First of all, I love the Kendrys Morales/Jason Vargas trade that went down a couple days ago. We traded from a position of depth in order to acquire a much needed middle-of-the-order bat that the team has lacked for years. Morales hit 34 homers just a few years ago, and had a very solid year last year coming back from what could have been a very serious injury.

The only “problem” that could come of this is playing time at the first base and DH positions. However, I think that can be very easily solved. Against LHP, Jesus Montero would catch, Morales would DH, and Justin Smoak would man first. Against righties, John Jaso would do the catching, with Montero as the DH, and Morales at first. Then once Mike Zunino is ready, whoever is hitting stays around. If Smoak bombs again, then he is gone and the Ms try to re-up Morales. If Smoak plays well, then Morales can be let go, and net us a pick in the process.

In my opinion, Seattle can’t stop here. Don’t get me wrong, Morales is a very good hitter and is a very big upgrade. But he cannot turn the team around on his own. The Ms need to continue to add on, and improve even further.

Two moves I think the Ms should make in order to have a successful offseason are as follows:

•  Acquire an outfield bat
• A veteran starter or two to shore up the rotation

Those two moves would definitely make for a solid offseason, and if executed correctly, could get the Mariners to 85 wins. The lineup still lacks a bat in my opinion, and there’s no guarantee that Morales will return next year. Another bat that can be slotted in the middle with Morales and Montero makes a ton of sense.

As for the pitcher, I am not comfortable having both Blake Beavan and Hector Noesi in the rotation next year, which is how it looks right now. The team needs a guy that can be counted on to eat some innings and be at least a solid #3 or 4 guy, at least until the young guys are ready.

Some of the candidates for an outfield bat are Michael Morse, Jason Kubel, Andre Ethier and Nick Swisher. As far as pitchers, some names I like are Shaun Marcum, Joe Saunders, Erik Bedard and Chris Capuano.

Unfortunately, all of the bats have a fairly large down side, and none seem to be a great fit.

Morse is a solid right handed bat and is probably the most likely due to the possibility of him not having a spot if Washington signs Adam LaRoche as expected. However, he probably belongs at 1st base as he is a butcher in the outfield. Plus, he is also only on a one year deal, and there would be a chance that both he and Morales would be one year rentals.

I would probably be willing to overlook the defense though. With Michael Saunders and Franklin Gutierrez next to him, his defense may not hurt too much, especially if he keeps hitting.

If he were to be acquired, I would want to be 100% sure that at least one of he and Morales would agree to a 3 year deal, so we are not in the same situation again. I would hate to give up Vargas and whatever it would take for Morse (looks like a reliever such as Charlie Furbush or Stephen Pryor headlining) for only one year of each player.

That being said, if the team thinks he can be passable in the outfield, and can be sure to retain him or Morales, then I would be willing to give up a reliever for him every day of the week.

Kubel is in a similar, yet different situation. He too struggles defensively, but not quite to the extent of Morse. He is also signed for two years at $6 million a year, so there is a little more guarantee in that department. However, he is no where near the hitter than Morse is. He is above average, but not by a huge amount. He was aided by Chase Field, and struggles against lefties as well.

He is probably my least favorite option, but he may still cost more than the others. I am not really sure what the Diamondbacks are looking for at this point other than infield help, something the Ms do not possess, at least not when Kubel is the return.

September 16, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Andre Ethier (16) rounds the bases after he hits a two run home run in the third inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Ethier is a very interesting guy, and is my favorite option, and simultaneously my least favorite option. He is my favorite because he is probably the best hitter of the guys I named, and is signed long term. But at the same time, he is lost against left handed pitching, below average defensively, and is owed $85 million over 5 years. He is essentially a massively overpayed platoon player.

The only way I would want him is of the Dodgers would eat $20-25 million of his contract. He is not worth $17 million a year, but he may be worth $12-13 million a year. I am not sure what the Dodgers would want, but it would probably be too much.

I may be alone in this, in fact I am not even sure I really believe it, but I think I would trade Nick Franklin for Ethier, Capuano and $20 million, as that would fill both of the team’s needs. I am bigger on Brad Miller than I am Franklin, and I think Franklin may have to move off of short anyway, thus taking away a spot for him.

It would also allow us to keep all of our young pitching to build a very strong rotation, possibly with some left over to acquire future needs. But as you can tell, I am very conflicted on Ethier, and am not sure what to think of him right now.

