Grand Salami Blog

Tomorrow, Tuesday, we'll find out if Dave Niehaus will be elected to the Hall of Fame this year as winner of the Ford Frick Award. I thought he'd get in last year but longime Oakland and SF broadcaster Lon Simmons got in instead. This year the competition isn't as stiff, with Ken Coleman, Ron Santo, Dizzy Dean and Jerry Coleman among the finalists. I think Niehaus will get in this time as Santo is more likely to be voted in as a player. If Niehaus does make the HOF, look for a commerorative cover of The Grand Salami this July or August...

Nice to see Richie Sexson get off on the right foot with the M's. Now, if he can just get caught soliciting a prostitute, the team may be able to get off the hook for the contract. I'm willing to show some forgiveness to a person who drives with a borderline BAC, especially if noone got hurt and a lesson is learned by all. But owning a Hummer? Unfreakingforgivable. The M's fanbase will never forgive you for that one, Richie.

Below is the latest misinformation from Jim Street's Mariner mailbag. Guess Jim hasn't seen USA Today's salary database (http://asp.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/salaries/default.aspx) or doesn't think the average Mariner fan deserves to have access to this information...

Nowhere on MLB.com is player contract information posted. Is there anywhere a fan can conveniently find out how many more years a player has on his contract, whether he has option years, his current year's salary, free agent and arbitration eligibility coming up the next off season, etc.? It seems that since that information is released to the public from time to time, that it should be compiled somewhere for a fan to conveniently find it. After all, true baseball fans would love to know that information, especially around trade deadlines and during the offseason. -- S. W., Auburn, Wash.

JIM "DEAD END" STREET: MLB teams consider contract information to be confidential. The Mariners rarely release details of a contract, especially if the player wants the figures to be confidential. However, the Associated Press usually obtains the information quicker than any other news organization. As far as I now, there isn't a specific site on the Internet that publishes each player's salary and other contract information.

Chew on this: The Magglio Ordonez deal is the exclamation point to Scott Boras' off-season. If Ordonez signs for the reported 5 year, $75 million dollar contract, Boras will pocket somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 million combined from all of his agents who signed contracts this winter.

The mailbags on the Mariners site bother me. Very few mailbags pass without a glaring error. I don't really know why I read them. It's a bit like watching a car crash - not something you want to see, but for some reason you can't stop looking.

Here is Jim Street's blatant error this week...

Q: Last year the Mariners traded Dave Hansen and Rich Aurilia to the Padres and Mike Myers to the Red Sox for players to be named later. Who did they end up getting back in these trades, once the dust had cleared? Thank you. -- David H., Andover, Mass.

A: Right-handed pitcher Jon Huber was the player in the Hansen deal and currently he is on the Triple-A Tacoma roster. Aurilia was not traded to the Padres, but signed with the NL team as a free agent after being released by Seattle. The trade that sent Myers to the Red Sox was for either a player to be named later, or cash considerations. The Mariners received cash.

Really? Aurilia wasn't traded? That's weird...because a 2-second search on the same web site as the mailbag will reveal this, from July 19th:
"Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Bill Bavasi today announced that the Mariners have traded infielder Rich Aurilia to the San Diego Padres for a player to be named later or cash considerations."

Anyway: On a more uplifting note: pitchers and catchers report in 16 days!!