Randy Johnson, Griffey, and Arod

[Josh W]

I just read the thread on Randy's perfect game, and was kinda stunned by a few of the comments. It seems that Randy is generally well respected here.

I'm not saying he shouldn't be respected, but it's always amazed me how people assume Mariners fans would be upset at Arod the most, then Griffey, then Randy.

Arod has a bad rap. Yeah, he's said some dumb stuff, but, when his contract expired with the mariners, THE ONLY OTHER OFFER HE RECEIVED (besides Texas) was the Mariners, at 3 (or maybe 4) years for 12.5 million. Compare that with 10 yrs at 250 million. Moreover, the Mariners weren't willing to negotiate further. An absolute joke.

Griffey wanted to be traded to a team that had spring training in the grapefruit league, so he could spend more time with his family. Immensely understandable.

But Randy, in his last (partial) season with Seattle, basically quit on the team. I'm too tired to look up the stats now, but he was horrible, demanded to be traded to a 'winner' (after making the playoffs 2 outta the past 3 years), and was just short of sabotaging the team (including clubhouse fights with Jay Buhner).

Of the three future HOFers who left Seattle in the late 90s, it's Randy who deserves the most spite...

All that said, I don't dislike the guy. His first no hitter was on my birthday [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]. His allstar game appearance w/ John Kruk was the greatest atbat in baseball history. His humility after blowing game 5 in the 1995 ALDS vs. New York was refreshing. Seeing him bat is funny.

And he's not a Laker, which is cool, too.

[bernie]

RJ was treated like crap (so was griffey, to a certain extent) by the M's near the end, and most of the fans know this. Many say he refused a contract. He was never offered one. But then they came out with one so lowball there was no way he could take it. It was well documented in the paper up here.

The last year he was here, he was having alot of back problems.

The Ms screwed up, yet again, with a star player. If Ichiro wasnt japanese, he may have been gone too on his last negotiation.

Ms got their stadium. I dont think we'll be seeing them in the playoffs anytime soon. This can also go into how the fans could possibly support this club with how they absolutely screwed the fans, but, like religion, the followers choose to ignore what happened. The organization sucks. Always has.

Im thoroughly enjoying watching them plummet this season.

b

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

The organization sucks. Always has.

Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek for Heathcliff Slocumb proves that.

[Sooga]

Let's make a laundry list of the talent the M's have squandered over the years...

a young Tino Martinez and a young Jeff Nelson... though they did get back perennial all-stars Russ Davis and Sterling Hitchcock in return.

a young Jose Cruz Jr.... though they did get lights-out closers Paul Spoljaric and Mike Timlin in return.

a young Mike Hampton... though they did get Silver Slugger Eric Anthony in return.

and on a lesser note, they gave away Shawn Estes for fireballer Salomon Torres.

.. and of course the aforementioned Lowe/Varitek for Slocumb deal, which ranks way up there for bad trades for ANY organization, much less the M's.

Now I understand each organization has had their share of crappy deals... But the amount of talent the M's threw away in the mid 90's is shocking.

[andyfox]

"The last year he was here, he was having alot of back problems."

So he goes to Houston in the middle of the year. Here are his stats:

With Seattle 9-10 4.35 ERA
With Houston 10-1 1.28 ERA

His back sure got better in a hurry.

[andyfox]

The ten years at $250 was a sick joke, a figure that shocked everybody when it was announced. No other organization, not even the Yankees would have come close to that (although it did goad the Yankees into giving a somewhat similar figure to Derek Jeter, who, after coming within one hit of winning the batting title last year, may not get one more hit this year).

You're just upset the Mariners look like they may lose 116 games this year.

[Sooga]

I've told Josh since 2001, sooner or later, that team of 55 year olds is gonna get old, and when the wheels come off on that team, it's gonna get ugly. REALLY ugly. Olerud's 35. Boone's 35. Moyer is 41. Ichiro isn't Ichiro anymore. Edgar is 70. They got some nice young arms on the staff, but their offense is really ugly right now, and from what I can tell they don't have any hot future prospects either. I wonder if Harold Reynolds will come back.....

[southerndog]

[ QUOTE ]
The organization sucks. Always has.

Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek for Heathcliff Slocumb proves that.

[/ QUOTE ]

What, the Red Sox got the better end of a trade?

[nolanfan34]

Finally, a post right in my wheelhouse. A Mariners thread!

I generally agree with much of this thread. If you want to learn about the morbid history of the Mariners, check out Art Thiel's book, "Out of Left Field". After reading that, I don't blame Johnson for wanting to leave after how he was treated. He shouldn't have quit on the team, but since he wasn't A-Rod or Griffey, he pretty much got shat on.

The best part of the book is knowing how Griffey realizes he made a huge mistake leaving. I feel bad for the guy personally, with the injuries and all. He provided so many memories for me growing up in the Seattle area, going to dozens of games throughout the years.

As for A-Rod, I don't blame him for leaving. The offer the M's made was more in the neighborhood of $15 mil per year by the end of the contract, but wasn't enough years for his liking. The reason Seattle fans hate him isn't because he left, but because he left claiming "I want to win a World Series title" and it wasn't about the money. I swear, if he had just been honest and said "I'm excited to come to a good ball club, and they just knocked it out of the park with their offer" I don't think people would have faulted him as much.

As for this season, yikes. I'm glad I get tickets for free, otherwise I probably wouldn't be able to stomach going the way this team has gone downhill. It will be facinating to watch, because the ownership has seriously forgotten that Seattle is the epitome of a fair-weather fan city. If this team tanks again, it doesn't matter how nice Safeco Field is - they ain't averaging 20,000 per game next year if they lose 100 this year.

[nolanfan34]

Great summary. We might be adding the Guillen trade to that list if he keeps hitting over .300.

OT list of my all-time favorite M's.

C - Bob Kearney
1B - Alvin Davis
2B - Jack Perconte
SS - Spike Owen
3B - Jim Presley
LF - Phil Bradley/Mike Kingery (tie)
CF - Griffey
RF - Buhner
DH - Edgar

SP - Floyd Bannister
SP - Mark Langston
SP - Billy Swift
SP - Erik Hanson
SP - Johnson

Closer - Mike Schooler

Ok...I'll stop now. I'm probably having too much fun with this.