The season-ticket holder lunch early report
I was going to wait until we could assemble a better overall piece, but bah, we can do that later. From 1000N, who got this comment in before it was deleted for being off-topic.
I just returned from the season ticket holder luncheon with Dave Niehaus and Jack Zduriencik. Several season ticket holders asked Jack about his thoughts regarding new managers. One pair of fans even held up a banner which said “we want Joey Cora.†The banner drew a mixed reaction from the crowd.
Jack said many of the usual boilerplate kinds of things about getting someone who “knows how to win,†who has “experience,†etc. The most interesting thing he said on this topic is that it’s vital for the new manager to understand that he is expected to be part of the Seattle community and not just the skipper of the ball club. At least it was something a little different from the usual cliches.
The most interesting thing he had to say all afternoon was in response to the question about how he planned to incorporate sabermetrics and modern analytical methods into the Mariner organization. He said that he is forming the Mariners “Department of Baseball Research,†and he plans to staff it with sabermetricians. That department would be responsible for making sure that decision making at every level of the organization, including decisions made in the dugout, were based on all the available information, including all the statistical information. Jack got one of the biggest ovations he got all day for this answer.
Has anyone else heard anything about the new “Department of Baseball Research?â€
Who else went?
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Oh man, I wish I was there! Too bad I’m not a season ticket holder and I’m Pullman over at Wazzu, haha.
But my gosh, the more I listen to Z, the more I like him. I’m not gonna lie.
This “Department of Baseball Research” he’s going to form just made my day.
There are a few guys on this blog who should send in their resumes now. 😉
Seriously!
It looks to me like Z is open to new ideas and fresh faces, so Dave, Derek, etc. let them know you are interested!
Remember, the new Special Asst to the GM got his start crunching numbers and writing a book for fanatasy baseball addicts.
Atlas just shrugged.
I just hope that Z-man and co are willing to use D&D and this site as a reference, or as feedback. Not that you guys shouldn’t apply for jobs, just saying there is lots of room for improvement short of hiring ussm as advisors.
Jack Zduriencik, Dungeon Master.
apparently, LL Matthew did.
I was there with Matthew in tow.
I’m going to be writing a piece on it for the college paper (yeah, it’s fake college, whatever) and probably publish it on my own blog…I got a few good quotes, a pretty solid wrap up. It should be up late tonight or early tomorrow.
it sounds very, very promising.
If you want a laugh, picture Bill Bavasi saying “we are forming a Dept of Baseball Research that we will fill with sabermetricians.”
so today Jack ate breakfast with Don Wakamatsu, and talked for 4 hours, went to lunch with the season-ticket holders, and then was off to meet with & dine this evening with Randy Ready.
man, McGrath’s line that “in Zduriencik’s world, the notion of free time on the job is an oxymoron” might just be true.
Hopefully Silva didn’t tag along for all these meals.
Dave, this is not related to this thread but [not related to this thread].
nick, Check FanGraphs.
I wasn’t at the luncheon but Zduriencik forming a “Department of Baseball Research” is very encouraging.
I went.
Department of Baseball Research was clearly the most interesting moment, elicited a scattering of applause. About the same level of reaction (but negative) to the guy with the Joey Cora sign.
Lots of wasted questions — fans making a speech or fans asking silly questions that would never get anything other than a canned answer.
On the type of manager, he said he wanted someone who could grow with the team. Asked if we would play more small ball (twice!), he essentially gave a non-answer — “it depends on your personnel.” On how hard to push prospects up the ladder, he said — it depends on each individual. You have goals for each person and when they achieve them, you still have to evaluate if it is the right time to move them along. He mentioned some players are fragile (impliedly mentally) and that moving too quickly can impede them.
Asked directly if he was going to learn from the Billy Beane/Moneyball approach, he said he respected the As but wanted to establish the Ms way of doing things, so that the other 29 teams would want to emulate them. Along the same vein, wants prospects to know who the Ms scouts are, by name, and wants the scouts to know the prospects skills and personality and values, having been in their living rooms. Sounded more like college recruiting.
Said on a couple of occasions that he wants players who are talented, winners, and good citizens.
Asked directly if we would sign Fields, said he has not yet talked to Boras, would like to sign him but does not know what it will take. Acknowledged that we may instead get a compensation pick next year.
Said Lincoln and Armstrong as well as the ownership group are committed to winning, but also to building a long term approach to the franchise. Mentioned the need to have 0 to 3 year players coming up regularly. Question — why would the owners want to win if they can make money losing? Answer — they actually make more money if they win (that’s a paraphrase) plus I have met with the group and they do want to win.
Said the farm system above A ball is not strong.
