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Lookout Landing

State Of The Trade

Still not official, still awesome.

Update: Unless Bob Elliott is right. Whoopsadoodle

Update #2: Larry Stone has assured us that everything is fine

Update #3: Official! Cliff Lee is now a member of the Seattle Mariners organization, while Tyson Gillies, Phillippe Aumont, and JC Ramirez are not. We rock.

0 recs  |  644 comments

Comments

SOUND THE ALARM

RT@elliottbaseball We’re hearing someone involved in the trade flunked their physical.

WHAT TRADE?!?!?

Gillies failed the hearing test
SHIT
Bio Bob Elliott is a baseball columnist for the Toronto Sun, Sun Media and a frequent guest on The FAN-590.
So much for a normal thread
EVERYONE PANIC
FUCK AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH FUCKITY
KILL YOURSELF POOCHIE
IT'S THE ONLY WAY OUT
But I want to see what I get for Christmas
CAT NIP MOST LIKELY
I am not a cat
Well I sure screwed up Christmas shopping this year
No, he was implying that it won't be a normal thread
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Oh Jesus

If true, it would have to be one of the principals, correct? Who of Halladay/Lee/Aumont/Drabek/Taylor might have failed a physical?

What was it that they blamed the Aumont to the bullpen move on?

I forget.. Was it something that would cause alarm in a physical?

Degenerative hip.
Just saw the Aumont elbow surgery at the end of 08 part..

This terrifies me.

Hip problems, if I'm not mistaken
If Aumont is the problem

Maybe we can just replace him with Josh Fields?

No, that was what Churchill's secret expose blamed Aumont's move to the bullpen on
So its not confirmed to be factual?
If Toronto is the genesis of this report

Then it’s probably a Philly prospect. My guess is Drabek’s arm probably is a cause for alarm.

This seems like the most likely scenario. One of the prospects going to Toronto, at the very least.
I wouldn't worry about it too much

Bob Elliott was the first to report Drabek being in the trade, but he’s also said a variety of crazy things that have turned out to not be true.

Kent Brockman told me it is officially time to panic.
Well now I'm terrified
Anyone else confirming?

I would rather not take Bob Elliot at face value.

Nothing yet has appeared on Twitter.

I am sure every journo involved is on the phone right now trying to find out more details.

Stone Retweeted

I hate Twitter right now

I thought that part of the trade was really separate.
Awwwwww nuts
THERE IS NO FLOOR!!!
Hypothetically, if this is in fact true, is there any chance it could be as simple as just swapping out that prospect for another?
Yes, it could

It could also fall aprat

Could be.. elliot just posted again.. Said it was a minor leaguer
Well that's some wonderful deduction considering nothing came back to Toronto BUT minor leaguers.
Well fuck this.

Hopefully we can swap someone out real quick…

Provided it is a Mariner prospect that flunked ...
Cmonnnn Fields in for Aumont!
Hey maybe Jack can include a prospect that isn't as good as the one who failed the test?

In Jack we trust!

Why are we panicking?

Our prospects are fine and Cliff Lee is coming our direction. Last I checked, there’s no way to make two seperate trades contingent upon each other. Jack Z c ould still say we had a deal and it’s not our problem that Toronto doesn’t like your trade.

You think Philly wouldn't be that stupid
Yeah because the Cliff Lee part of the deal is official and has been announc... wait
Doesn't have to be announced to still be a deal.

Names are exchanged. Both sides are happy. They wouldn’t be sending people around to physicals if there wasn’t an agreement in principle somewhere.

Halladay has already reportedly agreed to a damned extension for Chrissakes. There’s a deal in place. “Pending physicals” is Toronto / Philly’s problem.

Unless it was Aumount that failed.
Can't the Phillies put a clause in saying that the deal is contingent upon them acquiring Halladay?
Yes. Or they can y'know. Back out.
I'm just saying that if they had somehow legally already agreed to this trade you think that clause would be in there

because, you know, something like what TIF is proposing has never happened before

But they haven't or they'd have announced it
Except the Phillies are never going to trade Lee if they don't get Halladay.
Ah yes

The no take backs clause.

Not true

Phils trading Lee is contingent on the Halladay deal going through. It’s all interconnectified.

There is no way to force two seperate deals to be contingent.

Philadelphia’s whole rationale for trading Lee is only because they don’t want the cubbard to be bare. They don’t have to trade him at all.

This isn’t a three way deal where the problems of one deal should effect ours.

Sure there is.
Except that...it is a three-way deal.

There is a way to force two (or more) “separate” deals to be contingent: inform the other party that you won’t make that trade with that party until the other deal goes through. Which Philly certainly has done.

What happened to the "companion deal" mantra of the other day?
It's technically not a three way since we are not sending anything to Toronto

but for all intents and purposes it is

Elliott saying it's a minor leaguer who failed
I've grown to dislike Bob Elliot over the last few days. While this wouldn't be his fault if it's true, it's still annoying that the info came from him.
RT: Elliottbaseball Halladay and Lee passed (they stuided), it's a minor leaguer who failed his physical.
Hopefully it's a Phillies prospect

They’re committed on Halladay now, they’d have to step it up to Brown

If someone is swapping out prospects, we're going to have to wait another day or two for an announcement aren't we?
It would make sense if it was Philly

Since the Toronto guy is the one talking about a player failing.

