I Told You So: Losing All Part of M's Plan

A lot of panic in Marinerland today. Three losses to division leading Texas; two more blown saves by Brandon Morrow. Mariner blogs are in flames. For most of the past month, many writers here and everywhere proclaimed the M's to be a contender. Heck, even national sages like Ken Rosenthal posted last week that the M's won't be sellers.

Not me.

The tide bobs up and down, but I, The Doubter, keep telling you, "75 wins." The plan was never to win this year. Honestly, the plan doesn't include contending in the year 2010. This year is about:

1. Seeing who can play (Gutierrez, Lopez, Morrow, and a few of the relievers)
2. Restocking the farm system through the draft
3. Making trades to increase overall talent (The July 31 Trading Deadline)
4. Developing the kids already on the farm (Raben, Saunders, Carp, Tui, etc.).
5. Shedding payroll

It would have been nice (but a pipe dream) to contend. However, contending would've complicated Jack Z's plan and might have been a public relations disaster. The M's would have to consider foregoing potential trades in order to stay competitive. While no one wants to lose, I am sure that Jack Z isn't that upset that the M's will probably be 10-20 games under by August.

It was fool's gold that the M's were contenders in the 2007 season. As a result, management made one of the worst trades in franchise history serving up Adam Jones (top 10 hitter in the AL and possible All-Star) + George Sherill (All-Star closer) + 3 high ceiling pitching prospects in exchange for malcontent loser Erik Bedard. The M's will regret that deal for the next 15 years. How much better would the M's be if they hadn't performed surprisingly well in 2007?

This time, let's build something right. Let's trust Jack Z to go out and build the core of a winning team. Remember the M's in the mid 1990s? A lineup that featured monster hitters like: Griffey, Buhner, Martinez, Tino, Blowers, Wilson and Cora (and A-Rod for a little while). We need to get back to that model.

So, rather than have any expectations or hard feelings, let's just enjoy summertime baseball with the knowledge that we aren't on a train to nowhere like last time. This time, we're going to play Moneyball and build our club around:
* Starting pitching
* Young hitters
* Philosophy of patience and OBP
* Cheap bullpen help (high-priced closers are overrated)
* Assets, assets, assets

Patience. It's all part of the plan.