Party Like It's 1999... Pedro, Schilling, Manny, or Other?

[Hendu Style]

Hi baseball fans.


I'm running the Seattle Mariners and have signed Ken Griffey Junior, Alex Rodriguez, and Randy Johnson to extensions. I'm entering the offseason before 1999 and I just slashed payroll to make a move on one of the following free agents:


RF - Manny Ramirez
.320, 37 HR, 115 RBI in 1998
Yes, I have Ichiro coming over from Japan in a couple of years at RF, but lucky for me, that's the year Manny moves over to LF. That would give me a Manny-Griffey-Ichiro outfield. Why am I even debating this? Of course I go after Manny!


SP - Pedro Martinez
18-9, 2.69 ERA, 311 K in 1998
Okay, maybe this is a tougher decision than I thought. Martinez is the reigning Cy Young winner and is 27 years old. I could get Pedro in his prime. Imagine how many wins he could get with this Mariner offense.


SP - Curt Schilling
17-11, 3.04 ERA, 251 K in 1998
My sentimental favorite, and not just because he plays OOTP. Instead of a Big Unit-Schilling pairing in Arizona, we get it in Seattle. He may come a couple million dollars cheaper than Pedro or Manny, which means I could possibly spend that money on a reliever. He also has a "High" leadership factor, while Pedro and Manny are "Normal" (though let's not kid ourselves... we know Manny is far from normal).


So those are your choices. For your reference, here's a look at my 1999 Mariners squad to see how any of these guys would fit in. I have enough money to sign one of these three, and that's it. Choose wisely!

[Dargone]

Pedro.

[majesty95]

I vote for a closer because your bullpen is atrocious

[OmahaBaseball]

It's got to be Pedro

[majesty95]

If I can't have a reliever, then I vote for Manny hoping that the vast majority of the games you beat your opponents 10-5.

[Raidergoo]

I'm picking Schilling + a reliever. Your team pitching is atrocious bar Randy Johnson.

[Hendu Style]

The bullpen is horrible. Like the worst I've ever seen. On a whim, I started shopping my catcher, Mike Lieberthal, thinking I could find some cheap defensive catchers to replace him. Sure enough, the Yankees were *very* interested. Like Mariano Rivera interested. WOW.


I decided to push my luck (AI trade setting is at "Very Hard" btw) and see if they would throw in prospect Alfonso Soriano. They will if I add Gil Meche. Oh, gee... let me think about that. I can't bring myself to do it. But damn, it sure would be nice to have Mo as my closer.

[IsaacR]

Originally Posted by Hendu Style

The bullpen is horrible. Like the worst I've ever seen.

You don't say...

[Hendu Style]

Originally Posted by IsaacR

You don't say...

In my defense, the whole idea of me taking over the Mariners was to keep Griffey, A-Rod, and Big Unit in Seattle. I had to dump $20 million in payroll to make it happen. That meant trading Mike Timlin and Jeff Fassero, among others. But still... what a god awful pen.

[IanIachimoe]

[Hendu Style]

Originally Posted by Raidergoo

I'm picking Schilling + a reliever. Your team pitching is atrocious bar Randy Johnson.

Don't forget Freddy Garcia coming in as a rookie, and Jamie Moyer turning back the clock. It's a pretty solid 1-2-3 in the rotation, but the bullpen is brutal.

[SodoMojo]

1. Schilling & a reliever
2. Pedro

That was my favorite era growing up in Seattle...I went to so many Mariners games and ate so many Moose dogs.

South of the Dome Magic!

EDIT: Btw if I remember correctly Freddy Garcia and Jamie Moyer were serviceable starters at that time. It's the bullpen that looks like it needs the most help.

[Hendu Style]

Originally Posted by SodoMojo

1. Schilling & a reliever
2. Pedro

That was my favorite era growing up in Seattle...I went to so many Mariners games and ate so many Moose dogs.

South of the Dome Magic!

EDIT: Btw if I remember correctly Freddy Garcia and Jamie Moyer were serviceable starters at that time. It's the bullpen that looks like it needs the most help.

I like the name... Hope SoDo gets a NBA/NHL arena one day soon. Never had a Moose Dog. Only been to one Mariners game. But I'm sure it's better than nachos at the O.co. I'm a lifelong A's fan but I'm slowly becoming sympathetic living in the Northwest since 1999.

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by Raidergoo

I'm picking Schilling + a reliever. Your team pitching is atrocious bar Randy Johnson.

Agreed.

[TomVeal]

Schilling and a reliever strikes me as the right choice, too. Your offense is already fine. Adding Schilling would give you an extremely strong starting rotation - one that could absorb an injury, if necessary - and improvement in the bullpen is an obvious necessity.

[ThatSeventiesGuy]

Curt probably would cost less than Pedro, and while his numbers probably wouldn't be quite as spectacular, they'd at least be consistently solid. Use some of the difference to get a closer, man! A middle reliever or two wouldn't hurt, either.

I should be voting for Curt Shilling as a fellow OOTP forum user but... don't.

[DustinthePOWERHOUSE]

Pedro. Every single time every single place. There wasn't a better pitcher in the majors for the next 3 years (maybe 4) than Pedro.

It HAS to be Pedro.

[Ruthian23]

Unless Schilling is asking for like 15 million less per year, Pedro's a no brainer. Pedro was about to go into a period that was, in my opinion, the best pitched five years in the history of the major leagues.

If you already had dominant pitching but no offense a case could probably be made for Manny, but you have more than enough offense.

[Ruthian23]

Originally Posted by DustinthePOWERHOUSE

Pedro. Every single time every single place. There wasn't a better pitcher in the majors for the next 3 years (maybe 4) than Pedro.

It HAS to be Pedro.

This is a pretty emphatic post, but I think even you are underestimating what he did. Curt Schilling was a very, very solid pitcher. Better than solid, even. I think you're nuts if you take Schilling over Pedro no matter what reliever's attached. The only reason to take Schilling and a reliever over Pedro is if Pedro's asking for 35 million a year and Schilling wants 5.