Mariners Front-office F-up

So, I get to work this morning and bring up trusty ol' Yahoo! to find that the Chicago Cubs had signed Mark Prior to a $3.65 million dollar one year deal to avoid salary arbitration. Now, this wouldn't have come to much surprise if the Mariners hadn't signed Gil Meche to arbitration last week. Naturally, I go look up that deal and... WHAT!?!... a $3.7 million, one-year contract! How does that add up? This puts the nail in an offseason where the Mariners have declared themselves clinically retarded. Just classic Seattle Mariners negotiation skills. They are like Napolean Dynamite touting his nunchuck skills.



Now, Gil is a decent starting pitcher with a crappy first name. I'll give you that. But you wouldn't call him a #1 guy. And healthy, Prior is a bonified #1 starter. That being said, Gil Meche has the same history of health issues in his past, but he hasn't performed nearly to the level of Mark Prior. First, Seattle signs an injury prone Jarrod Washburn in the offeseason, then pays Meche more than it took the Cubs to sign their #1 starter in the same arbitration scenario. Way to bring us back to legitimacy, Mariners Front-office. Good work, fellas.