Moving Forward
The 2010 season is mercifully over, and the eulogies have started to pour in. From Larry Stone to Art Thiel, the local scribes have recapped the misery, with both detailing how this season is probably the worst in franchise history. Sure, they’ve lost more games in other years, but this was an epic failure in a year when at least a measure of success was expected. Off the field, the drama surrounding the organization served to create a circus atmosphere, which just compounded the ridiculousness of things like Josh Bard hitting fifth.
It requires no discernment to look back and point out what went wrong. We all lived through it and saw the disaster unfold with our own eyes. I, for one, don’t need a reminder of just how bad that was. Thankfully, it’s over now, and we can finally bury the 2010 season. Now, we look forward. And we should do so honestly and objectively – not with rose colored glasses, but also not through the lens of bitterness that 2010 forced us all to stare through.
The best thing we can all do is let this season go. It was like the worst date of our lives – just a train wreck of epic proportions. But, one bad date, or bad year in this case, doesn’t mean that you expect the next one to also be a horrible disaster. You put it behind you, you move on, and you figure out how to make the next one good.
That’s what the Mariners will try to do this winter – make 2011 enjoyable. It might be too much to ask to make 2011 a championship season, but you can fix a lot of problems in one winter with the right approach, and this front office has done this before. Their challenge will be to have their first off-season all over again, making smart moves and quality upgrades while keeping the team’s future in the forefront of their minds. This can be done.
This off season should actually be fun. I’m looking forward to writing about what the team could do and will do over the next few months. Following this team can be enjoyable again – you just have to be willing to let go of the pain that this year inflicted. Starting today, it’s a new year. Look forward, not back. That’s what we’re going to do, anyway.
Great points.
I really, really believe in Jack and his team. He had a couple misses and handled some things poorly. Are you still confident he is the man for the job, Dave?
Thanks Dave,
I know you’re right, we need to just let it go – but like the memory of a really bad date, that’s easier said than done.
I’ll endeavor to do so, however. It will be easier once the World Series is over, and the off-season begins in earnest.
That was nice Dave. Thank you for not completely tearing into the M’s in this post.
My first game attended this season was Lee’s first game, the game where we couldn’t score (ya that one haha), and the game of the infamous botched suicide squeeze by Byrnes. I was so excited for this season, just as I was so excited for that game. Both were disappointments.
I’ve never been as excited for a season as I was this season, and with these results, I don’t know WHAT I need to see in order to convince me to get especially enthused again. But one thing remains constant; I am always stoked to see a new team take the field. I may not expect as much as I did this year, but I can certainly expect more than what we got. Go M’s 2011!
As brutal as this season was, I’m still a hardcore fan and believer. I bought the “My Oh My” dvd and watched it yesterday, just to remind myself why I love this team, no matter what. I’m already pining to go to next year’s Spring Training.
I’ll get just as over-excited as I was when the Cliff Lee trade was announced (I nearly bought his Ms replica jersey off the clearance racks in the team store today – if only it had been marked down to half again of the half-off price it was listed at =p)
The fans will return – Seattle is an especially fickle sports town, but they love a winner. In ’95, mid-season, they were drawing 18,000 per game for a stellar team, with Griffey and Randy in their prime. Once pennant fever set in, the joint was packed. And it will be again.
Oh, and I can’t wait to get my “Essential Games of the Mariners” dvd in the mail. I’ve wanted to re-watch Game 5 of the ’95 ALDS in it’s entirety since I went to that incredible game 15 years ago.
GO Mariners!
Speaking of attendance – 25k average per game is still pretty good all things considered. Better than two playoff teams.
Fixed that for you.
What the Ms get back for Aardsma, and who they get for DH, are about the only interesting player questions coming this offseason.
It’s telling that the choice of manager, and the question of whether Zdurenciek gets to keep his job or not, are as big or bigger questions than anything they do with the roster this winter.
6 weeks until King Felix is crowned…
“Their challenge will be to have their first off-season all over again…”
Is Griffey coming back?
For as ugly as this season felt, it still feels better than the years that gradually killed my childhood love of the Seattle Mariners as the Mariners’ management allowed an unbelievably talented team to atrophy.
At least this front office seemed to have a plan. It didn’t work. Everything that could have gone wrong, seemed to have gone wrong. But, acquiring players like Figgins, Kotchman, Bradley, Lee, and even League at least revealed some thought and direction. The strategy may have failed and many of its flaws may have been apparent from the start. But, at least it felt like they were going for something.
