How Mariners management turned the magic of 1995 into a mess today

By Kshell

We all remember the magical run of 1995 that saved baseball in Seattle. The Seattle Mariners who were playing in their 19th season headed to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Now 1995 suddenly has been 17 years ago. When the Mariners defeated the New York Yankees in a best of five game series in the first round the town was crazy for the Mariners. When Ken Griffey Jr. slid into home plate for the winning run Mariners play by play announcer Dave Niehaus screamed "It just continues! My oh my!" well unfortunately that run didn't continue. The Mariners lost the next series to the Cleveland Indians in six games. With a core that featured Ken Griffey Jr, Randy Johnson, Jay Buhner, Edgar Martinez, and Tino Martinez who were all in their prime plus up and comer Alex Rodriguez on his way things appeared bright for this franchise. They also had a future hall of fame manager in Lou Piniella running the show as well. Instead the Mariners made the playoffs just three more times after that and are the only American League franchise to have never played in a World Series. The Mariners are currently in a rut having finished in last place six of the last eight seasons. How did this happen? In this following post I'll explain in 11 basic steps how the franchise went from a magical run to in the mess they currently find themselves in right now.

1. Traded Tino Martinez and Jeff Nelson to the New York Yankees:

After defeating the Yankees in a hard fought series the Mariners ownership decided to cut back on payroll instead of go all out. Meaning a choice had to be made. The Mariners announced only one Martinez(Edgar or Tino) was going to be dealt. Since Edgar had just saved baseball Tino was dealt. Trading Tino Martinez was bad but what made this deal particularly bad was he was dealt to the New York Yankees. The Mariners also included reliever Jeff Nelson. Martinez was coming off of an All-Star season at the age of 27 years old he hit .293/.369/.551 with 31 home runs, 111 RBI's and 92 runs scored. Martinez was a former first round pick of the Mariners so this trade really hurt. Nelson who was a 28 year old reliever finally had a break out year going 7-3 in 62 appearences. He pitched 78.2 innings, saving two games, posting a 2.17 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 96 strikeouts(11.0 K's per 9). Both Nelson and Martinez would help the Yankees win four World Series titles. While what the Mariners got in return was Sterling Hitchcock who would win the 1998 NLCS MVP award as the Mariners shipped him away for Scott Sanders who they then dealt for Omar Olivares and Felipe Lira. The other piece was Russ Davis who posted a negative 1.3 WAR in his four lack luster seasons in Seattle. The Mariners help build a dynasty with a team they just defeated while potentially costing themselves from 1996-2003.

2. The Bullpen was historically awful:

After trading away Jeff Nelson and over using Norm Charlton in 1995 the bullpen suffered in 1996. After 1996 the Mariners inexplicably resigned Bobby Ayala back and let Mike Jackson go. The 1997 Mariners set the all-time home run record for a team which featured two batting champions in Edgar Martinez and Alex Rodriguez. Also featured MVP Ken Griffey Jr who belted 56 home runs that year and Randy Johnson finished that season second in the Cy Young race. The terrible bullpens of 1997 and 1998 made sure a team with Griffey Jr, Martinez, Johnson and A-Rod would never win a playoff series together in their prime years.

Ayala took most of the blame of the bullpen failures as he pitched with the Mariners from 1994-1998 posting a 27-26 record in 292 games pitched. He threw 367 innings with a 4.88 era, 1.41 WHIP and had 374 strikeouts with 56 saves. His final year in Seattle in 1998 he was 1-10 with a 7.29 ERA. In the playoffs Ayala posted a 17.47 ERA allowing 11 runs in 5.2 innings in the 1995 and 1997 playoff series combined. The bullpen struggles of 1997 not only cost them that season but put the Mariners franchise in a state of panic which cost them down the road.

3. Mariners trade away three young stars in Varitek, Lowe and Cruz Jr in 1997:

In 1997 the Mariners bullpen was killing the team as the division race was falling away. So the Mariners decided to trade Jose Cruz Jr. who was the 3rd overall pick in the 1995 draft to the Toronto Blue Jays for setup men Mike Timlin and Paul Spoljaric. Cruz. Jr at the time was hitting .268/.315/.541 with 12 home runs and 34 RBI's in 183 at bats. He would finish the year second in the rookie of the year. While Spoljaric flopped and Timlin left the Mariners after the 1998 season. Cruz Jr. posted back to back 30 home runs season in 2000 and 2001 when the Mariners lost back to back ALCS trips. In 2001 Cruz Jr hit .274/.326/.530 with 34 home runs and 32 stolen bases. He could have been the missing power the Mariners needed. What is sad is he wasn't even the worst trade that day.

Cruz. Jr stole all the headlines that day but another trade set the Mariners back. The Mariners traded former first round pick catcher Jason Varitek and pitcher Derek Lowe to the Boston Red Sox for closer Heathcliff Slocumb. Slocumb was the closer for the 1997 division champions but was ineffective. In less than two seasons with the Mariners Slocumb was 2-9 in 84 games. He threw 96 innings posting a high ERA of 4.97, a 1.63 WHIP and had only 13 saves. Meanwhile Varitek and Lowe ended the curse of the Bambino in 2004 as the Red Sox won the World Series title first time in 86 years. Varitek won another title in 2007 as he was the Red Sox captain. Varitek was named to three all-star games, won a gold glove and silver slugger award. In 15 seasons he hit .256/.341/.435 in 5,099 at bats. He belted 193 home runs while driving in 757 RBI's. 

Derek Lowe enjoyed a long career as well. Lowe is 166-146 in his career with a 3.94 era and 1.31 WHIP with 85 saves. Lowe made two all-star games where he led the league in saves in 2000 and then in 2002 as a starter finished 3rd in the CY Young race. During the 2004 playoff run Lowe was the winning pitcher in the series clinching game in all three series. The Mariners could have used Lowe as a bullpen arm in the late 1990's or used him as a front of the rotation pitcher in the 2000's. They definately could have used Varitek's power at the catcher position or Cruz Jr power in left field in 2000-2001. Instead it was all wasted away to pick up three crappy relievers.

4. Poor drafts from 1997-2008:

Starting in 1997 and going all the way until 2008(could be even longer but the rest are too early to tell) the Mariners have done poorly in the draft. Starting in 1997 when the Mariners took 6'11" left handed pitcher Ryan Anderson with 19th pick overall. Most of baseball fell in love with Anderson as he instantly became compared to Randy Johnson. Anderson was also a top prospect for the longest time but never threw an inning in the major leagues.

Here are the list of the names of the Mariners first round picks after Anderon.
1998-Matt Thornton(did nothing for the Mariners but turned good for the White Sox after Bavasi gave him away).
1999- Jeff Heaverlo(never pitched in the major leagues)
1999- Ryan Christianson(11th pick overall, catcher never cracked the major leagues)
2001- Michael Garciaparra(never played in the majors)
2002- John Mayberry(never signed with Mariners, re-entered draft)
2003- Adam Jones(Bavasi traded him away for Bedard in 2008, currently an all-star with the Orioles)
2005- Jeff Clement(3rd pick overall as a catcher. Hit .237/.309/.393 with just 7 HR's in 219 AB's. Currently in minor leagues)
2006- Brandon Morrow(5th pick overall and was chosen ahead of hometown pitcher Tim Lincecum. Lincecum has won two Cy Youngs and a World Series. Morrow has since been traded).
2007- Matt Mangini(has had just 38 AB's with Mariners)
2007- Phillippe Aumont(11th overall pick, is still in the minors. Part of the Cliff Lee trade)
2008- Josh Fields(has yet to make the majors and is in double A as the Mariners have traded him).

Add it all up zero all-star game appearences for the Mariners, seven guys who never played one game for the Mariners and six who were traded away. Hard to win when you whiff on every single first round pick in a 12 year stretch like the Mariners did.

5. Getting rid of Randy Johnson too early:


After finishing second in the Cy Young race in 1997 Johnson was entering his final year on his contract. Johnson wanted a three year deal while the Mariners told him he didn't have three years left. During the 1998 Johnson didn't pitch up to his usual standards and was traded for Freddy Garcia, John Halama and Carlos Guillen. Now that ended up being a decent trade but make no mistake none of them were worth a Randy Johnson. Johnson proved he had several years left as he pitched until the 2009 season.

