Mariners Wheelhouse

Here's Guardado's comment in fuller context: Here the link to the story from the Everett Herald

Steve from Mariners Wheelhouse here, wandering over from the Seattle Mariners Top MLB Forum. Interesting discussion. No one here has mentioned that Guardado has a no-trade clause. A deal with Chicago would need to get over that hurdle. Guardado has also openly expressed his desire to return to Minnesota. He said earlier in the season that leaving Minnesota was a mistake. Point is that one of the other teams the Sox may be competing against is Minnesota. And Minnesota has lots of what the Mariners need. Guardado has been far and away the best pitcher in the Mariners bullpen, and he is death to left-handed hitters. following are Avg OBP SLG OPS against for 2004: vs lefties: .088 .111 .118 .229 !!!! vs righties: .185 .265 .304 .569 Spiezio is not reported to be injured. He started the season on the DL with a back problem. There has been no subsequent mention of any lingering issues from the injury, but his production season does provide reason to wonder. Re Crede, Reed and the Garcia trade. The story in Seattle, reported by some folks who have contacts in the Mariners FO, is that Reed was always in the deal - he was the centerpiece in the deal. The negotiations were about who the other players would be. If those stories are correct, it was not necessarily a situation of Williams refusing to include Crede. If there are additional discussions with the White Sox, I would expect Crede to be part of the talks. The Mariners don't have any truly strong options within the organization to fill that spot. The upcoming FA class looks like a good one for third basemen and the Mariners have lots of FA money available, so they are probably not going to extend themselves too far going after Crede.