what would you do

[Volcnao]

what would you do if you were the gm. (almost anyone would be better then bill. even a 5 year old would be.)

reed - i would replace him with someone that can hit. if only we could land swisher but that is a dream to come true.

Jason Schmidt- we need 3 new starters. i do not know who all to get but we need jason. he grew up a mariner fan. we almost got him in 2001. problem is both the sox teams and a couple other teams want him and all of them win games. so knowing our luck he will not resign.

we also need a couple decent releavers. green and mateo suck and need to be replaced or sent to the minors to let them develop or something.

Mike Hargrove- i am not saying he needs to be replaced but something needs to be done. he has not done much since he was here. we would have been better off with bob. he was pretty good. just had one bad year. that is the problems with the m's you have to be good all year every year or you get traded and the m's make a mistake because you just had a bad first half like eddie.

eddie- would be great to resign him to the closer positon and put putz as a reliver again. but eddie is doing good with the reds. his old manager from the twins is there so chances of him comming back is slime. would be great to see him again though.

what would you guys do if you were gm?

[ichiro262]

reed - i would replace him with someone that can hit. if only we could land swisher but that is a dream to come true.

Jason Schmidt- we need 3 new starters. i do not know who all to get but we need jason. he grew up a mariner fan. we almost got him in 2001. problem is both the sox teams and a couple other teams want him and all of them win games. so knowing our luck he will not resign.

we also need a couple decent releavers. green and mateo suck and need to be replaced or sent to the minors to let them develop or something.

Mike Hargrove- i am not saying he needs to be replaced but something needs to be done. he has not done much since he was here. we would have been better off with bob. he was pretty good. just had one bad year. that is the problems with the m's you have to be good all year every year or you get traded and the m's make a mistake because you just had a bad first half like eddie.

eddie- would be great to resign him to the closer positon and put putz as a reliver again. but eddie is doing good with the reds. his old manager from the twins is there so chances of him comming back is slime. would be great to see him again though.

what would you guys do if you were gm?

Yeah, not sure the A's are gonna go for a Reed for Swisher switch. Give Billy Beane a little more credit than that. Bavasi should have ditched Reed for Arroyo when he had the chance -- now his trade value is crap.
No way I would resign Eddie Guardado. He has been done (at least for the AL) for a while. Putz is doing great. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Bavasi is hinting that he's going to go after some starting pitching hard. I would guess he will pursue Schmidt and Matsuzaka, maybe even Zito (but I doubt it).
If I were GM I'd pursue Schmidt the most. He's already in the west, and like you said he's been noted as liking the M's. That's our best chance, I think.

[Volcnao]

swishers contract expires this year. both him and reed get paid 300,000 a year. for some odd reason the a's only signed him for that much for 1 year. and reed's contract expires this year too. i think the only reason why Schmidt would not come here is because the giants are winning. but then again we almost got him inm 2001 and we were not winning the seaosn before. he grew up here as a mariner fan. hope the sox teams do not get him. why would the a's let zito slip through thier fingures and why would he come here anyways? i do not see him comming here. i would not mind seeing woods stay a starter. but we could make woods a releaf again and send green back down. he is not very good. he did better then anyone eles (except washburns great game a week ago.) has in a long time. i think the m's need to consider trading beltre because he has not hit home runs like he should since he has been here or when his contact expires sign him to less money or something. we can use some of his paychecks to sign a a couple good starters. i think the m' have to do good next year or it might be good bye to ichiro. i belive his contact expires next year and he almost did not sign last time. he does not like to play for a team that loses alot.

[SABR Matt]

Schmidt and Matsuzaka = Mariner WS bid.

[ichiro262]

why would the a's let zito slip through thier fingures and why would he come here anyways? i do not see him comming here.

The A's absolutely will not sign Zito this off-season. He just hired Scott Boras and they won't be able to afford him even if they wanted to keep him. He has been quoted a lot as saying he wants to play in New York, probably for the Mets (get some bad NL hitters).

[Stumanji]

Schmidt and Matsuzaka = Mariner WS bid.

