Sexson agrees to $50 million contract with Seattle.

SEATTLE (AP) -- The Seattle Mariners added power to one of the weakest lineups in baseball Wednesday, agreeing to a $50 million, four-year contract with free agent first baseman Richie Sexson.

"This is first and foremost where I wanted to be," said Sexson, who is from Brush Prairie, Wash. "In the back of my mind, and for my family, we knew this is where I wanted to be."

(Yahoo!)

Sexson signs, 4y $50m. "HIRING FOR INTANGIBLES IS DOOMED TO FAILURE!!! SEE LAST YEAR’S GRIT DRIVE AND VETERAN LEADERSHIP HIRES!!!! WHYYYYY GOD WHYYYYYYYY??" (U.S.S. Mariner)

Okay, so I’ve had a beer. Derek Zumsteg calmly argues against the Sexson deal. (U.S.S. Mariner)

Baseball preparations thrown a curve by D.C. Council vote.

The District of Columbia Council approved a measure that would require private financing for at least half of the costs of a new stadium, an 11th-hour move that could cause baseball to reconsider moving the team to Washington -- or, more likely, land the team in the nation's capital for one year only.

"Everything appeared to be going so well," said Charlie Brotman, longtime public address announcer for the Washington Senators and a prominent advocate for baseball's return. "It's like you're in a 100-yard dash, and you're one yard away from the finish line. You're beating everybody, and all of a sudden you've got a cramp, and you lose. It's raining on our parade."

(Yahoo!)

San Pedro de Shea. "As you can tell from my commentary the past few days, I have decidedly mixed feelings about the Mets' signing of Pedro Martinez to a four-year, $50 million contract. Some thoughts, some original, some not, in no particular order..." (The Baseball Crank)

Somebody else's problem. Where will Javier Vazquez end up? (Some Calzone for Derek)

Considering Hudson and Jackson. "I think one path that has gone unexplored is whether renting Hudson for a year and then letting him go is completely unacceptable. If you have faith that Greg Miller, Joel Hanrahan or any of the Dodger pitching prospects offers as much promise as Jackson, then perhaps it’s okay to sacrifice one, get the Dodgers through a serious starting pitching crunch in 2005, and then rely on the remaining prospects starting in 2006. However, if you think Jackson is superior to the others, then you should be willing to go through any growing pains with him in 2005." (Dodger Thoughts)

Step away from the rageohol. "Okay, so it's less than 48 hours now since Jeff Kent dumped Houston and me, and we're still processing. There were some ugly words in the paper this morning about how we were not entirely blame-free, how we tried to low-ball him in early negotiations and did not understand the value of compromise: In return for less than market value salary, he just wanted a longer commitment. You know. Like when you have just gone through a bad breakup and your ex phones you up at work the next day to start talking about returning the clothes you left at their place and all of a sudden you are shouting so loudly that everyone around you has to avert their eyes." (throws like a girl)