But not necessarily given that these moves are connected
I'd put money on Drabek, to be honest.

Aumont is next most likely though. Yay.

If it IT Drabek, does that mean Happ is going to Toronto?

Hmmmmmmmmmm

I have no idea

Drabek’s just a guess

Kind of weird how they just threw him in at the last minute after saying 'no' forever on trade requests for him.
The Phillies are making this deal because they're fixated on Halladay

They’re basically doing what Bavasi did on the Bedard trade, except for someone much better

I bet there's hardly any difference between Lee and Halladay next year
Not the point
I don't understand why the Phillies want to do this
These aren't the droids you're looking for
And a longer contract
Wouldn't it stand to reason that a Toronto reporter would have more insiders in his own club, tho?

I think it makes sense it’s a Philly prospect. Drabek had a good year, though. Hard to believe it’s him. I thought his surgery was already complete.

Or it's possible that Elliott could have asked someone what the hold up is and he found out that a Mariners prospect failed his physical
Hopefully I never see a trade this complicated involving us ever again.
But all the excitement!
Conspiracy theory!

Phillies got a bunch of calls from GMs with better offers after the initial announcement, decidd to fail Aumont for something ridiculous.

Why would they need to fail Aumont, when they could just say:

On second thought, no deal.

Not unlike when Vizquel "failed" his physical with the Mariners after Guillen was gifted to Detroit...

… that really worked out well for the Mariners, didn’t it??

Was my first thought.
Still nothing anywhere else...

Please be a mistake!

The mlb.com Hot Stove show mentions that it is something Elliott has heard

but are unwilling to speculate (!) until they hear something further

They've now wandered off into 'why couldn't the Phils just have made the Halladay deal directly with Toronto' territory
Everyone needs to stop asking that question until after the trade is official.

Someone in Philly is going to get wise.

Bob Elliot has said some crazy ass things throughout...

but still…skies falling and all that….

ESPN 950 in Philly is reporting it's Aumont

But again, consider the source

It kind of makes sense, he was in Philly today taking the physical
Swap him with Fields then.

shrug

I doubt the Phillies would do this

Morrow is more likely. Aumont was originally drafted as a starter…Fields has always been a reliever. I think the Phillies valued Aumont as a starter and wouldn’t swap Fields in for that reason. Morrow on the other hand…

Would Jack be asking for something more than Lee back if Morrow was swapped into the trade?
Morrow is more expensive than Amonut and has half the service time
He could ask

…but I doubt he’d get anything. I doubt the Phillies will value him significantly greater than they valued Aumont.

What if they don't want Fields
Link?
That's a radio show.
Well yeah..

Figured who the hell is listening to ESPN Philly

Hm, well, while we don't know anything, Elliot is based in Toronto.

It doesn’t mean it’s for sure this way, but that makes me think it’s one of the guys going to Toronto.

People need to stop saying this
Jeff - Canadians can only report on Canadian news.
Aumont's Canadian
I thought their news programs were fishy
No that's the Pike St. Market
Good morning, Toronto, and welcome to your news for the 12th of September, 2001.

A Tim Horton’s was momentarily held up yesterday before it was discovered that the misunderstanding was caused by a practical joker looking to get some free coffee.

On to Bob with sports.

You mean

“On to Bob with Hockey.”

They had curling on TSN the entire time I was there
The Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings!
Late night programming consists of "Red Shoe Diaries"
And Due South.
Aumont's was done last night

They may have been waiting for some overnight lab results to finalize the physical. Just becuase it’s a report from Toronto doesn’t mean it’s a prospect going their direction…they could have heard from the Phillies that the deal for Halladay was on hold due to the failure if it IS Aumont.

HE HAS GINGIVITIS!!
Aumont is basically the top prospect that we threw in, this is going to get messy...
BALLS. EVERYONE BALLS.
Fuck you Bavasi!

He is still fucking us.

Just sub Tui in and we'll be good.
If its Aumont, say bye bye to Morrow

I’m okay with this, since Morrow is a constant reminder we shouldve had Lincecum anyways.

Go away
That's a stupid reason
You're an A's fan
The A's have fans?
They do but they don't have opposable thumbs

This poster’s proper use of the space bar makes me suspect he’s not really an A’s fan, but only pretends to be one as cover for his poor baseball knowledge.

I actually have 7 fingers

Also using a dell netbook w/ a small keyboard which is difficult. I apologize for any mistakes.

Your typing is flawless
What happened to the other three?
he meant on one hand

he’s a polydactyl.

Actually I support all AL West teams

Angels suck though. Grew up Seattle going to school at Cal. Nothing wrong with being a BI-Fan

Agree to disagree
Everything is wrong with that.

