We’ve seen this coming for a while, but the Mariners and Russell Branyan have said goodbye to each other for good. Unlike Brett Myers and the Phillies this is all amicable with Branyan thanking Jack Zduriencik. He’s a Four True Outcome player: home runs, strikeouts, walks and the nicest manners.
Branyan says he has been talking to a couple of teams and thinks he’ll get a major league deal. Early in the offseason it seemed like the Mariners wanted Branyan back. They probably were hoping for a one-year, relatively low money deal like they got last year when he made $1.4 million. Branyan, who hit 31 home runs last season was probably thinking differently. Given that he missed the last five weeks of the season with a bad back, however, makes going either multiple years -- or too many years -- a risky endeavor.
If the Mets were seriously considering Carlos Delgado it means that they weren’t that worried about defense. How about giving Branyan a spin then?