Mariners off-season mad libs article

[NWinAZ]

2) To get the Randy Johnson deal, the M's traded away their ace. It's hard to imagine the M's trading Felix for anything, let alone a strikeout pitcher with major accuracy issues. The forgotten member of the trade a lot of the time was Brian Holman, who if he stays healthy could've given the Mariners a duo like Maddux and Glavine were for the Braves.

But Langston was going to be a free agent and wasn't re-signing with Seattle. He was Cali bound no matter what.

 

[NWinAZ]

The Mariners cannot do those type of deals because they cannot develop their own talent. People forget that both of those guys actually grew leaps and bounds after playing a few years. Randy was helped greatly by the trade for Dan Wilson and getting a veteran who had something still in him in Bosio.

Agreed especially with the Wilson and Bosio points. Wilson made his team so much better than he even gets credit for. Bosio just showed toughness and the ability to pitch with his head more than his arm. The guy could barely freakin walk. That is why I like Napoli for this team. There are parts to a player you can't find in stats. The clubhouse presence as well as being gamers. We need that guy(s).

 

[blstoker]

But Langston was going to be a free agent and wasn't re-signing with Seattle. He was Cali bound no matter what.

No less true for Johnson, even if it was the team that burned that bridge. Just pointing out that the Mariners gave good established players to get those great prospects. The only one who really fits that bill right now is Felix.

 

[NWinAZ]

I agree with the Felix comment. I was disappointed when we didn't deal guys like Ichiro, Beltre, etc when we knew they were either leaving or in Ichiro's case we weren't ready to contend so a vet priced like that just didn't make sense in a baseball standpoint.