Everything.

This is neither the time not the place to have this debate...

but there is something wrong with being an A’s and Mariners fan

It's like being a Yankees and Red Sox fan. i.e. psychotic.
Is the the same as being a Bi/Curious fan?
AUMONT PASSED!
.

http://twitter.com/ShiDavidi/status/6737711365

SOMEONE QUOTE IT HERE PLEASE, FUCKING SCHOOL INTERNET FILTERS
`
Apparently Aumont passed too. RT @elliottbaseball Halladay and Lee passed (they stuided), it’s a minor leaguer who failed his physical.
Aumont isn't a minor leaguer?
What?
Well, it says "Aumont" passed, the problem is with a minor leaguer.

Aumont isn’t a minor leaguer himself?

I don't see how one leads to the other
What I'm getting from that is the twitterer doesn't think Aumont's a minor leaguer.

Which is silly.

How do you get that out of that tweet?
How the hell do you figure that?
Twitter

The part before RT was new information. Think of it as two seperate posts.

So.... I can't read Twitter is what you're saying.

I don’t use it so…. sorry y’all.

It's a retweet. Read it again. Carefully.
Wow.

You’re late to the party.

Story of my life.
Thanks, bro.
There are other minor leaguers involved.
I love Johjima!
Twitter Lingo

After “RT” is somebody elses post. The first part was what the guy added… meaning it was new news.

,
Apparently Aumont passed too. RT @elliottbaseball Halladay and Lee passed (they stuided), it’s a minor leaguer who failed his physical.
Whose that
Another reporter covering the Blue Jays I think.
Shi Davidi

Twitter Bio: Baseball writer for The Canadian Press, journalism instructor at Centennial College

In the land of Canada they let someone named Shi Davidi cover America's Game
I just saw that too
Okay, what the fuck is going on.
This went from borderline ridiculous to sublimely ridiculous overnight
This is officially amazing
Ramirez?
One of the phillies. Has to be
Bob Elliot is senile and fucking with all of us
I'm sending an invoice for my fucking ER visit to Bob Elliott.
MAYBE WE ARE GETTING WALLACE BACK NOW
I don't want Seneca Wallace anymore
Throw it away!
I think you mean "run out of bounds"...
He's the only person at camp with ice cream >:(
So Twitter officially makes the offseason at least 85% more ridiculous
SHUT UP I JUST GOT 3 NEW UPDATES
Gotta love tweetdeck
I stick to the basics
I don't have a twitter... I just see the reactions on LL

I wonder if that makes things more or less enteraining.

So process of elimination.

Drabek- TJ surgery in 2007
Wallace- has fitness/weight issues
Taylor – left winter ball w/ an elbow injury and had juvenile diabetes
Gillies is legally deaf.

Gillies didn't take a physical
Gillies cannot have failed his physical
He took a hearing test for his physical
And failed because he cannot hear
At what age can your diabetes be treated as an adult?

Or does it depend on your state of residence?

Juvenile diabetes = take shots to control blood sugar

Adult diabetes = take pills to control it.

One can’t become the other.

Don't forget Ramirez
Gillies and Ramirez didn't have to take one.
Conor guesses it's Michael Taylor

He was injured in the Mexican League this winter

So if it's Taylor, does that complicate it more

Since they were going to flip him to the A’s?

I'm guessing so
Phillies could send Brown instead?
I would be shocked

They may have to start from scratch

I guess at this point, with a contract extension agreed to

they will do what it takes.

My thinking too

They’re committed on Halladay

If you can lock up Halladay at 3/60 (4/80) it's sort of a no brainer

guess Doc really did want to pitch for a contender.

Maybe we could use this as an opportunity to get Utley tacked on to this thing
Hello again, old friend!

OK, so we'll just take Cliff Lee and let you two sort this out then thanks.
This potential trade is destroying both my productivity and my emotional well-being.

When I saw the title, I skimmed quickly over the update and thought that the trade had been made official. Then I started reading the comments…

Same boat....

Been studying for my Quantitative Analysis final all day…pop in for a second and BOOM, no more studying…

I can relate homeslice

Managerial Accounting and Real Estate Principles over the next 3 days, but this trade talk has been a distraction. Coffee, Red Bull, No-Doze for the next 48 hrs!

LL Live Journal

No one cares.

You forgot the picture!
I'm lazy.
It's useless without the picture
We even sidebarred it for you

That's smaller than the sidebarred version
Fuck it I'm taking a nap
.

“From AP: Phillies GM Amaro says he’s hopeful Halladay trade can be completed Wednesday but talks may extend into Thursday”

I wonder if this was before or after they found out about the failed physical
These GM sure gave bad timing for this trade

Don’t they realize most people have work and are in final exams week. Hopefully this trade is delayed till the weekend and I can devote more time and discussion to this.

God
Saw that coming

From a mile away.

ARE YOU INSANE!?

END END END END END

I look forward to reading more of your input!
What's wrong with you
I personally don't think baseball GMs plan their trade times around final exam schedules.
I like you better than Johnny Slick
How dare you, sir!

