Is hell freezing over? Did I just see pigs flying? The Mariners are Spending Money? On Good Players!
Mood:  surprised
Now Playing: Muse - Hysteria
Yeah, that title is no typo friends. Believe it or not, the Mariners, yes THE Seattle Mariners are going after big name free agents. I know, I almost had a stroke when I heard the news. We signed 1B/LF Richie Sexson to a 4 year $50 million deal wednesday and signed stud 3B Adrian Beltre to a 5 year $64 million deal yesterday. After years of bitching I am at a loss for words. After losing so many great players: Junior Griffey, Johnson, Pay-Rod, Jose Cruz, etc. It got to the point where we had a bunch of guys that were playing out of their minds for a couple years and then reverted to their true forms, exposing the poor management and decision making by the front office. Appearantly Howard Lincoln and Bill Bavasi heard enough of my (and other mariner fans') bitching and moaning and decided to loosen up their sphincters and shell out some dough for good players. Maybe Nintendo (who has a controlling interest in the mariners, yes mario owns us) wanted to field a winner.

Maybe Ichiro went all last samurai on their asses, who knows. What I DO know is that we just got two really good offensive players. And Beltre is not that bad in the field either (he only had 10 errors last season). Now, as a public service, I will introduce you to our newest Mariners.
Richie Sexson:

At 6'8" 237 lbs, Sexson definitely earns the nickname Big Sexy. The Guy played with new Mariner manager Mike Hargrove in Cleveland back in the day and has been a very productive player during his career. Last year he only played in 23 games with the Arizona Diamondbacks due to a separated shoulder. But if you look at his season averages for his career the numbers are VERY impressive.
a .271 batting average, 39 homeruns, 119 rbi's and a very good .877 ops (OPS=On base percentage+slugging percentage). Sexson was born in Portland and grew up in Washington so he should adjust well to living and playing here. He has lots of power so hitting in the cavernous Safeco field should not be a problem for him. And as I said before, he has played for Hargrove, so he should have an even greater comfort level in Seattle. He is only 29, which is right about when most power hitters start hitting their prime. This only means good things for us because we have him for the next 4 years. HAZAA!

Adrian Beltre:

At 25, Beltre has already been in the major leagues for 7 seasons. Beltre was the gem of the Dodgers farm system coming up in the mid 90's and has progressed steadily since joining the team in 1998. Last year he had a breakout season hitting .334 with 48 homeruns and 121 RBI's. The guy carried the Dodgers down the stretch and finished second in the MVP vote to Barry Bonds. Some detractors say that last season was a fluke for Beltre and that he was only doing well because he was in the last year of his contract. To those nay-sayers I have three words: Suck...My...Balls. The guy was 24, and had shown glimpses of his greatness during his previous seasons. So he put it all together. Don't tell me he all of a sudden got really good cause he wanted money. He made over $5 million last year anyways. His career averages are not too far from last season's production: .274 average, 25 homers, and 89 rbi's. Also, remember that he was usually not the 3 or 4 hitter until last year, which will take away from his stats. I think Beltre has the power needed to hit well in Safeco. Dodger Stadium is a notorius pitcher's park and he still put up big numbers there. He is also a HUGE improvement over the combined effort at third base last year where the mariners leader Scott "Mr. Versatility" Spiezio played 65 games and batted a WHOPPING .215. I hope I didn't set off my sarcasm alarm with that last comment. I feel that Beltre may not come close to his numbers from last year, but if he can hit say .290, with 30-35 homers and 90-105 rbi's, I will be happy.

So there you have it folks, the new editions to the Mariner family. Kudos to Howard Lincoln and Bill Bavasi. Odd, I never EVER thought I would say that, but oh well. Here is to hoping that the Mariners DON'T lose 99 games next year. And that they can get atleast 1 decent starting pitcher this offseason. Sorry, John Halama is taken...what where the Red Sox thinking when they signed him?