The Mariners announced yesterday that Manager John McLaren and General Manager Bill Bavasi will both be back next year. McLaren took over in mid-season, the team was 40-41 under his guidance. 2008 will be Bavasi's fourth year as Mariners GM. Out in blogland, they've been calling for McLaren's head since the M's went on a 15 of 17 losing jag, one of the biggest collapses by a contending team in baseball history. The main complaint:......

Mariners with Felix Hernandez Record: 2-0 Payroll: $106,516,833 Mariners without Felix Hernandez Record: 3-9 Payroll: $106,096,833 Sometimes, words can't tell the story as well as numbers. Look at that--the $106 million of player that Mariners GM Bill Bavasi recruited to surround Felix Hernandez can't manage to win more than 25% of its games. To put it another way--0.39% of the Mariners' payroll is responsible for 40% of its wins. The blueprint for the season was......

Our Venezuelan baseball correspondent, Pauls Toutonghi, has breaking news that will be made official by the Mariners on Sunday. ESPN.COM reported that Ugueth Urbina was sentenced to fifteen years in a Venezualan prison. Description of his crime is as follows: "The 33-year-old free agent joined a group of men in attacking workers with machetes and pouring gasoline on them at his family's ranch, located about 25 miles south of Caracas..." Upon hearing the news, Mariners'......

Could Randy Johnson don a Mariners uniform in 2007? Those speculating aren’t entirely convinced floundering GM Bill Bavasi could pull off a (worthwhile) deal to acquire the Yankees’ aging Unit, and although we’re not the most astute of M’s followers, we’re dubious, too. We think it’s more likely the Mariners will trade for another mound giant—the Dodgers’ Mark Hendrickson. Because we saw him downtown last night. We couldn’t help doing a double-take when we walked......

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......

Rumors abound early this week concerning a most ghastly notion, a dark vision that has kept us sleepless: reportedly, both the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies called Mariners GM Bill Bavasi over the weekend to inquire about a potential trade for Ichiro. Candidates for the swap included Roy Oswalt from Houston and some insulting combination of Bobby Abreu, Cory Lidle, and Arthur Rhodes from Philly. Abreu and Lidle finally landed with the New York Yankees......

A few hours ago we were very happy with Mariners GM Bill Bavasi. He ridded the team of one of its most sour spots, and brought up a kid who, despite wicked injury troubles, we can't help but want to love. Now comes a move that garners a mixed reaction: Bavasi just traded minor league centerfielder Shin-Soo Choo and a player to be named later to the Cleveland Indians for 1B/DH Ben Broussard, completing the......

Seattle's own Bill Gates was named Time magazine's Man, or "Person," of the Year. Well, he and that wife of his, Melinda, who will share the honor with 'You Too' front man Bono. The magazine chose the three because of their, "charitable work and activism, and not because, "we needed to pick two white people and a foreigner, " like in 1987. The Medina couple's Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (selfishly named after themselves) has......

It's true--the last place Mariners, in a bold and reckless move, have traded for baseball's Most Valuable Player. Would ya believe, former Most Valuable Player? How about...former Most Valuable Player of the World Series. OK, they got the Most Valuable Player of the World Series of 1992. That's right, the Mariners have traded for 42-year-old catcher Pat Borders, whose single spurt of baseball competence came 13 years ago when he hit .450 in the Fall......