Once upon a time, I had the time to follow the Mariners the way a baseball team should be followed. I could recite all the pennywise, pound-foolish moves that the Mariners made while wasting the best years of players like Ken Griffey Junior, Randy Johnson, Alex Rodriguez, Jaime Moyer, Edgar Martinez, John Olerud, and Bret Boone.
I’m still bitter.
Really Woody, you didn’t even return Mike Jackson’s phone calls before he signed with the Cleveland Indians in 1997? In 1997, a full year of Mike Jackson cost as much as half a year of Heathcliff Slocumb. Now, if I could just remember where I put my cane, I’d shake it at all of you lousy kids who don’t remember what I’m talking about and point you to http://www.baseball-reference.com.
The worst part is that Tim Belcher left under similar circumstances the year before. After being a solid, if unspectacular, pitcher for the 1995 Mariners, he signed a three-year deal with Kansas City that paid him about two million a year. Sure, the contract was, for the time, expensive, but it was not as expensive as wasting the prime years of Griffey, Rodriguez, Johnson, and Martinez. Rumor has it that Woodward said something like, “if I’d known he was going to sign for so little…”
Over the next three years, Belcher posted an ERA+ of 110. He threw 686 innings. He had an ERA+ of 128 in 1996 that fell to 93 the next year. That kind of dependability would have covered for a lot of the volatility in the starting rotation and bullpen during those three years. Even his mediocre 1997 season still would have been better than 100 innings of Bob Wolcott and 62 1/3 innings of Omar Olivares. Scott “the Christmas Tree” Sanders started six games that year. Ken Cloude and Dennis Martinez each had nine starts.
The Mariners learned NOTHING!
So, by the time the Mariners hired Pat Gillick and started trying to sign Griffey and Rodriguez to long term contracts, there was no reason to have any faith in the Mariners’ front office. Of course, those guys had other reasons for leaving, but the joke of a front office did not help.
I think what finally killed my joy was the 2002 season. By the end of July, the team was clearly fading. Instead of acting at the trade deadline to replace James “the Zombie” Baldwin the Mariners waiting until the end of August to acquire Ismael Valdes. I guess Paul Byrd was too expensive. And, so, some of the last best years of guys Boone, Olerud, and Martinez were gone. Cameron, Ichiro, Pineiro, Moyer, and Sasaki had pretty good years as well. Wasted.
Management’s apathy killed my passion for the team. I’ve never recovered from that disappointment. I want to recover. I keep hoping that they team will give me a reason.
I know I’ll never be able to follow the moves the way I once did. The intellectual investment necessary to enter even a moderately-educated discussion of baseball is so much higher than it was even a decade ago. Before sites like FanGraphs (and god knows what else I’m not reading), I could actually be reasonably well informed by spending just a few minutes a day reviewing the team statistics page (and calculating OPS by hand). Now, it’s all passed me by and I can’t get up to speed a thousand miles away while working a real job in a time-consuming profession.
But, the current front office (if not the corporate management of Lincoln and Armstrong) gives me the hope that I will have a reason to care again. I just don’t get the impression that I’ll have to watch the series of inexplicable, incoherent, and pennywise-pound foolish that ruined the few years I had to truly follow the baseball team I grew up loving.
Damnit Woody, you pissed away my youth!
Actually, while this season sucked, and sucked so, so badly, I saw some decent upsides:
– The farm system won. Historically, that’s an indicator that you’re due for improvement.
– we actually developed some back-end rotation talent (Vargas and Fister) to go along with Felix. The rotation doesn’t appear to be a major pain point for 2010.
– We appear to have a very good hitter (Smoak) at a corner position for the first time since, oh, God, the 1990’s?
– We still have a GM with a track record of being able to do some nice things (Putz for Gutz, CLIFF LEE!!!!, Smoak), even if we now realize that he’s not infallible.
What the Ms get back for Aardsma, and who they get for DH, are about the only interesting player questions coming this offseason.
Dustin Ackley. Michael Pineda. Mauricio Robles. Michael Saunders. Dan Cortes.
I mean, really, you can’t get even a LITTLE interested about the kids? Really?
Also, Billy Beane seems to do OK at getting a 75-82 win team out of nothing. Why can’t Jack do it?
