DId I see it right??

[Mudcutter]

Is HI HO Silva gone to Seattle?? Thought I saw it on the crawl on the bottom of ESPN at the bar. If so, can't wait to face him and get 10-15 hits off him. AL West teams will get more wins because of him.

[IFallsRon]

I haven't seen a done deal but word is they've offered $44 million for four years.

[Scott K]

Silva wasnt that bad of a pitcher, he used up alot of innings, and usually kept you in the game. The Twins will be hurting this year, without some inning eating workhorses. Or our bullpen will be used pretty heavily with all the young guys. He isnt worth anywhere near what has been rumored to be offered to him. If he gets it good for him.

[IFallsRon]

Mariners land Silva

By Geoff Baker

Seattle Times staff reporter

It was late last week that the push to land new Mariners pitcher Carlos Silva kicked into full throttle.

The Mariners had just been spurned by free-agent pitcher Hiroki Kuroda and needed to find another place to spend roughly $11 million over the next four years. They stepped up their efforts on Silva, a 28-year-old middle-of-the-road starter for the Minnesota Twins the past few seasons, and this time got their man.

Silva agreed to a four-year package, reported to be worth $44 million, on Wednesday and should be introduced by the team this afternoon. A source said the deal was pending the outcome of a routine physical, which is why the team was waiting on announcing its biggest signing of the offseason.

"Going into this, I made a list of all the free-agent starters who were available," new Mariners pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre said Wednesday night after a reporter told him the deal was done. "And to be honest with you, he was at the top of my list because of his background and the type of pitcher that he is."

The team had Stottlemyre place a call to Silva late last week to help sell him on the merits of coming to Seattle.

"We just talked about the ballpark, the city, our coaching staff," Stottlemyre said. "We talked about the ability we have to provide a winner if we get the pieces we want. And he was one of those."

Stottlemyre says that Silva, a sinker-ball specialist who went 13-14 with a 4.19 earned-run average for the Twins last season, helps the Mariners because of his ability to go deeper into games. Silva went seven or more innings in a dozen of his starts last season — tying him with Felix Hernandez for the most by any of Seattle's pitchers.

Silva also doesn't walk many batters, though his strikeout rate of 3.97 batters per nine innings is very low for a starter being paid this much money. The bottom line is, much of Silva's success could depend on how well the fielders behind him get to balls put in play.

"I think Safeco is a pretty good field for him," Stottlemyre said. "He's a very good ground-ball pitcher."

Stottlemyre figures Seattle's infielders are up to the task, even with second baseman Jose Lopez still a huge question mark heading into 2008. Stottlemyre also said the fact that fly balls don't carry all that well at Safeco should work to Silva's favor better than the Metrodome in Minneapolis did.

Mariners manager John McLaren said once the deal is announced, his team's rotation should already be better than it was last year. That rotation was burned by the back-end flops of Jeff Weaver and Horacio Ramirez. Weaver has already departed as a free agent.

Silva should slot in anywhere from No. 2 to No. 4 in the rotation behind Hernandez. He is very similar, in terms of results, stats and the pitch-to-contact approach of incumbent Mariners starters Miguel Batista and Jarrod Washburn.

"He looks like a real good strike-thrower for us," McLaren said of Silva. "We hope that he does what Miguel Batista did for us last year."

Batista was a 16-game-winner and — like Silva — will likely have to depended greatly on the fielders behind him. But Batista, while walking far more batters than Silva, does have a greater ability to escape jams via strikeouts.

And it remains to be seen if Silva alone will have what it takes to put the Mariners in a better spot at contending for the American League West crown.

Much of that will depend on what happens next. McLaren said the Mariners are still in the hunt for Johan Santana of the Twins and Erik Bedard of the Orioles.

But the reality is, with the Silva signing, the Mariners might no longer have the stomach to foot the rumored $125 million price tag it would take to sign Santana once trading for him. A more likely scenario would be the Mariners dealing top prospect Adam Jones and at least one or two others in order to snag Bedard — who is still arbitration-eligible and under team control for two more seasons.

Talks between Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi and Orioles counterpart Andy McPhail have been ongoing since the winter meetings ended. The prime competition for the Mariners appears to be the Cincinnati Reds, though several other clubs have expressed interest in the Canadian left-hander.

"Bill's working hard," McLaren said of Bavasi. "This signing is a good upgrade for us. Hopefully, we hear something announced soon."

[Willy]

This is not a good thing. Silva was a workhorse for us. He kept us in most games. He should have had alot more wins, he had the least run support of any pitcher in baseball and still had a decent year.

11 mill a year is a little steep though, so probably a good decision for us not to sign him, but we would be better with him in our rotation than not.

[KMR85]

Silva would have had more wins than Johan if the twins could have given hime at least 3 runs in 10 of the games he lost while giving up 2 runs or less through 7 innings. But instead the offense could only score 1 run(or fewer) in those games. Ya the same could argued for Johan, but he didnt have as many games where he only gave up 2 runs and the offense went scoreless. Either way, Silva will be missed when the pitching staff is struggling next year. I do not like the rotation next year, especially if Boof is involved. Liriano and Santana are the only ones I see with winning records, and that's if we still have Johan. Silva, you will be missed.

[bgreen82]

i thought i just heard on the radio it was worth 48 mil. over 4. i dont care if he keeps you in games, im not convinced hes a $12 million a year man.

[zamboni]

Quote:

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i thought i just heard on the radio it was worth 48 mil. over 4. i dont care if he keeps you in games, im not convinced hes a $12 million a year man.

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Thing is, he's better than all the other Mariners pitchers were last season. So, get this- hes their ace. THAT is sad....

[Mudcutter]

I'am glad Silva is gone. Too many hits and longballs. I'll take my chances with the Twins young guns. They may have a bad outing, but they will give you less hits per 9inn than Silva. Maybe more walks, but I think Silva was the league leader in HIts per 9IP. LOTS of DP, but also a high ERA and shots to the gap with runners on base.

[Scott K]

This is what happens with a sinkerball pitcher, they depend on a good defense. Which we had, Seatles defense will be tested, but all and all the Twins arent going to be better off without him.

[Quickstrike]

Well that is the final nail in the coffin when it comes to Santana staying in Minnesota. Silva was one of his buddies in the clubhouse. With Silva, Hunter, and Castillo gone, there is no way he will stay.

[Willy]

Show him the money and I bet he will stay. If we were to offer him 7 years 150 mill, he would sign no questions asked.

[maros91]

Quote:

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Thing is, he's better than all the other Mariners pitchers were last season. So, get this- hes their ace. THAT is sad....

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I know King Felix was hurt last season but he is their ace. Sad to say that Silva was the best pitcher in this years free agent class and he cashed in. You had to know some team desperate for pitching was going to shell out the money for him and the Mariners did just that.

[blue_healer_guy]

Not a chance he stays. I mean why? To play with all the minor league crap we throw out there? If he stays this year its only to be the richest pitcher in MLB history next year with free agency. Get rid of him now. We have to play by Old Man Rules here in minnesota so it doesn't make sense to keep him.

[Hitman54]

REDRUMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!

[blue_healer_guy]