Lastly, there is free agent Nick Swisher. Some people have given up on Swisher as he did not meet with the Mariners, causing people to jump to the conclusion that he won’t play here. But Jack Z said in an interview that he has an offer on the table, which I believe is to Swisher. It would also fit with the report that two teams have offered Swisher a contract.

Unfortunately, Swisher isn’t perfect either. He is the oldest of the targets I named, and as Matty pointed out, he may not be as breakdown-proof as many of us want to believe. Guys tend to struggle when they reach their mid 30s, which is where Swisher will be in just a couple years.

He would also cause us to lose the 12th pick in next years draft, which is a scary thought in what looks to be a very good draft. I am not sure  anymore than Swisher is worth $13-14 million a year and a top draft pick. He would fit nicely in the middle with Montero and Morales, and would fill the whole in right field with another switch hitter.

As you can see, all of these guys have their downsides, and there really isn’t a perfect fit like Morales was. Jack may have to get creative and take a chance here, but I think it has to be done.

I will try to be a little more brief with the pitchers, as I am already well over 1000 words, as I seem to be too often.

Shaun Marcum is the best pitcher out of the bunch, but he may also be the most expensive, and could very well command the most money, possibly for multiple years. I think a one year deal is ideal here, but Marcum may get 2-3 years. If he would come here for 1 year and $8 million or so (which he could do to regain some value and try again next year) then I think the Ms should jump all over it. He is basically a right handed, better version of Vargas, and would fit in nicely to the spot that Jason left.

Joe Saunders is in a similar situation to Marcum. He had a solid year last year, and while he hasn’t been talked about a lot, could end up getting 2 or 3 years, which doesn’t make a ton of sense for the Ms. Like Marcum though, if he could come in for one or two years at $5 million or so, then he could be a solid signing to try to improve the rotation until the kids are ready.

Erik Bedard back for another go around? It makes some sense if the team prefers the cheap route, and want a guy to battle with Beavan and Noesi for the back end rather than fit in behind Felix. He struggled last year, but when he was healthy as a Mariner, he was very effective, and could bounce back enough to hold down the fort until Danny Hultzen can join the rotation, hopefully during the coming year.

September 27, 2012; San Diego, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Chris Capuano (35) throws during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Last there is Chris Capuano, who I mentioned before. He would have to come through a trade, but the Ms were already linked to him yesterday, as the Dodgers have an excess of starting pitching now. He is under contract for 2 years at $4.8 million a year, which is very reasonable for someone who can do what he can. He would fit in very well between Felix and Iwakuma as an inning eating vet lefty. Very similar to Vargas, but better and cheaper.

Once again I am not sure what the Dodgers want, but if he can be had for a mid level prospect or reliever or something along those lines, I think he makes a ton of sense.

In conclusion, the Mariners can’t end here. Jack needs to go out and make a couple more moves to solidify this team. As you can see, there are no perfect solutions, so its up to Jack to assess all of his options, and see what makes the most sense for this team. I think its very realistic that both of these things can be done, and the Mariners have the money to do it. There is no reason to stop here. The Morales move is the kind that you build on.

If both of these things happen, I would give Jack an A for the offseason as the Mariners head into a very important and telling year. I know it is hard to wait, but we need to be patient and hope for the best. That is coming from the guy who is constantly searching for more news and rumors, and has a few different MLB video game franchises going, each with different options that the Ms have.

Hey GMZ, hurry up. I am going nuts. The Morales trade held me over for a while, but I am losing control.

Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE

Erik Bedard and his 5.01 ERA were set free today by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Mariners fans likely have mixed feelings about his potential contribution to the M’s again. Though his time spent in Seattle was riddled with injury, his final statistical tally went like this: 255.33 IP, 8.8 K/9, 3.56 BB/9, 3.31 ERA, 3.85 FIP.  Those were good numbers a few years ago when the run scoring environment was higher, and SafeCo wasn’t quite the run depressor it has proven to be this season. Bedard has managed 125.67 innings already this season with a 4.07 FIP, but more importantly without any significant injury. While he is well suited for SafeCo where he has had success in the past, the Mariners should be cautious about pursuing bedard in free agency. And here’s why.

Bedard’s ERA this seasons stands at 5.01, a full run higher than his FIP. Often, this is the result of some misfortune, but there are reasons to believe that Bedard has lost the “skill” to outperform his FIP as he did in Seattle—reasons beyond an awesome home ballpark.

