The Mariners officially signed Ryan Garko to a one-year, $550K deal today. Garko can earn another $525K in plate appearance incentives. Gregg Bell of the AP first reported the agreement.
Mariners assistant GM Jeff Kingston recently spoke about targeting a right-handed hitter who can crush left-handed pitching while playing at first base or DH. Garko, 29, fits the bill given his .311/.391/.491 line against southpaws over the past three seasons. Garko was non-tendered by the Giants after the season. The Mariners can retain him for 2011 and 2012 as an arbitration-eligible player if they choose.
GM Jack Zduriencik's take on the signing:
"We are happy to add Ryan to our Major League roster. We think he is a player that adds versatility as a right-handed hitter with experience playing first base, designated hitter and catcher."
good deal for the Ms
agreed. should form an OK platoon with kotchman at first base
My oh my!! Jack Z has done it again!
I’m as big an M’s fan as anyone here, but not every move Jack Z makes needs to be viewed as an “Oh my god!” move. This is a fine signing, sure. But come on. Garko? If Bavasi had made this signing you’d all be calling for his head again. All I’m saying is, Jack Z is a living legend already; I get it, we get it, they get it. But Garko to a 1-year deal is no Figgins or Lee…heck, it’s not even a Bradley. It’s good, but let’s temper those rally cries a little on the non-huge signings, eh?
i complately agree now everytime he signs somebody everybody says he is amazing it is starting to get me mad cuz like you said if bavasi signed eric byrnes people would be saying he is a complete idiot and destroying the organization but i have no problem with this signing but it doesnt make him the jesus of general managers
I’m with you, willardthegreat. Love the M’s, and Jack Z is doing a fine job, but it’s hard for me to get excited about players we are picking up off the scrap heap, released by their previous teams. Quality players generally don’t get released (I know there have been exceptions)
Don’t mind that. I love Z’s idea of creating as much competition as possible to really boost people to what they can do.
Another low risk/medium reward type of signing by the M’s.
Hopefully the competition amongst all these veteran hitters will make them perform higher than expected.
Maybe Garko or Kotchmann will get flipped at the deadline in a package for a stud 1B?
There won’t be a flipping of either guy (Garko or Kotchman) as neither merits a return worthy of discussion. Jack Z has picked up a run producing RH 1B/DH in Garko. His defense is extraordinarily poor (he reverts to being a catcher.. blocking balls in the dirt at 1B instead of scooping them) and he can’t run, but, with ducks on the pond, he’ll do what’s needed to bring them home.. he’d be even better with a modicum of regular playing time…
Clearly, no one told Sabean that!
The Cleveland Indians would be pretty happy with Scott Barnes, who may not be a top prospect, but isn’t chopped liver either! Z needs to stay in touch with his pals in SFO and NYM…
What a great deal…only half a mil up front this GM is incredible
Nice deal. A decent little RH stick off the bench. Not Prince Fielder, but for 500k, who is??
Well, Prince Fielder was Prince Fielder was only being paid 330k, 415k and 670k in his first 3 years in the bigs 🙂
I like this deal for the Ms for a couple of reasons 1) while he’s not a stalwart defensively, Garko’s better thant the other RH options mentioned and 2) he provides more insurance at DH for an aging Griffey and mercurial, injury prone Milton Bradley. I’ve mentioned in another post that I like how the Mariners are acquiring a lot of DH and/or OF type bats in Byrnes and Garko to go along with Griffey and Bradley. They’ve set themselves up where they aren’t guaranteeing Bradley anything. If he gets hurt they’ve got people ready to step in and if he causes any problems, it makes it much easier to cut ties. Surely, Bradley must notice that there’s a lot of people ready to take his ABs if his attitude becomes an issue.
so the bench will have:
C- Bard OR Johnson OR Alfonzo (with Moore starting)
1B- Garko
IF- Hannahan
OF- Byrnes
will that be it for the bench or do you think they will carry another player like Langerhans, Patterson, Woodward, Saunders, etc.?