Add to that a left-handed slugger (OF), and I'd agree.

There's not a lot of left-handed power in the OF coming up in Free Agency (unless you'd like Bonds)... so we might need to swing a trade to get that.

[leecemark]

Definately returning
Hernandez: ace in training
Washburn: decent 3-4 starter whose contract ensures he will be back

Unlikely to return
Pinero: if Joel gets offered arb I need to find a new team
Meche: he should get offered arb, but I expect him to decline and try free agency (getting us a draft choice). If he accepts arb I could live with 1 more season of his teasing ways, but we shouldn't bid on him in the open market (unless he goes cheap and we lose out on the quality targets)

Currently auditioning
Woods: he might be a adequete 5th starter, but I like him better as a utility pitcher (2nd lefty, long/mopup man, spot starter)
Baek: his upside is probably similar to Ryan Frankin. You could do worst in a 5th starter, but he should be a plan B kind of guy.

In the bullpen
Soriano: you hear alot of clammering for him in the rotation, but his arm seems awfully fragile and he lacks the 3rd pitch you like in a starter. I prefer him in his current role.
Lowe: He has the 3 pitches and has been the most exciting development for the Ms this season. Before they shut him down for "precautionary reasons" he was a guy I hoped would be given a starting role next spring. He still is unless the Ms don't think he can hold up physically.

On the farm
Cruceta: Much better stuff than Baek, but less command. He is pretty raw and I wouldn't want to plan on him for 2007, but he could force their hand with a good spring. He is a nice option as the 6th starter who could climb the ladder or step in if somebody breaks down.
Livingston: He struggled after a brief and unfortunate callup. His upside is Jamie Moyer, but more likely he is John Halama. A good spring might give him a shot at the 5th job and he is the kind of pitcher who could look good his first time thru the league.

--To summarize the inhouse candidadates;
1) Henandez
2)
3) Washburn
4) Lowe
5) one of Baek, Woods, Cruceta or Livingston (with Meche an outside possibilty)

--That leaves us needing a studly import to turn this into a good rotation. Jason Schmidt has the talent and seems willing to come here. We will have competition for him and he will be expensive, but he is my first option. If Matsuzaka is going to be made available then he would also fit in the 2 spot. Zito would fit, but he is likely to be overpaid and wants a bigger stage anyway. If we don't land any of these guys I'm not sure there is another FOR starter going to be available this offseason (am I forgetting a good candidate?).
--I doubt we are going to be able to sign two FOR quality pitchers, but if Lowe isn't going to get a shot or if the Ms don't see any of the other kids working out then we need a second solid starter. Who might that be? What does the mid-tier starter FA market look like? Who might be available in trade and what do we have to offer (Sexson?, Reed?, A/AA talent?)?

[leecemark]

--I wouldn't actually do anything here, its the strength of the team:) .

Closer: Putz is one of the best in the business
RH Set up: Ditto for Soriano.
LH Set up: Trifecta with Sherrill.

--If Lowe stays in the pen that gives us 4 tremendous arms and a pen that is a match for anybody in baseball - with only about 2-3% of our budget spent on them. Of course, I have already said I'd like to see Lowe in the rotation so that would require another quality arm to round out the depth.
-- Fruto has the stuff, but lacks command. Mateo has a rubber arm, but lacks the stuff to be relied on in key situations (he is fine as a long/mopup man, but Hargrove has insanely used him too often with the game on the line). Green has not impressed me, but he would be okay at the back of the pen, as would Atchkinson or Harris from Tacoma (if they decide Fruto isn't ready or Mateo isn't worth it anymore). Baek or Cruceta would also be candidates (whichever or both don't win a rotation spot). If an experienced reliever is available cheap in the offseason I wouldn't mind adding one, but that should not be a priority.
--O'Flaherty looks like a solid candiate as the second lefty and Woods will probably be available too (he is a long shot to hold a rotation spot IMO). A NRI or two to random lefties might be in order just in case .

[ichiro262]

Another starter candidate could be Freddy Garcia.

[Ghost]

I would much rather have Zito than Schmidt, but that wont happen.