Calm Down

Already in the “we should trust them” for now stage. That being said I agree whole-heartedly that Dr. Z has earned that faith.

We don’t know who is going to be available this next draft at the No.22 slot. In Fields, we know we are getting a hard-throwing, potential closer. Can’t be too upset about that, especially if GMZ can turn his value into another Putz trade in the future.

My understanding is that control problems are his weakness. That is something Fields can fix, a lot like Morrow has done. I like the signing, albeit I do not know how the contract number may hinder the team (if any at all).

Probably not the best use of a first-round pick, but what is Jack supposed to do about that? It wasn’t his pick. And, like Wilder. said, there’s no knowing who will be available at 22 next year. Hopefully the kid turns into a lights out reliever. Isn’t that what this year is about? Accruing talent and seeing what pans out? If Fields doesn’t work, we still have plenty of early picks in upcoming drafts.

He might be a really good reliever, but at the end of the day what the hell did we want another closer for?

I guess we’ll just wait and see how this turns out.

When Bavasi made moves I didn’t like, I never thought “Well, maybe there’s something I’m missing here.” It’s possible (probable even) that one (or multiple) of the reasons Matthew gave would explain it, or maybe it’s something else. But I don’t feel like the decision to sign him was the result of a terrible decision making process, and that makes all the difference in the world. I might not get it (and might not even be the right decision) but I think that the decision to sign him was almost certainly made for good reasons. That’s different than before.

None of us are going to love every move the Mariners make from here on out. Not every move the Mariners make is going to turn out well. I think we all know this. But I actually think that the people in charge know what they’re doing for the first time since before I knew shit about shit.

I mean, I’m already seeing assumptions that Zduriencik surveyed the situation before deciding to move in on Josh Fields. This makes perfect sense…if he signed him for +$1.85 Million.

But what if he signed him for less than $1.65 Million? This is not too far from Zduriencik’s initial contract offer of $1.5 Million which has been on the table forever (before people started salivating over getting that draft pick by not signing Fields).

Seems like if Josh Fields signed a similar deal to the one that was initially layed out nothing’s really changed. Zduriencik gets what he wants at the right price and Fields takes the money and runs while the gettin’s good.

Zduriencik also made it a point throughout the offseason to separate the Fields situation from the offseason plan. From my understanding, Zduriencik wants to sign Josh Fields because of Fields’ talent and not because they want an elite-level reliever someday.

but we enjoy panicking.

oh, for an animated .gif of Wallace (of Wallace & Gromit fame) having hand-waving hysterics.

Panic…. PANIC!

We had all started to assume he was never going to sign and then BAM! he signs in late April.

At least this happened early enough for Fields to go to spring training. I will not be shocked to see him on the team in September.

From my understanding, Zduriencik wants to sign Josh Fields because of Fields’ talent and not because they want an elite-level reliever someday.

This is what Matthew’s getting at here. The signing shows me a couple of things:

1) The 2009 Draft really must be terrible in Jack’s eyes (as I’ve heard it is through several others’)
2) Jack thinks Fields is worth losing the pick in this draft
3) Jack sees Fields as a very talented guy.

I think I’ll trust Jack on this one.

If the Mariners are unable to sign their compensation pick in the 2009 draft, they forfeit the pick entirely. Which means that draftee’s agent can demand more than usual, knowing the Mariners will either have to give in to the agent’s demands or lose the pick.

That means that the Mariners would need to avoid the more talented players as well as the Scott Boras clients. Given the potential cost of that compensation pick vs. whatever they’re paying Fields, Zduriencik likely thought Fields was the better choice. But I think this had little to do with talent. Fields’ talent is being an elite reliever. He has no other talents. I guess it’s possible that they convert him to a starter, but that seems unlikely.

If anything, I’m annoyed we drafted a reliever that high in the first place. I’d be surprised if Fields could out pitch Aardsma in ST. Coincidentally, Aardsma is a former 1st round draft pick chosen 22nd overall by the Giants as – you guessed it – a closer. Let’s hope Fields can figure out his control better than Aardsma could.

we split the difference. Fields gets 1.75 million.

(I’m a Brewer fan visiting from Brewcrewball, by the way)

We designated Luis Pena for assignment last week to add former Angel Nick Green, and Z has claimed him. He had a major meltdown at AAA last year, but was our Closer of the Future for a while. He has some ridiculous stuff— throws around 97 and has a really nasty splitter, but not a whole lot of control, obviously.

The M’s agreement with first-round pick Josh Fields is not a Major League contract, and the two sides split the difference on the bonus, landing at $1.75 million.