If that isn't a word, it wought to be, because it's the best way to describe the 2008 Seattle Mariners: worse-er than expected, worse-er than considered, worse-er than anyone, worse-er than ever before.
This Seattle club is perhaps the worst Mariner club in the team's history. The roster is chock full of talentless has-beens (Jose Vidro), skilled once-was players (Adrian Beltre, Jarrod Washburn), unmitigatedd disasters (Richie Sexson, Miguel Batista, Carlos Silva), and and players with little or no visible or definitive future with the team (Miguel Cairo, Erik Bedard, Kenji Johjima). Even the perennial All-Star Ichiro Suzuki is performing well below his career averages and not putting up the numbers we have all come to expect.
In 2007, Seattle won 88 games, and no one in baseball knows how or why. They were outscored by 50+ runs for the season, weren't a particularly sound club (solid defensively and lucky at the plate, but very inconsistent across the board), and had a starting first baseman for 3/4 of the season who was battling to keep his batting average above the Mendoza line, something that ought to be a no-brainer for an MLB-caliber player. They were the over-performing darlings of the American League until an ill-fated nine-game losing streak dashed their early hopes for a potential postseaosn berth. Amidst that up and down season, Manager (at the time) Mike Hargrove resigned unexpectedly, thus leaving the team in a virtual state of "what the hell do we do now?"
Well, now that we are in the post-Bavasi/McLaren era (sorry, but Jeff Pentland's dismissal as hitting coach was window dressing from Bavasi, and nothing more), what is it about the people in place as interim GM (Lee Pelekoudas) and interim Manager (Jim Riggleman) that leads any of us to believe for even a second that anything will be any different now than for the first 70-ish games of 2008? Well, nothing, actually.
The roster, inexplicably, remains instact. Perhaps Pelekoudas is hoping Sexson and Beltre, both of whom had their only good years in the National League, will step it up a notch during interleague play in order to make them at least mildly attractive to clubs looking to bolster their lineups. However, Beltre hasn't played for two days now with a "bruised" index finger - I'm sorry, but if you can't play through a "bruise", then why are you making $13.4 million per season? - and Sexson is 5-for-26 with no extra base hits, no runs batted in, no runs scored, and eight strikeouts since the start of interleague play (six games). His last RBIs were on June 6th against the Red Sox. Not exactly the advertisement Pelekoudas was hoping for, I'm sure.
The re-emergence of Jarrod Washburn's consistency has been good to see - in his four June starts, Washburn has logged 23 innings and a 3.13 ERA, a vast improvement over his May numbers (5 APP, 20.1 IP, 28 H, 9.30 ERA). Nonetheless, his June performance has been mostly for naught, as the M's are 1-3 in his appearances this month.
Miguel Batista, to me, is the stangest circumstance on the roster, however. As bad as Richie Sexson has been since opening day, Batista has been a walking nightmare for M's fans. In seven June appearances, he's managed a 7.43 ERA, 2.03 WHIP, 13.1 IP (including two starts), and 13 walks. This from a guy that won 16 games in 2007 and earns $19 million for 2008 and 2009. His best month was April, when he put up numbers that should have resulted in his release: six appearances, five starts, 25.2 IP, 1.83 WHIP, 5.26 ERA, and a 15:18 BB:K ratio. His performance has been nothing short of horrible all season, and with the exception of three starts and a couple relief appearances, Batista has been a terrrible hindrance to this franchise.
Erik Bedard, the pre-season "ace" of the staff, has been fragile (3 missed starts, one DL stint) and not nearly as durable as advertised (70.1 IP in 13 starts). Now, he hasn't been bad - his 3.97 ERA is good for 2nd among all the starters, and he has managed 63 strikeouts in those 70.1 innings - but his on-field demeanor and refusal to work with Kenji Johjima, the team's every-day backstop until Jeff Clement was promoted from AAA, severely limit the benefit he brings to the team. As testament to that reality, the M's are reportedly shopping the lefty to NL teams in an effort to rid themselves of a player many perceive to be a cancer. Wouldn't George Sherrill and Adam Jones look great in M's unforms right about now?
