Officially. A few choice quotes from the press release:
"We wanted to add a lefty LF/DH and an abusive bigot, and we got them both in one guy."
"Until he burns it down."
We don't know how much the contract is worth, but it's presumably in the neighborhood of $3-$3.5m for 2006, and comes with a 2007 club option that won't be picked up.
You already know what I think of this signing. Hell, you already know what everyone thinks of this signing; we had enough forewarning to prepare our statements before Everett actually signed the dotted line.
I don't want to say much of anything about Carl Everett the person, because I don't know the guy, and I don't run this website so that I can attack someone's character. Rather, all I want to talk about is Carl Everett the baseball player, and simply put, he just isn't a very good one anymore. He's old, he's injury-prone, he can't play the field, he can't hit lefties...overall, he's just not very productive, particularly for a designated hitter.
It's a short, fairly inexpensive contract. If he sucks, he's gone by July, and if he doesn't, then he'll create a few runs with his bat while keeping the spot warm for someone else in 2007. In that respect, it's not a crippling commitment. It's an unnecessary one, though, and I don't see the sense in it.
Bill Bavasi had better be working on bringing in one hell of a pitcher.