Zduriencik it is
Mike Snow · October 22, 2008 at 11:39 am · Filed Under Mariners
Official word is that Zduriencik has got the job. Apparently the key was his record with young talent. Not just identifying it – Engle and Fontaine have done fine with that, though depending on whether they stick around, his ability would be crucial there as well. But more importantly, developing it, which has been an area of frustration with the organizational philosophy.
I guess announcing it by press release instead of having a press conference is how they avoid the wrath of Selig. And also cut down on the media attention while people are off covering the World Series. Press conference is not until the off day Friday.
And now I learn to pronounce his name.
Phase I of the JJ Hardy acquision plan complete.
Well I’m kinda bummed, I was hoping for a younger “new” attitude. Z-man seems kind of “old school” to me.
He got the job because he is the oldest. No way they were ever going to hire anybody under 50.
If this really signifies that they are committed to developing young talent, I love it. I don’t care how old the GM is, I care how old the players are.
I think Dave jinxed it by saying he’d prefer LaCava to Zduriencik. Should have used reverse psychology…
At any rate, it’s still a major step in the right direction, and I can’t be disappointed. And apparently the M’s will hold a press conference on Friday – in the middle of the WS. They got special permission. Because they’re special.
Now just trade the entire Mariners roster + $30 million for the entire Rays roster. And we’d still be cutting payroll.
In seriousness nice to see someone who knows how to evaluate and manage young talent.
Phase I of the JJ Hardy acquision plan complete.
I’ll be interested to see if this actually gives some legs to Dave having a trade with the Brewers as the key to his offseason makeover proposals.
Does this mean that the Ms wont be drafting a first baseman number 2 overall this summer?
I’m outside the Seattle TV market, so until this year I had only ever seen Bavasi’s name in print, so I had been pronouncing it wrong (in my head) for 3 years. This is going to be much, much worse.
I don’t have any complaints, except that his name is retardedly hard to spell. Go get ’em, GM.
I like the hire. Z-man is a tremendous talent evaluator, and hopefully this ushers in the complete overhaul of the scouting/player development system that Dave was talking about in the earlier post.
It’ll be interesting to hear Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong tell a 57-year-old with 30-plus years of baseball experience that every move he makes needs to be vetted and second-guessed because he’s a new GM.
I see the potential for major conflict the first time he tries to dump an overpaid, underperforming veteran for whatever the market will bear — and is overridden because Lincstrong want major league players in return. Can Zduriencik say: “You know, fellas, I know the game and know what I’m doing … can you just back off, please, and give me a little room to maneuver?”
Could this be the man who challenges Dave “Nihouse” Niehaus for most USSMariner misspellings? I think a moratorium on post deleting is in order.
Does this mean we trade for Brad Nelson? He was one of Zduriencik’s guys.
Hmm, apologies if this is a double post, the first one appears not to have posted.
Here’s a pronunciation hint and a spelling hint.
Mariners.com says it’s pronounced: zur-EN-sik.
As for spelling, if you know about the smelly Southeast Asian fruit durian, just spell it with an e, and add “cik” to the end. The “Z” is trivial to remember.
Z – durien – cik.
Easy!
Note that I am not comparing our new GM to a smelly Southeast Asian fruit. This is for spelling purposes only, not metaphorical ones. I like the new hire, based on Milwaukee’s recent success and what I’ve read here.
Or, if you are more familiar with the Seattle area than Southeast Asian Fruit … it’s just like “Burien” … but with a backwards, lower-case “b”.
Emotionally (i.e. not rationally), I was disappointed by this news. I say emotionally for two reasons. First, I know nothing about Mr. Zduriencik other than what’s been reported here on USS Mariner (that’s partly because I find the more I’ve read USSM, the less I can tolerate, let alone trust, reporting on KJR, etc…but that’s almost an entirely new topic). He struck me as the “safe” institutional choice of the type I would expect a bland, vanilla, unprogressive corporate organization like the Seattle Mariners to make.
Which brings me to my second reason: as a student of history, this time strikes me as a moment for the organization to leave it’s “safe place” and make a truly progressive move by at least beginning to make refined statistical analysis a part of their system of player evaluation. And if they were not Saber absolutists (and the new GM needn’t have been) at least Ng and Dipoto could veer in that direction.
And as to Ng, the social progressive in me would have been excited for the Mariners to have elevated a woman, the first woman to the GM’s office by choosing Ng. I know, these are emotional responses, but they reflect my values fwiw.
Zduriencik may well be the right choice for a youth movement and I really wish him well. I suppose out of all of the remaining applicants, he’s best positioned to work with the rest of the FO as Jim Thomsen suggests above,
In my opinion, that might be just what the doctor ordered.
David, Burien-cik
Go Phillies!
That’s a heavily anglicized pronunciation. I’m disappointed in him already.
Traditional Polish would have been closer to: zdur-YEN-chick.