5
2009
Chone Figgins and Mariners Reach Deal; Joins Ichiro To Form Lethal 1-2 Punch
An article by 
According to an AP report from Greg Bell, The Seattle Mariners and Chone Figgins have reached a preliminary agreement on a $36 million, four-year contract pending a physical.
The contract for the former Los Angeles Angels sparkplug includes a vesting option for 2014 that could make the deal worth $45 million over five years.
The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Mariners had yet to announce the deal, which was first reported to be close by Foxsports.com.
As I mentioned on Twitter last night, the sought after third baseman now joins All-Star Ichiro Suzuki to form what I believe is the game’s best 1-2 punch at the top of the order.
The 31-year-old Figgins had a tremendous season for the Angels and led the American League with 101 walks and stole 42 bases while posting a career-high .395 on-base percentage. Figgins batted .298 with five homers and 54 RBIs and helped the Halos win its third consecutive division title.
It’s a significant upgrade for the Mariners who upgrade their third base position formerly held by Adrian Beltre, who is a free agent.
The AP report added that Seattle general manager Jack Zduriencik wasn’t worried about possibly losing a first-round pick in order to get someone who he considers a star performer and very special player.
“If the right Type-A free agent came up and you knew it would help your club for the next several years … we all know lot of draft picks fall flat on their face,” Zduriencik said.
Ahh, a GM after my own heart.
For the Mets, there were several rumors tying Figgins to the orange and blue, but it now appears that the Mets never made any offer. With Chone Figgins, Placido Polanco, Marco Scutaro and Mark DeRosa all off the table, the Mets will still try to focus on Orlando Hudson who has at least three teams interested in him. However, nothing will happen on that front until they first unload incumbent Luis Castillo.
I believe that despite Castillo’s solid season, the Mets will still ultimately eat some of his salary to get something done.
With the Winter Meetings only two days away, last night Omar Minaya cautioned everyone not to expect any free agent signings until later in the month. We also learned that neither Fred or Jeff Wilpon will make the flight to Indianapolis.
We’ll keep you caught up on all the happenings.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
Went to my first Mets game, a Mayors Trophy game at Shea, in '73. We beat the Yankees 8-4 and I was hooked. I marched in two Banner Day parades, and before the Grand Slam single, there was the "Hendu Can Do" grand slam - I was there. I've collected Mets memorabilia all my life and started Mets Merized Online to feed my addiction.
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i am ticked. There goes one of my principal architects of a Mets rebound in 2010. Did we even approach the guy? Probably not. The Mets favor Hudson, who’s a nice player, but not the player Figgins is. Why is it that the Mets ignore the ‘obvious’: the better player to pursue a guy that’s fading…and pay him a bloated deal?
BOB, WHILE I AGREE WITH YOU THAT ‘ON-PAPER’ FIGGINS WAS THE SUPERIOR CHOICE; BUT TO PAY 9M PER SEASON FOR UP TO 5 SEASONS FOR A PLAYER NOT TOTALLY VETTED “UP THE MIDDLE” IS RISKY. WITH HUDSON ALSO HAVING HIS OWN ? AS TO WHY TORRE VALUED BELLIARD OVER HIM IN THE CRITICAL POSTSEASON, HUDSON CERTAINLY HAS MORE ESTABLISHED VALUE @ 2B. IT’S QUITE POSSIBLE OUR FRONTOFFICE DOES NOT QUESTION LUIS VALUE AS MUCH AS WE FANS DO. LUIS DID HAVE A VERY REPRESNTATIVE SEASON LAST YR FOR LET’S SAY THE OUTRAGEOUS SUM OF 12M SINCE HE NEVER TRULY EARNED THE FIRST 6M. ONE THING THAT TROUBLES ME ABOUT ALL THIS KNEEJERK REACTION FROM THE FANBASE IS THE TOTAL LACK OF CONTINUITY IN IMPORTANT ROLES WE’VE ESTABLISHED. DP COMBINATION FAMILIARITY, COACH STABILITY, MNGT CONTINUITY ARE ALL VALUABLE CONCEPTS MOAST SUCCESSFUL FRANCHISES TRY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF. THE WORST SCENERIO POSSIBLE IS IF GAMMONS ACTUALY IS CORRECT IN IMPLYING OMAR’S A BEARD FOR JEFF’S MANIPULATIONS. JEFF IS ALERADY ON RECORD AS AN AVID WFAN LISTENER WHO ENDEAVORS TO USE WHAT HE HEARS AS A PLANNING GUIDE TO FAN SATISFACTION. IN NYC NY BASEBALL FANS TRULY RESEMBLE A ‘MOB’ MENTALITY EMULATING THE QUEEN OF HEARTS “OFF WITH HIS HEAD” PROBLEM RESOLUTION. I’M VERY HOPFUL THAT OMAR’S STEALTHNESS IN TARGETING IS BEING REFLECTED BY THE LACK OF HEADLINES CONCERNING LACKEY & OTHER FRONTLINE PITCHERS. WITH TORONTO IN DESPERATE NEED FOR CATCHING, COULD IT BE POSSIBLE OMIR MAY BE TRARGETED FOR A NORTHERN BORDER CROSSING? BE “STILL MY HEART!” AT LEWAST AS PART OF A PKG OFFER T PROTECT THOLE?
Hi Mets62, i believed that Figgins could’ve handled 2b defense better than Castillo and was better all-around than Hudson. i agree that we have to be systematic and not rush to ‘oft anyone’s head’ and plan our roster for 2010 and beyond.
i also agree that Omir Santos will be traded shortly. The 2 catching moves we’ve made to date + our apparent pursuit of Molina convinces me that Santos, on the back of his good year in the bigs, is going to be traded.
Toronto? Halladay too? That would cost plenty. i know Doc’s a stud, but he’d cost a kingdom in prospects and dollars. Halladay turns 33 in May and has logged over 230IP on average over past 4 years. With our luck, i worry.
The Mets get one-upped by Seattle. Great! That’s one prime player gone. The field narrows and all we have so far is 3 pebbles for the cinder track. We didn’t go after Figgins, because Omar is not going to bid against other GM’s. He will only bid against himself to lock up easy, unimportant targets. Thus, our 3 pebbles in the stable. Omar in his own time is likely to get us nowhere. It may still take one more disaster season to make the most important change, a new GM.
Where did DeRosa go?