Abandon Ship! Mariner Front Office Makes Awful, Awful Trade

Three years ago, we all hoped for aging middle infielder Omar Vizquel to fail a physical so the M's wouldn't complete an agreed-upon deal for him. And our pleas were heard.

Well, M's fans, break out your prayers to the patron saint of aged middle infielders failing physicals again, because we need another favor from him. Pending a physical, the M's are going to deal two good young prospects, Chris Snelling and Emiliano Fruto, for the Nationals' Jose Vidro, a once-power hitting middle infielder who has suddenly hit for a lot less power since 2003 or so if you catch our meaning.

We defended the Soriano/Ramirez deal, and we try whenever possible to give the M's front office the benefit of the doubt, but this trade is horrible. USS Mariner explains why using...STATS!:

Chris Snelling is a 25-year old corner outfielder with an injury history and a plus arm who hit .250/.360/.427. Based on his PECOTA projections, he’s one of the best hitting prospects in baseball. He was the third or fourth-best hitter on the team last year (performance, not taking playing time into account).

Fruto’s a 22-year old reliever. He’s a big boy. He’s got a ridiculous change and through his whole career in the minors he was as stingy giving up the home run as you could possibly hope for.

Jose Vidro is a 31-yr old second baseman who hit .289/.348/.395 for the Nationals last year.

Lookout Landing is having a breakdown:

My hands are shaking uncontrollably right now as I sit in my chair.

Bill Bavasi needs to go, and he needs to go last month.

We've turned this deal around in our head over and over to try to justify it, and it just makes no sense. Put Vidro at 1B and trade Sexson? Maybe, but Vidro has a huge salary, so you aren't saving any money, and Snelling would hit better from there anyway! Does this have to do with the Betancourt smuggling case? There's no way anything would happen during the season--and the players haven't been charged with anything, anyway.

USS Mariner commenters, never a stable bunch to begin with, are variously threatening to murder, blackmail, and engage in sexual congress with GM Bill Bavasi.

The only possible sane explanation is that Lopez is to be dealt as part of a larger deal. We find that hard to believe, though--these deals don't usually happen piece-meal. We'll be on our knees in front of the holiday tree all night.