 Johnson after leaving the Mariners would go on to win four straight Cy Young's then finished second in 2004. He was also World Series MVP in 2001 as well. With the Diamondbacks Johnson was dominant over the next six seasons. Johnson went 103-49(.677) while throwing 1,389.2 innings posting an ERA of 2.65 and a 1.05 WHIP. He also had 1,833 strikeouts good for 11.87 K's per 9. The Mariners desperately needed an ace during the 2000-2003 run when Johnson was winning three of his four Cy Young's in a row and finished in second place in 2004. Even at the end of his career Johnson proved to be a quality pitcher as he won over 300 games in his major league career. The emotional scars of trading away Johnson set up a bad three year stretch for the Mariners as they saw three straight offseasons where they were asked to replace a future hall of famer.

6. Losing both A-rod and Griffey Jr in back to back seasons:

After losing Johnson the Mariners saw Ken Griffey Jr. demande a trade after the 1999 season. The Mariners traded him for Mike Cameron, Brett Tomko and two prospects who never panned out from the Cincinnati Reds. The Mariners without Griffey became Alex Rodriguez team as they advanced to the ALCS before losing in six games to the eventual World Series champions New York Yankees. Griffey who had always owned the Yankees could have been the difference that playoff series as the Mariners lost two heartbreaking games. After that series Rodriguez left the team for a record 10 year 252 million dollars to the Texas Rangers.

In 2001 the Mariners would once again get better without a superstar. The Mariners won a major league record 116 games but failed to reach the World Series. After that season the Mariners little did they know at the time would never reach the playoffs again. While Rodriguez has since joined the Yankees and won a World Series. The Mariners survived at first losing three hall of famers in three successive years but no franchise can survive that long term and the Mariners were no exceptions.

7. Stood "Pat" during the 2000-2003 trade deadlines:

The Mariners posted the best record out of any major league franchise during the four season stretch from 2000-03 yet had no World Series banners to show for it. The reason was the Mariners management refused to upgrade at the trade deadline. In 2000 the only trade was John Mabry for Al Martin(whose blunder in the outfield in the 8th inning of game two of the ALCS started the big inning for the Yankees). In 2001 the Mariners had the division title practically wrapped up by May so fans started to wonder what they need come October. Most felt the Mariners could use one more stick but most of all was a frontline starting pitcher(Randy Johnson would have been nice). The main guy on the block was Al Leiter who was in his second season of five straight seasons of having his ERA in the mid 3.00 range. Leiter had won a World Series with the Blue Jays and along with Freddy Garcia and Jamie Moyer could have made up a nice playoff rotation. Then Mariners general manager Pat Gillick didn't want to be another Woody Woodward from 1997 where he was known as the guy who gave away the next young prospect. Instead the Mariners stood pat and lost in the 2001 ALCS as Aaron Sele the #3 starter had to pitch games one and five and got shelled in both games. In 2002 and 2003 the Mariners once again made no moves and missed the playoffs down the stretch. Since then the Mariners have finished in last place six of the last eight seasons.

8. The roster got old and there was no young replacements ready:

The Mariners in 2004 woke up one morning and were suddenly old. After winning 90+ games four years in a row the Mariners lost 99 games in 2004. I'll list the Mariners opening day lineup in 2004 with their ages next to their name.

1. Ichiro RF(30 years old)
2. Winn CF(30 years old)
3. Boone 2B(35 years old)
4. Ibanez LF(32 years old)
5. Martinez DH(41 yeards old)
6. Olerud 1B(35 years old)
7. Aurilia SS(32 years old)
8. Wilson C(35 years old)
9. Bloomquist 3B(26 years old) was filling in for Scott Spiezio(31 years old)
SP- Moyer(41 years old)
Closer- Guardado(33 years old)

That roster was old. The Mariners didn't bring in any youthful pieces to take over for some of their veterans. Due to the poor drafting there was no up and comer to take over for when a Jay Buhner retired or when Edgar Martinez retired. Nobody to take over when Moyer or Dan Wilson got old. This franchise got old pretty quick and with steroid testing about to begin players stopped being in their prime in their mid 30's.

9. Lou Piniella left the franchise after 2002:

When the Mariners stood pat in 2002 after Piniella screamed to the press over and over he wanted one more hitter for this team. After winning 116 games in 2001 the Mariners stormed out of the gates in 2002 with the best record again after April. Due to injuries and regression to the mean the Mariners were being overtaken by the Oakland A's(the money ball season) and the Anaheim Angels. Eventually losing out the division and wildcard race to both. Frustrated with ownership and seeing that this roster wasn't getting any younger Piniella decided to leave for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

While in Seattle Piniella went 840-711(.542) in 10 seasons. The Mariners prior to his arrival had just one winning season. During his 10 seasons the Mariners had seven winning seasons, four trips to the playoffs and three trips to the American League Championship Series. Since Piniella's departure the Mariners have had just three winning seasons and six last place finishes. The Mariners are just 665-793(.456) since Piniella has left the team. It's looking more and more like Piniella made this franchise as before and after he was here the franchise has produced just four winning seasons(one of which was right after he left). The Mariners have had six full-time managers in the nine seasons that Piniella has been gone and a total of eight overall. This franchise has been a huge mess since he has left.

10. The Bill Bavasi years:

The Bavasi era really sank this franchise. He came into a difficult task as the Mariners roster was old heading into the 2004 season and like I pointed out had drafted poorly from 1997-2003(which doesn't include 1993, 1994 and 1995 first rounder A-rod, Varitek and Cruz Jr no longer part of the franchise) meaning he didn't have a great situation. So it was important that the Mariners got that GM hire correct. Instead they got it so wrong the franchise is still struggling from it. Bavasi is known as the GM who built the first ever 100 loss team from a 100 million dollar payroll. In his five years with the Mariners they went 359-451(.443) with four losing seasons all of which saw them finish in last place.

In fact the Bavasi era was so disasterous I hope you take the time to read my blog post about the Bill Bavasi years as his era deserves a separate post. Adam Jones, Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin Soo-Choo were all traded away under his watch. Jeff Clement was chosen ahead of Ryan Zimmerman, Troy Tulowitzki, Ricky Romero and Ryan Braun. He also chose Brandon Morrow with the 5th pick overall. Taken shortly after him was currenty Cy Young pitcher Clayton Kershaw who went 7th overall and two-time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum who was picked 10th overall. Bavasi blew payroll, lost games and developed no talent in his years. The franchise was a mess by the time he stepped away.

11. This franchise has no identity:

Jack Zduriencik was asked to take over for Bill Bavasi. Jack Z basically has walked into a room full of crap all over the walls and ceiling. So far Z has been able to clean a spot off so there is some hope but the place still is covered in crap. In Jack Z's three years in Seattle the Mariners are 213-273(.438) with 196 losses the last two years finishing in last place. The problem with the franchise now is they appear to have no identity. The Mariners are in a rebuilding mode with young prospects yet are trotting Chone Figgins out there over Kyle Seager. Ichiro will receive as much at bats as possible while Casper Wells and Trayvon Robinson rot away. The Mariners farm system far as the hitting goes is still a mess. The Mariners are just a franchise with no true identity anymore. Second straight  offseason where they did nothing after appearing to go for it in 2010 when trading for Cliff Lee and signing Figgins(which blew up in Jack Z's face). Yet in these offseasons the Mariners are signing older guys like Kevin Millwood, Miguel Olivo, Jack Cust, etc. Jack Z inherited a mess as I just explained the franchise was in the toilet well before he arrived but he isn't exactly getting them out of the toilet either. This franchise needs to full on committ to rebuilding which should start with cutting bait on the older guys and going with the young guys.

