The Seattle PI Mariners Blog is carrying a report from the baseball meetings this week in Chicago. Several sources have indicated that the Mariners are talking about a trade to bring Overbay to Seattle to play first base. The timing of the rumors and reports are interesting as the Mariners first baseman Russell Branyan, who had a breakout year this season before a herniated disc shut him down, turned down a one year contract offer by the Mariners, saying he’d like to get a two year deal. The Mariners may be wary of a 34 year old first baseman with a herniated disc – probably with good reason – and Overbay has similar numbers to Branyan (though he had roughly half the homers in an almost equal number of at-bats). Are the M’s letting slip a bit about the negotiations with Toronto to let Branyan know they have options? I think they want him back – they’d not have made a one-year offer otherwise – but perhaps due to his back they want to minimize the downside if it is serious and lingering. That’s smart. Personally, I’d love to see Branyan back and healthy all year. He got his first chance to play every day with the Mariners, and before the back injury he responded very well to the chance to hit against both left and right handed pitching.
Are M's interested in trade for Overbay?
I was listening to the morning show on KJR Sportsradio 950 this morning and Mitch Levy mentioned a report from the meetings in Chicago that the Yankees could conceivably offer Felix Hernandez a contract worth as much as $200 million, guaranteed. The discussion was over whether the Mariners were going to try and sign him to an extension, despite two years remaining on his current contract. Could the M’s get him for $125 now, by allowing him to start making the bigger bucks sooner? Who knows? One thing is certain: If King Felix continues to pitch anywhere near what he did this year over the next two seasons, he’ll be a brilliant, dominant number one starter with more than six seasons of major league experience, and possibly another 12-14 years to pitch in the major leagues. But $200 million guaranteed? Holy Cow!
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