Let me first say, I am losing my mind over the Mariners getting Robinson Cano.
Ok, that is out of the way.
The truth is that this can’t be all the Mariners do at the winter meetings. They just filled a hole that they were already getting some production out of last year with Nick Franklin. Granted, Franklin did fall off at the end of the year. He was still a decently productive second baseman for the majority of the time he was playing. There are still major holes in the team.
The outfield has to be addressed. At this point we as fans are looking at Michael Saunders, Dustin Ackley and Tacoma Rainier to be named. This would have to be the worst outfield in the majors. There are still plenty of guys the Mariners could sign or trade for; Nelson Cruz, Carlos Beltran, Billy Butler, Shin-Soo Choo and Giancarlo Stanton.
Next is the bottom half of the rotation. The Mariners seriously only have two pitchers, Felix and Iwakuma. Guys like Joe Saunders and Aaron Harang (who got me a free beer and food from Steve Sandmeyer) aren’t going to cut it. They would be fine as the fifth starter, but not as the third pitcher. David Price is out there, but Taijuan Walker may be the asking price. That is a lot to give up for a dude that is arbitration eligible and will be getting paid major dough. Walker won’t be making anything. Let’s face it the Tampa Rays are in the business of ripping teams off (i.e. Kansas City with Wil Myers). I would be scared if we did any deal with them.
Guys out there on the free agent market the Mariners could consider; Hiroki Kuroda, Bartolo Colon, Masahiro Tanaka, Ubaldo Jimenez and Ervin Santana.
At this point the Mariners just dropped $240M on Cano so we as Mariners fans can start to think greedy. All of a sudden the Mariners are spending and have a payroll that basically includes Felix, Iwakuma, and Cano. Everyone else is under club control or doesn’t make squat. With a new television deal, the Mariners can seriously make it rain at the winter meetings and they should. After the last 10+ years of no spending and sh*t for on-field production, we the fans deserve a dropping stacks approach.
It can’t be worse than it was with the old way.