For starters, PNC park in Pittsburgh is itself a pitcher’s haven, at least, for southpaws like Bedard. Lefty pitchers face right-handed batters a vast majority of the time, and just like SafeCo, PNC Park depresses run scoring to right-handed batters with a HR rating of 71 and a run-scoring rating of 93 (where 100 is average). For reference, SafeCo sits at 66 and 80, respectively. SafeCo is still more helpful for Bedard, but it’s not like he went off to Arlington or Denver. Yet his ERA still ballooned.

The driving forces behind his ERA spike this season have been a career-low 66.5% strand rate and a .314 BABIP (.270 during his time in Seattle). But before we rush off and blame defense, bad luck, bad timing or other things outside his control, there are a few important changes to note. Bedard is 33 years old, and his fastballs are losing velocity. After he missed all of 2010, Bedard came back in 2011 with one less mile per hour on his fastball. This season he’s dropped more than another full mile per hour.

Though the splits aren’t available for pitch velocity, he very well may have lost even more umph out of the stretch where his BABIP has risen to .331 and .323 over the past two seasons. This could easily lead to decreased strand rates. In the past I might have discounted the BABIP increases—both overall and with men on base—as random variation ready to regress back down to the mean. But with trustworthy pitch f/x data showing us that his fastball is losing steam, he might simply be more hittable. With high walk and strikeout rates throughout his career, Bedard is not much of a pitch-to-contact type guy, and this drop in fastball velocity could render him below average, as he has been this season.

If the M’s could get Bedard on a team-friendly contract—say one year at $3-4M—then it might be worth the risk. But age and injury have  already begun taking their toll, and Bedard will likely never again be the guy that could keep his ERA well below 4.00, or even 4.50, without some luck.

One individual that I’ve of course been tossing to and fro is the newest member of the Mariners, Hisashi Iwakuma, the problem is at this point is trying to come up with some to say about the 30-year old that no one else has said. Really what is there possibly to say that no one hasn’t already said in the last week. Iwakuma appears to be a pretty decent get. He maintains a Jason Vargas-like ceiling. Where he has a chance to be above-average while floating somewhere between being fun to watch and not quiet sucking and of course as Mr. Cameron compared him to the other available options, specifically the ones which the Mariners had been previously connected via rumors, he has the appereance of being a steal.

So there isn’t much not to like about Iwakuma. There is little risk involved due to the nature of the contract he signed, which is most tied up in incentives (ala Erik Bedard), and while there is a little part of me that is over joyed at this mild impact announcement, I’m more worried about the fan base. I’m worried about, the “what if he succeeds” scenario. How many people are going to be really disappointed if he’s not back next year.

It’s obvious that, as mentioned by Jeff Sullivan, he only took this smaller contract due to the limited interest because of league translation, but also important, his loss of velocity and shoulder related injuries last season. I hate to start talking next off-season already but a word of caution. While it’s going to be a lot of fun to shout “shuuuuuuuutoooooo” every time  Iwakuma gets a fantastic ground ball or makes a batter look foolish, his days in Seattle may be numbered due to the nature of the state of changing climate within the organization.

We don’t just have Walker, Hultzen and Paxton in our organization. We also have Brandon Maurer, Andrew Carraway, Erasmo Ramirez, Charlie Furbush, Blake Beavan and even Jimmy Gillheeney.  All of which are, at the very most, two years away from being viable options at the back of the rotation. While, Iwakuma is a solid filler for the time being, and on a great contract, his lack of ceiling, ala Vargas, makes him expendable and limits his future within this organization.

I’m not trying to be a damper on the party. But, as Keith and I have been talking a lot about free-agency the point being there are great free-agent signings and there are bad. This is a very good signing in my opinion, maybe even boarder line great depending on what happens during the season, but Mariner fans often become attached too quickly and become resentful when veteran players aren’t brought back after productive seasons (ala Russ Branyan, Jarrod Washburn and even Erik Bedard) and who also had close connection to the local team.

The Mariners have a lot of options down the road and its reasonable to assume that Iwakuma would expect a serious contract offer next year, so long as he performs well, and there isn’t much sense in that for this organization to do that considering our current depth. There are scenarios in which he could be brought back, but ultimately he looks like a one year guy at this time.

It’ll be fun to have him around this year and I certainly enjoy the depth he adds to our rotation. Ultimately this is going to be a very weird season and interesting to see where it all takes us next year.