2K24: Seattle Mariners

[Hornsby]

I agree it's not gonna happen if 10/240 is the offer by Seattle vs. 7/175 by the Yanks. However, I agree that if the offer is 8/200 by Seattle vs. 7/175 by the Yanks that Cano would easily make up that difference in NY with his agency connections. Easily. I mean, shoot, Ryan Braun had $3-4 mil a year in local endorsements before he PED'd out of them, so I don't think it's a stretch at all to figure Jay-Z could get Cano triple that in NY just in regional/local endorsements.

Sorry Chance...there is NO way that Cano can make that kind of money in endorsements with all of the competition in NY for the advertising dollars. Just because Cano gets the big contract doesn't mean that Madison Avenue is going to swoon...Hell, I think that he might have a bigger endorsement market in Japan with the M's.

[Hornsby]

You and el diablo may be right. I haven't paid much attention to what most people think about Kemp currently other than Fangraphs, and they're pretty down on him (especially Dave Cameron). I will note that Ackley is an excellent defender, though, and is certainly not a total zero as is perceived. He'd be a nice fit for the Dodgers at second until they're new Cuban progresses. Or Nick Franklin. Either is fine. I'm sure the M's could include a starter and a reliever, too, depending on how much money the Dodgers were willing to eat. Paxton could be in play if the money coming to the Mariners is right, too. Just a thought.

Keep dreaming buddy...keep dreaming. Ackley sucks, pure and simple. Paxton has lost some of his luster with 2 mediocre seasons in the minors before last year's 4 game September audition. Nothing to see here...

[Bodhizefa]

The Dodgers can't trade Kemp if any of the proposed offers on any site you read are remotely accurate in terms of value. They have to keep him and hope he gets over his injury/suckitude issues. You can't send a potential star that has done it before for scraps and then throw in tens of millions of dollars. They need to deal Ethier for whatever they can get and give Kemp another year.

Hell, I agree. I like Kemp, and I think it'd be dumb for the Dodgers to sell low. But I'd be all about jumping in and buying if they're selling at the right price. With the risk that he really is a huge injury prone guy from henceforth, he won't net the Dodgers any super top shelf guys (Taijuan Walker is off limits, for example), and I'd imagine multiple good prospects in a deal would be out as well. I honestly have no idea how others value M's prospects, though. Paxton is pretty well thought of. Nick Franklin is a pretty good young bat, too. If the Dodgers really do want to move Kemp, and if I had to top out an offer, then I'd throw them Paxton and possibly Franklin for the hope that Kemp could rebound into a superstar again.

[Bodhizefa]

Keep dreaming buddy...keep dreaming. Ackley sucks, pure and simple. Paxton has lost some of his luster with 2 mediocre seasons in the minors before last year's 4 game September audition. Nothing to see here...

Paxton revamped his mechanics mid-season last year in Tacoma and was gangbusters in the 2nd half. Look at his splits in the minors -- they're pretty telling. He's a legit arm.

[Bodhizefa]

Dave "Never Been Right About Anything" Cameron is down on him? Buy! Buy! Buy!

Sell, Mortimer!

[Hornsby]

Paxton revamped his mechanics mid-season last year in Tacoma and was gangbusters in the 2nd half. Look at his splits in the minors -- they're pretty telling. He's a legit arm.

I'm not seeing it...certainly not an elite prospect anymore. The 2nd half splits didn't look all that much better to me...still gave up more hits than innings pitched, and walked too many, IMO.

[revo]

I agree it's not gonna happen if 10/240 is the offer by Seattle vs. 7/175 by the Yanks. However, I agree that if the offer is 8/200 by Seattle vs. 7/175 by the Yanks that Cano would easily make up that difference in NY with his agency connections. Easily. I mean, shoot, Ryan Braun had $3-4 mil a year in local endorsements before he PED'd out of them, so I don't think it's a stretch at all to figure Jay-Z could get Cano triple that in NY just in regional/local endorsements.

Cano has had two endorsement deals in his entire Yankee career, and one of them he was in the background of a commercial with a group of players.

[chancellor]

Cano has had two endorsement deals in his entire Yankee career, and one of them he was in the background of a commercial with a group of players.

But he just switched to Jay-Z's agency last year, didn't he?

But you make a good point - if Cano wants to make up 8/200 vs. 7/175 in the NY metro area alone, he'd be able to do it. But if he has little interest in endorsements, then it just comes down to where he wants to play since it means the money doesn't mean that much to him.

[Hornsby]

But he just switched to Jay-Z's agency last year, didn't he?

But you make a good point - if Cano wants to make up 8/200 vs. 7/175 in the NY metro area alone, he'd be able to do it. But if he has little interest in endorsements, then it just comes down to where he wants to play since it means the money doesn't mean that much to him.

