? Did anyone at the Star ask these questions before this was written?

Joe,

Not to mention the fact that Delgado can veto any trade due to his seniority in the league.

I think to be able to veto a trade without a no-trade clause you have to have 10 years in the league AND 5 years with your current team, so that wouldn't apply if Carlos signed in Seattle. Of course, I'm sure that wherever he signs, Carlos will want no-trade clause...

I notice that Nintendo is now the majority shareholder in the Mariners. How does this affect the Jays? Herewith a dubious line of reasoning:

1. The Mariners are one of the most popular teams in Japan, presumably because of Ichiro.

2. They are likely to want to build on this, given their owners.

3. Delgado speaks Japanese. Could therefore do interviews especially for the Japan market.

4. Delgado will sign with the Ms. Bet your house on it (but not mine please).

QED!

I just keep laughing at the silliness of the Jays probably getting a draft pick for Zaun but not for Delgado. Something a bit screwy in the way the system is designed at the moment. If only it was SF who was after Delgado instead.

As for Seattle, '1998+ Orioles' might be a good was to describe them, spend tons of dough for names but still be sub-500 year in, year out.

Sexson has drawn interest from the Orioles and Mets while the same two teams have approached Delgado, who also has a standing multi-year offer from Toronto, the only team for which he's ever played. (Seattle P.I.)

I didn't know Delgado had a multi-year offer from Toronto on the table.

I didn't know Delgado had a multi-year offer from Toronto on the table.

according to today's Star, Godfrey and Co. put forth an offer to Delgado during the negotiations and Delgado did not refuse or accept (obviously) the offer yet the sides have not spoken since. Or something like that, I read it briefly but they did mention an offer being out there.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Baseball/MLB/Toronto/2004/11/24/729391-cp.html
COMN for a little more detail on the offer.

How about:

Moyer sucks now.

Seriously, I'm not crazy about the Mariner staff. Safeco makes them look better than they really are. If Moyer falls off the cliff (he was teetering on the edge last year) the M's are in trouble. Meche's arm can fall off at any minute and I've never been sold on Pineiro. You'd think good pitchers would be falling over themselves to pitch for the M's.

Also, from Jobu's link:

Batista's status for next season will largely be determined by what happens in the coming weeks. The Jays experimented with him at closer last September but right now Ricciardi envisions him as part of the rotation.

The Jays experimented with him at closer last September but right now Ricciardi envisions him as part of the rotation.

Good.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/mariners/2002102043_mari27.html
From the Seattle Times (COMN):

Seattle, one of the big leagues' lowliest clubs last year in home runs and runs batted in, has apparently made multiyear contract offers to both Carlos Delgado and Richie Sexson, two of the most powerful bats to come on the free-agent market in years.

Confirming that yesterday, an independent source said the club would fit the sluggers into the defense by asking Sexson to play left field much of the time.

"What they are hoping is to have a rotation of Delgado, Sexson and (Raul) Ibanez for first base, left and DH," the source said.

I say again: screwed.

Delgado speaks Japanese.

He does?