One question — promise me you won’t hire Bobby Valentine. Answer: He is not on our interview list at this time.
Overall, I was impressed. There was a bit of doubletalk and a bit too much emphasis on the “personality” and “winner” and “citizen” issues for my taste, and not enough specifics on the really good questions (will you instruct minor league players to take more pitches? A: yes, that’s good). But he is obviously intelligent and articulate and responsive.
Food was good too.
Or, it could be that it’s easier said than done…
“can we play more small ball?”
What a stupid question
Asked if we would play more small ball (twice!),
that’s an answer of sorts — at least it is not forcing a team which is not constructed to play ‘small ball’ to do so
ah, but a sentiment often raised by fans who call the postgame show….
This team isn’t constructed to play any kind of ball right now except bad ball.
I was able to make it as well. Like the others said, nothing really earthshaking in any of the questions or answers. I, too, liked the positive things he had to say about using stats in building the team.
He dodged questions about Griffey being the DH twice, basically saying he will see what will happen. There was one direct question about signing Felix to a long term contract – he said they would like to, but that there are 3 parties to please, Felix, his agent, and the club. So while the club is interested, there isn’t a deal yet.
Also, in another direct question about Raul, he said he had just spoken with Raul on the phone, that they owed him that respect, but that Raul has earned the right to be a free agent and see what others have to offer. Between the lines, it sounds like Raul is gone.
Afterword I shook his hand, and said I didn’t envy him, since there are about 1.5 million people who think they can do a better job them him. Jack laughed and said something like “that’s what makes the job fun.”
I liked him, and liked that he was willing to spend time with fans in an open session like this.
Wow, reading “Department of Baseball Research” and Mariners in the same sentence, by the new GM, in a way that makes it sound like they will actually listen is some of the best news I’ve had since Bavasi was hired.
Thanks for all that info from those who endured buying season tickets the past few years!
Some of the things that Z is saying may sound like common knowledge but it’s still good to hear it anyway. Saying that talent wins may be stating the obvious but after watching Bavasi in action for the past five years it seems like an epiphany.
I’m getting the impression that he’s not going to go out of his way to sign Fields but would rather use the compensation pick to choose his own player. But maybe I’m reading too much into what he’s saying.
Anyway, I like just about everything I’m hearing so far, especially about the Department of Baseball Research.
It’s definitely encouraging to hear that Z is building a department full of stat geeks to crunch numbers, but didn’t they have anything like this before? I cannot fathom that any MLB club would not have a statistical research department. I mean, how else did they cross check their scouting before making multi-million dollar signings (obviously they did a poor job)?
It’s one thing to build a department of statistical research, it’s another to provide the information to all in the organization, the big hurdle is forcing everyone to use the information and build an organizational philosophy around what to do with this knowledge.
I’m talking from draft, rookie league, all aspects of the minor leagues, free agents and the big club.
BBOneFive
Mat Olkin was basically the M’s one-man “Department of Baseball Research” under Bavasi.
Yea, really.
Even that’s overstating his role – he didn’t have an office in Seattle. He worked from home and answered questions as asked. He was a consultant, and his influence in the organization was extremely limited.
Wow, that’s pathetic….
at least he wasn’t in his mom’s basement.
Zing!
Although Dave did just say he worked “from home”…he didn’t specify who’s home… 🙂
No kidding. Then again, this is an organization that said they used statistical analysis and statistics “all the time”….
Hey, you can choose a VP that way….
Think we could get Zduriencik to come to an off-season pizza feed?
another interesting Zduriencik quote from the Times today:
Zduriencik added that it can often be easier for a new manager to earn respect than a veteran one who brings baggage from a previous job. The first thing players do in those cases, he said, is call each other up and swap gossip and stories about what the experienced manager did in his previous gig.
“Just because they’ve managed, doesn’t give them credibility,” he said. “Credibility is going to be established by this guy gaining the respect.”
I, too, was at the season ticket holder lunch. For the record: no-one was challenged about identifying themselves so anyone could have gone. Most people did waste their time asking stupid questions or just making speeches that were emotion-driven. That being said I think it was a primo PR stunt and very well delivered. We walked away saying that maybe we had been too hasty in deciding to give up our seats and feeling better for the future of Mariner ball. The rosy glow faded quickly, but anyone that give a fan hope for the future deserves a fair chance.
So Jack Z bumped Greg Hunter from Director of Minor League Pperations to being a Pro Scout….
Looper, Fontaine, and now Hunter. He certainly should want to have top aides he trusts, but that does seem to be bumping off some of the folks that despite Big Bald Bill were really good at their jobs.
What do we know about Pedro Grifol and Tim Tolman other than what Gary Washburn wrote today (and what Geoff Baker wrote yesterday)?