The Glade 4.0

The Mariners just acquired CLIFF FREAKIN' LEE!!

First Figgins at 3rd, now CLIFF FREAKIN' LEE!?

Add that to the master moves he made last year to get Gutierrez and Branyan.

At this point I wouldn't be surprised to find Adrian Gonzalez and Albert Pujols suiting up for the M's at the cost of a couple of groundskeepers and the Moose!

Jack Zduriencik (Mariners GM) has just upgraded from "Ninja" to "Jedi Master". I think I saw a crew putting up a statue outside of Safeco.

Edit:
I just saw the words "Mariners" and "Contenders" in the same article. Unfreakin' believable...

I am pleased.

Jays finally lost Halladay, which would come as no surprise to anyone, but is still kinda sad. I'm glad I got to see him pitch at least once though.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers got rid of one of their more popular players, Juan Pierre. Admittedly, he's overpaid for what he does - bat .300, steal bases at an 80% clip, and sit on the bench - but the Dodgers unloaded him and paid most of his salary for the next two years.

The return? Two players to be named later. Lemme say that again: Two players to be named later. Not even prospects, or a #5 pitcher who may be similarly overpaid. It's very sad.

Well, if you're a Dodgers fan, at least.

_________________
This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

Player traded for himself 1962

In April, the Mets traded catcher Harry Chiti to the Indians for a player to be named later. On June 15, the Mets received the PTBNL, who turned out to be Chiti, making Chiti the first player to be traded for himself (in 1987, in the same sort of scenario, Cubs pitcher Dickie Noles was also traded for himself).

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Huh. Maybe the Dodgers are gonna wait until Manny gets popped for PEDs again, then take back Pierre. I'd be OK with that.

_________________
This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

I just hope the M's don't waste this opportunity. They have what is very likely the best 1/2 pitching combo and it's a righty/lefty combo to boot. They had on of the best bullpens in MLB last year, and all of those guys are back this year.

The Angels are bleeding talent, and the Rangers have not done much.

The M's just need to get a couple of solid middle-of-the-order bats to drive in Ichiro and Figgins, and then stay healthy, and we should have a good chance to go deep into the playoffs.

Oh, and as much as i love Ken Griffey Jr, he's a serious weakness in the lineup. He's taking a roster spot for a real DH. Before we made these moves and put ourselves in contention, I was ok with letting him have a spot on the bench for one more year, but things have changed. As much as I hate to say it, a lame hammy or tweaked knee, resulting in an early retirement might be just what the Doctor ordered. :p

I think Griffey understands the situation. I believe he even said he would be okay with playing left bench if that was best for the team.

I'm still glad he's here, if only for the leadership and motivation.

Yea, but it's not playing time that worries me. It's the roster spot. They could really stand to fill that spot with an every day DH, or at least someone who can fill in for an injured position player.

Griffey, as much as I love him, is pretty much just a situational pinch hitter..which is a role that Wakamatsu has shown very little interest in using if last year was any indication..

Eh... wow...

Dr. Z just traded Carlos Silva (worthless roster bloat) for Milton Bradley.

Switch hitting high OBP left fielder with decent power. I don't like the guy much personally, but with Griffey around to tickle him into submission, he should be fine.

He's a perfect fit in left field and can DH as well. If things go well, he'll likely break a personal record for RBI.

Now all we need is a 1B. Russ Branyan? Adrian Gonzalez? hey, a guy can dream!

Yeah the Cubs were just happy to get rid of Bradley any way they could. He was awful here and couldn't take the pressure and scrutiny from the fans and the media.

Have fun with Silva.. You might want to put some extra security on the clubhouse buffet table :p

The only thing that I hope is that Hendry and Piniella (just Hendry really) don't feel the need to keep putting Silva out on the field even when he fails over and over just because they're paying him so much money (the Cubs have done that before). From the Cubs perspective, this deal was purely about addition by subtraction. They had to get rid of Bradley. The Cubs could've gotten back a crate of rotten sardines for him and it would've been a good deal. At least now they're actually getting back I think it's 9 million in addition to Silva for Bradley.

Understood,

And the M's were in the same boat with Silva as well. He was taking up a roster spot and making $25 million a season, and (don't quote me on this) had an 8+ ERA and only appeared in about 30 games over the last two years.

Although not nearly as maligned as Bradley was in CHI, he has his issues (namely a public falling out with our beloved Ichiro). Every time he went on the field he was booed vigorously.

Listening to local sports radio today, I think this was pretty much an even swap in terms of necessity, but the Mariners got a guy that can actually play baseball pretty well by most accounts. Also, being in 'South Alaska', and playing half of his games after east coast media shows have gone off the air, he won't get nearly the media attention he did in CHI. The last good year he had was in Texas, another low key market.

Put it this way, if Bradley can't be successful with this team in this market, he's not going to be successful anywhere. I think he knows that this is his last chance. I just hope it works out.

Honestly, I'm just hoping the Ms can get deep into this post season, so Griffey can retire on a positive note. Also, Dave Neihaus has been with the M's since their inception, and is getting near retirement (for health reasons). I'd like to see them in a World Series before he retires.

If I had to make a prediction, I'd guess the Mariners will get much more out of Bradley than the Cubs will get out of Silva. But again, for the Cubs the trade was purely about getting rid of Bradley. Actually, while Bradley was here in Chicago he was healthier than he had ever been for the most part, and when he was on he put up some good numbers, but he was a complete cancer. His teammates didn't get along with him, not from some personal conflict but just because of the negative atmosphere he generated - they never said anything bad about him as long as he was still a teammate, but after he was traded yesterday, I heard an interview with Ryan Theriot on sports talk radio and he pretty much laid out how the team felt about him. They tried to make him feel comfortable, tried to convince him to ignore the media scrutiny and just have fun, but nothing sunk in.

Well, I think my Tigers will be pathetic for a few years to come now.

We lost:

Granderson (All-Star Middle-Fielder)
Edwin Jackson (All-Star Pitcher)
Placido Polanco (Gold-Glove 2nd Baseman, consistent .300 batter who never struck out)
Fernando Rodney (Not the greatest, but leaves us with no true closer)
Fredi Dolsi (Bullpen depth lost, not proven, but he's gone now)

We added a bunch of prospects, but that doesn't mean they'll pan out. We're going to have a bunch of noodle bats in our lineup this year with a hit to our pitching. Pitching was the only thing that kept us from being a bottom-tier team last year, since our bats weren't even that great WITH Granderson and Polanco. I don't know how they're going to replace those guys offensively (or defensively for that matter), which is sad because our offense sucked last year even with them.

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I'm not sure how much better the M's will be (they won 95 games last year), but they will almost certainly be one of the best, if not the best defensive teams in MLB. They just added Casey Kotchman, who is a decent first baseman, Ichiro/Gutierrez/Bradley in the outfield is death to flying things...

However, they might not hit a home run all season (I think Ichiro is now their best home-run power and he bats leadoff).

I'll close this post by saying...

FELIX FREAKIN HERNANDEZ AND CLIFF FREAKIN LEE !!!