USSM Event Refunds
A few of you have emailed in to say that you bought tickets to this Saturday’s USSM event, but now will be unable to attend due to various circumstances. Because we used Brown Paper Tickets to handle the event ticketing, there is actually an easy solution for you all – just call them at 1-800-838-3006, and they will refund the issued ticket to the credit card that was originally used to purchase them.
This will, obviously, make some tickets available for those of you who couldn’t make it previously. I’d suggest checking the ticket window fairly regularly if you’re looking to land a ticket or two, as we know at least a handful of people will be getting refunds.
Also, due to the need for a larger venue and a the size of the crowd, we’re going to be handling the actual asking of the questions to the M’s front office members this year. There’s just no feasible way to have an orderly, effective crowd of 500+ fighting over a microphone, especially given the seating of the hall (the rows are 30+ seats wide). So, we’re opening up the comments in this thread for you guys to propose questions that you would like to see asked on Saturday, and we will pick the best ones and put those forward to the guys.
Finally, a couple of logistical things about the event – for those driving in, Benaroya has a garage, and it should be fairly open that day (they don’t have any performances until the evening on Saturday). The fee is $11. There are also garages directly across the street if you prefer.
The event starts at 1 pm. The lobby should be open around noon-ish, so if you arrive early, you won’t have to wait outside. If you have Will Call tickets, please arrive early and claim them. We would like to avoid having a long line of people trying to get in at 12:59. You must bring photo ID to claim your will call tickets.
Looking forward to seeing you guys on Saturday. Should be fun.
– In the book Moneyball, there was a large split portrayed between stats and scouts. Your front office has melded the two, but across baseball do you still see a huge split? (If indeed the split was ever as large as portrayed?)
Jack,
Do you credit your parents or some other influential people in your life for your complete awesomeness?
My questions for JZ & Co (some of these have already been asked by others, but this is a list I’ve been maintaining for a while):
1. The Morrow trade: WTF?
2. Do you think defense is still under-valued in MLB at large? Do you think anything else is?
3. So far this off-season we saw reports that the M’s were interested in Rich Harden, Nick Johnson, etc., plus of course Russell Branyan. All of these guys are high ceiling players with considerable injury risks who likely wouldn’t play a full season of games. Given that the M’s shied away or were out-bid on all of them, is that injury risk a bigger consideration in your calculations than we tend to realize?
4. How much of a consideration was Bradley’s history when you were contemplating the Silva trade? Was there much discussion of this with Wakamatsu and the rest of the coaching staff prior to the trade?
5. When looking at what other teams have been doing this off-season, have any particularly impressed you (or, conversely, made you scratch your head)? Are there any that you think may be on the verge of “surprising” people who haven’t been paying close attention, the way the M’s did in ’09 and the Rays did in ’08?
6. In particular, what is your impression of the other AL West teams going into ’10?
7. The “win now” window with the Cliff-Felix combo a roster certainty only for ’10 seems obvious. To what extent did the opportunity to acquire Cliff Lee accelerate or change the plans you had going into the off-season and your overall “rebuilding” plan altogether?
8. Draft picks and draft philosophy: this offseason we’ve seen the M’s trade away a couple of first round draft picks, plus Clement last year, as well as giving up picks to sign Figgins.
Obviously many draft picks never pan out and there’s a tendency to overvalue your own prospects vs viewing them as currency that can be used to buy other talent, but the higher-ceiling part of the farm looks a little barren. Were the high draft picks you inherited not guys that fit into the design of the team you’re trying to build? Do you think there’s more upside to “risky” players further along in development like Ian Snell? And how does the farm get re-stocked?
9. Have you considered producing and Seattle Mariners clothing with “Department of Baseball Research” on it? I know I’d buy a hat or something.
10. Morrow — seriously, Jack: WTF?
I’d like to know more about how they value a catcher, w.r.t. offense/defense/intangibles (“pitchers like throwing to him”). How do you qualify an intangible like that? And how do Johnson and Moore fit in?
I would also like to hear more about the farm system as mentioned above. The philosophy of its development, current strengths and weaknesses, etc.
Couple more personal questions for the GM if we are lucky enough to have him in attendance:
I’m curious about what day-to-day life is like as an MLB GM. What’s the daily routine? During the season and the off-season.
Is there any aspect of the game of baseball that he finds particularly interesting? Any stats that are?
[politics]
* To Tony Blengino: Is the Mariner’s statistical department working on developing new advanced defensive metrics which the team would use to have an advantage over other teams in the future? (I dont expect any details on what they are, I’d rather they kept them secret to benefit the team, but it would be interesting to know if they are working on this).
* Similarly, are they working on any advanced pitching metrics utilizing data from PitchFX?
* To Jack: Some people consider the Morrow trade to be your only mistake. Could you explain why you value Brandon League so highly that you would give up Morrow for him? Why should we expect League to give the Mariners more value than Morrow would have?
[has its own post now, please don’t just post things like this in random threads. email us or trust that we’re paying attention]
Oi, that wasn’t a political statement, that was just a prelude to an actual question.
Anyway, question:
What newspapers/magazines do you read on a regular basis?
What’s your favorite book?
Will the M’s give us the opportunity like they did with RJ and Junior to show our appreciation to Adrian when he returns to Safeco in a Red Sox uniform this year?
