OK, so this is a weird piece by Art Thiel about the recent moves made in Seattle.  The moves, including Chone Figgans and the trade for Cliff Lee, seem a bit odd.  And Thiel points out some of the Mariners GM’s recent words that help explain them.  Chone Figgans was over paid, or at least given that extra year, to lure him to Seattle.  No one else was going to give him as much or as long of  deal, but in order to get the deal done, and be able to move on Jack Zduriencik had to over pay.  I wrote the same thing way back when Omar Minaya gave Pedro an extra year on his contract.  I will write it again when we hear what the offer is that Baltimore made to Matt Holliday.

Some cities just have to overpay to be considered.  Everyone wants to be a Yankee.  Well, unless you are a member of the Red Sox, which is just about the next best thing.  Lately, the Phillies and the Dodgers aren’t bad, though the Dodgers may not continue to have that rep.  If you are a pitcher, and you can’t play for one of the big guys, well then you want to play in one of the big ballparks.  If you are a hitter and you can’t play for one of the big guys then you want to play in a small one.  Camden Yards  might be a good fit for Holliday… but if his agent can get them to overpay, when no one else will, then it might be even a better fit.  Unfortunately, because the Orioles (and the Blue Jays) play in the same division with the Yankees and the Red Sox, that makes that tiny ballpark much less attractive.

Seattle has another problem.  Very little national media coverage.  When Thiel mentions Russel Branyan’s stellar year, I had to read it again.  That seems like such a distant piece of news that in my memory, it must have happened a couple of years ago.  But no, it was last year.  If he wasn’t on your fantasy team, you probably forgot.

Now that the Sox and Yankees have signed most of their big pieces, we will see the selling of the smaller cities.  It will be about money.  No matter what anyone says.