Time to stop the Merry-go-round, re-sign Aardsma

 Well it has started already, the dreaded offseason projections and discussions from all the pundits on exactly how we should fix the 2011 Mariners, if only people would listen to the sideline know-it-all’s.

  The latest topic on the minds of the great baseball minds around town is David Aardsma and how he won’t be around next year because he is getting good enough to receive a few million more bucks next year through arbitration and thus we need to trade him and use someone unproven yet cheaper.

  I don’t know about the rest of you but I am getting so tired of watching this organization grooming players like Aardsma, Rafael Soriano, JJ Putz, Tino Martinez etc. then trading them for a new group of prospects so we can start the merry-go-round again. Look, David Aardsma had a good year last year, then started off with a rough first-half but seems to have found a nice groove. I mean holy cow if it is not broken why fix it?

   Unlike the Mariners, clubs like the Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies somehow manage to win by finding the right players, then giving them a position that is theirs to keep and then stop tinkering. Mariano Rivera will be the closer for the Yankees till he can’t do it anymore then that will be that. Ryan Howard will play first for the Phillies even if they could get 6 prospects for him and save 10 million a year because he is a great player, end of story.

  With the Mariners it always seems like our goal is to keep things in motion, always hoping to come up with some magic combination that never seems to develop. It reminds me of a group of LA Real Estate Agents trying to flip houses before the crash. We need stability on this ship. If that means paying market prices for quality players, then so be it. As a fan I am so tired of watching players we developed being shipped off to other teams, and then watching them bloom while we stratch our heads wondering why we suck.

   Look, I love the idea of Dan Cortes fitting into the bullpen somewhere with his 100 mph fastball. But Cortes has never even pitched a single game in the majors yet! Brandon League has great-stuff sometimes, but he is fine where is being used now. Let’s just pay Aardsma what he is worth and keep him so at least going into 2011 we have one less position to worry about filling. This Merry–go–round used to make me dizzy, now it is making me sick to my stomach! http://jeffsmariners.com