No Tears Shed for Jose Guillen

Steve Kelley wrote a real tear jerker for the Seattle Times today about how badly Jose Guillen wanted to stay in Seattle. Apparently he didn't want to stay bad enough to sign when the two sides negotiated back in August. At the time word was that Guillen wanted a longer term contract than the M's were willing to give. Guillen was having a good year and wanted to cash in accordingly with a long term contract. I liked Guillen last season, but no way should he be getting $12 million a year. Guillen played 150+ games for just the second time in his career last season and has never hit 30 home runs or hit .300. Oh, and by the way Guillen is facing a 15-game suspension for violation of MLB's drug policy and was one of the players named in the Mitchell Report. The fact the Guillen ended up in Kansas City shows that there probably wasn't much of a market for him. Guillen expected the M's to pay him $12 million a year until he turns 35 just because KC would? Come on. Guillen had his chance to stay in Seattle if he wanted to as bad as he claims. Let's remember, there was a time when Alex Rodriguez said he wanted to stay in Seattle too. Guillen may have "left his heart in Seattle", but he followed the cash to Kansas City.

Why Can't Jose Lopez Bunt?

This video coming from Geoff Baker's blog over at the Seattle Times gives a look at some of the work by Jose Lopez in spring training. Lopez struggled in the second half of last season and many have blamed it on a lack of focus due to the death of his brother. I can remember at least two different occasions (there were probably more) last season when Lopez was unable to get down a sacrifice bunt when he was asked to do so. From this video it appears as though Lopez is still struggling and needs even more work. You can even hear him saying "my bad" over and over again in the clip. A major leaguer not being able to get down a bunt is something that has always frustrated me, right up there with NBA players shooting free throws poorly. There are always exceptions, such as big men and power hitters, but a guy like Lopez needs to be able to put down a bunt when his team needs it. At least now we have the answer to the inevitable question, "Come on, don't they work on these things in spring training?"