I think Josh Wilson will also make the team simply as being a better option at 2nd and Short than Hannahan
I think the Byrnes deal (if he shows up healthy and 80% of his old self) pretty much guarantees that Saunders will start in AAA. He needs to get ABs
They will add another OF and use 11 pitchers.
Guess I’m not seeing the hype. This is a guy who was released from a team that couldn’t manage to score any runs last year. Then he sat available for anyone to grab him. Unless Jack Z sees something that NOBODY else does, this is just another meh signing.
Certainly doesn’t hurt the team but all this man love on Jack Z is just ridiculous.
I agree that the love for Zduriencik has been a little over the top but it’s hard to dispute the job he’s done so far. As has been pointed out, the Garko signing has the possibility of medium reward with a very low risk. Those moves with the fringes of the roster can be underrated.
Agreed…I like what he’s done but when every move is deemed as genius it gets to be too much. I will say the AL West will be the most interesting division to watch this year. Any one of the four teams has a legitimate shot at winning it.
Wow, nice job getting on this Minaya, instead you signed Tatis. Buh.
Seriously! $1.2M more for Tatis no less!
There should be a “Bash Omar” button on this site next to Like and Reply.
LOL!!!! I love this.
I am freaked out by Z, he turned that piece of terd of a team into a playoff team. Garko for half a million? I thought he was going to get more like 2 million.
Being a huge Cleveland Indians fan, I’ll tell you there is no way Garko will every play 3rd. He is strictly DH/1B, and hasn’t even played Catcher since the minors.
RosterbatorExtraordinaire
So tell me how it is that you sitting behind a computer at home or work, has more baseball knowledge then Jak Z? this guys has been around baseball his whole life, and has proven himself on all levels. Yet you seem to judge him as if your a baseball god. Dude lighten up. P.S hope your not at work with the length of your posts that could get you fired.
I honestly feel after watching Garko play 1B the past few years day in and day out here in Cleveland, he gets a VERY bad rap for his defense. He’s never going to win a gold glove, but he keeps the ball infront of him, makes the routine plays, scoops the ball out of the dirt pretty well, he’s an average first baseman who was a VERY below average 1B when they moved him. He’s made improvements, and probably will continue to over time.
The Tribe tried him in the outfield in 2009, it was ugly. Very ugly. He looks like Fred Flinstone, and he runs like him too. His feet keep flying but he goes no where. He actually cost Cliff Lee a win up in Detroit because he couldn’t get to ball in RF.
And the 2010 Mariners are looking like Wahoo’s West.
Garko
Lee
Gutierrez
Bradley
Bard.
Dont know if they’ll carry 11 or 12 pitchers but the lineup vs lefties is now pretty solid:
RF Ichiro
3B Figgins
DH Bradley
2B Lopez
CF Gutierrez
1B Garko
LF Byrnes
C Moore
SS Wilson
Ryan Garko is the definition of a league average player.
And, to be honest, he is ignored far too much. Unless Huff can hold up for 120+ games at 1B and produce, the Giants are going to be kicking themselves in the ass.
Byrnes + Garko = Great compliments to the roster they have put together thus far. The AL West race is going to be fun to follow
Does anyone else here think what I’m thinking..? That Jack Z is stocking up on cheap usable talent so he can make a big trade come the trade deadline? Possibly for a franchise player like Adrian Gonzalez?
Numbers for a Kotchman (375) Garko (275) platoon at first over 650 ab’s based on averages.
.290/.360/.445/.805 21HR 77RBI. Not what I’d call mashing but it’s respectable plus your getting solid defense
Good point. That’s some good OBP to go with an already OBP-heavy lineup.
One note on the defense: Kotchman is fabulous defensively, but Garko is noticeably below average. But that’s not that big of a deal at first, honestly. First is the least important position after LF, as far as defense is concerned. Having a good defensive first baseman is kind of like having a really good pinch-hitter–it can be really helpful sometimes, and it might help win some games, but usually you won’t even notice. 😉
550K for Garko while Huff got 3MM.
Nice work Sabean.
If your gonna have a 1B platoon, Garko and Kotchman aren’t a bad tandem. Really solidified the lineup vs. lefites with Garko and Byrnes