Dusty Baker has been extended by the Reds. Huzzah! No more reading people quote him calling this his dream job.
Those are interesting player questions coming next season, not this offseason. We already have those guys.
I’m with Ben Ramm though, I grew up in the George Argyros years where hope was something for other teams. This year sucked but it there is still plenty of hope for the future.
Thank you, Dave and crew for all your hard work in a challenging atmosphere. I sure appreciate it. As for next year and beyond, I recall hearing Jack saying he just didnt want to compete in the near term, but wanted to become a regular contender. Doing so requires building from the gound up and takes time, skill and luck. Jack and crew certainly have set about doing so and judging from the minor league teams progress is being made. I hope Jack remains hungry to not just want to compete but to mold the M’s into a perenial powerhouse. Screw Billy Bean and his shrewd close counts. Likewise, as much as I respect and enjoy the sound franchise building like the Twins, Rays and Rangers, I hope we win enough to become much more iconic–along the lines of the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers. After this season though, I am not clear what will or is our brand of baseball. Appears from the minors we are building towards winning with power pitching, athletically gifted defensive players but looking for consistent thump. Working the count with patient,contact hitters with high oba’s maybe less a priority now which perhaps contributed to Wak exit? Anyway, go Jack go.
I suppose in terms of results compared to expectations, this was indeed the worst season in franchise history. But, as others have commented, at least we have a front office which creates expectations, i.e. which gives us a reason for hope.
IOW, I’d say that 2008 was worse than 2010, despite the identical record. We followers of USSM knew better than to have high expectations for 2008, the season was a train wreck waiting to happen and we saw it come to pass. In contrast much of 2010 was an anomaly, bad luck. We deal with it and move on, whereas 2008 called for major house-cleaning, a mess of horrendous contracts that the current administration still has to deal with.
So I feel much better right now than I did at the end of (or during) 2008.
OTOH, the front office better not make any more stupid mistakes such as re-signing Griffey. I thought it was mistake to sign him in 2009 let alone 2010; they got lucky in 2009 because he was semi-decent but that good luck actually showed what a mistake the signing was because it came back to bite them in 2010.
Would someone be so kind as to remind me what our projected runs/runs allowed was for this year?
Thanks
I agree, MKT. The big difference for me is that we are still feeling the pain of the pre-2009 years, seeing players like Soriano and Choo do so well, with no one left on our team to remind us why we traded them. Morrow may turn out to be a sore spot, but otherwise, when we think of the moves that were made that got us where we are today, it’s actually cause for some optimism. It’s hard to imagine 2011 being a good year, but at least we’re not looking at a multi-year black hole of organization-wide talent.
Man, I admire the way most of you shake this season off as some sort of fluke.
Everyone talks about the Mariners great “prospects”, but every organization has good prospects.
Many seem to think Smoak is a certain All-Star for years to come. Look, he hit a few homers in meaningless games down the stretch. But when the pressure was on in the weeks following the trade, the kid fell flat on his face. It won’t be surprising if the same thing happens in April, especially on a terrible offensive club like the Mariners.
Jack Z also is a great concern. Is he a team player? The guy has yet to go to bat for anybody in the organization, be it Hines, Cockrell, Adair, Wakamatsu or even his supposed close buddy scouting director.
Which leads me to one of three conclusions about Z–1-He makes bad hires; 2-He won’t fight to save a guy he hired; 3-He really has no control over who gets hired or fired.
The Mariners, in fact, are epidemic in their lack of accountability. The feeble and meddlesome president of the team, Chuckk Armstrong, was brought to town by one of the worst owners in professional sports history, George Argyros, and continues to haunt a city that after 34 years has yet to see a World Series game.
But we’re supposed to be excited because this laughingstock, historically inept franchise has a few decent prospects? Lieke I said, every team has prospects. The eight teams in the playoffs have as many “prosepcts” as the Mariners. The fact is, most do not pan out!
So go ahead and give the entire organization a free pass, and kid yourself about how great things are going to be in 2011. Go to the Team Store and stock up on Smoak and Pineda jerseys.
Just remember that Tampa Bay, which entered MLB in 1998, just beat the Yankees for the AL East. Our expansion cousins, the Toronto Blue Jays, have won two World Series. And the Arizona Diamondbacks, est. 1998, have also won a World Series.
