Comments welcome by email. I don't care if you disagree with me but name-calling and cussing are not acceptable. Comments that are just rude and not relevant will not be posted.
Well, it seems clear that one way or another, Tino Martinez is leaving the St. Louis Cardinals. I don't really see him coming back to Seattle...sigh... unless maybeEdgar does decide for sure to retire now and Tino could be the new DH. Nah... That would waste his talent as a defensive first baseman. I think it is far more likely Tino will end up in his hometown of Tampa playing for Lou Piniella again. (NOTE: Current Devil Rays first baseman Travis Lee and the team must both agree to the contract option for him to stay for another year. If he can get a longer contract elsewhere, it's likely he'll be gone.)
Martinez is due $7.5 million plus a $1 million buyout next season should the Cardinals not elect to assume his $8 million salary for 2005. Martinez' contract included blanket no-trade protection in the first two seasons of his three-year, $21 million package. He now only enjoys partial protection. The Cardinals recently began cultivating a market for Martinez, beginning with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Seattle Mariners, while the former American League All-Star has listed his St. Louis home for sale and told friends he expects to be moved this winter.
TA-TA TINO: The Cards' disappointing first baseman, Tino Martinez, has put his Claverach Park mansionette on the block for $1.7 million. Tino paid $1.2 mil for the place when the Cards signed him in '01. Apparently Martinez doesn't expect to be around much longer. The club is trying to trade him since his two-year, no-trade clause has lapsed. Viewings of the Hillvale Avenue house start Sunday.
§ - Wish I had a much better camera. I'd love to show you the squirrels with their tails blowing in the wind!
§ - How not to enjoy Europe - Budget Sucks! - "Budget sort of translated that to mean that obviously it is our fault in particular, and we would need to pay for the repairs and any other expenses involved in the whole thing. They gave me a long story about how otherwise they would have to pay it, and it would cost them a lot of money. So?"
§ - Fish gotta swim - 5,000 New Species May Be Teeming in the Seas - "An unprecedented census of life in the world's oceans is discovering three new fish species a week on average."
