Let me preface this article with a flashback to my middle school years. Listen to the first 0:15 then proceed to the article:
This much should be clear to the Seattle Mariners front office: enough is enough and it’s time for a change!
The Seattle Mariners decline (post-2004) has been mostly accredited to a series of horrid free agent contracts by now-fired General Manager Bill Bavasi.
In fact, an article on ESPN.com titled “Worst Contracts in MLB History” dedicated an entire section to the “Bill Bavasi Memorial Division.”
The bottom-line is that Bavasi’s tenure in Seattle brought some of the worst free agent contracts in MLB history to the Mariners, including the signings of 1B Richie Sexson, 3B Adrian Beltre, SP Jeff Weaver, SP Jarrod Washburn, and the ever-so-popular SP Carlos Silva.
SP Carlos Silva
In 2006-07 Carlos Silva pitched two full seasons with the Minnesota Twins. Through two years he started 44 games, compiling a 24-29 record and a 5.01ERA. His reward for this completely mediocre stretch of games? A 4-year $48 Million contract with the Seattle Mariners.
No, there was no typo in that previous paragraph… A 27-year-old pitcher who managed a 5.01ERA over two full seasons somehow roped in a contract netting him $48 million…
His time in Seattle has done nothing but confirm that his mediocre statistics in Minnesota told exactly how much talent he has. To quote the aforementioned article, “Silva is that rare phenomenon: A sinkerball pitcher who also gives up a lot of home runs. Kind of a deadly combo, which explains why he went 4-15 with a 6.46 ERA in ’08.”
2008 is the only full season he has spent with Seattle, and his 2009 record so far is continuing his pattern of excellence.
Through five starts in 2009, Silva has a 1-2 record with a 7.36ERA. The only win he has was earned through five grueling innings of work, in which the game recap began, “Carlos Silva willed himself through five painful innings — practically begging rookie manager Don Wakamatsu to let him stay long enough to qualify for his first victory in almost 10 months.”
Yes, before his middle-of-the-road completely average performance in this game Carlos Silva had not earned a Major League victory in nearly 10 months…
The Seattle Mariners have a lot to gain in 2009. There are new faces throughout its offense which have already shown the potential to produce (1B Russell Branyan, OF Ken Griffey Jr., OF Endy Chavez) and a slew of young talent waiting in the wings if the current roster fails (SP Philippe Aumont, C/1B Jeff Clement, OF Wladimir Balentein).
The one thing that the 2009 Seattle Mariners cannot afford is a bloated contract forcing the team to start and/or play a certain player. It seems as if Carlos Silva has reached this point.
Silva has nothing more to offer this team, and the Seattle Mariners will be better off if they simply part ways and take the financial penalty in doing so.
Silva is one of the last ties the Seattle Mariners have to a painful Bavasi-era, and in order to win in 2009 the Seattle Mariners will need to simply cut ties and move on.
Comment with whether you agree or disagree, but I cannot see anyone defending Carlos Silva at this point in his career…
sk.
i sort of agree. but, at the very least, i’d like to see batista get silva’s spot in the rotation.
Yeah they ripped Hicks in the ESPN article too. Most of them were dead on except for Michael Young. He’s a fan favorite, not just some aging veteran. He’s batting 370 with 6 HRs right now and just recently was in a 1-6-2-5 double play with a 180 tag on the runner. I’m not upset.
Yeah, I’m a Michael Young believer. His power numbers have never been consistent, but he will hit .300 and score a lot of runs in a very potent Texas offense.
sk.
The last I heard was that Aumont isn’t quite ready for major league hitters, from what I remember of the WBC. I equate Silva to Ponson and the Royals (ignoring the base salary for Sidney and the “I’ve won the lotto” salary of Silva), holding out hope that they could possibly win 10 games. I think both of these guys are the best candidates to pitch in the All Star game festivities…by that I mean being the HR Derby pitchers. All that I ask is that Seattle has a clause in his contract that prevents KC from signing Silva…cause KC seems to find a cast off from Seattle every offseason…granted Meche/Guillen have helped more for KC…then again…I’m a KC fan…just a little bias