Former GM Bill Bavasi's trade for starting pitcher Erik Bedard might very well turn out to be the very worst deal in Mariner history. All apologies to fellow idiot ex-GM Woody Woodward's soul-crushing Slocumb-Varitek/Lowe deal.
With the Birds and budding superstar center fielder Adam Jones just leaving Safeco Field, it's not hard to imagine new Mariner management shaking their heads in disgust. Jack Z must have been cursing Bavasi with every Jones at bat this week.
Mariner fans see Jones's batting average (345), RBI's (36), HR's (11), Runs (42), and slugging percentage topping .600 and want to stab themselves with the closest sharp object.
The problem was the Bavasi-led M's front office didn't see it and gave up on one of their best prospects to play in their system. Just another debacle we fans call Mariner talent evaluation.
I will admit I too thought Jones was overrated. But I don't have 20-plus years of experience evaluating talent, and earning a good paycheck to make those decisions. How could the Mariner front office give up on Jones that early? He's only 24 years old!!!
The Mariners were expecting to get an ace in Bedard, who is finally pitching like person the the team traded for. But it's too late. Bedard will get traded before the deadline (for someone not as good as Jones), and the M's will be left without a stud center fielder that will dominate the game for the next decade. And for what? An injury-plagued 2008 and a couple solid months in 'o9 from Bedard.
What a blunder! What a shame! What an embarrasement from an organization that hasn't won a championship, even in a 116 win season.
Please Jack Z, we can't take this anymore, give this franchise a winning strategy.
Showing posts with label bill bavasi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bill bavasi. Show all posts
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Monday Morning Musing, June 1
Before we get to musing, let me just say, welcome to Wetland Sports where will we be waxing on and waxing off about all things Seattle sports related and also random other topics that we feel you should be reading or thinking about.
Quick note on the name Wetland Sports. While the city of Seattle does indeed have several designated "wetlands," we took the name from an old Source of Labor song called "wetlands," which is about the city's diveristy, dynamics and, of course, overall wetness. The place is not only surrounded by both bodies of fresh and salt water, but it's also saturated with rain 93% of the time. (Ok, that last one is a myth, but we Seattleites don't want other people to know about it is. Shhh. Stay away from our quaint fishing village in the middle of nowhere. Nothing to see, or do, here.)
And we just thought it sounded cool. So, enjoy. Here's what we're thinking about this first Monday morning of June.
-What the hell happened to the Mariners yesterday? We scored more runs in one game than we do in a typical week and still can't get the job done. Beat writer Geoff Baker melodramatically called the loss "crippling." I'd call it predictable. The bullpen is burnt and our closer is a guy, David Aardsma, the Red Sox weren't interested in keeping around despite mid-90s smoke.
I tried telling a Boston friend of mine the other day that this isn't the wicked pissah of a reliever Beantown fans were used to. The new Aardsma is an aggressive strike-thrower with big balls. He wants the rock in his hand at the end of games, I told him. He laughed and said, "All I know is that if David Aardsma is your closer, you've got problems." How sad and how true. Ladies and gentleman, your 2009 Seattle Mariners!
-Meanwhile, Don "Magic" Wak thinks Morrow is making progress despite giving up two more runs on Saturday night. Dude has an ERA that looks more like Dwight Howard's nightly rebounding average. With Giants starter Tim Lincecum continuing to dominate big league hitters, Morrow is in danger of becoming our own personal Sam Bowie -- a pick that looked reasonable on paper, but only gets worse over time.
-Which reminds me: Bill Bavasi is pure evil. Only Joseph Stalin and Robert Mugabe have done more damage as leaders.
-Still, M's did manage to take 3 of the last 4 and are just three games under .500. I think 81 wins is still attainable.
-Griffey!!! Don't do this to us.
-Somebody please explain to me why they haven't brought up Jeff Clement. The guy's killing AAA pitching again. He's never going to get better unless he's facing big league breaking stuff on a consistent basis. I know he's been mostly DH-ing with the Rainiers, but seriously, our catchers, on offense at least, are now as worthless as GM stock.