Until the Seattle Mariners realign the top of the orgainzation with enlightened, bold and creative people, and preferably ones with backbone, nothing is ever going to change in this city. As it stands, the Mariners are a major league laughingstock being steered by incable and apparently paranoid executives. The whole Josh Lueke affair, once and for all, should have proved just how rudderless this ship really is.
Call me a glass half-empty guy, but after 34 seasons dominated by lousy baseball, I think it’s a mircale that there’s even one drop left in the glass.
Why was “the pressure on” in the weeks following the trade? I would submit that there was no more pressure for those games than the ones at the end of the year. We weren’t contending during either stretch, and if anything the second time around Smoak was probably feeling like he had to redeem himself for the previous bad stint.
You’re seriously going to judge a highly thought of prospect on a ridiculously small sample of at-bats? I hope you become GM for someone else so we can steal your prospects after they go 0-4.
The Mariners, in fact, are epidemic in their lack of accountability. The feeble and meddlesome president of the team, Chuckk Armstrong, was brought to town by one of the worst owners in professional sports history, George Argyros, and continues to haunt a city that after 34 years has yet to see a World Series game.
Quick question: so is that the evil twin of the Chuck Armstrong who was team president during a run of 4 playoff appearances in 7 years?
Look, he hit a few homers in meaningless games down the stretch.
Remind me, which games played after April 30 were “meaningful” for the Mariners?
Just remember that Tampa Bay, which entered MLB in 1998, just beat the Yankees for the AL East. Our expansion cousins, the Toronto Blue Jays, have won two World Series. And the Arizona Diamondbacks, est. 1998, have also won a World Series.
And just remember that the Texas Rangers, a franchise that has existed for 50 seasons, has just made the playoffs for the fourth time, just as many as the Mariners… wait, that doesn’t prove your point, does it?
Yes, the Lincoln/Armstrong cabal is most of what’s wrong. And yet, under their feeble leadership, the Mariners were contenders between 1995 and 2003, save 98-99. They were contenders into August in 2007 and 2009.
Blind squirrels and acorns, yes. But I look at the Rangers and see a team with much more competent leadership in the 70s, 80s, and 90s than the M’s. Heck, until Tom Hicks signed that albatross of a contract with ARod, they really hadn’t made any really stupid player decisions (other than perhaps trading Sosa). They’ve only lost 100 twice since going to Texas — their first two years.
The Rangers have been better run. And yet, this is only their fourth playoff appearance in 50 years.
Lincoln and Armstrong have their problems, but laying all the blame at their feet is like blaming Wakamatsu for the team not hitting.
An Email I recieved in case I’m the only one ( I doubt it)
October 4, 2010
A Message from Mariners Chairman Howard Lincoln and Executive Vice President-General Manager Jack Zduriencik
I’ve been a naval officer, an attorney and a business executive in my life. But before any of these, I was a baseball fan.
I was born and raised in Oakland, California. As a kid, I sat in the bleachers and rooted for the Pacific Coast League Oakland Oaks. Casey Stengel was the manager and a young Billy Martin played second base. When the Giants came to the Bay Area, I spent a lot of sunny days and foggy nights at Seals Stadium and then Candlestick Park watching the Willies – Mays and McCovey.
I’m still a baseball fan and, like you, I was very disappointed with the performance of the 2010 Seattle Mariners. It was a frustrating season and, yes, we made some mistakes on and off the field. Good organizations learn from setbacks and make themselves better – that’s the mindset we’re taking into 2011.
I have asked GM Jack Zduriencik to give you an end-of-the-season report on our baseball operations. You’ll see that despite our struggles at the Major League level, Jack’s plan to build through scouting and player development is working well at the minor league level. I trust Jack. I believe in his plan and I see progress. He has the full support of our ownership group, Chuck Armstrong and me, along with the resources to be successful.
Will it take some time? Yes. Do you have the patience to see this through with us? I hope so. Our number one goal remains to bring championship baseball to Safeco Field. I’m sure we’ll get there.
Before you hear from Jack, I want to say something straight from the heart, from one fan to another: Thanks for sticking with this team, thanks for caring as much as you do, thanks for wearing the Mariners “S.”
Sincerely,
________________________________________
October 4, 2010
Jack’s Report to the Fans
Some of you may remember an old-time player named Rocky Bridges, a colorful middle infielder who went on to manage in the minor leagues for many years. Rocky once said, “Well, there are three things that the average person thinks he can do better than anybody else. Build a fire, run a hotel and run a baseball team.”