Back in 1995 the Mariners took over the city. The Sonics were in the middle of their prime and Husky football was towards the end of their run as well. Yet it was the Mariners who captured the cities heart during that time. Ever since 1995 Mariners management has slowly but surely destroyed that feeling. When the Mariners are sitting at home watching the playoffs for the 11th straight year you'll now know why it got to that point. Ever since that magical ride in 1995 the Mariners have made one key blunder after another as attendance continues to drop each season. Look for Safeco Field to be empty yet again as the Mariners continue to be lost this year. Do we compete now? Do we rebuild? Should we play the young guys and punt this year? Should we give Ichiro one last final send off? That is the problem the Mariners don't even know and they never fully commit to one solution. The Mariners are a mess and this was painful to write but felt it had to be done. Maybe on the 20th anniversary of the Mariners magical 1995 run the Mariners by then can finally compete for a playoff spot. One can only hope but knowing this ownership I have my doubts. After reading this how can anyone trust this ownership ever again? I sure as hell don't.

Dear Nintendo: Please sell the team to somebody who cares

By Kshell

As I'm sure most Seattle Mariners fans are aware by now this offseason has been a complete bust. We have watched our division rivals the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim sign C.J. Wilson and the best hitter of the past thirty plus years in Albert Pujols. Meanwhile the two-time defending American League champions Texas Rangers just signed Yu Darvish from Japan. While the Mariners despite losing 196 games the last two years are in no hurry to do anything. They offered Prince Fielder supposedly a five year 90 million dollar deal which is PR move. That is the type of offer that isn't serious about landing the power hitting first baseman. Mariners beat writer Geoff Baker has already revealed that the Mariners are having some financial troubles lately and our wishes could be coming true very soon. The Mariners ownership who also owns Nintendo could possibly be selling this franchise which is exactly what this franchise needs.

This organization has been ran by morons since day one. Chuck Armstrong leads that group of morons in fact he's been team president since 1993 and was part of the team in the 1980's as well. Howard Lincoln is also part of the ownership group as well. When this ownership group first bought the team there was great success in fact from 1993-2003 the Mariners record was 933-780(.544) which in those 11 years including four playoff trips and eight winning seasons. Considering prior to 1993 this franchise had seen just one winning season that was impressive. The fans started to turn on ownership around 2002 and 2003 when they refused to expand payroll to make significant deadline moves to improve this ballclub. Which meant future hall of fame manager Lou Piniella and hall of fame general manager Pat Gillick left the franchise in disgust. That is when the franchise started to fall apart and the heat on this current ownership group grew.

The Mariners turned to failed Angels General Manger Bill Bavasi to run this ball club from 2004-2008. During the Bavasi years the Mariners were horrible sporting a 359-451(.443) record which saw the Mariners finish in last place in four of those five seasons. Bavasi didn't value sabermetrics at all and ignored age. The Mariners ownership also stepped in by extending Kenji Johjima and Ichiro to a five year 90 million dollar deal. Ichiro has only led the Mariners in WAR during one winning season which was 2007. Translation Ichiro can't be your best player on a successful team. The Mariners fired Bavasi after 2008 hoping to find the next quality GM. Several people said at the time it won't matter who the Mariners hire as long as Armstrong and Lincoln are running the show.

The Mariners replaced Bavasi with Milwaukee Brewers old scout Jack Zduriencik. Zduriencik could do no wrong that first year taking over a club who had lost 101 games the Mariners won 85 games that first year. Since then the club has regressed under Jack Z's watch as the team is just 213-273(.438). The Mariners are actually worse off record wise than they were under Bavasi. Zduriencik is building the team the right way but he is also making plenty of mistakes at the major league level. He signed a 31 year old Chone Figgins to a four year 36 million dollar deal. He is constantly going for the cheap bargains and that is why the Mariners offense under Jack Z has been terrible every single season. Then he traded away Doug Fister despite the fact he is pretty cheap and under club control. Fans still believe in Jack Z but if he doesn't sign Fielder this offseason that will be the second straight offseason where Jack Z failed to improve a team who lost over 95 games.

In conclusion, you don't win titles with bargain deals. You win titles with position players whether you find them at a discount or overpaid for them. There is no salary cap in baseball and if these owners don't want to spend they should do the right thing and sell to a guy who will. Nintendo should be thanked first of all for saving baseball in Seattle back in 1993 and providing the Mariners their only taste of the postseason. I feel like they don't get enough credit for doing just that. The Mariners ownership has come now to finally let it go as they tried and failed to deliver a World Series title. First thing new ownership will do is clean house which means no more Armstrong, Lincoln and probably Zduriencik who has proven he is just a scout only not a general manager. So I'm begging you Nintendo please sell the team to a passionate billionaire in Seattle who wants to win a title as much as every fan does. The problem with building with prospects is you are constantly building while the Angels will have bad contracts they'll stay competitive every single season because they spend money. Hopefully the Mariners sell the team to a guy who has no problem dishing millions and millions of dollars to provide a winner in Seattle finally.

Mariners embark on the biggest off-season in franchise history

By Outsider Steve


Is it me or does anyone else feel like the Mariners are on the verge of something exciting?

Alright, so maybe it's just me. So please allow me the time and try to convince the masses out there in Marinersville on what the Mariners are about to embark on. For three years now, Mariners GM Jack Zdureincik has had the dubious honor of fixing an organization so broken that most industry figure heads thought it would take at least five years before the Mariners would be even able to financially compete, let alone see results on the field. Only three years after taking over as GM, Jack Zduriencik is sitting on the cusp of the biggest off-season in Mariners history. I do know one thing is certain, win or lose, there will be some major fireworks going off over the Sodo this winter. In order to see those fireworks we need to discuss some truths about the Jack Zduriencik era.


Truth;

Jack Zduriencik just hasn't had the financial luxury up to this point in his tenure as Mariners GM to radically improve the ball club. It wasn't Zduriencik's fault that ownership slashed the payroll by 18 million dollars in his first season. In the three years Zduriencik has been in charge, he has had an average payroll of 94,890,230 million dollars. Compared to the 96,271,463 average per season in five seasons that former GM Bill Bavasi had. That's a difference of 1,381,233 million dollars extra that Bill Bavasi had at his disposal. In the 2006-2007 off-season, Bill Bavasi's payroll shot up from 87,959,833 to 106,460,833. A difference of 18,501,000. Which is precisely the figure Zduriencik stand to inherit this off-season. If you add that figure to this seasons payroll, this is what the team payroll would look like in 2012; 113,124,194. Which is still 4,542,291 million dollars shy of Bill Bavasi's all-time high payroll of 117,666,482 in 2008. The bottom line is payroll will be increasing. Ownership needs to realize they have a financially responsible GM in place, and that is okay to add more to the pot.


The Future;

The Mariners have put together a nucleus of young talent with tremendous staying power. On the offensive side, Dustin Ackley, Justin Smoak, Mike Carp, Kyle Seager, Trayvon Robinson, and Casper wells are hitting a combined .252/.319/.415/.735, 42 HR, 140 RBI, 348 Hits, 144 Runs, and all play positions that were/are in desperate need of improvement; 2B, 1B, DH, 3B, and OF. On the pitching side Felix Hernandez, Michael Pineda, Jason Vargas, Brandon League, and Tom Wilhelmsen have quietly form a solid base in which to build upon. Those five have combined to go 35-41, 3.53 ERA, 586 K's, 1.178 WHIP, and a K's/BB ratio of 3.01. Three of the five have been selected to the All-Star game, and Hernandez has already has a Cy Young on his resume. Those are just 11 of the active 25 man roster. Not even including the likes of Blake Beaven, Charlie Furbush, Shawn Kelley, Josh Lueke, Chance Ruffin, Dan Cortes, Taijuan Walker, James Paxton, Danny Hultzen, and Alex Liddi. Who could all very well make an impact in 2012.


What will the Mariners have coming available;

1. Milton Bradley = 12,000,000



2. Carlos Silva = 5,500,000



3. Yuniesky Betancourt = 1,000,000



4. Jack Wilson = 5,000,000



5. Josh Wilson = 179,000



6. Jack Cust = 2,000,000



7. Jamey Wright = 900,000



8. Adam Kennedy = 750,000



9. Luis Rodriguez = 600,000

• Total = 27,929,000

Isn't that a fantastic number to see? Even if you factor in arbitration, the number is still going to remain in the 18-20 million dollar range. That number allows flexibility in spades. Which is more then enough to add a power bat in the OF and at 3B, upgrade the catching position, and add a solid starter to the rotation mix.

