Friday, November 30, 2012

Hot Topic Break: Seattle Mariners General Manager


General Manager: Jack Zduriencik

Since the baseball winter meetings are starting Monday I would like to detour from my position by position look at the Seattle Mariners and talk about Jack Zduriencik. There was a good article written on him by Jason Churchill the other day and I would like to follow up with a few things as well.

I don’t need to rehash all of his trades and free agent signings. They are all well documented. Some worked and some didn’t. For this post I would like to focus more on what kind of job it is to be the GM of the Seattle Mariners and not past transactions made by the Mariners.  Would a lot of people jump at the chance to be a major league GM? You bet. There are only 30 of those jobs in the world. But within those jobs, being the Seattle Mariners GM has to be one to the toughest in the league. While we enjoy a nice city and a beautiful ballpark, all be it one that hitters hate, it’s just difficult to get players to sign with the Mariners. I remember years ago when Hugh Millen said that Seattle just isn’t high on the list of young athletes to sign with. There are more exciting cities out there for these players to go to, he said. And I believe that. Seattle is tucked away up in the NW corner of the country, making travel the most of any major league team. And as we are all painfully aware of, we have been a losing franchise, save for a couple of playoff appearances. The ballpark has been a hindrance in trying to sign free agent hitters. I tend to believe the players that have actually played at Safeco and an overwhelming majority have said they do not like to hit here. Believe that or not but it’s the truth. Hopefully the new dimensions of the ballpark with help in this regard.   

Now, can we get good free agents to play in Seattle? Sure you can. I am just saying it is very difficult. Pat Gillick had great success signing FA’s which helped tremendously with our most successful run as a franchise from 2001-2003. Gillick by the way still lives in the Seattle area and has stated he would be interested in becoming the President of a Major League team. Gillick and Zduriencik would form a great team. But do we take advantage that? No, we prefer to keep a guy that has been just receiving a paycheck for like 25 years in our organization. In addition, can you imagine if someone like Bill Bavasi was our GM when Griffey pouted his way out of town the first time? We would have gotten a AA second baseman in the deal if he was in charge. Thank god we had Gillick at that time.

Anyway, back to GM Jack. I think this is the first year that it’s all on Zduriencik to make the Mariners a winner again. In addition to the inherited disadvantages of being the GM in Seattle, he had been hand cuffed with the wasted 18 million a year contract for our singles hitting Right Fielder the last 4 years. Not only did he take up a power position but he took up a bulk of our payroll. Now both are available for Jack to use.
GM Jack said he does have some payroll flexibility for free agents but also talked up the younger players on the team and in our organization. Basically saying he is looking aggressively at the free agent market but also hedging his bets just in case he doesn’t make a big splash. But he has to talk like that because it is difficult to get players to sign here. People say, why we don’t sign Nick Swisher and Zack Greinke. Well, it doesn’t work like that, especially in Seattle. I know people don’t like to hear that excuse but unfortunately it’s not an excuse, it’s a fact. I believe GM Z will do all he can to sign an impactful free agent this winter but “at the end of the day” to take one of Jacks favorite quotes, the player has to want to come to Seattle.  

I have been a Mariners fan since they started and I too get frustrated with our team and the organization just like the next guy but I try and put myself in the GM’s shoes and be open minded about what he is trying to do and more importantly what he is “able” to do. Now with that said, it is time for GM Jack to earn his money. Let’s hope he can get something done to make us proud and excited for Mariners baseball again!         

Article By:

Cecil
Cecil's Corner   

Friday, November 16, 2012

Our continued look at the Mariners position by position. Today: Shortstop


Shortstop:

I am looking forward to writing this post because as a former mediocre college Shortstop I have a passion for the position. But at the same time I don’t regard the position as a top priority when building a major league team. 

Many people say that Shortstop is one of the most difficult positions to fill. Well, I both agree and disagree.  Yes, finding a great SS is very difficult. There are very few Alex Rodríguez type SS’s out there. And if you have one, then you thank your lucky stars because they only come around perhaps every 25 years or so. But finding a decent SS is not that difficult. There are a lot of guys out there that can field the position well and according to many people that is the most important thing for a SS to do. I’m sure you have heard of the saying, “If you shake a tree a 1000 gloves fall out but only 1 bat”. Well that is the theory here. You can get away with a light hitting Short Stop but you can’t get by with light hitters in more traditional power positions as we have witnessed for the last 12 years in Right Field.  