After the 2010 season, I’m sure a lot of you are ready to step up and tell me how to run our ballclub. And I’m always willing to listen.
But despite our poor performance at the Major League level in 2010, there are plenty of reasons to believe that our long-term plan is working. In fact, looking at the big picture, our organization actually took a step forward last year.
Before you click away from this e-mail, give me a chance to explain.
Let’s start with the cornerstone strategy established when I came to Seattle in October, 2008: We will build a winning franchise through talent that we draft, acquire and develop in our farm system. This is the key to long-term, sustained success in baseball.
The good news is, you gotta like what you see down on the farm.
• Eight of our nine minor league teams made it to post-season play in 2010.
• The AAA Rainiers, Class A Lumber Kings and Northwest League AquaSox all played in their leagues’ championship series.
Two won league titles.
• As a group, Mariners minor league hitters ranked #1 in home runs, runs, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.
• The cumulative won-loss record of our minor league teams was 489-410, a .544 winning percentage. Only one organization
did better – the Cardinals at .549.
Does this mean that we should start printing 2011 World Series tickets? Unfortunately, no, not yet. But it does mean that we’ve got talent at every level of the organization – talent that’s developing, scoring runs and learning how to win.
Let’s talk about some of these kids.
We’ve got a flock of top-rated prospects on their way to the big club. These include position players Dustin Ackley, Justin Smoak, Carlos Peguero, Nick Franklin, Kyle Seager, Johermyn Chavez, Greg Halman and Matt Mangini, along with hard-throwing pitchers like Michael Pineda, Blake Beavan, Dan Cortes, Mauricio Robles, Maikel Cleto and Anthony Varvaro. Many of our best prospects are headed for winter ball and the fall instructional league – they’re driven to improve and play at the next level.
Some of these youngsters will develop faster than others, but we’ve got a rich pipeline of talent. Impressive, considering how thin our minor league system was just a couple of years ago. Plus there are more top prospects coming: We have the #2 pick in the 2011 June draft and we continue to scout and sign top international players.
At the big league level, Mariners pitchers tied for the third best ERA in the American League in 2010. Felix Hernandez has fulfilled his potential as a perennial Cy Young candidate. Jason Vargas, Doug Fister and Luke French made major strides in 2010. We like our pitching; our staff is young, developing and hungry.
Two young players, catcher Adam Moore and outfielder Michael Saunders, got valuable playing time and impressed scouts around the league. Meanwhile, our four core players – Ichiro, Felix, Guti and Chone Figgins – are signed to long-term deals.
I’m a baseball man. I’m not trying to sell you on the idea that we’re at the top of the baseball world. We still have work to do, lots of it. My first job is to hire our field manager – and I’m already hard at work identifying and reviewing candidates. Obviously, we need to score more runs by adding to the middle of our lineup. And, for much of the past season, our team didn’t play the fundamentally sound baseball that I want to see. I’m addressing all our team’s needs and I’ll keep you posted throughout the winter.
But there’s one thing you need to know about the Seattle Mariners organization:
Everybody wants to win – from Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong to the clubhouse attendant in Everett. We have a plan in place and we’re working days, nights and weekends to make it successful.
But as a fan, you want results, not promises. We know that. So we’re doing everything we can to make it happen sooner rather than later.
I love the people of this city and this region. I love the energy you bring to the ballpark and the loyalty you’ve shown to the organization. We owe you a winner. It’s coming. Stick with us, there’s a bright light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you.
Sincerely,
……….
No mention of Lueke in there. Hmmmmm
I am looking forward to the offseason- now I can check USSM every day. No offense to any here, but I couldn’t bear to read it most days this past season. I checked out before Junior left- I was just THAT sick of how terrible the team was, and couldn’t bring myself to read about it too often. I don’t think I have watched more than 2 or 3 innings since about the first week of June, and most of that was just to catch a glimpse of Smoak.
All that being said, I will once again get really really excited in late February (and certainly not because that is when I ‘celebrate’ my birthday) in anticipation of a rebirth, a new season. I hope I don’t feel like Charlie Brown kicking the football yet again next May.
Just read the mea culpas from Lincoln & JackZ. Schizophrenia. I almost forgive JackZ, except for his shameless selling out of Wak. But, Lincoln & Armstrong. You should be summarily terminated. No, seriously: MALPRACTICE.