Question To GM Jack Z. : Please comment on any discusion / progress on the proposal for Baseball draft choices to be property of the club,( as they are in football and basketball ) and can be traded, etc. It will help poor teams improve quickly and reduce agents’ power. Thank you.
Now that Beltre is gone… I’ll try to explain my question as best I can. I’m operating under the assumption that all organizations have very informed statisticians that look at players in great detail (not too farfetched, I hope).
Presumably, Beltre is going to Boston to put up better offensive numbers in his one year there so that he can cash in next off-season when people see that he is a better player offensively than he showed at Safeco.
Why was Beltre’s market for a multi-year deal (including the interest from the M’s) so small; aren’t all clubs able to look at the numbers Beltre produced and see that he would be better in mostly any other park? It’s clear in the M’s blogosphere how much Beltre is valued… where is the disconnect between what the writers on the blogs believe and what the stats/FO guys think? It’s surprising that, presumably, nobody wanted to offer Beltre the multi-year deal he was after given what he brings to the table.
Feel free to modify the question to make it easier… just something that I’ve been wondering.
1. What role does PitchFX play in evaluating and developing pitchers? Do Mariner pitchers pay attention to PitchFX? Does the coaching staff?
2. Do players in the minor league system receive instruction in nutrition?
3. Was there a player that you were *sure* would make the majors that you were wrong about? Or a player that you didn’t think had much of a shot who ended up turning heads? What did you miss?
4. In looking at a NL player, how do you evaluate their potential AL performance? Why do you think that a number of NL players have under-performed at Safeco? Is this purely a park effect, or are there other factors to consider?
1. Can you give the guys at ussmariner.com and lookoutlanding.com a press pass?
2. What has been the biggest mistake that the front office has made in the past year?
3. How do you know when to act quickly in a free agent market and when to slow down and let the market unfold?
4. Can you comment on one situation in which the Department of Statistical Research made an impact in the final decision?
5. What are the factors that go into determining whether the team should go into the season with an 11-man or 12-man pitching staff?
I’d really like to know how they model incremental runs preserved versus runs scored… I’m not a guru at this stuff, but it seems to me that pushing runs scored down (pitching and defense) gets harder and harder as your team is already strong defensively (e.g. Cliff Lee helps us *less* than a defensively weak team)…
I guess my question can be thought of as “Isn’t it relatively cheaper/more efficient for us to buy runs scored right now, vs runs prevented?” It seems like pushing up from 2.5 to 3.5 runs per game scored, is less expensive than pushing from 4.5 to 5.5 as a team. Am I crazy?
I would like to ask: Given the historical failure of the majority of such contracts is there an overall organizational philosopy regarding large multi-year deals to free agent starting pitchers?
A simple question that has been overlooked: when will we sign Felix to a 10 year extension?
What’s the latest on Dan Wilson? Is he somewhere in the FO, or is that a possibility?
What is the status of Dave Sims? How long is he slated to be the M’s TV guy for?
here
Probably never.
1. What are your thoughts on whether international players should be included in the pool for the First-Year Player Draft?
2. Would the inclusion of international players in the draft pool help or harm the Ms in acquiring these players (in other words, does Jack Z. feel that the Ms have a competitive advantage currently in scouting and signing international free agents that the draft structure would erode)?
– What are your thoughts on the expansion of instant replay?
– What are your thoughts on balls and strikes being called by a computer?
[off-topic]
I meant to ask this earlier, but I forgot.
Can we expect a press conference introducing either Cliff Lee or Milton Bradley? It seems like if it was going to happen, it would’ve been done a while ago.
When looking at a potential contract extension such as the one that might go to Felix, how much of a role does the fact that the fans have a sort of relationship with him play? In general, with contract extensions towards hometown favorites, how much more are you willing to pay to satisfy the fans over signing a similarly skilled free agent?
If anyone has a ticket to the event that they arent planning on using…please contact me @marinersmaniac on twitter
Question:
What makes the Mariners think that it will be different with Milton Bradley than every other club he’s ever played for?
Why is it worth the risk of a roster spot on a proven under achiever, who even when healthy will drop 100, 150 plate appearances below full time a season, usually without going on the DL ?
Are there not some people who would not be given a chance no matter what their potential upside? I never thought the Mariners would bring in a guy like Bradley ever. I’m keeping an open mind, but would have preferred he remained someone else’s problem.
Question: “Does winning 35 out of 55 one run games last year cause you concern? Was that a lucky outcome or do you think this team has a skillset that makes it a winner in close games?”
In the shadow of today’s announcement:
Is Edgar Martinez a Hall of Famer in your eyes and why?
Would love a ticket. Email me at douglorig@hotmail.com if you have one. Thanks.
I have a few travel/scheduling questions as I feel this area represents a competitive disadvantage for the team on the field and in the free agent market.
Given the geographic disadvantage inherent in Seattle as compared to other major league cities has MLB or have you attempted to engage MLB in possible ways to minimize the travel miles that the Mariners must make each season?
Has there been or have you lobbied for any change in the scheduling in regards to rain out make up games so as not to compound the problems already faced by the teams annual difficult travel schedule? I’m thinking of those horrible Cleveland snow games and the impact the make up games had on days off for the players.
Has the team done any studies or are any special actions taken to help the individual players deal with the excessive travel miles (and if “yes”, could any of this help the Seahawks win a 10:00AM start on the east coast)?
I have an extra ticket. Please email me at kevint.home@comcast.net. First come first served.