-Speaking of bankruptcy, the Seahawks need to find a place for poor old Michael Vick. I still think he can re-invent himself as full-time RB, but the possibilities are endless -- think Kordell Stewart with more speed, moves, a better arm and less estrogen. We'll just have to keep him out of that hotbed of canine combat temptation known as White Center.
-The Sounders tied on Saturday for the 15th game in a row. Not really, but it kind of seems that way, right? To help us sort out all things Sounders related, we're going to be bringing in some reinforcements to Wetland Sports. Starting sometime this week, or next, we'll have a semi-full-time Sounders correspondent/commentator/fanatic on the blog.
On June 20, the boys in fluorescent lime green come to New York, actually New Jersey, for a match the Red Bulls.
In preparation, I've already begun purchasing fluorescent green body paint, several bottles of whiskey, a cheesy Italian-American track suit and, of course, body bags just in case we get into it with some Jersey boys and need to quietly dump the evidence in a swamp. Heeyy, Ohhh!Fuggetaboutit!
Quick note on the name Wetland Sports. While the city of Seattle does indeed have several designated "wetlands," we took the name from an old Source of Labor song called "wetlands," which is about the city's diveristy, dynamics and, of course, overall wetness. The place is not only surrounded by both bodies of fresh and salt water, but it's also saturated with rain 93% of the time. (Ok, that last one is a myth, but we Seattleites don't want other people to know about it is. Shhh. Stay away from our quaint fishing village in the middle of nowhere. Nothing to see, or do, here.)
And we just thought it sounded cool. So, enjoy. Here's what we're thinking about this first Monday morning of June.
-What the hell happened to the Mariners yesterday? We scored more runs in one game than we do in a typical week and still can't get the job done. Beat writer Geoff Baker melodramatically called the loss "crippling." I'd call it predictable. The bullpen is burnt and our closer is a guy, David Aardsma, the Red Sox weren't interested in keeping around despite mid-90s smoke.
I tried telling a Boston friend of mine the other day that this isn't the wicked pissah of a reliever Beantown fans were used to. The new Aardsma is an aggressive strike-thrower with big balls. He wants the rock in his hand at the end of games, I told him. He laughed and said, "All I know is that if David Aardsma is your closer, you've got problems." How sad and how true. Ladies and gentleman, your 2009 Seattle Mariners!
-Meanwhile, Don "Magic" Wak thinks Morrow is making progress despite giving up two more runs on Saturday night. Dude has an ERA that looks more like Dwight Howard's nightly rebounding average. With Giants starter Tim Lincecum continuing to dominate big league hitters, Morrow is in danger of becoming our own personal Sam Bowie -- a pick that looked reasonable on paper, but only gets worse over time.
-Which reminds me: Bill Bavasi is pure evil. Only Joseph Stalin and Robert Mugabe have done more damage as leaders.
-Still, M's did manage to take 3 of the last 4 and are just three games under .500. I think 81 wins is still attainable.
-Griffey!!! Don't do this to us.
-Somebody please explain to me why they haven't brought up Jeff Clement. The guy's killing AAA pitching again. He's never going to get better unless he's facing big league breaking stuff on a consistent basis. I know he's been mostly DH-ing with the Rainiers, but seriously, our catchers, on offense at least, are now as worthless as GM stock.
-Speaking of bankruptcy, the Seahawks need to find a place for poor old Michael Vick. I still think he can re-invent himself as full-time RB, but the possibilities are endless -- think Kordell Stewart with more speed, moves, a better arm and less estrogen. We'll just have to keep him out of that hotbed of canine combat temptation known as White Center.
-The Sounders tied on Saturday for the 15th game in a row. Not really, but it kind of seems that way, right? To help us sort out all things Sounders related, we're going to be bringing in some reinforcements to Wetland Sports. Starting sometime this week, or next, we'll have a semi-full-time Sounders correspondent/commentator/fanatic on the blog.
On June 20, the boys in fluorescent lime green come to New York, actually New Jersey, for a match the Red Bulls.
In preparation, I've already begun purchasing fluorescent green body paint, several bottles of whiskey, a cheesy Italian-American track suit and, of course, body bags just in case we get into it with some Jersey boys and need to quietly dump the evidence in a swamp. Heeyy, Ohhh!Fuggetaboutit!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
