From a baseball POV, Kim Ng is a positive, given her experience with NY and LA, places where she’s been doing good work.

This would not be a stretch hire for HowChuck.

Well, Kim Ng, for one.

Well, I don’t agree exactly. I’d much rather go through two more years of losing if it meant they had created an organization that correctly values talent, finds and acquires undervalued players, doesn’t overpay for veterans, and develops a healthy farm system that produces kids they are willing to play. There’s no sure way to win a WS, but setting up a smart organization is far more likely to win you one eventually. I don’t think it’s realistic to hope for a WS in two years, no matter how much pain we endure between now and then: as we’ve seen, the post-season is just a huge crapshoot. But in two years they could, and should, have a team that gets to the postseason pretty much every year, with no post-”Win-now” dropoff in sight. (In other words, I don’t want the 2011 M’s to look like the 2008 Brewers; I want them to look like the 90s Braves).

There’s at least 3 good teams in each of the other two AL divisions, so the wild card isn’t worth much. Right now the Angels are the class of the division, and I think it’s reasonable to expect to regularly challenge them, and usually beat them. In 2012, when the A’s open Cisco Field, the West also becomes a true three-way race. At that point, the M’s better have more than just a good team: they need a pipeline of talent, and an organization that knows how to find more and make the best use of it.

Otherwise, well, they’re the Royals. Or the Pirates.

Something I read recently pointed out that the management/ownership overseeing the GM’s of many clubs are involved to a similar degree. Several teams were mentioned, and I think the bottom line was that almost all of the teams with probable GM openings had this situation.

Of course the fact that she is where she is right now, given all of that, probably means she’s an order of magnitude more capable than any of the men occupying equivalent positions.

But heck, let’s not restrict ourselves to gender inequities. What non-white candidates should they be considering?

Geez, what about HER? What a huge risk it is for HER career if she comes in here and Chuck and Howie act all good’-ol-boy condescending towards her after the hiring-and-honeymoon this offseason? And they go on with their same old obstructionist vetoing, like they’ve done to Pelekoudas?

It’s too much to hope that they’d get some great suggestions for players to acquire from Ng, that have a 200% greater likelihood to pan out than the ones we suffered through from Bavasi (who has the father-and-son “baseball man” reputation) — and that Howie and Chuck would actually give enthusiastic thumbs-up to Kim Ng’s proposed hires like they did to Bavasi.

I guarantee the management of the Mariners will continue to be looked at with great interest from others in baseball, just to see how much worse Howie and Chuck can screw it up.

I’m not sure what the risk is with Ng ‘if she fails’. Could we possibly lose more games?

Yes, they could lose 59 more games. Also, I wouldn’t knock the concept of a dual GM just because it failed in Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Individually those GM’s would have failed just as spectacularly.

Not to speak ill of the authors in any way, but I think history would indicate that tandem arrangements for front office authority are not a terribly good idea. One or the other, and I’d hate to have to choose.

Well. I think I think that my choice would be Dave for GM, and DMZ for VP, Baseball Information Systems.

Hiring to strength, and all that. Plus, I think they might work well together, toward a common aim and all…

Isn’t that kinda what San Diego is doing? They seem to be doing alright.