Lets' forecast shall we. Let's say the Mariners make one trade and sign two free agents to open up the off-season. we will say the Mariners sign 3B Wilson Betemit (.268/.335/.445/.779, 62 HR, 242 RBI, 466 Hits, 221 Runs), who has never made over 4 million dollars in one season, to a 2-year 8 million dollar deal. Then let's say Zduriencik make a trade for Kansas City Royals LF Alex Gordon. Who still has two years of club control, but is still arbitration eligible. Because Gordon posted career highs in every statistical catagory, .303/.376/.502/.879, 23 HR, 87 RBI, both parties figure out a way to agree on a mutual figure of 5 million dollars for the 2012 season. The Mariners then sign a starter like a Paul Maholm, Jason Marguis, or a Javier Vazquez. Who would all come at a reduced price. Something to the tune of 1-year at 1.5 million. Just in those three deals the Mariners have used up only 10.5 million dollars. That would still leave Zduriencik nearly 8 million dollars left to improve the bullpen and the catching position.

I'm being 100% honest when I tell you guys that next years team will have the look and feel of a winning ball club. It's just a matter of putting your eggs into that basket. I know it's a hard thing to do when you have seen the team go from bad to worse in a span of less then two seasons. But it is going to get better. That you can bank on. It's just a matter waiting it out for another six months...

Wasting away an incredible talent

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners are blessed to have one of the greatest starting pitchers in the game today. Some say finding a true ace is the hardest thing to find in baseball yet the Mariners have one and someday could have two. The Mariners are also wasting away Felix Hernandez like they have Ichiro the past decade. Having an ace does you no good if you don't score any runs for him. Having an ace really does you no good if you never play in an meaningful game. Hernandez was called up in 2005 and has yet to throw a single meaningful inning in September. The closest thing Hernandez came to a pennant chase was in 2007 when he was only 21 years old. At that point Hernandez was a good pitcher who would show flashes of being an ace. Now Hernandez is an ace. It has been a shame seeing Hernandez suffer such tough defeats the last two seasons. In this following post I'll explain why juding Hernandez on his win-loss record simply isn't fair.

So far in Hernandez young career he is only 81-63(.562) with an 3.21 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. He has thrown 1,334 innings while striking out 1,216 batters(8.2 K's per 9). The last two years Hernandez has been screwed over by his teammates yet has never once called them out. Hernandez is only 23-22(.511) the last two years which to an average fan would suggest he is extremely overrated. In fact a seahawkshuddle moderator used to always rag on Hernandez in my Seattle Sportsblog group because of his record. What those simple fans don't realize is Hernandez can't control his offense. In the last two years Hernandez has made 59 starts and has thrown 429 innings(7 1/3 innings a start). In those starts he has posted a 2.70 ERA and 1.10 whip while striking out 406 batters(8.5 K's per 9). So as you can see Hernandez is pitching deep into games and pitching effectively in those contests. Just to show how much of a horse Hernandez has been in those 59 starts he has pitched six innings or more 55 starts(93.2%), has pitched seven innings or more in 43 starts(72.8%) and has pitched eight innings or more in 24 starts(40.6%). During that span Hernandez has suffered nine losses where he allowed two earned runs or less and has received 10 no decisions where he has allowed two earned runs or less. The Mariners are wasting away Hernandez and his W-L is the casualty. On the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees or any team that is actually good Hernandez would be racking up the wins. The media would be bragging about him like they do C.C.Sabathia or Justin Verlander for "knowing" how to win. Instead Hernandez continues to receive blame for such losses.

It's crazy how in sports you can be preceived a lot of things just based on the teams you happen to play for. Hernandez isn't a "winner" simply because his team can't score runs. Hernandez is this generations Nolan Ryan where his best years are being wasted away. Sports Illustrated a decade ago called Nolan Ryan the most overrated pitcher. People overrated Ryan because of his no-hitters and strikeouts. Then when you look you noticed Ryan never won a Cy Young, never started a World Series game, and had just a 324-292(.526) record. Now that people start to realize how overrated W-L record is you'll realize Ryan is underrated. Ryan posted a 3.19 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 9.5 K's per 9. Take his best three year stretch for the California Angels from 1972-1974 where he only went 62-48(.563) despite posting an ERA of 2.70 and a 1.21 WHIP. He averaged over 7 2/3 innings a start while striking out 1,079 batters(10.3 K's per 9) which is incredible. During that three year stretch he suffered 18 losses where he allowed two earned runs or less and had four no decisions where he allowed two earned runs or less. Ryan was a the defination of a horse as well. In 119 starts he went six plus innings 103 times(86.5%), seven plus innings 91 times(76.4%) and eight plus innings 84 times(70.5%). Despite such great numbers Ryan didn't pitch in the playoffs those three years. The Angels had wasted away his prime and his record suffered. Like Hernandez now people questioned whether he "knew" how to win or not.

What has hurt Hernandez is the fact that leadership at the top has failed to surround him with a good team. Both of his general managers have tried but they simply haven't done the job. First Bill Bavasi to take the pressure off Hernandez traded for ace Erik Bedard. What would have helped Hernandez out would have been hanging onto Adam Jones, Asdrubal Cabera, drafting Ryan Braun or Troy Tulowitski. Then drafting Tim Lincecum as well but Bavasi failed miserably at that. Bavasi was fired after failing so miserably in Seattle. Then Jack Zduriencik has came in and has seen Hernandez enter his prime starting in 2009. Zduriencik also traded for an ace in Cliff Lee to take the pressure off Hernandez. Zduriencik however, forgot to acquire Hernandez an offense. His only big free agent hitter he has signed in three years was Chone Figgins who has been horrible. Having Adrian Beltre, Mike Morse and this years Casey Kotchman would have helped Hernandez as well. I have a strange feeling like with Ryan and later Roy Halladay with the Toronto Blue Jays that these aces will eventually have to leave their teams to finally taste success. Hernandez is a free agent in 2014 and is due for a big paycheck but every athlete wants a chance to win. At some point Hernandez is going to be tired of constantly going seven or eight innings allowing two runs or less with no wins to show for it.

In conclusion, you can add Felix Hernandez to the list of Seattle greats who saw their talent wasted because the team didn't fit their needs. You saw guys like Ichiro, Cortez Kennedy, Jake Locker, Sonny Sixkiller, Reggie Williams, Ray Allen and Spencer Haywood all play on terrible to mediocre teams in Seattle. These guys were often given the blame for the losses when in reality their teams failed them. I'm afraid once Ichiro retires the Ichiro lynch mob will go after Hernandez calling him overrated. The Mariners are wasting away an incredible talent. The Mariners have been a franchise for 35 seasons and have had just two aces. Having a top tier pitcher like Hernandez is very rare. Which is why this is so sad to witness such greatness go to waste. Hopefully the Mariners can surround Hernandez with some talent fast. So from now on when you see Hernandez record instead of ragging on him stop and look at his other numbers. Hernandez is still a terrific pitcher who rests the bullpen everytime he goes out. It's about time the Mariners help Hernandez out and start scoring some runs. Tonight against the Red Sox would be a good start to help Hernandez get a much needed win. Hopefully the Mariners aren't wasting away an incredible talent although I'm afraid they are.

In Jack Z we trust? I'm not so sure about that

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners have hit rock bottom in the Jack Zduriencik era recently having lost nine straight games all to division opponents. The Mariners have scored just two runs total in their last 44 innings in year three of the Zduriencik regime. The Mariners are coming off a disasterous season last year which saw them lose over 100 games for the second time in a three year span. The Mariners as of July 5th were just 2.5 games out of first place. Now the Mariners on July 17th find themselves 11.5 games out of first place and in distant third place. Whenever a professional sports team starts losing the blame game is tossed around. For the first time in Zduriencik's regime there appears to be doubt on whether or not he is the guy. One thing that can't be ignored is that he hasn't done a very good job the last two season. You already saw Insider Steve make his case on why we should still trust Jack Z. In this following piece I'm not saying the Mariners should fire Zduriencik but I will point out his flaws.

