Winter has come and quiet, peaceful blankets of white hug the ground. Silver bells are singing and everyone revels busy decking the halls. In Seattle, however, there comes a rumbling in the chimney, and it isn’t producing anything jolly so far. In short, Seattle is just looking up at sprinkles of coal.
Albert Pujols has landed a very good holiday present in his giant deal with the Angels, $254 million to put a point on it, replete with a full no trade clause. With agent Scott Boras driving the sleigh, Prince Fielder is destined to have a very nice holiday celebration as well. Where will the Prince land? Candy Cane lane? Sugar Plum paradise? Texas? Seattle? As many cookies as Mariner fans can bake for Santa, in hopes that St. Nicholas or Prince Fielder soon will be here, it likely won’t be enough to secure this big kahuna of a present. The Mariners simply don’t at first blush seem to have enough dough for the immense money gesture that always follows a treasure of this magnitude. Yet, do they have any choice but to make a significant move at this critical juncture?
This moment in Mariner history looms as a big one. First, the Angels are only getting better, and interleague history has shown that Pujols does very well against the Ms. Second, the Rangers are also only getting better, and Prince Fielder will be a feather in their cowboy hats if they manage to sign him. And third, the Astros are joining the AL West increasing the field of competition. The Mariners desperately need to get out from the bottom, before the bottom starts to look like the darkest depths of the ocean where gravity collapses and creatures boast creepy teeth and their own built in head lamps. So…..where is Seattle’s big fish? Does Seattle even know how to fish? Jack Z needs to jog on down to Pike Place Market and get something thrown his way – this town is in full-on-Christmas-Eve-gift –needed-now-panic mode.
Seattle seems to be a no man’s land for big free agents – a never never land of sorts, with only kids and no adults. Is it too remote? Is the nickname “Southeast Alaska” too much? There is a lovely stadium, and there was once a robust fan base. What is this blasted hex? The scales of justice sit there with the Mariners desire to get a splashy player on one side and any such star wattage’s desire to be in Seattle on the other, and both appear equally airy and empty. How can the Mariners find the balanced medium and get something done? This winter is fast proceeding like the last one – too quiet, too uneventful. Will the Polar Express even stop here this year?
What are the Mariners doing? Are they cost cutting? Are they strategizing? Are they sowing the seeds for better TV money? Or are they plotting ownership change? There is a swell coming, but is it a positive one or is it a scary one, one all too familiar to this NBA lacking town…only time will tell. Bake those cookies, hang those stockings, wish upon a star…
All Seattle wants for Christmas is baseball, good or bad.
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