I Have A Complaint
For most of USSM’s existence, we served as the voice of why everything the Mariners were doing was wrong. Not that we wanted to, but the organization made so many bad decisions that we wrote millions of words explaining why they just screwed up. We pointed out why Horacio Ramirez wasn’t any good, that signing mediocre pitchers to big contracts was a recipe for disaster, that making the offense marginally better while destroying the defense wasn’t actually improving the team, that right-handed power hitters were a bad fit for the ballpark, and the list goes on. Every winter, the team gave us new transactions to rant about, and while it was miserable, it was also really easy to cover. M’s announce move – head to the blog to explain why they shouldn’t have done that.
Yesterday, reports broke that the Mariners were interested in Gregg Zaun, a switch-hitting catcher with some power who would fill the experience gap behind the plate and give the team an option beyond Adam Moore and Rob Johnson. Today, the rumors have the M’s strongly pursuing Rich Harden to slide into the rotation spot behind Felix and give the pitching staff a bit more upside. What am I supposed to write about when they’re doing exactly what we suggest, targeting players we’ve already advocated for because they make a lot of sense?
I mean, yeah, the team is getting better, but I’m running out of material. I don’t know how many different ways to write “woohoo! good move!” I feel like I should just write a script that fills in the blanks when transactions are announced.
Today, the Mariners (signed/traded for/stole) Player X, giving up Worthless Thing Y in exchange. Once again, the team has exploited an inefficiency in the market, adding an asset at a fraction of what he should have cost. This (trade/signing) continues to show how well run the organization is, and how they’re making every dollar count. They are building a team that will win and soon. This is a great organization to root for. Welcome to Seattle, Undervalued Player X.
Sure, it’s nice to win, but blogging about this team is no longer easy. Thanks for making my job harder, Jack. Could you screw up once in a while so that I don’t have to think so hard about things to write about?
If Baker’s latest rumor is correct we’ll all have something to complain about very soon.
Dave beat you to it by a couple of months, too.
Thanks for the link, A.M. Not sure how I missed that.
Pease DON’T sign Bay!
Luckily, you didn’t name the site FireBillBavasi.com, in which case you’d have had to go the way of FireHaroldReynolds.com. Zaun would be awewsome, particularly when he took away all of Griffey’s DH at-bats.
Wasn’t there a LeoneForThird.com at one time?
Sorry, forgot the winking emoticon….