Sexson in the works; Delgado next? - 美國職棒

By Jim Street / MLB.com

ANAHEIM -- It is one slugger nearly down, and possibly one on the way for the
Mariners.
As the team continued to work toward finalizing a multiyear deal with Richie
Sexson on Monday, there were indications that they were inching closer to
reaching an agreement in principle with free agent first baseman Carlos
Delgado.

Think about that. Sexson and Delgado in the middle of Seattle's lineup. All
of a sudden, a team that hit the fewest home runs and scored the fewest runs
in the American League last season looks like a Murderer's Row.

What could spoil such a beautiful picture?

Well, maybe the Orioles.

Though signs were still pointing to Sexson settling in Seattle, Baltimore
executive vice president Jim Beattie said Monday afternoon that the Orioles
were talking to Sexson's agent, Casey Close, about luring the lanky slugger
to the AL East.

"We're going to talk some more," said Beattie, referring to Close. "We've
gotten certain assurances that he is talking to us because [Sexson] has a lot
of interest playing for the Orioles."

Close echoed Beattie's comments, telling the Associated Press that Sexson was
still up for grabs. "Nothing is conclusive at this moment," said Close.
"We'll have to see where this thing goes the next 24, 48 hours."

Mariners officials, including GM Bill Bavasi, were involved in meetings at
the Anaheim Marriott late Monday afternoon and unavailable for comment.


The 6-foot-8 Sexson, who grew up in Vancouver, Wash., has hit 200 home runs
-- including 45 in 2001 and 2003 -- during his six-plus years in the Majors.
He missed most of last season with the Diamondbacks because of a left
shoulder injury, but has been one of the most coveted free agents this
offseason.

If the Mariners were able to sign both Sexson and Delgado, Sexson would see
considerable playing time in left field. He played 106 games there for
Mariners manager Mike Hargrove in Cleveland and did well.

"First of all, he's a very good athlete," said Hargrove. "Richie could play
left field. Richie could play just about anywhere he wants to, because he's
such a good athlete."

Securing a genuine home run threat or two under contract definitely would
provide a boost to an organization that came to the four-day Winter Meetings
with the money needed to improve its offense.

Mariners officials -- including president Chuck Armstrong and general manager
Bill Bavasi -- met with Sexson and Close on Saturday afternoon. Further
negotiations continued on Saturday night and again on Sunday.

Former Mariners GM Pat Gillick is familiar with how the baseball business
works, so he understands that even the best-laid plans can be slow in
developing. He also knows that an organization eager to jump into the costly
free agent market must be patient, a trait the Mariners have shown the past
few days.

"The one thing you really have to prevent is getting frustrated," said
Gillick. "You have your game plan, and course of action you want to take, and
you have to stick to it. You know that in the free agent market there are
bumps along the road. It's not as if you are dealing with an amateur free
agent that you have exclusive rights to."

So far during these Winter Meetings, the Mariners had been riding that bumpy
road right into a brick wall. They have money to spend and are willing to
spend it, but they hadn't been able to find a free agent to accept millions
of dollars. It is difficult to improve a team that lost 99 games when your
money doesn't speak loudly enough.

But on the next-to-last day of the meetings and a few hours before the rumors
of Sexson's possible signing started, Bavasi finally had something to
celebrate. But he had to drive 70 miles.

That's the distance between the Anaheim Marriott and the town of La Jolla,
where he'd been attending a birthday party for his 90-year-old father,
Buzzie, a former Dodgers and Padres executive.

Before leaving the hotel, Bavasi said that the Mariners had a "lot of
discussions" on Sunday and sensed that some headway was being made in
attempts to sign free agents and/or make trades.

"Every time you have a discussion, you are at least getting a step closer to
a player," he said, "so we spent most of the day talking, and it is getting
us closer, but nothing that I can report."

He said that "headway" was being made on both the free agent and trade
markets, but wouldn't be more specific than that.


Jim Street is a reporter MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval
of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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仔細看一看 才發現Sexson蠻帥的ㄟ XD 不過Delgado也不錯 :)

http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/images/2004/11/09/M7jfp5pp.jpg

這篇的Sexson有像到Nomar XDD

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