Mariners Prove Interested in Giancarlo Stanton

-The Giancarlo-

The Mariners turned over another stone today when they made the call to the Marlins front office to find what they could possibly want for their premium slugger Giancarlo Stanton.

I imagine that conversation went something like this:
MARLINS: Felix Hern....
MARINERS: Dial tone.
If it didn't end there, it probably continued along the lines of Kyle Seager, Dustin Ackley, James Paxton, Taijuan Walker and the Mariner Moose.

Mariners "Possibly" Dealing With Ethier

-The LA Dodger, Ethier-

Rumored today by our dear friend Jason Churchill from Prospect Insider that the Mariners are in trade talks for a hitter. His belief is that the hitter is named Andre Ethier. First impressions: I love Andre Ethier....

Then I went to www.baseball-reference.com and looked up his contract. Basically, Ethier is making over 17 million dollars per year that the Mariners would never pay the full amount of, luckily for us, the Dodgers would have no issue eating a large chunk of that salary. At least I would hope.

Justin Smoak and The Writing On The Wall

-Smoak-

It's been said that the job is Justin Smoak's. The Mariners first priority at first base. Within the last month we have heard that Jesus Montero will get a look at first base in hopes to keep his bat in the lineup. Smoak's playing time was all of a sudden diminished.

Last week the Mariners turned Jason Vargas over to the Angles for the switch hitting slugger Kendrys Morales. Morales, since a major leg surgery, is a primary first baseman or designated hitter.

It's OFFICIAL! Rauuuuul is back!

-Welcome Back Raul!-

That's right! Raul Ibanez is back in a Mariners uniform for the 2013 season. A signing that will bring a lot of mixed response from fans, but the main reason that Raul is getting this shot is because the Mariners are in need of some veteran leadership in the clubhouse. Quite possibly his heroics at the end of last season with the Yankees have made him a excellent choice as a pinch hitter as well, but either way, he fits a hole that the Mariners had in their roster.

Contract details have not yet surfaced, but I have to believe that this deal is incentive based and very low on the guaranteed money.

Mariners Have "Serious Interest" In Rauuuuuul Ibanez

-Ibanez at some younger age-

RAUUUUUUUUUUL! For that reason alone I would love to see Raul Ibanez come back to the Seattle Mariners. Yeah, it's sentimental, or is it just mental? Same reason I would love to see Jamie Moyer come back for a final year and the same reason I loved it when Griffey came back for the final year and tried for another. Now it's rumored that the Mariners could go a third round with Raul.

Is Raul someone that could add something to this team at age 40? Well, the Yankees sur got value from him all the way to the end last year. In fact, it was Raul that provided late game heroics in many pinch hit at bats in the playoffs and it was Raul that took the DH spot from Alex Rodriguez in the ALCS.

Home Grown in Washington! Who Else Could The Mariners Get?

-Lincicum as a Husky-

In honor of the latest free agent pick-ups by the Seattle Mariners, I was led to search through the MLB to find out what active players were born in Washington. Our recent Jason Bay and Jeremy Bonderman signings have helped in large part because this is their hometown team. Not that it would have been the end of the world if we didn't sign these guys, but it did give us an option unlike other free agents.

The Mariners just passed up signing Tim Lincicum in the draft and instead signed Brandon Morrow who we ended up trading straight across for Brandon League. Scouts missed on that one.

Mariners Take A Flyer On Jeremy Bonderman

-Bonderman with the Tigers-

It isn't the signing that we were waiting for before Christmas, but it is a signing. The Mariners are signing to Jeremy Bonderman to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training. As usual, Jack Z is trying to get value out of bringing a player back from injury as Bonderman is working on a comeback from elbow reconstruction surgery.

Remember Bartolo Colon?

Bonderman has never been an excellent pitcher and may not even makes sense for the Mariners but obviously the Mariners see some value.

Mariners Land Kendrys Morales via Trade for Jason Vargas

-Morales After A Walk Off Against M's-

The Mariners search for some offense has led them to Kendrys Morales. After Josh Hamilton signed with the Angels last week, the Angels had too many outfielders and were looking to part with Peter Bourjos or Morales. Obviously the Mariners took advantage of the situation by taking off some dead weight from the Angels and in return, the Mariners are sending the Angels Jason Vargas.

