I’ve been reading some free agent predictions and one of them that I’ve seen several times makes me scratch my head; Hideki Matsui to the Mariners. This makes absolutely no sense for the Mariners since they re-signed Ken Griffey. Matsui isn’t going to play the field unless a gutsy National League team signs him. An American League team isn’t going to put him in the outfield with those knees when they can DH him. Matsui and Griffey would give the Mariners two primary designated hitters. What a waste of a roster space.

There are conflicting reports about the relationship Matsui has with Mariners’ star and fellow Japanese player Ichiro Suzuki. Some reports say they are friends and other reports say they don’t get along. Until we know the truth about their relationship, saying that Matsui would like to play with Ichiro shouldn’t be a reason for the Matsui-to-Mariners prediction like several articles use.

Unless the Mariners are truly considering playing either Matsui or Griffey in the field on a normal basis, there is no way the Mariners sign Matsui.