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Mariners Blog
December 4, 2009

 
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Figgins all but signed? Not today


Posted at 2:35 pm by By Kirby Arnold

Amid reports of a Chone Figgins-Seattle Mariners deal that range from a possible announcement today to no deal at all, here's what we know for sure:

There's definitely flame under all that smoke. But nothing will be finalized today ... or tomorrow ... or probably the rest of the weekend. If there's an announcement, more than likely it'll happen next week at the winter meetings in Indianapolis.

But I'm still filing this under the "if" and not "when" category at the moment, even though the Mariners are making a strong push for Figgins and adding him makes more sense than anything else that's been linked with them this offseason.

Why?

For one thing, the Mariners may have to wait until Monday's deadline to learn if their own third baseman, Adrian Beltre, accepts or rejects their offer of salary arbitration. If Beltre accepts, he's on board for another year and the Mariners' third base hole is filled. From a lineup perspective, that's no problem because Figgins' versatility would allow him to play second base.

Manager Don Wakamatsu loves that kind of lineup flexibility. But the Mariners wouldn't seem to have that kind of financial flexibility -- or, at least, the financial desire -- for both Beltre (who made $12.5 million last year) and Figgins (who reports say is asking for four years and $36 million). That would put a crimp in the idea to add a power hitter and a No. 2-quality starting pitcher.

You've also got to factor the Angels into the scenario. Hard to believe they won't make some kind of late push to retain Figgins, who has been the catalyst to their offense.

But, let's get ahead of ourselves here and say everything falls into place, that Beltre flies away to free agency and Figgins becomes the new third baseman. Is he the No. 2 hitter behind Ichiro Suzuki, or would Wakamatsu consider batting Suzuki second and Figgins in the leadoff spot? Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall in that meeting? And would Suzuki resist such a move, knowing his record streak of 200 hits per season could be in jeopardy?

That's much farther down the offseason road.

First, the Mariners need to wrap things up with Figgins, and that's not going to happen for a few days.

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