How dare you!

Yes that's clearly the problem
I will ban you.
When did we start giving away free crack
I agree that their timing is really bad
But maybe it's Magic Mike's college that has the bad timing

They should know not to schedule final exams during such a crucial time on the baseball calendar amirite

Didn't Magic Mike just say he went to UC-Berkeley?

I was partying with Berkeley people yesterday who just finished. It’s not Magic Mike’s school, it’s Magic Mike.

How do we know that our reality is the correct one? Perhaps MagicMike's reality is of a higher degree of realness than ours.
I perceive this to be my (our) reality, therefore it is
Usually, when new members get off to a start like yours

they either get wise quickly or are never heard from again. Just sayin.

I changed my name.
And comment very infrequently.
I don't know who Shi Davidi is, but he offers this via twitter.
From AP: Phillies GM Amaro says he’s hopeful Halladay trade can be completed Wednesday but talks may extend into Thursday
See above :)
Hello and welcome to 10 minutes ago
Dewey Defeats Truman
It appears I am an idiot
Seahawks win Superbowl XL!!
By the way Jeff you need to really stop positing things on the front page until they're official.
How is this much different than any of the previous days' threads?
Because every single one has been a mess.
Hello friends
How is this even allowed?
The Internet Charter

Decrees that a minimum of %20 of all communication via the World Wide Web will be useless. Scrappy’s just doing his part. I think his ID is perfect for this role.

Don't fuck with him, he has mod powers
Oops

Technically I was pointing out how Scrappy’s contributions are critical to survival of the Internet.

Larry tweets:
I’m hearing it’s NOT one of the Mariners’ prospects that failed the physical, and that deal is NOT going to unravel.
Good enough for me

Guess I’ll untie this rope, now

And here I was thinking I couldn't love Larry Stone any more.
Is he Borat? NOT....NOT
I'm going to choose to put all of my faith and trust in Larry Stone's hands
Stone Twitter

I’m hearing it’s NOT one of the Mariners’ prospects that failed the physical, and that deal is NOT going to unravel.

I like that Stone reports what he reads in this comment section

and then the comment section posts what it reads from Stone. And we all feel like we learned something.

Stone says everything's fine
Nothing is fucked dude.

Subject line, please.
Sorry!

Was too focused on making it small… and excited about Stone

When I get excited about Stone, I don't focus on making it small.
Also that was Walter.
nazi
Please do not insult members who are trying to remind others of the site's guidelines.
For the second time in three days, no less
Wait, did Larry Stone say something?
Something about back spasms, I think.
Endy Chavez is a free agent.
I heard Stone said it wasn't Ken Phelps that failed his physical
This is all very interesting, but what does katal think about this?
Katal will ban you
Katal is pimp shit
MLBTR says Michael Taylor
Well that's problematic, isn't it?

since they were going to flip Taylor to the A’s?

Maybe this just means that the Taylor-Wallace swap won’t happen and the three-way will go as planned

Take that with whatever mount of innuendo you like
I take that it screws the A's

And is therefore, super hot.

One of the few three-ways that do
In Stone We Trust
Wasn't Michael Taylor going to Oakland?

Did they fail him?

I hope this all works out!
Me too I have finals!

oh wait

Maybe we'll get lucky and it won't be completed until the weekend
It should be noted here that I haven't had a final exam since 1991
It should also be noted that I was not serious.
And get the fuck off pdb's lawn.
sorry, I was late to the pileon
I hope so, at least on behalf of the future of america's real estate dealers
Ok, I am glad I was busy the last hour and missed this freakout
DAMMIT PEOPLE

LARRY STONE SAID EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE!

Michale Taylor didn't have to take a phsycial either did he?

So wouldn’t it have to be Drabek??

Taylor had an injury

So they probably had him take one

Makes sense

But several people were saying Taylor didn’t have to take a physical at MLBTraderumors, wasn’t sure if that was true.

My dog is more credible than MLBTraderumors
What does your dog have to say about Adrian Gonzalez
I can't hear her bark from Seattle
Give me your dog's Twitter feed then
Well everything is speculation at this point

I don’t know why people hate MLBTraderumors, they give you links to all RUMORS and people get mad when the RUMORS don’t become reality. It’s a rumor site.

That's why a lot of people here hate it

because it’s nothing but rumors that get thrown to the wall to see what sticks. This site generally shies away from unfounded rumors, these last couple threads notwithstanding.

What I'm saying is that lots of people make up rumors

yes, you’re completely right, MLBTraderumors isn’t that ridiculous because it gives you exactly what it says on the tin – trade rumors about MLB. On the other hand though, don’t treat those as fact and certainly don’t cite them as evidence to back up a “Michael Taylor didn’t have to take a physical” opinion.

On the other hand your dog is a reliable quote machine when asked about trade rumors

and she fetches!

