................

I/O:  Thus the quote from Drayer:

"At the end of the day, whether it is a year from now, two years from now or three years from now, the ownership group here, the organization, whether it is this year, will step up and give us the resources that we absolutely need to get us over the top and I think we are all excited about that," he said.

CRUNCH:  At times, SSI hasn't given Lincoln and Armstrong enough credit.  In retrospect, they have been (somewhat) willing to clear extra money when they judge the timing to be right.

They cleared huge offers for ARod and Junior, "special hits for special players."  They gave Pat Gillick as much moolah as he needed because "When it's Pat Gillick spending the money, it's very easy to raise payroll."  

Now, apparently, they see the Pinedas and Paxtons and Carps and Ackleys as well as you do, they see the 6 players Jack has in the minors' top 100, and this is the moment that Lincoln and Armstrong reason, "Now is when the mammoth contract will light the fuse on this turnaround."

I don't say that they're Arte Moreno, but Dr. D could have given them more credit for discernment as to how they spent their dinero.

All's well that ends well.  Now the Mariners are going to spend, not because Baker and I and Silentpadna have been crying and moaning, but because they buy into Jack Zduriencik.

Okay by me.

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I/O:  Mariners met with Fielder on Tuesday night. 

CRUNCH:  One month ago, you wondered whether the M's would kick the tires on Fielder?   Here y'go amig-O.  The Mariners are in all the way on Fielder, like the Cardinals are in on Pujols, or like the Marlins were in on Reyes.

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I/O:  Blue Jays' org philosophy is 5 years.  Nolan Ryan tells reporters flatly that the Rangers are not in on Fielder.

CRUNCH:  I'll take that at face value.  Capt Jack's warnings about teams "lying low" notwithstanding.  

The team that SSI would have thought was "lying low" would have been the Nationals.  But Peter Gammons on TV this morning said that they didn't want to do anything over ... wait for it ... $90M.

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I/O:  Jack says that we'll see how things shake out  ... the rest of this week.

CRUNCH:  Meaning, we presume, that --- > Pujols could sign in St. Looie, then --- > Florida putting its offer down, then --- > the M's matching it, then --- > Prince deciding where he's comfortable.

Or not.

It's a funny thing.  Now that the Mariners have decided to play real Stars & Scrubs - that is, the way the Angels and Tigers and Mets play it, by legitimately going after any star that hasn't gone to the Yankees or Red Sox - I don't feel quite so shrill about Prince Fielder specifically.

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