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View Full Version : the road to success in '07 begins with arms



tearforamariner
11-20-2006, 09:28 AM
It's no secret. We need pitching. We have two starters returning, Hernandez and Washburn. We need to add 3 starters to our rotation, unless we think Baek or Woods is ready for a starting role. Who's on our wishlist:

1. Barry Zito.

Why we want him:

I think we've all seen enough A's-M's games to know that Zito is the real deal. When you give this more than 2 runs of support, he wins 80% of the time. His career 3.54 ERA is 13th on the active list, making his 127 ERA+ tied for 11th on the active list. He's relatively young (turns 29 next May), and he's a guaranteed 200 innings every year.

Why we won't get him:

The M's aren't willing to spend that kind of money. Zito wants 15 mil+ a year for multiple years. The M's should be contenders here, but probably won't be.

2. Jason Schmidt.

Why we want him:

Schmidt is not quite as good as Zito and he's 5 years older. But Schimdt is a solid addition to any rotation and could easily be a number 1 starter.

Why we probably won't get him:

The Giants are very interested in keeping Jason. It's quite likely he'll re-sign with them.

3. Kei Igawa.

Why we want him:

The Japanese hurler doesn't have the rep of Matsusaka, but is a strikeout machine in Japan. He became the 5th fastest Japanese pitcher ever to reach the 1,000 strikeout mark. He was 14-9 with a 2.97 ERA last season, and would probably be a nice number 3 starter in the US.

Why we can get him:

Bidding for Igawa started today. The Indians, Braves, Diamondbacks, Cubs, Yankees, Mets, Padres, Giants, Angels and Dodgers also reportedly put in bids for Igawa. WIth a list of notorious spenders, it could be tough to be the top bid here, but the Mariners seem highly interested in this guy, so we never know.