Before I break down Zduriencik's short comings I'll bring up the terrible mess he appeared to have inherited. By the time Bill Bavasi was fired in the middle of the 2008 season the Mariners were on their way to losing 101 games and finishing last place in the division for the fourth time in five seasons. Bavasi was the mastermind of the first ever team to lose 100+ games with a 100+ million dollar payroll. Ownership was pretty pissed off that they were spending so much money on a crappy product have decided to decrease payroll by 25% in the Zduriencik years. The team had no major league ready up and coming players in the system and some pretty bad contracts as well. Zduriencik inherited a mess from Bavasi but how much of a mess is sometimes lost. The Mariners were bad but the the part of the team that is carrying them right now is the starting pitching staff. Felix Hernandez, Doug Fister, Erik Bedard and Michael Pineda were all in the system before Zduriencik took over the team. With the Mariners being so terrible they also had the #2 pick overall in the draft which allowed them to select Dustin Ackley. So while Bavasi did a terrible job he didn't leave Zduriencik as big of a mess as his apologist want to paint.

The Mariners offense is pathetic and Zduriencik has let three hitters who would produce on this team go under his watch. The first one is Mike Morse who he traded in 2009 to the Washington Nationals for Ryan Langerhans who is currently rotting away in Triple A Tacoma. Morse for the season is hitting .300/.348/.523 on the season with 15 home runs and 49 RBI's which would be nice right about now. Instead of having Morse get the DH AB's against left handers Zduriencik decided to go with the veteran Mike Sweeney. The Mariners also let go of Adrian Beltre after the 2009 season and Beltre now plays for division rival Texas Rangers. Beltre on the season is hitting .268/.309/.488 with 19 home runs and 72 RBI's with gold glove defense. The Mariners decided to go with Chone Figgins instead at third base for four years and 36 million dollars. Figgins on the year is hitting .183/.230/.243 with one home run and 14 RBI's with just nine stolen bases and six caught stealings. Not to mention his defense has been very average and he currently has the worst WAR(wins above replacement level) amongst all starters. Another guy Zduriencik let go was Raul Ibanez who is hitting .249/.293/.426 with 13 home runs and 48 RBI's on this year. Imagine this offense with Ibanez at DH instead of Cust against right handers and playing some left field(we had Peguero who also sucks on defense), with Morse playing DH against left handers and playing some outfield as well and Beltre at third base? This offense goes from Triple A to average offense.

The Mariners this season are hitting as a team .221/.286/.325 which ranks last place in the majors in all three categories. The Mariners have also scored the fewest runs in the major leagues this season. Last year the Mariners hit .236/.298/.339 which also ranked last place in all three major categories. The Mariners ranked dead last in runs scored and home runs last season. The Mariners who had a winning season in 2009 ranked 28th out of 30 teams in runs scored. Zduriencik tried to build a team based on run prevention but failed to realize you do need some offense. Zduriencik has yet to find a DH and now third base not to mention left field appear to be huge black holes. With the recent play of Franklin Gutierrez who is hitting .190/.224/.233 with just one home run in 163 at bats makes you wonder if he is the answer in centerfield. The strength of the team is the pitching which Zduriencik inherited from the Bavasi years while the major weakness is the hitting which Zduriencik has a hand on eight of the nine players who play every day. Zduriencik's eye for talent has to be questioned given that he has built the worst offense of the last three years.

For those who trust Zduriencik's eye for talent I ask how can you do that when his manager that he personally hand picked was fired after just a season and a half? Zduriencik showed he is a coward by blaming Don Wakamatsu for a roster that he built. Unfortunately for Zduriencik he can't blame the manager this time around. Bill Bavasi did the same thing he fired Bob Melvin but he did admit if he is forced to fire Mike Hargrove that will result in him losing his job as well. Zduriencik has already showed that his eye for talent is flawed given that the manager he hand picked was canned less than two years on the job. Then Zduriencik also looked foolish last year claiming he had no clue about Josh Lueke's background which a quick five second google search would have discovered that. You also have to wonder how great of an eye for talent Zduriencik really has when his old team the Milwaukee Brewers have made the playoffs just once in the past 29 seasons. I know the Brew Crew appears to have some talented pieces but in professional sports you are measured by wins and losses. Another thing that worries me is the people who hired Zduriencik.

Everyone is on to Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong by now. We are fully aware these two are morons and shouldn't be running a baseball team. Does it concern anyone that these two hand picked Zduriencik? They whiffed on Bavasi and appear to whiff on every manager since Piniella was traded away. Nobody trusts those two to make any decisions correctly so why trust them now? I'm not willing to give Dumb(Lincoln) and Dumber(Armstrong) the benefit of the doubt that they aced this hire. Zduriencik for all the complaining about cheap ownership currently is working with a 94 million dollar salary cap. Of course there is some dead money in there that isn't contributing which has nothing to do with Zduriencik which accounts for 13 million. I'm sorry you should be able to put together a major league offense for 81 million. Nobody forced Zduriencik to wrongfully pay Chone Figgins nine million a year or to trade Carlos Silva for Milton Bradley. It wasn't a bad contract for bad contract swap as Silva made 12 million compared to Bradley's 13.3 not to mention the Mariners are paying 5.5 million of Silva's contract. Nobody forced Zduriencik to trade for Jack Wilson then give him a contract extention worth five million this season. That is 19.5 million that Zduriencik lit on fire and burned it down. The team is spending enough money to put together a major league offense which Zduriencik has yet to do in any of his three seasons with the Mariners. Just remember dumb(Lincoln) and dumber(Armstrong) are the ones that nobody should trust yet they hand picked this guy.

All in all, think what you want about Zduriencik but please don't "trust" him. The Mariners don't deserve our trust one bit. The Mariners are that girl friend who is constantly cheating on us would you would "trust" her to have a weekend to herself in Las Vegas? Hell no! Just like you shouldn't trust this Mariners team. The Mariners product is an embarassment to any fan who has spent money on this team the last decade. Nobody should be given a free pass on this team yet so many fans seem very quick to defend Zduriencik just like Huskies fans defended Tyrone Willingham or how current Cougars fans defend Paul Wulff. This is sports not T-Ball you are measured by wins and losses and to date Zduriencik while in Seattle is 189-230(.451) which isn't horrible but not good. This is a make or break offseason for Zduriencik as it should be. If he can't get at least 85 wins by next season he should be shown the door and if the team wins 85 games while having the worst offense he should still be shown the door! A good general manager by now would be having his major league team show some progress by now which the only bright spot he had nothing to do with. So remember fans not saying to fire Zduriencik but stop this "trust" business. Why should this franchise deserve our trust after cheating on us for 36 seasons? Just remember the people you don't trust also hired Zduriencik.

The Mariners reoccuring car problems

By Outsider Steve

Something just dawned on me while I was writing this piece about the wheels coming off of the 2011 Seattle Mariners. An epiphany really, those do not happen very often, but right in the middle of a thought, it hit me like a bat to the forehead (sorry Nick Franklin). The wheels have completely come off this franchise, and it’s now sitting atop of concrete cinder blocks in some dank back alley.

How the hell did this happen so fast? Seriously! Wasn’t it just ten years ago that we were in the midst of the best stretch of baseball in Franchise history, with 393 wins, and two LCS appearances in four years? I remember telling a good friend of mine at the time, the days of 90+ loss seasons were over for good. Even if the Mariners were to have a losing season, it wasn’t going to be anything worse than 82 losses. That was back in 2002 after the A’s caught the Mariners in September. I was 22 at the time and feeling a little good about our baseball team. Flash forward now, I am 30-years-old and a father of a four-year-old (good god am I old), and still feeling the sting of 478 losses spread out over five losing seasons since 2004.