She said "bark bark bark" which means "we got Cliff Lee!"
She's friends with Ichiro's dog, that's how I learned to translate
"Michael Taylor didn't have to take a physical"

Was not my quote, I asked a question if he had to take a physical, so no need to twist words. I

(I don't think you understand that I'm agreeing with you)
I know

But you said don’t treat it as fact. Well of course you don’t treat it as fact, which is why I asked a question about it. Thats all.

Drayer's saying we have Harden
I've had one since Monday night
Don't listen she's too busy burning dinner to get anything right
Oh clever
I have a raging Harden
Too bad we didn't sign him....

Cause this joke doesn’t get old.

Oh wait

Has there been any other legally deaf mlb players?

Off the top I only remember Curtis Pride.

If you remember one, the answer is probably yes.
So yes, Curtis Pride
I always tried to ask Curtis about this fact but he ignored me.
Did you try yelling "Come on dude, I know you can hear me!"

Sometimes that works.

I don't think Cory Lidle can hear.
It was obvious he couldn't see though.
I don't think they'd give a pilots' license to a blind person
So much for instrument rating.
He's not technically a player any more though

stupid loopholes

But Drayer just tweeted...
Until the Royals sign him in January to lead their rotation
Ace of the staff!

The Royals also canceled their fantasy camp this coming spring. Guess nobody wanted to meet Yuni.

They heard one of the kids say something bad about the team.
Not a former Mariner
But he can't play baseball very well.
Brett Myers couldn't hear his wife tell him to stop.
If you're gonna make domestic abuse jokes, at least make them funny
Oh so they're into S & M
Code word was 'bruised lip'
Well, there was that whole Nick Adenhart thing last year

I can’t believe you forgot that so quickly.

Oh. Deaf.

Ugh.
It was better than the Brett Myers joke though
Significantly better
Me Mariners fan Me love making dumb jokes to try to get recs
You were right the first time
Dummy Hoy

back in the 19th/early 20th century. Link.

We used to give such great nicknames...
Let's all take a moment and say a prayer

for Dave Cameron’s health and sanity, and to beseech the almighty whomever not to render his nice Wall St. Journal article moot.

Yes, let us all beseech Marduk to be merciful
Huh.
Where's your panic?
I'm supposed to panic?
YES
Meet your newest Seattle Mariner:

WHO THE JINGLE BELLS IS THAT
CONVERT YOUR PANIC ENERGY INTO DELICIOUS PRETZELS
YES YES PANIC PRETZELS I'M ON IT

THIS MAN

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
That is Cupcakes, destroyer of worlds
FUCK YOU JOE BLANTON YOU GOONY BIG ASS SHITSTAIN
WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON
At the drop of a hat
If THIS isn't worth pannicking about, your fanhood is pretty tame (I'm not saying weak... just not lots of testosterone).
Yup because rc is all filled with that testosterone and all
Occasionally. ;)
It'll happen some day
Gosh I hope not
I am not panicking you see, because I read the information that the deal was unlikely to unravel. You wipe.
Todd Zolecki, reporter in Philly:

bq Failed physical won’t kill this deal. An announcement is still expected today bq.

Gotta love failed HTML
I believe you want to use em instead of bq but you can also

highlight your text and click the quote marks.

YES YES YES

YES!

PS – Just click the quotes for blockquote

Hot off the, erm, press from MLBtraderumors
1:31pm: Jeff Blair of the Globe and Mail heard that the report of a failed physical is a “totally false rumour.”

Link

late
I almost said that...

Which would have been a late late?

Jeff Blair tweets
Well-placed baseball source on failed physical reports involving a player coming to the Jays? “Totally false rumour.”
Meaning no one actually failed?
I already hated Bob Elliot, and now I hate him even more.
IT IS OFFICIAL!!!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

FUCK YOU BOB ELLIOT!

CLIFF LEE MOTHERFUCKERS
OPENING DAY IS GOING TO BE SO FUCKING FUN
ALSO THE DAY AFTER
AND THREE DAYS AFTER THAT!
*THE DAY AFTER OPENING DAY
I AM THINKING CAUSE THEY WILL ANNOUNCE THE TEAM AND WE GET TO SEE HIM JOG OUT WITH HIS LITTLE FEET WITH THE FIRECRACKERS AND SO FUN SO FUN
NO REASON THEY CAN'T BOTH BE FUNNER THAN A DANCING BOBCAT WITH IT'S ASS ON FIRE
TEARS BE A FLOWIN
JACK AND COKES AT SEA GARDEN
Once again, the Globe and Mail proves its superiority to the Toronto Star
Now does Bob Elliot get fired?

At least he needs to have his twitter revoked.

HGLUGHALUGHAGHUAHL
Heimlich?
I think he means Hallelujah, but in a YHWH kind of way
I guess that's why all those people with the funny little hats were so angry when I SAVED THEIR FUCKING LIFE
Well it was fun losing our shit for a few hours

I totally didnt need to do anything at work today

Stupid Canadians reporters.

