Baseball Post: Why Would You Sign Both These Guys To The Same Team in the Same Year?

It's hard to let this terrible move pass without comment.

I'm a long time Seattle Mariners fan who has already moved out of town. As the embers of the great Lou Pinella era have already grown cold and a couple of consecutive 90+ loss seasons in the books I was willing to hang with this team a little longer despite some obvious flaws with the front office. But then the announcement came out yesterday that they had signed Carl Everett and I'm about ready to bail on this bandwagon for good.

Earlier in this off-season they decided to add another year with the great veteran left-handed starting pitcher Jamie Moyer. I'm a big fan of this "crafty lefty" as he's a finesse pitcher who compensates for a lack of power and velocity with intelligence and control. Two things that Carl Everett decidedly lacks.

Let's step back in time to when I realized that Carl Everett was a complete nutjob. I recall watching a broadcast of a game Moyer started in Boston against the Red Sox. Everett stepped into the batters box and started pointing out to the field like he's calling his shots. A no-class move on his part. And as a power hitter just coming off his prime in a small ballpark he eventually drilled a Moyer pitch for a home run. And all around the base paths he just glared at Moyer, flipped him the bird and capped off his trip to home plate with a spit, crotch-grab and a number of other obscene gestures that the broadcasters finally decided to cut away from. No class whatsoever and Jamie Moyer was clearly not impressed. He could have beaned him in his next plate appearance and even the umpires would have understood. But Moyer was the better man and did not retaliate.

Jamie Moyer came over to Seattle in a trade in 1996 and he's stayed with the M's ever since. He even exercised a no-trade clause last year to avoid being sent to the Yankees. He's a Mariner, he's an All-Star and he's looking to close out his career in Seattle.

Carl Everett, on the other hand, gets bounced between clubs every 2 to 3 years as he wears out his welcome. He's a real drag on team chemistry and clearly has some serious anger management issues that crop up both on and off the field. He has been convicted of child neglect and widely suspected of worse. Last year he shot his mouth off to the press and insulted gays, paleontologist and baseball fans. And he doesn't really hit all that well as his numbers have been declining from his career highs in 1999. He's a no class guy and this signing stinks.

So if I'm Jamie Moyer working the mound late in what may be my last season for another 90+ loss club and I'm checking that runner on first when I catch sight of a hapless DH sitting in the dugout who can't hit lefties worth a lick I may be inclined to take care of some unfinished business with a toss to first that just happens to fly into the dugout and squarely between the eyes of you-know-who. It could very well be the first Moyer pitch in years that cracks the low 90s on the radar gun.