Boone

The Mariners really couldn't get anything for Bret Boone? Not even a couple of bats or a bucket of batting practice balls?

I'm convinced that this team will never win a World Series. Look... this team hadn't finished over .500 in its history until Ken Griffey, Jr. came around. He not only made this team a winner, but he also gave people a reason to visit the Ugliest Building Known To Man (aka The Kingdome). I realize that they couldn't keep all of the talent they had, Griffey and A-Rod and Big Unit. And they actually got two good players for Randy (Freddy Garcia and Carlos Guillen), and a decent replacement for Griff (Mike Cameron). A-Rod left... oh well. $250 million doesn't get you as much as people think. But did they have to dump all three of them (especially considering that Guillen, Cameron, and Garcia are all decent players somewhere else)? I loved when the team won 114 games a few years ago, and all the while fans were going on and on about how they didn't need these high priced guys to win. What did that 114 wins do for us? Nothing. Almost everyone on that team had a career year in 2001, and they still got whooped by the Yankees.

And now the same people who told us we couldn't afford Griffey, A-Rod, and Johnson went out and signed Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson for big money? And how is that supposed to work, with the Angels and A's at least trying to build solid pitching staffs (don't look now, but the A's aren't that bad even without Mulder and Hudson).

You think Griffey wouldn't stick with the M's if he had it all to do over again. Yeah, I know he asked out of town, but I have to think a little persuasion would have kept him around... maybe a commitment to not selling off the team? I guess that's too much.

But I look around at other teams, like the Red Sox and Yankees and Angels, who are spending money and competing (although this year the Yankees not so much), and I look at teams like Chicago and Minnesota, who'll probably be wiped out come playoff time, but are at least fielding a competitive team, and I wonder what the heck the Mariners are doing. I'm overwhelmed by their lack of direction. And that's why I doubt they'll ever win the World Series.

I got an e-mail today that I thought was pretty funny... I think I'll respond to it later. You folks need to send me e-mail more often. In the meantime, I hope everyone had a good 4th.