If I were to die suddenly in the next few months, I'd want some of the Seattle
Mariners to be my pallbearers, just so they could let me down one last
time. It's the 2014 season and once
again, the Mariners let their fans down.
As I'm typing this, the Mariners only sit a 1/2 game out of a wild card
spot, but have had a horrible start to the 2nd half. They've lost 5 of their first 7 to start the
2nd half and lost their wild card spot.
Sure, they're not far back, but
we've seen this before so many times.
This year felt different. We had Cano, and Felix is having his best season. Ever since the 8 game losing streak in late April, the Mariners had been playing really good baseball. But there are just too many holes in the lineup and on this team to fix overnight. Currently, there are roles to be filled at shortstop, DH, and ALL outfield positions. You could almost say catcher as well, because Mike Zunino has struggled mightily at the plate to make contact.
You would think almost 6 years into being a GM that over half of the team's lineup wouldn't need to be fixed or replaced, but it does. Jack Zduriencik really has done a poor job of acquiring talent to fill needs. James Jones is not the answer in centerfield. He can get on base and wreck havoc, but he has zero power and doesn't play balls in the outfield too well. He also needs to learn how to take a walk. Ackley has really done nothing to live up to his #2 overall pick status, and Smoak and Montero continue to flop back and forth between the bigs and minors.
The hitting on this team the past few seasons has been atrocious. Since Jack arrived following the 2008 season, the team batting averages have been: .258, .236, .233, .234, .237, and .245 so far this season. But, if you take out Robinson Cano, easily the team's best hitter and one of the very few competent hitters, the team batting average is just .233 for the year. Other than Robinson Cano, why can't Jack Zduriencik recruit, find, sign, trade for, or acquire in any way some good hitting?
Six years is long enough for a GM to put a team together, and the team Jack has put together is not good enough. If the Mariners continue to slide and he cannot field us a winning (or even exciting) team, then he should be fired. He has had long enough. He has lost the faith of many Mariners fans, and he lost my faith long ago, when he signed a utility player to a $36 million contract.
Hey, I may be wrong to give up on them at this point. After all, they're only a 1/2 game out. I could end up looking kinda silly for posting this when they play exciting baseball and maybe even make the playoffs. But I know the Mariners. I've watched them year in and year out since the late 90's. This team is NOT built to win. I cannot emphasize that enough. Cano and Felix are elite players, but they are surrounded by cast-offs and minor league all-stars (which isn't a good thing). Cano is just one man. He alone cannot give us enough offensive support to stay competitive.
Maybe help will get here someday with the last two first round picks in DJ Peterson and Alex Jackson. But that won't be until 2016 at the earliest. But this team right now is full of hitters who will NEVER be considered above average. Let's count them, shall we?
Zunino, Sucre, Smoak, Hart, Morrison, Miller, Bloomquist, Romero, Jones, Ackley, Chavez. That makes 11. I almost counted Montero, and probably should have, but he's still young and needs to be given another shot. But the players above are all poor hitters to varying degrees. How bad, you ask? Well let's look at their OPS. A player's OPS is their on-base plus slugging percentage. It is what I feel best determines a batter's worth to the lineup. An OPS over .8 is above average, .7 to .8 is average, and under .7 is below average. The players above have the following OPS's: .665, .364, .630, .626, .615, .599, .643, .557, .638, .653, and .618. If that many guys are hitting below league average (most of them considerably below), then something is wrong in the front office. You know what all of those players have in common? They were all acquired by Jack Zduriencik.
Unless the Mariners can miraculously start hitting and winning, it's time to fire Jack Zduriencik. He may have saved our farm system, but he did not save the big league club. Time for you to go, Jack.
Update:
9/3/14: The Mariners still aren't out of it, being only 1 and 1/2 games out, but have given Jack Zduriencik a contract extension. If this comes back to bite them in the bit, I refuse to be a fan of a team that hires boneheads like Z and Bavasi. But, time will tell. The Mariners still have issues, including hitting. They gave Jack an extension just because he got lucky and the team is generating interest. You wait until the season is over to assess. If the Mariners slide in September, we'll all be thinking the same thing. If they make the playoffs somehow, then call me wrong. But this is not a playoff calibur team.