Cliff Lee

WE JUST GOT BRUCE FUCKING LEE
Did Jack really just turn Aumont, Gillies and Ramirez into Cliff Fucking Lee?!?
FUCK YA
Did that really just happen!?!

YEAH! THAT JUST HAPPENED!

Presser for the Halladay side set for 4 central.

Cmon GMZ presser today!

If Halladay has a 4 PM CST press conference, when is Lee's?
GMZ for mayor
"Mariners General Manager Jack Zduriencik completed a trade Friday that will bring a full tunnel to replace the Alaska Way Viaduct to Seattle in exchange for Brandon Morrow and Rob Johnson."
Did we get the Big Dig from Boston?

cause they better send some cash along with that.

Even though the Big Dig is young, it has old player skills.
The Sonics are next!
The Mariners also sent MagicMike23 to beantownball.com
WOOOOOOOOO!

This is so awesome

I love Z

But not in the way you guys are thinking.

I wanna have sex with him!

What do you mean not in the way we're thinking?
I love the origniality of this joke!
It was supposed to be a reference to Hardballs

Some crappy show that only aired once back in like 1994 or something.

You just made a Harden/hard-on joke young-un
WE NEED TO BUILD JACK Z A MOUNTAIN!

WITH A SHRINE! THEN FUCK THE MOUNTAIN!

Mount Rushmore with Tony Blengino right next to him
Really hope the press conference isn't till at least 3
FUCK YES!

Really incredible work by GMZ

BOB ELLIOT I AM COMING FOR YOU
Seriously, what a bad reporter.
More good news piling on: Gordon Edes doesn't think Beltre will be a member of the Boston Red Sox.

Twitter:

Don’t expect Beltre or Holliday either. Kotchman likely to open season at first, Youkilis at 3d. Not etched in stone, but it looks that way.

LINK

Was just about to post this. Awesome, just hope it's not the Angels. That would be so much worse
I was kind off hoping the BoSox would sign him so the Angels wouldnt.
I think the Angels are sold on Woods.

I hope, anyway.

It wouldn't surprise me if the Angels panic

They’d sign him and trade for Lowe.

It's funny.

They’re saying we don’t have shit after Felix and CLIFF FUCKING LEE. I’m wondering how their pitching staff is going to do this year.

Tiger's trying to pull a MJ and play another sport to deflect attention from his personal life?
I'm not 100% sure that's good news.

I for one would much rather see Beltre in Boston than Anaheim.

The Lee/Felix combo will be awesome for 1 yr

But a Felix/Lincecum still gives me nightmares, my goodness

Worthwhile comment
STOP WITH THE LINCECUMMING
I am glad someone got this.
Annnnnd un-recced for neediness
I hope to fucking Christ this isn't a reference to taking Morrow over Lincecum.

Because it it is… oooooooooooOOOOOOH!

I'm starting to think Attractive Nusiance wasn't kidding

There’s no way you’re for real.

Why the fuck didn't we draft Pujols?!

LET IT GO ALREADY. SHIT.

EVERYBODY STOP PILING ON
I blame the delay of comments updating.

WHY CAN’T WE GET EVERYTHING INSTANTANEOUSLY!

Blame the finite speed of light.

It’s not just a good idea, it’s the law.

Yes, he clearly wants to attention, which he's getting.
Do we need to cover good touch vs. bad touch again?
It's an emotional time
You know what I think? I think your comments are doody.
So Churchill has been right this whole time
It's looking that way, yes.
Credit where it's due, for sure.
The AP article kept using prospectinsider.com as the source for the Jaun Ramierz.
I was inclined to trust him on this one

He’s always been such a vocal Gillick fan-boy I am sure he has good sources in that org.

I know. I'm scared too.
He did a good job. Respect to Churchill on this one.
He was the first to break it too

Kudos to him.

Good on you Jeff.
Dammit, turns out I have no idea where to start when building A FUCKING SHRINE.
The balls.

I’m sure Jack has a massive pair of balls. Good place to start.

PLAYOFFS!
Yeah, fuck the Angels!
They're in denile

This kinda reminds me of 2004. Our guys just died, they signed Colon and Vlad, etc. Figgins might not be Vlad but dammit let me find parallels!

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Love Mark Twain.

I feel this trade is extra official after switching his wikipedia article to having him play for the M's.
Adrian Gonzalez next!
While that would be awesome I would also gladly settle for Mat Gamel!
Him Too!

FUCK JACK Z WILL GET BOTH!

Who will we have to trade for these guys?!

No matter, Jack Z will create them with his wizardry!

AND MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA BYAHHHH
Or Prince Fielder!
And Beltre and Holliday and Branyon.
Go for it

Does Saunders, Kelly, Triufel, Morrow get it done?

I would be very willing to trade Triufel.
Holy shit

latest twitter from Stone Divish etc indicate that these are separate deals

We knew that
Oh really? I missed that

I thought they wouldn’t do one without the other

One probably doesn't happen without the other, but in order to be a bonafied three-way, Seattle would've been sending the prospects to Toronto, not Philadelphia.
You mean it's not one huge mega-deal like ESPN reported?