Anyways, sorry about that rant. This team has that kind of effect on me. As I was saying about the Mariners being on cinder blocks, I’m going to take you back to a time when the Seattle Mariners bought their first new car. I think everyone can relate to this. It’s stepping out as an adult for the first time; making that financial commitment. It’s scary as hell, but in the end you know it will be worth every penny. The same can’t be said for the Mariners. They couldn’t afford to buy a new car, and they knew it. Sometimes people make rash decisions to fix a situation they are in at the time, and it’s completely understandable. Most people actually do their homework before making a huge purchase, but not the Mariners. They bought their new vehicle purely on hype, and it’s a shame too. Can you imagine what would’ve been had they started off on more of a practical foot? They would’ve had a much smoother ride.

It’s a good thing when someone purchases a new car. The best part about buying a new car is all the goodies that go along with it, the new car smell, all the gadgets, and let’s not forget the fake leather upholstery. That’s what Seattle was talked into buying back in 1977; a Ford Pinto. No matter how hard the Mariners friends kept telling him he had bought a Lemon, the Mariners were convinced they had a gem. The Mariners realized quickly though that his prized Pinto started to fall apart. He started having radiator issues, a starter here and alternator there. Pretty soon his timing belts started to go and it wasn’t long before the Mariners had to take it into the shop to have it fixed; the 70’s and 80’s.

It’s a funny thing when somebody tries to put lipstick on a pig. You have to give the mechanic credit though; he put some really good parts underneath the hood of that pinto. The mechanic put in an Edgar Martinez, a Jay Buhner, an Omar Vizquel, and even a Tino Matinez for good measure. He swapped out an old spark plug, Mark Langston, for a new one, Randy Johnson. When the Mariners took their Pinto home from the shop, they took it to a nearby car stereo shop and outfitted that Pinto with the newest, shiniest stereo they could buy, Ken Griffey Jr. Can you imagine the Mariners driving down First Avenue in that Pinto blaring Naughty BY Nature out of the windows in 1991-92? That would be a funny picture to see, as I was saying though; you can only fix a car so many times before it gets long in the tooth. The good news for the Mariners was that they got a raise at work in 1990 and they began saving for a new car. They knew it was only a matter of days, months, or years before that Pinto would be found dead on the shoulder of I-5 with a blown head gasket.

It only took them 16 years, but in December of 1992 the Mariners decided it was well overdue, and bought a brand new Ford Taurus, Lou Pinella. Before they decided to scrap that Pinto, they brought it to that same mechanic who then took all those new parts and put them into that brand new Taurus. What a sweet ride that was to the Mariners. Finally the Mariners could strut a little in front of all his AL West friends. Do you know what the best part is about owning a Taurus? It’s dependability. No matter how good your life is (’95 and ’97) or how bad (’94, ’98, and ’99), you will never have to worry about car breaking down on you.

It is amazing how things in life sneak up on you. Sometimes you receive things because you earned them. On other occasions sometimes you receive things because you’re just damn lucky. To this day I still don’t know how the Mariners got that promotion (Safeco Field), but they did. I’m still convinced there were some back door shenanigans going on. In any case, with that promotion came a fat raise and that trusty Taurus was no longer needed. Can you imagine showing up to your new gig and parking a Ford Taurus in a spot designated for the VP? I know right. You know how it goes in the corporate world; you have to look like you have been there before. The Mariners traded in that dependable Taurus for a sleek and sexy Cadillac, Pat Gillick. We all know what happens when someone pulls up in a brand new Caddy. We collectively rise are thumbs up, let out a whistle, followed by the standard “she’s a real peach”. Okay so maybe I’m the only one that does that, but the Mariners all of a sudden became very dapper. The new standard of excellence, they became the envy of all their friends, and for good measure too. Hadn’t they Mariners paid their dues? Things were starting to look up for the Mariners. You had the sense that all the troubles of the past were in the rear view mirror.

You hear all the time how money changes people and the Mariners were no different. Just as quick as the Mariners popularity had begun to rise, it fell just as quick and even harder. There have been many variations to the story of what happened on that fateful night in the fall of ’03, but allegedly the Mariners had been drinking and gambling too hard with the Angels. You know how cocky, drunk people are? They feel like they are completely untouchable. Well, this turned out to be a little bit different than usual. Instead of the Mariners dominating everything, the Angels were taking advantage of the Mariners mistakes that night, and in one act of frustration and desperation the Mariners decided put that Cadillac up against a similar Ford Taurus (Bill Bavasi) the Angels still laying around in their back yard. That one solitary act of desperation changed the Mariners for the worst.

As I mentioned earlier, the best thing about a Ford Taurus is its dependability. Well, that all changes when that Taurus is ten years old and had been sitting for pasture. The spark plugs don’t fire off correctly, the transmissions timing is all out of whack. The car runs, but it’s nothing close to the reliability of the Cadillac. The problem with that particular Taurus was you had no idea if the damn thing would blow upon you or would not start for you. The sad part about that Taurus was all the parts were just too old. That mechanic, who knew how to make your last Taurus really go, moved his shop to Tampa. The Mariners all of a sudden became very irrational and spontaneous. They were stuck with an unreliable mode of transportation that constantly needed a tune up. They were throwing money at that car left and right. No matter much money they tried to throw at a problem, nothing got fixed.

That ten-year-old Taurus was the worst thing that ever happened to the Mariners. They knew it too, but unfortunately pride will never let the Mariners actually admit that out loud. In the fall of 2008 the Mariners had what alcoholics call “a moment of clarity”. They looked back at all their good times in the 1990’s and the early 2000’s, and realized a truth. It doesn’t matter what car you drive, all that’s important is if that car is reliable, dependable, and gets the job done. At that point the Taurus had broken down, so the Mariners hopped on a Metro bus and headed to a dealership and bought exactly that, a piece of solid American dependability; a Chevy truck, Jack Zdureincik.

In the end, reliability and dependability is exactly what I think will get the Mariners what they really desire, a World Series title. Knowing you have that steady rock behind the wheel, Eric Wedge, is important as well. Needing the direction and the ability to have the patience to see it though is so crucial nowadays. I think that the Mariners have learned their lessons. I don’t see them repeating the mistakes from their past. It would be too costly. Their reputation and credibility is so shot that repeating mistakes would bring a death sentence. Then again you never know with Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong running around. When something that resembles desperation creeps in, those two freak out and desperately try and fix things. The problem with that is they do it cheaply and we are left with a Pacer, or a Gremlin. Let’s hope those days are well behind us. Because if they aren’t, well, let’s just hope they are..

The Bill Bavasi years

By Kshell

I was searching through facebook tonight and stumbled upon a blog post that I had written on the Seattle Mariners fan application back in May of 2008. I have been debating on if I should just repost on here and after debating with myself I decided I will do that. Now this is all old news I'm aware and some of it applies to today. Now keep in mind this was from two years ago I would like to think I have grown as a writer in that time span. I'll add a thing at the bottom to update it. So here is my article from two years ago in May of 2008 titled "The Bavasi years".

I'm here to discuss the real root of the Mariners problem in 2008 and how it has plagued this franchise since 2004. That problem is, of course, General Manager Bill Bavasi, who took over the franchise before the 2004 season.

Before we discuss what happened while Bavasi was here, we have to look at the team he inherited. He had an older roster that had just produced four straight seasons of 90-plus wins. However, the team didn't make the playoffs the previous two seasons despite winning 93 games in each season. Hitting was blamed for missing the playoffs the previous two seasons so that’s what Bavasi's first concentration was going into his first off-season as the Mariners General Manager.

Bavasi, in his first off-season, made some terrible mistakes underestimating the importance of defense. First up, the Mariners decided they were tired of centerfielder Mike Cameron and his constant strikeouts. Despite Cameron’s Gold Glove they figured since Randy Winn had played centerfield that Cameron was expendable so he was let go. Cameron was replaced with Raul Ibanez who had torched the Mariners ever since the M's let him go after the 2000 season. Ibanez took left field and Winn moved to center.

