I should be happy.
But I'm not.
This Cliff Lee to Seattle trade is ticking me off.
For starters, anything Seattle does is personal for me. I actually still have a soft spot for the Mariners because I lived in the state of Washington for almost half of my life (I lived in Spokane for six years as a kid, and went to Gonzaga University for four years). I watched Mariners game in the Kingdome. Hell, one of the best moments of my life was seeing Tino Martinez hit a game-winning home run of Dennis Eckersley in 1995, the Mariners' "Refuse to Lose" season.
I like the Mariners. Do I like them like the Giants? Hell no. But I still consider them a fun team to root for from time to time, and think of them like that friend of your girlfriend or wife you think is hot and very fun to be with, but you wouldn't take her over your girlfriend or wife out of loyalty (though if your girlfriend dumps you or wife divorces you, she's the first woman you hone in on).
That being said, despite my inclination toward the Mariners, I'm envious and not in a good way.
Because they got a Cy Young winner, a legitimate playoff-proven starter, and...they got it at a steal. The Mariners lost only three prospects: Phillippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies and J.C. Ramirez (the rumored third player to be named later).
My reaction? Who the hell are those guys? I mean, maybe Tyson Gillies is okay, but he's only played at Single-A ball, so the jury is still out on him.
You think for a guy like Cliff Lee, the Mariners would lose somebody decent, or at least big in terms of whom the Mariners currently have on the active Major League roster. A Brandon Morrow for example. I mean, they lost Adam Jones, an All-Star Major League outfielder, for a Glorified No. 3 starter in Eric Bedard in 2008! They should lose something for Lee, right?
Fortunately for long-suffering M's fans, that doesn't seem to be the case, and the experts are harping right with them.
Rob Neyer from ESPN likes what they're doing. The U.S.S Mariner, a Seattle Mariners Blog, likes it even more.
My friend Luke Ricci even gloated about it on Facebook saying....
CLIFF LEE!!!!!!
(That means he's happy, if you didn't get the hint from the Bold and Caps and exclamation marks).And though I don't want to admit it (because I am a bitter Giants fan that doesn't want any other team to succeed), I like the trade. Even one year of Lee is worth the trade in my mind, especially considering the prospects they lost don't have high ceilings like Jones.
Just goes to show you what changing a GM will do for a team. (wink...wink...).
As for the Giants? Well, they signed Tony "shortstop turned starting pitcher because he couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat" Pena, Jr. I've seen Tony Pena Jr. He stinks. He can't hit. Matt Cain can hit better than him, and Matt Cain swings at times like a high school pitcher that is forced to hit because all of the bench players on his team suck and no one can DH.
Is Pena a bad signing? No. It's a fun signing because he's going to generate money at the gate for the Minor League clubs. He's kind of going to be that freak show people will say "Hey, it's that shortstop that couldn't hit, so he switched to pitcher. Let's see how good a pitcher he can be! He has to be a better pitcher than a shortstop he batted .098 and had a .132 OBP last year for the Kansas City 'Destined to Be Last Every Year' Royals!"
Gosh. Seattle gets Cliff Lee. San Francisco gets Tony Pena Jr. Granted it could have been worse for the Giants. At least it wasn't the other "crappy, over hyped shortstop turned pitcher" Matt Bush.
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