Jason at Prospect Insider suggests that the M's may be Hideki Matsui's second-most-likely landing spot if he does not return to New York.

Putting aside the questions of PC Seattle's emphasis on character guys, and Godzilla's penchant for extreme 'misogynist' literature in the locker room, let's suppose that Capt Jack were interested ... hey, I'm not judging here.  :- )  I'm just mentioning that it could be an issue for Howard and Chuck.

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Matsui is a legit #3-4 hitter -- a #6 hitter in a great lineup, or a #3-4 hitter in a weak one, like ours.

 He's 280/370/500 like clockwork -- the little dip in 2008 was second-half only, and due to the bad knee.   It's walks, doubles, and lefty homers, with a rock-solid EYE, so you're paying for a left fielder who hits cleanup in Safeco.

I'm not saying that he's Albert Pujols, but if you're talking Godzilla, you're talking (in effect) a second Russ Branyan-level contributor from the left side.

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Among his most-comparable hitters, per b-ref.com:  Jason Bay and Raul Ibanez.  HEH!

Seriously, if you're intrigued by Jason Bay but concerned about the match for the park, you should be a Hideki Matsui fan.  You couldn't spit for the difference between the two skill sets, and Matsui couldn't be a better match for Safeco Field.

Matsui is a perfect Safeco Field both in theory and in this particular case:  he's .312/.361/.541 in 21 games there.   Matsui pulls a lot of HR's right down the RF line, and as an acclimated, home player would probably SLG .541 or better at Safeco.

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As compared to, say, Nick Johnson, Godzilla is more money, a few less walks, a ton more power and relatively healthy prospectus.

Those of you who like Nick Johnson, I respect that, but there are two reasons I want no part of him:

(1) You're talking about a Chris Snelling-class injury type here.  From Shandler prior to 2009:

It's Nick's Anatomy, Season 9! After thumb ('01), knee, wrist ('02), hand, back ('03), back, cheek ('04), heel ('05), hand, leg ('06), leg ('07), and wrist woes, you'll thrill to all-new injuries. See what part Nick hurts next!

It's just one body part after another.

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(2)  Long before I ever met Nick Johnson, I loathed slow 1B's who walk a ton and who don't hit for power.

EXPLANATION:  True, by the formulas we use to measure these things, Johnson's incredible walk totals produce sky-high RC/27's and wOBA's. 

In theory, he produces a huge number of runs.  But on the field, he does not drive in or score runs.  He averages 86 R and 80 RBI per 162 games played, career.

It just doesn't do much for your team, if Ichiro's on 2B with 2 out, and you walk, and you boast the 0-5mph time of a South American softshell turtle.   Guys whose entire games are WALKS + VERY SLOW BASERUNNING can go "star" for other 100-loss team.

Johnson is far, far overrated per RC/27, EqA and wOBA.   Guess Johnson's SLG last year?  .405!   That's a FIRST baseman.

I don't want Nick Johnson for free, much less for $7M.  Well, I'm overstating to make a point.  But y'know.  I'd rather give AB's to Saunders, Carp, etc., than to an Old Forest tree that walks 100 times a year.

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Godzilla?  That dude is money.  But I wonder if PC Seattle is going to be in on him.

Cheers,

Dr D