Saying Good-bye
Saying goodbye to professional athletes is just an inevitable in today’s time. There are plenty of different players that, yes, do stick around for a good deal of time. But, even young players aren’t guarenteed to stick around. This past off-season the Mariners of course traded Michael Pineda in exchange for Jesus Montero. There was more involved but that’s the central idea.
The last few years we’ve had less good bye than what a lot of fans have liked and more often than not, when it has happened it’s been with fan favorite players. Michael Pineda, Doug Fister, Russ Branyan, Brandon Morrow and you might even throw Jarrod Washburn in the discussion from back in 2009 and his famous dolphin pitch.
A couple of days ago we had yet another tough good bye in David Aardsma.
True enough Mr. Aardsma was no longer part of the organization. He had been non-tenderded back in November. This was partially attributed to the fact he held a major league roster spot and with his arm injury it could take the better part of the season to finish healing and the team could make better use his spot. Not to mention there is the whole thing about him being owed somewhere in the realm of $4 million.
I’ll be honest, I had held out hope that he would return at some point this spring. But, I’m not going to sit here and associate “blame” or even be disappointed with either the Mariners or Aardsma. We don’t know what transpired and ultimately this is a buisness. That’s the sad part about this game that we all love so much. Sometimes there just isn’t any middleground between the two and each has to make the decision for what is in their best interest.
I enjoyed Mr. Aardsma during his three years he spent in our city and all the work he did to make it a better place. The things he was involved in and the people whose lives he touched. He was a guy that was easy to talk to down in the bullpen and interacted with plenty of his fans on twitter.
Today the Yankees made a crack eagle eye move and worked out a deal with David Aardsma. Very much in the same vein as what Erik Bedard had done with the Mariners back in 2010. It’s shrewd, but as usual a smart move by Mr. Cashman and staff.
There is a strange intangible I’ve always associate with a man and the way he arrives and the way he departs. Aardsma came with little publicity, few fans and an reasonble shot to make the team as a middle reliever. He left gracefully and grew into a fan favorite as this teams closer. His story is rare but hardly unique. But he was our story and it’s sad to see him move on.
I wish him the very best and while I’m not a big on signing relievers to big deals, I hope one day to see him in Mariner blue.