I meant “bankrupt” in the sense that the Mariners are without a coherent, focused plan.

Well, I think moron, numbskull, incompetent would probably be better terms, given the way the economy is these days….

I meant “bankrupt” in the sense that the Mariners are without a coherent, focused plan. Sure Howard and Chuck can count beans and give the ownership group a nice report on finances, but where is the desire to win. And I cannot stand the idea of Howard and Chuck continuing to lead with mediocrity on the field. Or this year, worse.

If you can afford to own a baseball team wouldn’t you want to see your team getting better and going to the playoffs? I want someone to make tough and unpopular decisions (Raul, Ichiro, Johjima) and tell the fan base to chill and see what starts to happen in 2010.

If the owners were all about the money, they wouldn’t own a baseball team. There are too many ways to profit with a private company without having to listen to every decision be critiqued on KJR or in the papers and the blogs.

huh. and here Steve Kelley just opined that he feels the FO won’t go with an assistant, but instead will want someone who has been there, done that.

Yeah, well bet opposite of that.

How many of those times are there? And how many of them will want to leave their positions?

Not thinking it through, as usual….

Fixing a broken organization may be hard…but having money makes lots of things way easier….

No, the M’s probably can’t tempt away a GM from another organization (especially not a winning one, which is the only ones you’d want). But look at it this way: there are only 30 GM jobs on the planet. There are a lot more assistant GMs than that, and most of them are in organizations where their boss isn’t leaving anytime soon. Sure, they can wait, but they aren’t getting any younger, and the strongest and most ambitious ones will be tempted. The greater the challenge the greater the reward: the quickest way to make a name for yourself is to pull off the seeming impossible and turn the team around. And the M’s are not without their attractions. This isn’t, say, the Marlins with no payroll and an evil dickwad owner, or Baltimore with brutal divisional competitors and an idiot meddling owner, or even hapless and hopeless Kansas City*. A smart potential GM will see that, and realize that the lowered expectations of everyone, from fans to “analysts,” means that it’s easier to look like a hero with just a few shrewd moves and a little luck.

* (and yet somehow all those organizations manage to find GMs).

From what I’m hearing, it’s more likely that the M’s are going to go with a first time GM over an experienced guy.

huh. and here Steve Kelley just opined that he feels the FO won’t go with an assistant, but instead will want someone who has been there, done that.

Also, why did LA pass on her for Colletti? Why did Houston hire Ed Wade instead of her (could be they’re stupid, I realize)?

Hiring Ng, who would be the first woman GM, is going to attract attention. Really, baseball is not, on the whole, known for progressive thinking. LA possibly felt that going outside the box on the DePodesta hire had blown up in their faces and didn’t want to leave themselves exposed to criticism if it happened twice in a row. Of course any organization that makes two lousy GM hires in a row will take criticism, and it’s unfair to call DePo’s time in LA lousy, but that’s been the perception.

I think the act of hiring Ed Wade proves the Astros were stupid.