Comments on: On Griffey (and Sweeney)

By: Jon

Jon — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:38:57 +0000

Hit the nail on the head.

By: section331

section331 — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:16:45 +0000

I wouldn’t mind having Sweeney back, but I think having Griff back would take away from the sort of ‘farewell’ that happened at the last game – it would feel a little more hollow if he came back, a little less genuine, if that makes sense. With Sweeney, you get that whole snuggles thing with the bat, and also that way I don’t have to listen to another season of people talking about how they want Griffey to stay until 2011…

By: moethedog

moethedog — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:03:27 +0000

Let ‘em both go. I loved them this yeart (well…especially Sweeney), but let them go. Heck, Branyan’s back is no guarantee he can play a bunch of 1b. Sign him, keep Carp up, and sign a bargain FA guy, probably a Rh bat, who can still field some (anywhere). There’s your 1b/dh rotation.

Carp’s going to hit .280+ (perhaps in the .300 range), his OBP is going to be 370-ish+ and he’s goin to hit 30 doubles and a dozen taters. And he’s cheap. What’s not to like a whole bunch.

Invest in a LF and a starter….play Tui somewhere, and sign that FA bargain DH type of guy who can field somewhere.

By: Jon

Jon — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:28:38 +0000

Definitely puts the ball in Seattle’s court, doesn’t it? I’m thinking Seattle or retirement.

By: gsquared

gsquared — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:21:06 +0000

Oh, understood. I’d imagine that they view bringing him back as a sort of “money-saving” measure; at least in terms of keeping certain quarters of the fanbase from turning away.

I think you bring up another interesting question: would any other team want him? I’m hard-pressed to think of one that would, and in that case can the worst-case PR scenario of Griffey on a different team next year even happen?

By: Jon

Jon — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:13:55 +0000

Yeah.. all I’m saying is that saving money isn’t really going to be part of the decision to bring him back.

By: gsquared

gsquared — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:10:03 +0000

His final salary ended up at $3.15M.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4534201

By Fangraphs his value this year was $0.7M. Obviously we can’t quantify exactly how much of that salary he “made up for” through merch and additional ticket sales that wouldn’t have occurred without him, so there’s room for debate as to whether he was a financial net gain or loss for the M’s.

Where there’s not room for debate, though, is that he and Sweeney were a net loss on the field, requiring two roster spots to produce a combined 0.9 WAR.

By: Jon

Jon — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:49:46 +0000

Yeah, they were also ahead of the Royals, Tigers and Rays by wOBA. FanGraphs wasn’t working while I was writing this so I just went with it. Will change.

By: Tim B.

Tim B. — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:42:18 +0000

As measured by OPS, Seattle’s designated hitters were not the least productive in the league–they were awful, more than 100 points behind New York and Toronto, but they came in 11th of 14. http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/split/86/league/al/sort/OPS/order/true

Apart from that minor point, I fully agree with the entire post.

By: Jon

Jon — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:24:52 +0000

Of course Griffey is overpaid from a production standpoint, but he does indeed bring in fans and sell merch, and some may even be inclined to try and put a dollar amount on keeping the clubhouse loose. It’s not like he’s getting $10M a year or something like that. In 2009 he was only guaranteed $2M. I’m not going to bother doing the math, but the incentive didn’t bring that salary up all that much.

By: gsquared

gsquared — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:18:35 +0000

Good post. Like you, I think that Sweeney would probably be a better fit for next year than Junior. Sweeney’s just got more left in the tank at this point.

Then there is the issue of salary. How little do you think Junior would be willing to take? Because it seems clear that we could get his production for free, and anything more is just paying for the brand name.

By: Jon

Jon — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:40:14 +0000

I really don’t think it’s as simple as that. Junior doesn’t seem like the coach type. If he’s not playing he’s going to be with his family, at least until his kids are grown. Sweeney is determined to find a playing job next year, Seattle or elsewhere.

By: maqman

maqman — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:56:42 +0000

Junior had a better OBP (.324) than Beltre (.304) and Lopez (.303) and contributed 19 home runs and 63 RBIs – despite have a .214 batting average. Was maybe the greatest guy ever to wear a uniform, Ms or any other. He’s already left the stage in the best way possible and I just don’t hear a lot people shouting “Encore!”

By: Mr.Benton

Mr.Benton — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:27:24 +0000

Welcome them both back, one as a COACH, and one as a part-time player off the bench, and when he declines, he has a spot as a coach. That would be ideal.

By: MarinerMan6

MarinerMan6 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:24:19 +0000

Despite playing in a league with a DH there is no way the M’s should use 2 valuable roster spots on guys who cannot play anywhere in the field and are frankly not very good hitters anyways. Any combo of Branyan, Delgado, and Johnson would be ideal because all of them can play 1B while the other DH’s. Unless you have Prince Fielder or Ryan Howard pop, you can’t have a platoon DH on your roster. From a baseball standpoint neither Jr. nor Sweeney should return. I would rather see Carp in that spot because at least he can play some not awful defense at 1B.

Also with Hardy to the Twins I think we are stuck with Jack Wilson. This makes it even more imperative that the M’s upgrade 1B/DH or they will be worse than last year. In my perfect world the M’s resign Branyan and sign Nick Johnson and those guys rotate at DH and 1B. Then they sign 2 of Harden, Sheets, or Bedard, heck maybe even Randy Johson. All can be had with a incentive laden 1 year deal. Then obviously Jack Wilson at SS. That team I think could compete at the 85-90 win level with a little luck.