Go figure.

I'm assuming that is simply because Halladay isn't final yet.
I just didn't think they'd pull the trigger before Halladay was in the fold
I can't help but feel Zduriencik is happy this was a press release, because I can imagine him laughing in between these quotes.
“We are very excited to have Cliff Lee on-board in the Seattle organization,” Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik said in a written release. "It goes without saying what a quality pitcher and competitor he is and what he will mean to our ballclub and organization.

“I also want to congratulate Philadelphia and Toronto on how this whole deal was handled. We gave up three very nice prospects to Philadelphia. I think they will be a nice piece of the Phillies future, and I want to thank Tyson, Phillippe and JC, and let them know we’ll be rooting for them as they progress towards the Majors. It was not an easy decision for us, but we could not pass up the opportunity to add a pitcher a Lee’s ability to our Major League team.”

Per Baker

Awesome

“And… don’t let the door hit you on the way out…”

Jack Z is a class act.

Deals like this get done because he is easy to work with.

Do most GM say stuff like this after big trades?
I don't recall hearing a GM thank the players he was sending away. Especially minor leaguers. Maybe they do, but I haven't noticed it.

Jack is one classy fellow.

In fewer words, yes.

But not as genuine as this:

I think they will be a nice piece of the Phillies future, and I want to thank Tyson, Phillippe and JC, and let them know we’ll be rooting for them as they progress towards the Majors.
Thats nice of him.
Reading and listening to some of the things Jack has said, he really is a good guy and a person easy to work with.

He’s not looking to “win” a trade. He’s looking to make a fair deal and hope both sides come out happy. This quote supports that effort.

The best part is, this kind of stuff opens doors for bigger and better deals. I love Jack.

I think he's looking to win the trade.

He just doesn’t want the other team to know he’s raping them.

He may think that way, but in a radio interview the other day he said almost word-for-word he is not looking to win a trade but looks for both sides to come away happy.
What do you expect him to tell the media?

“I want to give away as little as I can and get as much back as possible while making them think they got something good?” Of course he’s gonna say he’s giving up a substantial package, even if it’s not the case.

He was specifically asked what he looks for to win a trade.

He countered with the statement that he doesn’t look to win a trade. Most other people wouldn’t go out of their way to make that point.

Jack seems genuine and I’ll leave it at that.

It's executive speak.
There's some benefit to this.

GMs are a fraternity. If you develop a reputation of screwing over everyone you trade with, people stop wanting to trade with you. This has happened to some extent with KP of the Trail Blazers who developed a rep for “Pritchslapping” trade partners.

Keeping a good relationship with other GMs might mean you get to hear about teams looking for help in a trade (such as this one) before anyone else. As we just saw, that can be pretty valuable.

Of course, this hasn't stopped him from winning a whole lot of trades

"I also want to congratulate Philadelphia and Toronto on how this whole deal was handled (SUCKERS!). We gave up three very nice prospects to Philadelphia. I think they will be a nice piece of the Phillies future (but they ain’t no CLIFF FUCKING LEE!), and I want to thank Tyson, Phillippe and JC, and let them know we’ll be rooting for them as they progress towards the Majors. It was not an easy decision for us, but we could not pass up the opportunity to add a pitcher a Lee’s ability to our Major League team (BITCHES!)."

Shit, no subject line.

Sorry.

That sounds like a Jim Bowden presser, actually.
Jack Z says:

: You guys have no idea how much wood I had while writing that.

How crazy if we end up with Lee and Philly doesnt get Halladay :P
Uh...

It’s done. If we got Lee, that means Philly got Halladay.

Amaro's already called a press conference for Halladay in a couple hours.
This is better than spare bullpen parts----> McGwire
Cliff Lee doesn't hit dingers, though.
No but he'll be around for four more months
He can't, he's left-handed.
So do we officially have the best front office in the Major Leagues?
For now I'm still going to go with Cleveland and Boston.
We've already risen over Oakland, in my eyes.
But they didn't get as much as they should've for Lee and Martinez and traded essentially traded Gutierrez for Valbeuna.
I am wondering what the hell happened with Cleveland as well.
I think that Sizemore injury just plain killed them last season.
Imagine if we still had Choo and Cabrera...

FUCK!

Add Adam Jones, Chris Tillman, et al., to the list.

Maybe we wouldn’t have traded for Guti, but Jack would have had much more ammunition to upgrade everywhere else.

I'd keep Tillman.

That rotation would be fearsome.

For sure.

But it would make Morrow that much more movable. We could sit here all day fantasizing the moves Jack would make if Bavasi didn’t pillage our system. It’s remarkable what he has done with what we had. I can’t wait for another 2-3 years of drafting players and see Jack working at full capacity.

I guess I'll just play Debbie Downer then and point out that we only have Jack Z because Bavasi pillaged the system so badly
Bavasi's best move was bringing in Z
Which is why fantasizing doesn't do much good.
I'd like to point out that I love Jack Z

and 2008 was totally worth it if this is what his entire tenure as Mariners GM is like

I'd like members of the jury to strike this statement from the record.

