...but he's depressing the hell out of me:
The Mariners, however, could still turn to free agents Jacque Jones or Jeromy Burnitz if the Everett negotiations fall apart. Everett, 34, who lives in Tampa, was said to be doing last-minute soul-searching about whether he wants to sign with a team so far from home, among other issues.
We've talked about Morris before, but the short of it is that I'm not fond of the idea, especially at something in the neighborhood of $27m/3yr. But what I'm really having trouble stomaching is this whole Carl Everett thing. If it's any consolation, Larry Stone seems like the only guy who's treating it like it's probably going to happen, but the fact that Everett's name even shows up in the same paragraph as Seattle is enough to give me the willies. What's the upside, here? That Everett hits .270/.330/.440 without setting fire to any kittens? Newsflash: you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a half-decent batter who sucks at defense. And if you're just looking to fill the hole at DH, why not give that a try instead? Why Everett? Why?
And this whole "soul-searching" thing is a little disconcerting, because if there's one thing worse than talking to Carl Everett, it's talking the totally unfiltered, uninhibited source of his daily thoughts and actions. The good news is that Everett's soul will probably lead him to a city without a natural history museum, but you can never be too sure about these things.