Bavasi’s next move was to improve third base since Jeff Cirillo had worn out his welcome as a Mariner, so he signed a guy who was a big part of the Los Angeles Angels World Series championship team just two years earlier – Scott Spiezo. Spiezo received a three-year/$9-million deal. It wasn't just the money that raised eyebrows, it was the number of years since Spiezo was 31 years old at the time.

Then it was decided to trade Carlos Guillen as it was determined that Guillen wasn't working out in Seattle. Bavasi wanted more pop in our lineup so he signed Rich Aurillia. His fourth move was to give Eddie Guaradado a four-year/$16-million deal despite Guaradado being 33 years old at the time.

The results of these moves and other circumstances that he had no control over proved costly. First of all, all nine regular starters that the Mariners counted on were over the age of 30. Second, the team’s closing pitcher Kaz Sasaki decided to retired, but by doing so the Mariners got an extra $8 million to spend on possibly Ivan Rodriguez. However, the team chose not to sign the catcher as they had Dan Wilson and Ben Davis. Lastly, the team also chose not to sign Vlad Guerrero for $14 million a season despite him being the caliber of player who would normally sign for $20 million. To top it all off, this big bat would sign with the division rival Angels.

The results of his first year were disastrous. Instead of winning over 90 games, the team lost 99 games. The pitching staff, who had set a record the previous season as the only team to have all five guys start every game, was blown up. This was due in part to overachieving the year before and part because the outfield defense simply wasn't that good. In 2003, the core team of Winn/Cameron/Ichiro bought the Mariners four extra wins. Whereas in 2004, you saw Jamie Moyer’s ERA raise from 3.27 to 5.21, Franklin went from 3.57 to 4.90 and Shiggy rose from 1.48 to 5.16.

The results of the four guys he signed were mixed. Ibanez got hurt while still managing to produce good numbers in batting .302, 16 bombs and 62 RBIs but still didn’t meet expectations. Aurillia was a total disaster and was cut by June. His numbers were .241, 4 bombs and 28 RBIs while Carlos Guillen made the all-star team (he repeated his appearance in 2007). Scott Spiezo had a bad year as well and started the year off on the disabled list and would hit .215, 10 bombs with 41 RBIs. Closer Eddie Guaradado would end the year on the DL and end up having 18 saves with a 2.78 ERA.

During that same year the Mariners traded ace Freddy Garcia for three prospects (none have panned out thus far) and released Olerud and Aurillia. They also watched the face of the franchise, Edgar Martinez announce his retirement. The only good thing about 2004 was Ichiro breaking George Sisler's record with 262 hits in a year. The day after the season ended Bob Melvin was fired after just two years with the team.

The franchise, heading into the 2005 season, was at a crossroads. The torch was now passed to Ichiro as the new face and the club had to make an important decision. Should they try and win now so they don't lose a fan base that took so long to build or blow the team up with a chance to rebuild?

Bavasi intentionally chose to win now. He hired former Cleveland Indians manager Mike Hargrove with the thought of turning the Mariners into the Cleveland Indians of old. So in that off-season the Mariners ownership allowed Bavasi to spend some money. He spent over $110 million to bring in third baseman Adrian Beltre, who was coming off of 48 homeruns the year before and Richie Sexson, who is known for hitting long homeruns. To help improve the defense he also signed Pokey Reese at shortstop for a cool million. Reese was the Red Sox shortstop when they won the 2004 World Series 2004 – their first win since 1918. The only pitching signing he made was for former Mariner Aaron Sele. The Mariners also moved Randy Winn back to left field and Jeremy Reed, who was the big prospect in the Garcia trade, was the new starting centerfielder. Raul Ibanez became the designated hitter, which he should have been all along.

So with these moves you would think the Mariners had improved. Well, only slightly. The team wound up losing 93 games. So, for those scoring at home, we had four straight seasons of 90+ wins followed by back-to-back seasons of 90+ losses. A complete turnaround.

During the year the Mariners realized having an outfield with a combined 24 homeruns (15 by Ichiro alone) just wasn't going to get the job done so the club decided to trade Randy Winn for two new prospects who didn't pan out. They traded Ron Villone for prospects that didn't pan out and they also traded Miguel Olivo who was a big part of the Garcia Trade. Olivo was hitting .151 with 5 HRs and 18 RBIs. He became expendable when the team drafted Jeff Clement, a catcher out of USC who was the third overall pick in the draft. The team also saw the decline of Brett Boone during the season and he was released. The team got some excitement in August when they called up young phenom Felix Hernandez. Felix did not disappoint, going 4-4 with a 2.67 ERA in 12 starts that year, averaging seven innings a start.

So how did the new guys work out, you ask? Richie Sexson was the big surprise. Many said Bavasi paid too much for Sexson and gave him too long of a contract, but after 2005 it was hard to argue with Bavasi’s decision after Sexson hit .263 with 39 HRs and 121 RBIs.

Beltre - the fans were hard on him and it took a while for him to get going. He was wearing the bust label hitting .255 with 19 HR's and 87 RBI's. Pokey Reese got hurt in spring training and never played a game for the team. The Mariners first called up Mike Morse and then Yuniesky Betancourt to take over at shortstop, along with Jose Lopez to replace Brett Boone. Scott Spiezo would be released and the Mariners would still owe him $6 million after he went 3 for 47 on the year and had just 1 RBI.

Aaron Sele would go 6-12 with an ERA of 5.66 and was released in June. Rookie sensation Jeremy Reed wasn't the rookie of the year candidate we all thought he would turn out to be. He ended a disappointing season hitting .254 with 3 HRs and 45 RBIs.

The Mariners tried the youth movement during the year. J.J. Putz became the setup man after going 6-5 with a 3.60 ERA. Jose Lopez was now the second baseman and Betancourt became shortstop. Ibanez was moved back to the outfield, which was a huge mistake by the organization. To improve next season, the Mariners would need a catcher, a DH and some starting pitching.

In that off-season the Mariners signed Japanese catcher Kenji Johjima to be the stop gap for when Clement would finally be ready. For starting pitching they gave Jarrod Washburn, who had gone just 8-8 the year before, a four-year/$36 million deal because they figured he would work out in Safeco and that it would hurt the Angels, his former team and Mariners rival. The Mariners pass up on Frank Thomas at DH because he is a righty and went for the controversial switch hitter Carl Everett. The Everett signing proved to be a lot worse than we ever thought it could be. Meanwhile, Thomas would hit .270, hit 39 HRs and drive in 114 RBIs for division rival Oakland A's that same season.

This roster did go from being extremely old to being extremely young. The team early on decided that Felix Hernandez would be on a pitch count and start off as the No. 5 starter. Felix didn't respond well to that, starting the year 0-4 and finishing 12-14 with a 4.52 ERA. The Mariners overcame a closer's controversy as well when everyday Eddie could no longer get the job done. By July Eddie (1-3, 5.48 ERA, only 5 saves) was traded. Everett was a flop and was released and that forced the Mariners to trade young second base prospect Absubual Cabera to the Indians for right handed DH Eduadado Perez. The Mariners two weeks later traded prospect Sin Soo-Choo to the Indians for Ben Broussard. Jeremy Reed got injured in June and was out for the year. He wasn't hitting much as he hit just .217 with 6 HR's and a measly 17 RBI's. The call up Adam Jones wasn't much better as he wasn't ready in 2006 hitting .216 with 1 homer and 8 RBIs. The team was in contention until August when they went on a 13 game losing streak and it was mostly on the road to our divisional rivals Texas, Oakland and Anaheim. Jamie Moyer the other face of the franchise was also traded for prospects that haven't panned out yet. For those scoring at home we haven't traded one vet where we have received a prospect who has panned out.

The team did improve behind a lights out bullpen that featured J.J. Putz (4-1, 2.30 ERA, 36 saves) closing and George Sherril (2-4, 4.28 ERA) and Rafael Soriano (1-2, 2.25 ERA) setting him up along with Mark Lowe (1-0, 1.93 ERA). The Mariners would go from winning 69 games to winning 78 games but for the 3rd straight year they were in last place in their division.