This year felt different. We had Cano, and Felix is having his best season. Ever since the 8 game losing streak in late April, the Mariners had been playing really good baseball. But there are just too many holes in the lineup and on this team to fix overnight. Currently, there are roles to be filled at shortstop, DH, and ALL outfield positions. You could almost say catcher as well, because Mike Zunino has struggled mightily at the plate to make contact.
You would think almost 6 years into being a GM that over half of the team's lineup wouldn't need to be fixed or replaced, but it does. Jack Zduriencik really has done a poor job of acquiring talent to fill needs. James Jones is not the answer in centerfield. He can get on base and wreck havoc, but he has zero power and doesn't play balls in the outfield too well. He also needs to learn how to take a walk. Ackley has really done nothing to live up to his #2 overall pick status, and Smoak and Montero continue to flop back and forth between the bigs and minors.
The hitting on this team the past few seasons has been atrocious. Since Jack arrived following the 2008 season, the team batting averages have been: .258, .236, .233, .234, .237, and .245 so far this season. But, if you take out Robinson Cano, easily the team's best hitter and one of the very few competent hitters, the team batting average is just .233 for the year. Other than Robinson Cano, why can't Jack Zduriencik recruit, find, sign, trade for, or acquire in any way some good hitting?
Six years is long enough for a GM to put a team together, and the team Jack has put together is not good enough. If the Mariners continue to slide and he cannot field us a winning (or even exciting) team, then he should be fired. He has had long enough. He has lost the faith of many Mariners fans, and he lost my faith long ago, when he signed a utility player to a $36 million contract.
Hey, I may be wrong to give up on them at this point. After all, they're only a 1/2 game out. I could end up looking kinda silly for posting this when they play exciting baseball and maybe even make the playoffs. But I know the Mariners. I've watched them year in and year out since the late 90's. This team is NOT built to win. I cannot emphasize that enough. Cano and Felix are elite players, but they are surrounded by cast-offs and minor league all-stars (which isn't a good thing). Cano is just one man. He alone cannot give us enough offensive support to stay competitive.
Maybe help will get here someday with the last two first round picks in DJ Peterson and Alex Jackson. But that won't be until 2016 at the earliest. But this team right now is full of hitters who will NEVER be considered above average. Let's count them, shall we?
Zunino, Sucre, Smoak, Hart, Morrison, Miller, Bloomquist, Romero, Jones, Ackley, Chavez. That makes 11. I almost counted Montero, and probably should have, but he's still young and needs to be given another shot. But the players above are all poor hitters to varying degrees. How bad, you ask? Well let's look at their OPS. A player's OPS is their on-base plus slugging percentage. It is what I feel best determines a batter's worth to the lineup. An OPS over .8 is above average, .7 to .8 is average, and under .7 is below average. The players above have the following OPS's: .665, .364, .630, .626, .615, .599, .643, .557, .638, .653, and .618. If that many guys are hitting below league average (most of them considerably below), then something is wrong in the front office. You know what all of those players have in common? They were all acquired by Jack Zduriencik.
Unless the Mariners can miraculously start hitting and winning, it's time to fire Jack Zduriencik. He may have saved our farm system, but he did not save the big league club. Time for you to go, Jack.
Update:
9/3/14: The Mariners still aren't out of it, being only 1 and 1/2 games out, but have given Jack Zduriencik a contract extension. If this comes back to bite them in the bit, I refuse to be a fan of a team that hires boneheads like Z and Bavasi. But, time will tell. The Mariners still have issues, including hitting. They gave Jack an extension just because he got lucky and the team is generating interest. You wait until the season is over to assess. If the Mariners slide in September, we'll all be thinking the same thing. If they make the playoffs somehow, then call me wrong. But this is not a playoff calibur team.
