ORLANDO, Fla. — General manager Bill Bavasi said Wednesday he expects Richie Sexson to be at first base when the Seattle Mariners open the 2008 season, which meant that Sexson won’t be traded when Bavasi leaves for home this morning.
Bavasi acknowledged that teams have asked about the veteran right-handed hitter who batted .205 last season, and that the Mariners will talk more with those teams once the general managers meetings end.
As Yankees GM Brian Cashman said, “You come to these meetings with a plan and you leave with ideas to follow up. The main thing on your mind is ‘Don’t move too fast, don’t overpay.’”
The free agent market opens its season Tuesday — the first day all teams can talk money with players other than their own free agents — but unless you’re looking for a center fielder, it’s a thin field.
On Day 1 of these meetings, the GMs tried something they’d never done before: They held a roundtable discussion in which someone from each of the 30 major league teams stood and told the others what they’d be looking for this offseason.
“Twenty-eight or twenty-nine teams mentioned pitching, either starting or relief pitching — and some mentioned both,” Phillies GM Pat Gillick said.
What that means is that mediocre free agent pitchers like Carlos Silva — who has allowed 1,122 hits in 945 career innings — is going to command a four-year deal worth $48 million or more.
Moving a soon-to-be 33-year-old first baseman owed $14 million next year? That’s going to take some time.
“All of us think Richie will bounce back. There’s nothing in his game that shows he was missing something in ‘07 that he had in ‘06,” Bavasi said. “We’re not just going to give him up, but is he untouchable? No. We only have one of those on the team. We don’t have no-trade clauses in contracts.
“There is interest in Richie. And we will listen.”
Sexson has struggled over the past two years, batting .218 in the first half of 2006, then an even .205 before and after the All-Star break last season.
The upside?
He’ll be in the final year of his contract, and is as likely to come back as any time in his career. What the Mariners may do is trade him for an intriguing problem belonging to someone else.
One such scenario has already been discussed here, if only briefly: Sexson to Texas for Rangers pitcher Vicente Padilla. Padilla, 30, went 6-10 with a 5.76 earned run average last season.
He’s owed $11 million next season, $12 million in ‘09 with a $1.75 million buyout in 2010 unless a $12 million option is picked up. Padilla’s career record is 72-71, his lifetime ERA 4.30.
Texas GM Jon Daniels sounded a bit like Bavasi when asked about a deal.
“We’re not shopping Vicente, but we’re willing to listen to anyone about anything,” he said.
No, Padilla isn’t the pitcher of anyone’s dreams, but that pitcher doesn’t seem to be available this winter — and even Bavasi acknowledges the Mariners don’t want to start 2008 with the staff they have.
“We’re preparing Brandon Morrow to start. We’re preparing Ryan Rowland-Smith to start,” Bavasi said. “All teams prepare every weapon they’ve got, and you’d like to start a season with seven starters available.
“We’d like to add a No. 2 or No. 3 starter. We think Felix will grow quickly into a No. 1.”
And the team is hoping new pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre can help salvage a project or two.
“We think Mel can help someone like Horacio Ramirez, who was one confused guy most of last year,” Bavasi said. “Mel can help him with pitch selection, with a game plan. He’s very good at helping pitchers who fall in love with the wrong pitch.”
Why not dump Ramirez and move on?
Take another look at what’s available, GMs seemed to be saying here.
“Once you get past two or three guys in this market, all of a sudden you realize there’s guys that are going to become very, very wealthy because they’re the best of the rest,” Houston GM Ed Wade said.
“When you’ve got a thin pitching market, that group that I referred to as the best of the rest, not only are the dollars going to be higher, you have to pretty much expect that terms are going to be longer.
“It’s one of those markets when the majority of pitchers available are going to come with issues attached,” Wade said.
The Cubs are willing to shift their entire staff a bit in an effort just to keep free agent Kerry Wood in their bullpen. Wood has been told if he comes back to Chicago, he’ll share closing duties with Bob Howry — and Ryan Dempster will be moved from closer to the starting rotation.
“You’ve got to be creative in a market like this,” Oakland GM Billy Beane said.
Tainted goods? Not Guillen: The report by the San Francisco Chronicle that Jose Guillen and others spent thousands of dollars on HGH and steroids between 2002 and 2003 hasn’t seemed to change hearts and minds about him with major league teams.
Guillen’s strongest suitor at the moment, the Kansas City Royals, in essence shrugged off the charges.
“Unfortunately, there was a period of time in baseball that we all know now that circumstances like this were occurring,” GM Dayton Moore said. “I think you’ve got to put it into perspective to that particular period of time even if it is a negative mark on the game.”
Someone asked Bavasi if the allegations would preclude the Mariners from talking to Guillen about returning to Seattle.
“Probably not,” he said.
O’s shopping Tejada: With A-Rod on the market, the Baltimore Orioles are finding little early interest in one-time American League Most Valuable Player Miguel Tejada. Tejada is owed $26 million over the next two seasons, and his production at the plate and range at shortstop are both in decline.
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