For clearly SB is not in favor of Jack Zduriencik being the Mariners GM!

I was just talking about players we had traded to Cleveland.
I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt for now.

Their track record is so good.

Small sample size warnings should apply.

I wonder if you could construct a “Wins Above Average GM” stat? It would just measure wins going in vs going out plus some adjustments for draft picks and cash. You might have to assume that trades are a zero sum game, or you could try to adjust for win-win and lose-lose trades by hand. I think if you were to do this, Jack Z and Co. would lead the league for the last two years.

That said, the “stop looking at your spreadsheets and actually watch a trade” eye test says that we’re doing pretty darn good.

Well I'm sure glad I slept through this momentary panic.
Yeah, reading through these is pretty wild
Awesome done deal.

Now onto some offense, AGon would be my wet dream. I’ m nore than willing to give up Saunders + for him.
Ihave still major concerns about the offense when there is still inexperience at C/LF plus low OBP of Lopez, wilson, still an unknown situation at 1b (unless Branyan resigns), and Griffey in the lineup. At least need 2 more allstar level hitters minimum. AGon + Holliday/Bay makes us AL West Front runners, possibly even World Series contenders

I like this guy
Which one
The one that proposes all star level hitters!

ALL STARS!!!!

I think we should make a time machine and go trade Shawn Kelley for Willie Mays in his prime
He can play left field
I think we should go after Vernon Wells, or Gary Matthews Jr.

All Stars, right!

I suppose it's a good thing that you aren't the GM then.
Here's a serious question

Why “allstar level” hitters? Why not just rock solid producers?

In order to win baseball games, you have to have two good TOR pitchers, a solid MOR, a leadoff hitter who steals at least 50 bags, a No. 2 hitter who can advance the runner, and then at least three RBI guys coming up behind them.

I’m surprised you didn’t know this.

As long as at least one of those players is a veteran with presence then I'm fine with your plan
I (stupidly) checked out some of the comments on the ESPN story,

and there are Phillies fans who are legitimately pissed to be getting Roy Halladay — not because they don’t like the whole downgrade-in-prospects thing, but because he doesn’t have nearly as much playoff experience as Cliff Lee and has played for a losing team his whole life.

Cliff Lee has been to the playoffs once — a few months ago. Thank God the Phillies didn’t trade for perennial loser Cliff Lee.

Wasn't he on the playoff roster for Cleveland in 2007?
I was wondering about that.

If he was, he didn’t throw any pitches.

Yeah and he really sucked in his Game 1 start
You gotta have someone hitting dingers
Red Sox are pushing for AGon

Supposedly building a deal around Ellsbury/Buzholz, we cant let this happen.

Saunders, Triunfel, Morrow IMO beats that offer.
Ellsbury and his 1.9 WAR value makes me laugh

AGon is the dumbest nickname I've ever heard
I propose dead meming it before it even starts
"First letter of first name + some letters in the last name" was a dead meme by the time people starting calling Pudge "I-Rod."

NOT EVERY PLAYER IN THE WORLD NEEDS A NICKNAME IMMEDIATELY. LET THEM FUCKING EARN THEM.

In fact, most of the players don't deserve nicknames
The T-Mac, K-Mart, etc. thing was getting really bad in the NBA a few years ago.

Not sure if it still is.

K-Mart is fine because it's actually funny that there's a store called K-Mart, so it leads to lots of puns

the rest need to stop.

It's less annoying, yes.
I agree with T-Con and D-Fuk
word up T-Halp
One hundred percent agreed.

On both counts.

Angels fans know how to create a nickname.

Fransisco Rodriguez = K-Rod!

See it's funny because it combines his job with his name

oh wait

At least that one had a shred of clever
You don't have to be an apologist for your girlfriend.

;)

The only Angels player I use a nickname for is Gary Matthews, Jr

who I refer to as “HGH” because that’s what his initials ar… oh wait.

ManRam. That is everything that is wrong with nicknaming baseball players.
I always liked it better as F-Rod.
Wow. Really glad I missed out on this thread.
Turns out there was a medical issue, but it really had nothing to do with the larger trade. Rotoworld:
Blue Jays acquired 1B-3B Brett Wallace from the Athletics for OF Michael Taylor.
It turns out that an MRI on Wallace’s shoulder was the hold-up on the deal, but everything eventually checked out. It’s curious that the Athletics would give up on him, but it’s probably an acknowledgment that he’s bound to play first base or be a designated hitter in the long-term. Wallace, 23, was actually originally drafted by Toronto in 2005, but went to college and signed with the Cardinals after being drafted in the first-round in 2008. Wallace has a .305/.384/.475 line over his first two professional seasons, reaching as high as Triple-A last season. Using Wallace at first base could be one possibility should the Jays trade Lyle Overbay this winter.
OF COURSE IT WAS OAKLAND'S FAULT!

Should have known. Bastards!

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