Grand Salami Blog

Tomorrow, Tuesday, we'll find out if Dave Niehaus will be elected to the Hall of Fame this year as winner of the Ford Frick Award. I thought he'd get in last year but longime Oakland and SF broadcaster Lon Simmons got in instead. This year the competition isn't as stiff, with Ken Coleman, Ron Santo, Dizzy Dean and Jerry Coleman among the finalists. I think Niehaus will get in this time as Santo is more likely to be voted in as a player. If Niehaus does make the HOF, look for a commerorative cover of The Grand Salami this July or August...

Below is the latest misinformation from Jim Street's Mariner mailbag. Guess Jim hasn't seen USA Today's salary database (http://asp.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/salaries/default.aspx) or doesn't think the average Mariner fan deserves to have access to this information...

Nowhere on MLB.com is player contract information posted. Is there anywhere a fan can conveniently find out how many more years a player has on his contract, whether he has option years, his current year's salary, free agent and arbitration eligibility coming up the next off season, etc.? It seems that since that information is released to the public from time to time, that it should be compiled somewhere for a fan to conveniently find it. After all, true baseball fans would love to know that information, especially around trade deadlines and during the offseason. -- S. W., Auburn, Wash.

JIM "DEAD END" STREET: MLB teams consider contract information to be confidential. The Mariners rarely release details of a contract, especially if the player wants the figures to be confidential. However, the Associated Press usually obtains the information quicker than any other news organization. As far as I now, there isn't a specific site on the Internet that publishes each player's salary and other contract information.