And now we come to the coup-de-grace of the Mariners' roster, the aforementioned Richie Sexson. Sexson spent most of this past winter working with M's hitting instructors to help plug some of the holes in his swing that became glaringly obvious during the 2007 campaign, during which he logged a .205 BA/.295 OBP/.399 SLG in 434 at-bats and managed to fight his way to his 8th consecutive 100+ strikeout season (not including 2004, an injury-shortened season for the 6'-8" slugger). 2008 hasn't been any better, as his .213/.298/.370 line instills fear in some of the local little league pitchers. Well, some of them, at least. His $14.5 million pricetag for '08 is unfathomable, and no one on the roster has been less productive and less helpful to the team than Sexson. It's a wonder Seattle hasn't simply released him and rid themselves of the poster child for their 2008 woes, eating his salary in an effort to show the local fans and media that such poor performances do not go unjustifiably un-punished.
This club - the entire franchise, including the minor league system - is completely devoid of any leadership or immediate help waiting to happen. We will see a lot of different lineups from Manager Jim Riggleman, and some roster moves are undoubtedly coming in the near future, but no help exists for salvaging any respectability for 2008 and very little exists within the organization for any level of promise for 2009 being an improved year. We could very well be witnessing the first of 2 or 3 consecutive 90+ loss seasons for this team, and while we all have high hopes for the likes of the young players that are surely going to see significant playing time this year, the cupboard is relatively bare for the forseeable future.
Lee Pelekoudas has inherited a franchise in complete disarray. Jim Riggleman is in the midst of the most unmotivated and undriven group of players he's ever had to coach. VP Chuck Armstrong has to be feeling the heat from CEO Howard Lincoln.
The hole this team is in is very deep with very few options for escape. Only through very careful planning, exceptional patience, and unbelievable fortune will the Mariners find themselves competing for division titles and playoff berths by 2011.
The owners need to take Lincoln and Armstrong and put them on the unemployment line with Bavasi and Mac. I feel Mac got a bum deal due to the team that Bavasi put together, but that is the business. I agree totally with what you have said in you article. We are in trouble for a couple of years.
The problem with some GMs is they believe they are better than they really are. The Mariners are an example. They seem to have believed that the 88 wins were what they were rather than a team that was much worse than that. In believing that they traded for the "ace" they believed would put them over the top. Unfortunately Bedard is the real deal. At least not in Seattle. He will probably make someone a nice three or four and once the title of ace is removed will pitch much better. That sound Mariner fans hear is Ichiro asking in Japanese what kind of #### have they surrounded me with. He may want to take his act on to a different team. The Mariners took players that may have helped them get better and sent them to Baltimore where they have already helped the Orioles get better. As bad as it looks now it will get worse before it gets better. It may take as many as five years if not more before the Mariners get back on track. Good luck with that Mfans.
The year Mr. Lincoln became involved with the M's he made comments that amounted to saying that nobody, not even a superstar was going to get market value for their performance in Seattle.
So every free agent in all of baseball decided the only reason they would come to Seattle is if it was their last chance to sign with somebody.
That means top free agents were never going to come to Seattle.
Home grown superstars a-rod and Griffey, and developed superstar randy left town for better things.
That left Seattle with the problem of reloading, and after trading future talent Veritek to Boston, and one shot wonders that had their best year somewhere else, Estes and others.
Next Seattle passed on midrange no name free agents who would have gladly signed for $2.5 million a year, but Seattle didn't want to pay that, so they went somewhere else and continued to have winning seasons and some even beat Seattle several times, that left Seattle with a problem.
They had to sign somebody to fill the holes and that left washed up players for $10 million a year.
I hope Mr. Lincoln changes the business model to go after successful mid-range free agents who are still in their prime, and leave to diminishing free agents and the free agents who never had a winning season alone. Name to remember Dan Gladden, helped the Twins win a World Series for $1 million a year, which is like $3 million now roughly.
I'm just your average sports nut, I suppose. Of course I'm a bit of a homer - the Mariners, Seahawks, and Huskies are my teams - but I stick with my boys down the stretch, through thick and thin.
What can the Mariners do to rebound from their worst season in twent years? Will Erik Bedard recover in time for the 2009 season? Ryan Rowland-Smith and Brandon Morrow look to make the transition from the bullpen to the starting rotation, so can they combine with Felix to create a young and effective 1-2-3 tandem? How will the M's new front office guru fare - will Chuckie and Howie be able to stay "hands off" long enough for the new VP/GM to accomplish anything positive? Can the Seahawks recover from their early-season woes and rebound for a fifth straight NFC West title? How will the team handle the transition from Mike Holmgren's regime to the ways of Jim Mora Jr? Can the Hawks' defense stop anyone? Can the offense put up more than 200 yards?
Any of you folks out there interested in healthy and creative debate about anything, feel free to speak up!
