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POINT:  6/$120M for Jacoby Ellsbury?  You're talking a Boras client here, you know.  There will be a reason the Red Sox are letting him go.

COUNTERPOINT:  Michael Bourn, last winter, was coming off a 6.2 WAR season at Ellsbury's age now.  He had to settle for 4/$48.

GM's are totally hip to the idea of "soft WAR."  They don't give leadoff hitters the same jack, for 6 WAR, that they give to a 6-WAR guy who gets all his runs from the batter's box.  And they shouldn't.

Jack Zduriencik seems to have emphasized that he's not going more than 4 years for anybody not named Fielder (or Stanton).  Even Hamilton, they drew the line at 4 years and two (?!) vesting years.

DR's R/X:  This one, we all agree with Point.  If the market is strong for Ellsbury, the Mariners should bow out.  

But, supposing that you can get Ellsbury for $15, 16 mill per, and fewer than six years.  Now, we're talking about a real weapon, and you've got money for a second player.  Or you should.

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POINT:  A lot of Red Sox fans consider Ellsbury's defense to be sort of middling in CF.  And if you search Bill James Online, the only references to Ellsbury's defense (as of 2010-11) refer to his range as average.

COUNTERPOINT:  UZR has Ellsbury as verrrrry plus out there.  And a glance at his footspeed, you know where SSI is going to be on it.

The thing is, if you look at the impact center fielders in the game, only three of them are good defenders.  Andrew McCutchen, Carlos Gomez, and Ellsbury.  (Maybe Mike Trout.)  Almost nobody hits well and single-handedly holds your outfield defense together.

DR's R/X:  We consider Ellsbury to be a player who would be worthwhile if only for his defense -- and that comes in an area at which the Mariners are hemorrhaging runs.  It's like you're losing games in the bullpen, and then you get a chance to sign Koji Uehara.  He's worth more to you, than he is to the Rangers.

We've always talked about Jack Zduriencik as a GM who knows how to add talent, and Pat Gillick as a GM who knows how to shape a ball club.  As a legit CF who fixes your defense, and makes your offense (quite a bit) better, Ellsbury would be a Gillick-type "artistic" add.

Seems to SSI that Ellsbury would matter more to the 2014 M's than people are giving him credit for.

But...

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