The Bavasi moves didn't produce at all. Carl Everett hit .227, 11 bombs, 33 RBIs. Perez hit .195 with 1 HR and 11 RBIs and Ben Broussard hit .238 with eight bombs, 17 RBI’s. Jarrod Washburn went 8-14 with a 4.67 ERA. The bright spot was new catcher Kenji Johjima hitting .291 with 18 homeruns and 76 RBIs.

The team already traded Moyer and let Pineiro and Meche walk. Bavasi had to find a way to find three starting pitchers to add to his staff. The team decided to move Ichiro to center as it would be easier to find a RF than CF. The Mariners were also in need for a DH. The club felt they realistically could compete. The fans and ownership were also growing tired of Bavasi and Hargrove so Bavasi knew he had to win in 2007 or he could be fired. Therefore, he made some panic trades that are hurting this team today.

They wanted a "professional hitter" so they traded two prospects and inherited Jose Vidro's 2 year/$18 million contract which has a stipulation in it where if he gets 400 AB's in 2008 he can come back in 2009 for $10 million. Given Vidro's age, past injuries and lack of power, the move didn't make much sense. Unfortunately, this wasn't even his worst move. The next move came when Bavasi figured our bullpen was so deep that we could trade Rafael Soriano to the Atlanta Braves for left-handed starter Horacio Ramirez. He then signed 36-year-old Miguel Batista to a 3-year/$26 million contract. The one bright spot in the off-season was signing controversial Jose Guillen to a 1-year/$5 million dollar deal. He then signed Chris Reitsma to replace Soriano as the right-handed set up man. The Mariners were still one starter short in the eyes of Bill Bavasi so he decided to sign World Series hero Jeff Weaver to a 1-year/$9 million deal. He also turned down a Richie Sexson for Tim Hudson (In 2007 went 16-10, 3.33 era) that off-season. That move would prove costly.

The team’s payroll broke over $100 million for the first time.

The 2007 team overachieved and won 88 games. Just two years ago, they had won just 69 games. The club had improved 19 wins in just two years. The moves that Bavasi made hurt the team that season and in the end. During the season manager, Mike Hargrove resigned during an eight-game winning streak. The team was 45-33 when Hargrove decided to step down. Bench coach John McLaren took over as manager. McLaren was brought over just in case if the team wanted to fire Hargrove. McLaren would finish the year going 43-41. For those scoring at home that's three different managers in the same span of one GM.

According to the Pythagorean W-L, the team should have gone 79-83 as the team was outscored on the season 813-794. The team was anchored by a strong bullpen and a team who hit for a good average. The team also squandered the year by bowing down to the veterans. The team refused to bench Richie Sexson despite Sexson hitting .205 with 21 HRs and 63 RBIs. The team refused to call up Adam Jones until late July, despite him tearing up Triple A. The team also stuck with Horacio Ramirez until September.

The results of the off-season were mixed. The hitting you would say was a good off-season. Jose Guillen would end up being the No. 3 hitter and would hit .290 with 23 HRs with 99 RBIs. Jose Vidro had a comeback year hitting .314 but had just 6 HR's and 59 RBIs.

The pitching moves, unfortunately, were horrible. Let’s start with the good, which was Miguel Batista who went 16-11 with a 4.29 ERA. Now it’s on to the bad with Horacio Ramirez who made 20 starts, pitched just 98 innings, and went 8-7 with an ERA of 7.16. Jeff Weaver went 7-13 with a 6.20 ERA. Chris Reitsma went 0-2 with a 7.61 ERA. Other veteran arms came in and were just as unproductive. Rick White was 0-1 with an 8.44 ERA, Lance Parish had a 6.97 ERA, and Jason Davis had a 6.31 ERA.

The team was in contention until the last weekend in August when the Mariners lost 17 out of 19 games to fall out of contention. The bullpen finally wore down after having to log so many innings. The pen was the strong point of the team with Putz (6-1, 40 saves, 1.38 ERA) closing it down and was set up by George Sherril (2-0, 2.36 ERA). Righty Brandon Morrow, who was the fourth overall pick in the 2006 draft, was forced to be in the bullpen and not start because of the Soriano trade. Morrow turned out to be a great success but struggled a bit down the stretch. He still wound up 3-4 with a 4.12 ERA. Sean Green went 5-2 with a 3.84 ERA. Second lefty Eric O'Flaherty went 7-1 with a 4.47 ERA.

The Bullpen was the strength and the hitting on paper last year minus Sexson's disaster year was good as well. The one weakness was starting pitching. Instead of looking at his team as a 79-win team and having to do more to improve it, Bavasi saw this team as an 88-win team and saw that Mariners had to replace both Horam and Dream Weaver who failed miserably in Seattle. The first decision was to let Jose Guillen walk as Adam Jones was going to replace him in right and get his chance. The other move was to trade Ben Broussard so he could start. The club figured Richie Sexson would bounce back.

Therefore, in Bavasi's eyes we were two starting pitchers away from being a playoff team. He signed Carlos Silva to a 4 year/48 million contract despite Silva going 13-14 last year. His next move was a big move. He traded for Baltimore Orioles Ace Erik Bedard. Bedard went 13-5 last year with a 3.16 ERA. The Mariners gave up a ton to get Bedard though. They gave up their every day right fielder in Adam Jones, top setup man George Sherril and three prospects for the ace. Then the Mariners only other moves were signing veteran RF Brad Wilkerson despite Wilkerson hitting just .234 last year and bench hitter Miguel Cairo. Bavasi improved the starting staff but ignored improving the bench, improving first base, and improving the outfield defense. Another thing was he didn’t replace Jose Guillen's production or George Sherril's.

The season so far with the two pitchers mentioned have been fabulous. Bedard is 2-1 with a 1.76 ERA and Silva is 3-0 with a 2.79 ERA. O'Flaherty, who was supposed to replace Sheril, was sent to double A after the first week when he went 0-1 with a 20.25 ERA. Wilkerson has been released after hitting .232 with zero homeruns and just five RBIs. The Pitching has been good but Bavasi ignored the hitting and bullpen. He didn't realize he really had a 79-win team instead of an 88 team.

As you can see Bavasi has made numerous bad signings, bad trades and we haven't had any success under his years. He inherited a tough situation but he made the situation even worse with his bad moves. I have a feeling the Bavasi years won't have a happy ending either.

Instead of firing McLaren and getting our fourth manager during Bavasi’s tenure, I think it is time for the Mariners owners to hold Bavasi accountable for his actions. Imagine this team if we had kept Soriano and kept Cabera as trade bait so we could have possibly kept Jones or use Cabera to trade for a good stick. Imagine if we had signed Vlad when we had the chance. Bavasi has made many mistakes and not one by itself has killed us but all of them together is why we are in the mess we are in. It’s time to trade for a stick which is scary because Bavasi always pays too much for what we need. Bavasi despite a high payroll the last 4 seasons has yet to build a playoff team and hopefully his time in Seattle is running out.

Fast forward two years and not much has changed at all. In fact we are still having the same type of problems that hurt the franchise. Like trading Brandon Morrow away and then him pitching a one hitter and striking out 17 batters. That 2008 season ended with 100 losses and after a great turnaround in 2009 came 2010 losing over 100 games. Funny to think as of May 11,2008 Carlos Silva was doing that well. He was a total bust for the Mariners as was Erik Bedard.

The real root of the problem I should have focused on was Chuck Armstrong and Howard Lincoln. After all they are the ones who keep hiring and then firing manager after manager. They are hiring and then firing general manager after general manager. Bavasi deserves a ton of blame but the failures of the Mariners in 2010 proves the problems were much deeper than Bavasi. Jack Zduriencik has found himself making some mistakes after much praise for 2009. Well all hope Jack is the guy but he was also hired by the same knuckleheads who hired the previous failed general manager.

At the end of the day I missed the real problem two years ago. Bavasi was a huge part of the Mariners problem but unless Lincoln and Armstrong are no longer associated with the Mariners look for them to be failures for a while. I have a feeling I'll be writing about a new general manager this time next year. I won't be excited one bit because I'll know they were hired by Lincoln and Armstron.