Mariners Continue to Slowly, but Surely, Kill Me

If you don't know yet, the Mariners have traded Chris Snelling and Emiliano Fruto to the Washington Nationals for Jose Vidro, pending the physical. This is just about as bad a trade as you can make. It does not make any sense. It reminds me of Johnny Cochrane's famous Chewbacca defense: Why would a Wookie, an eight-foot tall Wookie, want to live on Endor, with a bunch of two-foot tall Ewoks? That does not make sense! This trade just does not make sense. There is really no defense for making a trade like this. None. My initial reaction is confusion and disbelief. How can Bill Bavasi possibly be this inept? How does this man have a job as General Manager of a Major League Baseball team? Why, God, Why? What have Mariner fans done to deserve this fate? It does not make sense. It doesn't address any of the issues the Mariners have. They don't need a second baseman, and Vidro really can't play the position anymore, so they traded for a designated hitter who's not particularly great at hitting. I could possibly understand trading Chris Snelling if you have major concerns about his tendency to get injured, but Vidro also has an extensive injury history, so you're not trading for the reassurance of durability. Once again, it does not make sense. This trade also severely hampers your outfield flexibility. Do they plan on playing Jose Guillen every single day? How about 36-year old Raul Ibanez? I guess this means they keep Jeremy Reed around, who Mike Hargrove has absolutely zero confidence in. That's sounds like a good idea. Was this trade made for financial reasons? No, because they're agreeing to take on $12 million of Vidro's contract for the next two seasons in exchange for two players who would have made close to league minimum next season. It doesn't make sense. Is it part of a youth movement? No, because they acquired a 32-year old DH for a 25-year outfielder and a 22-year old reliever. Well, maybe they're expecting a better performance from Vidro than they would have gotten from Snelling. But once again, no. Snelling last year: .250/.360/.427. Vidro last year: .289/.348/.395. Snelling outhit Vidro last year. He has better power and better plate discipline, and his average should improve next year. It doesn't make sense. Chris Snelling is very likely to outhit Vidro in 2007. Both players are injury-prone, but Snelling is coming into his prime, while Vidro is in the decline phase of his career. Chris Snelling is cheap, while Vidro is not. And, hey, while we're at it, how about throwing in an interesting relief prospect? Let's just throw away one of our only commodities, power bullpen arms. That's a great idea. And don't do anything do fix the DH/1B log jam. In fact, add another player to it.

The worst part of this trade, in my opinion, is that it's not the end of the offseason manuevering. Another trade is coming. They still have to do something about Sexson, Broussard, et al. and they're looking for more starting pitching. It's absolutely terrifying to know that Bavasi is out there trying a make another trade. Anything's possible at this point. I wouldn't bat an eyelash over Felix Hernandez, Jeff Clement, and Adam Jones for Kenny Rogers. Or Corey Koskie. Maybe Bavasi could coax Mo Vaughn out of retirement. It disgusts me how set this team is on being mediocre. They're perfectly content to settle for 75 to 81 wins as long as assholes from Microsoft continue to throw away money for Terrace club seats. Here's what I would suggest to true M's fans: stay away. Don't give the M's a dime, as it's a tacit acceptance of this bland, mediocre product. Sometimes the machine becomes so odious that you must throw your body on the gears to make it stop. Let's blow up the good ship Mariner. I'm goddamn sick of this front office fucking up this team, while simultaneously bogarting the future. Honestly, it may be time to adopt another team. It's not worth the effort of trying to care for this terrible product. What's the point in trying to muster the energy, time and money required to support this team? Wouldn't I be better off just ignoring them? How much better would my quality of life be if I didn't subject myself to watching 60 combined starts by Horacio Ramirez and Miguel Batista? Or 300 Willie Bloomquist at-bats? Or 180 Ritchie Sexson K's? Or Rene Rivera's .184 OBP? Or Julio Mateo home run allowed? It does not make sense. I'll still support Felix, and the continued brilliance of Ichiro!, and I'll marvel at the defense of Beltre and Betancourt, but this team is not worth the effort required of true fandom. Thank you, Bill Bavasi, for making me just not care. The only positive consequence of your continued ineptitude is that it will guarantee that you never have another GM job. It would be criminal for you to be allowed to alienate another fan base. It would not make sense.

By the way, I like the Seahawks in tonight's game, -10.5. For some reason.