There are many reasons to oppose the Pineda deal, but one that makes less sense, at least to me, is the claim that the Mariners would have been better off accepting a package similar to the one that Cincinnati gave to San Diego. While I think one can argue that the San Diego package offers [...]

According to Jim Duquette, the right-hander is close to signing a deal with St. Louis.  Oswalt posted a 3.44 FIP and garnered 2.5 wins above replacement last season in 23 starts with the Phillies. This accordingly narrows the Mariners’ options on the pitching side of the free agent market.  With Jeff Francis off the market, [...]

The deal, according to sources, is worth 214 million dollars over 9 years. I would not have been comfortable with the Mariners giving Fielder a similar deal.  Fielder is guaranteed ~23 million per season until 2020, at which point he’ll be 37 years old.  There’s a chance that Prince craters after the first few years [...]

Here’s the quote: This confirms what I theorized last week.  Prince Fielder will probably be a Washington National in 2012, and he probably won’t be a Texas Ranger.  I’m happy to hear this. Rosenthal says nothing about the M’s, though.  The intrigue continues.

According to this article, the M’s have added Kevin Millwood.  Here’s what I said about Kevin Millwood several weeks ago: Millwood is 37 years old and right-handed.  He’s been a solid pitcher over the course of his career, hitting 3.3 WAR as recently as 2008 (which at this point isn’t very recent at all), and [...]

The market for Prince Fielder has been weird. Teams haven’t showered Fielder with gifts and ridiculous contract offers, which is probably a sign that the few remaining organizations who were behind the curve on player valuation finally get it. Not only that, but the pool of suitors for the 27-year-old has been smaller than anyone [...]

Inspired by the signing of Oliver Perez but regretted just a few minutes into the writing process.  I wonder if the Mariners feel the same way about Oli. NRI = non-roster invitee. — Matt Fox, Jarrett Grube and Jeff Marquez, RHSPs – Marquez is probably a little better than the other two, but these guys [...]

The Mariners avoided salary arbitration with three pitchers yesterday by offering them each one-year deals.  Vargas (2.4 WAR, 4.09 FIP, and 5.87 K/9) will make 4.85 million in 2012; he’ll likely slot in as the Mariners’ second or third starter.  Brandon League (1.4 WAR, 2.78 FIP, and 6.60 K/9) will make 5 million; the closer [...]