I just realized – the chemistry in “The Office” is identical to what the Mariners FO ended up with.

I was thinking more of “Office Space,” where Bavasi strolls up to Clement’s cubicle and says “ummmmmmm, yeah, we’re going to send you back down and give Vidro his job back.”

Even in baseball, you can point to examples lie that. Like, Raul Ibanez makes pitchers look bad.

I do believe that you need neutral/positive culture for your players and to be successful over a long term period. I do not believe that a team will get better results on the field due to what is perceived as good chemistry.

To finish the thought, Columbus, Newton, Darwin, Mendel and the entire Manhattan Project team should have just closed up shop and gone home, because what they were seeking was ‘invisible’.

So, to recap, I agree with the destination, but the logical path to get there is flawed.

Go ahead…flame away.

I’m going to be overly dramatic but what the hell.

Let’s say your wife and children whom you dearly love got hit by a car as you are walking the streets of Seattle. Physically, there is no harm to your body; however, I highly doubt you would be able to perform a skilled job such as hitting a baseball.

On a less dramatic scale let’s say you are a MLB player and former all- star on the downside of your career. You’re getting paid 14 million a year and you are the face of the franchise. Your team is in a pennant race. Personally you are slumping and the manager tells you are headed to the pine. You don’t play for a few games and every night you talk to you daughter and she asks you how many homeruns you had that day. It kills you to know that your time is coming to and end and you press harder every day and get less and less positive results.

I’m not going to say that suffering an emotional nightmare such as loss of a loved one is the same thing as having playing time limited but they can both have an effect on you as a person. Different people will be affected differently. Different people will perform differently. There are 750+ MLB players and not all of them are good people. Not all of them get along when they are grouped together in squads of 25. Some people are not happy when around other people. In life we make choices not to hang out with those people on our free time or not work with them in a job environment.

The reason Bavasi is slammed for bad moves on this website is because Derek or Dave disagree with his moves and feel there is a compelling case for an alternative. Nonetheless, the decisions are Bavasi’s to make. We are talking about Bill’s work environment and Bill’s life. From all accounts of what I have heard Mr. Bavasi is a grade A person and it does not surprise me that chemistry matters to him. Bavasi, wants a working environment people enjoy and cares about peoples well being. He’s not going to bring any individual into the organization if he is not comfortable working with that individual (BB).

So yeah chemistry shouldn’t matter because baseball is nothing more that a series of isolated events which only test a player’s physical talents and preparation. However, players still need to be managed, decisions need to be made, and individuals who have feelings need to be dealt with in the game of baseball. Derek challenged his readers to make the break through and find proof that chemistry matters. I’d like to challenge anyone to spend a MLB season with people they don’t enjoy in an environment they don’t feel comfortable in. It would be hard to find 25 people with above average MLB skills to meet this demand.