I don't think it's that he has little interest in doing endorsements as much as advertisers have little interest in using him. And Just for clarification, where do you get the idea that the money doesn't mean that much to him?

[Don Quixote]

With the effect of NY state and NYC local taxes, $200 million with the Yankees isn't much if any more net than $175 million with Seattle.

(I haven't done the numbers yet but may very soon).

[Bodhizefa]

Bodz, what do you think about the Mariners' direction in general? If you were in charge would you be looking to grab free agents like they appear to be doing or would you rebuild? Maybe some combo of the two? We know you'd try to trade Charlie Furbush for Puig, but other than that?

Their direction? You mean they have one?

This organization is a fantastic mess right now, and nobody has any clue what to do. Even outsiders have a tough time looking at the M's and deciding how to approach them. Why? Because the organization's failures have been so far-reaching that no one can even tell if the players they draft are bad to begin with or bad because the M's have no f'ing clue how to develop them.

Here's a fun story for you. Last year, Nick Franklin went gangbusters in the minors and came up to the majors only to do the same thing for a month to six weeks. And then the slump hit. And do you know what the M's "coaching staff" did to help him? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Wedge and company decided he needed to man up and figure it out on his own. And when he went into a catastrophic slump, still they did nothing for him.

THIS IS ASTOUNDINGLY HORRIFYING! And the worst part is that this isn't the only story like this for Seattle. They publicly derided Ackley for not "being more aggressive" (when all evidence showed that when he was, he was categorically awful). Not a single coaching staff in the last decade has had much of a clue how to navigate the development of the players the team keeps sending them. And the front office keeps hiring morons because they themselves are idiots of the highest order.

How in the heck are you supposed to know what to do with a team's roster if you have no clue who has talent and who doesn't? This is the conundrum the M's have at this point. They have two offensive positions filled for 2014 who are average or above average. All the rest? Potential that was either wasted or that was never there, but the organization doesn't know because they've so royally screwed up in development. And they've also screwed up in drafting in many ways. So it's a mess regardless.

What would I do? I'd probably sign as many good to great free agents as would take my money and then hope like hell that the organizational development plan gets righted. I'd fire Zduriencik for not knowing his ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to roster construction and talent evaluation. He's bordering on Bavasi bad at this point, and that's an astounding development in hindsight. I'd gut the organizational minor league development team from the ground up and spend big money on wooing one of the great ones from another team who's looking for a challenge and a lot of early draft picks. And then I'd hope like hell that the team could turn it around before Cano went into serious decline

Sorry if I'm being vague, but it's just so damned disheartening to watch this team act the fool time and time again and try to keep my hopes up. This is the first off-season in maybe forever where I literally just don't care. The Cano news is pretty awesome, and getting a superstar would be nice. But then I start to think about the next moves Zduriencik is going to foul up, and it bogs me right back down. At this point, I don't really know what players on the M's are even that talented beyond Seager, Brad Miller, Felix, Iwakuma, and maybe Taijuan Walker. Maybe none of them! We just don't know. So any legitimate talent we can infuse would be awesome. How many years can you wait for a guy to develop before you just lose hope? We're there with Ackley and Smoak and Montero. Who's next on that list? Zunino? Walker? Franklin?

Welcome to the wasteland, man -- where you're only friend is the bottle.

(But seriously, please give us Cano, baseball Gods? Please???)

[revo]

But he just switched to Jay-Z's agency last year, didn't he?

But you make a good point - if Cano wants to make up 8/200 vs. 7/175 in the NY metro area alone, he'd be able to do it. But if he has little interest in endorsements, then it just comes down to where he wants to play since it means the money doesn't mean that much to him.

Yes, he landed his Pepsi deal with Jay-Z last year, but there's no idea on how much he was paid. The fact of the matter is he barely speaks English and is not as charismatic as Sammy Sosa, so he shouldn't expect much.

[joncarlos]

@FeinsandNYDN

Source: Robinson Cano and Mariners talks broke off after Jay Z's excessive demands. Looks like Cano is NOT going to sign with Seattle.

Well alrighty then.

[joncarlos]

More on the Cano non-signing: from @FeinsandNYDN

Source said Mariners were prepared to offer Cano 9/$225 believing he was going to accept. Jay Z made late change, demanded 10/$252. Source said Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln "exploded" after Jay Z changed it up and ended the meeting with Cano and his camp. Mariners were indeed ready to give Cano $225 for nine years. Jay Z overplayed his hand with the late change and the demand for a 10th year.

[Grinch]

.....and somewhere Scott Boras is smiling.......