Kendrys Morales, the same guy that killed the Mariners on way too many occasions. The same Morales that hit a walk off grand slam against the Mariners and fractured his leg in celebration stomping on home plate.

Nick Swisher - On a Date With the Indians

-Swisher-

As per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, Nick Swisher is headed to Cleveland for a date with team president Mark Shapiro. Obviously this happens all the time with free agents as they have to explore all their options. The Mariners may have had dinner with Swisher as well, but no word has been spoken of that.

Is this a problem for the Mariners?

I guess that all depends on if you really like Nick Swisher and believe that he can help make this team any better. In my opinion, the negatives greatly outweigh the positives, especially now that we know Cleveland is in full pursuit of the free agent slugger. Here are a couple of things to be concerned about.

First off, Nick Swisher is going to get paid. He is the last standing free agent with any kind of bat available on the market. IF there are multiple teams bidding, Swisher's value will increase far above what he is actually worth.

Mariners Lose The Josh Hamilton Sweepstakes as Angels Crush Hopes Again

-Not going to happen!-

Every year it seems to be the same anticipation, the same nail biting, excruciating wait of the off-season that pressurizes itself into it's final day as fans of Mariners baseball everywhere hope for a signing that will change the course of losing baseball and invite excitement back to the ballpark. Today, that pressure, that angst all came to a head and all of us here in the Northwest were quickly deflated.

Josh Hamilton didn't sign with the Seattle Mariners. Was it too good to be true?

The Mariners Pursuit of a Better Season!

-Picture courtesy of @GBakerMariners on Twitter-

For some of us, the off-season has been flying by and we anxiously wait for the Mariners front office to give us some kind of hope that this coming 162 game season will be much better than the past couple. Thus far, the Mariners have signed the struggling Jason Bay in hopes that he will rekindle a flame that he once had in Pittsburgh and Boston. Everybody that is involved in that deal is happy about it and hearing the interviews of what a great marriage it is to have Bay playing for his hometown team has us all sitting with pretty little smiles and full of contentment.

Greinke to Dodgers Was NOT the Plan!

-Zack Greinke-

In the last 24 hours we heard multiple reports that the Dodgers were throwing in the towel on trying to sign Zack Greinke. Which would have fit right into the Mariners plans as we tried to "woo" free agent Josh Hamilton away from the Rangers.

Greinke was supposed to be headed to Texas to eat up a lot of their payroll and make it harder for Texas executives to swallow the large contract of Josh Hamilton. Hamilton's second choice after Texas would have been the Mariners. Now that Greinke is a Dodger, we can all but assume that the Rangers will sign their veteran slugger and look for a pitcher for under the $147 million that Greinke took in today for 6 years.

Are The Mariners Really Going To Get Hamilton?

-Hamilton-

Winter Meetings! A glorious time for baseball fanatics to bask in the glory of what could be. As Mariner fans, we seem to do this every year. Earlier I noted the Jason Bay dreams of 2010 and last year we can all remember that we were so close (but not really) to signing Prince Fielder and now we go to bed at night hoping that something magical will happen in the universe that could help us land Josh Hamilton.

Jason Bay Will Be a Mariner!

-Jason Bay Signs With The Mets in 2010-

In 2010 there was a flurry of activity on the free agent market and at the top of that list was a guy by the name of Jason Bay. The production that he had while with the Boston RedSox left the Mariner fans coveting the opportunity for him to dawn the Mariner blue and teal. Now, after two years of waiting, they'll finally have that chance.

I was on that list of fans too. Hoping that Bay would throw us a bone and sign here in Seattle, but instead, the New York Mets snatched him up for an astronomical price.

Mariners Rumblings Lead To Talks Of Felix For Life

Felixing

Winter Meetings are under way and that leads me back to the post. The post of writing a blog once again. I gave up on my last blog at Mariners Latest last season to pursue other things and now, those things are over with. Now I watch all the happenings in Mariner Nation -or the lack thereof- and it makes me crazy not to write about it. I gave my last blog away, so here's my attempt at starting over.

So far this winter we have learned that the Mariners are leaving no question marks about a single player available. Starting with Josh Hamilton being the major piece to being a player that the Mariners wouldn't look to at all and now back to being a major possibility. Well, at least some believe that it's between us and Texas.