This brings us to Brendan Ryan. He has solicited a great deal of debate amongst Mariner fans this year. I have never seen a #9 hitter garner so much attention. Let’s go over a few of the facts. First, he is cheap, only costing about 1.7M this year and probably around 2.5-3M next year thru arbitration. Second, he is one of the best if not the best fielding SS in baseball. Third, he can’t hit well, which is why he bats 9th.  That's not bad for the cost and contribution he makes defensively.

The problem this year was not Brendan Ryan. If you are relying on your #9 hitter to be a major contributor offensively then you have more problems than you think. Yes, it would have been nice if he could have hit at least .250, which he is capable of, but he basically played to his ability and for a cheap price. No, the problem this year was the disappointing seasons from the hitters that we were relying on to hit in the middle of our lineup like Justin Smoak, Dustin Ackley and Mike Carp etc. If these guys would have hit anywhere near what they are capable of the Mariners would have won a lot more games.

So when it comes to pointing fingers as to why the Mariners failed so badly offensively this year let’s at least point them at the correct players. In my opinion, we should sign Ryan to a one year deal and hope that someone can develop in the minors this year that will be ready to take over at Shortstop after next year. If not, then I wouldn’t be opposed to signing Ryan again, at the right price. In my opinion when a Shortstop's salary gets too high, you get rid of them and find another good fielding SS that doesn't cost too much, unless again if you have a Tulowitzki type player.      

While we are on the subject of Shortstops I would like to touch a little on how I would build a team. Most people say you build up the middle, meaning Catcher, ShortStop, Second Base and Center Field.  I look at it a little differently. I think you build a stronger team from the outside in. Meaning First Base, Third Base, Left Field and Right Field. I can find decent players to fill the positions up the middle at reasonable prices more easily than I can fill the coveted and more important power positions. Again, if a Ken Griffey Jr. or a Robinson Cano fall your way, then again, thank your lucky stars and you can get by with a David Bell at Third Base. But there aren’t too many lucky stars out there so you better build your team correctly and allocate your money accordingly.

Power hitters and front of the rotation pitchers are the most difficult things to find in baseball. Therefore, those are the positions you should be paying big money for. There is a reason why power hitters and ace pitchers get big money and not slap hitting Right Fielders (Ichiro) or weak hitting short Stops (Ryan).    

Article By:

Cecil
Cecil's Corner

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

About Dustin Ackley's hitting


Ackley has hit his whole life and at every level so it’s difficult to change someone’s hitting style that has had the success Ackley has had. Well, it’s time to change his hitting style. Any player that has ever played in the major leagues will tell you that it’s a game of adjustments, especially for a hitter. Ackley has a nice level swing, which keeps his bat through the strike zone for a long time which allows him to stay on pitches. When he barrels the ball up he hits it hard and with surprising power. With that being said, he has some real problems he needs to fix.

Despite his level swing, he strikes out way too much, especially for a top of the lineup hitter. He swings at balls outside the strike zone, which is a result of poor pitch recognition and technique. When he does decide to swing, he lunges forward, this in turn bends his front leg, which in turn moves his head up to a foot towards the pitcher. Wade Boggs is the only hitter I can remember that had been a good hitter with this style of “broken leg” hitting.

Ackley needs to learn to hit with a more firm front leg and to the opposite way. He has turned into basically a pull hitter. He doesn't hit for enough power to be a dead pull hitter and if he wants to remain at the top of the batting order he needs to make these adjustments. Let’s hope he does because the Mariners need all the offense they can get. Not only that, but he has Nick Franklin along with a host of other middle infielders in the Mariner system waiting for a chance at the major league level. 

Here is an example of Ackley's "broken front leg" swing:



Here is an example of Chase Utley's (Phillies) "firm front leg" swing, which is what Ackley needs to look like:



Article by:

Cecil

Cecil's Corner

Monday, November 5, 2012

Our continued look at the Mariners position by position. Today: Second Base


Second Base:

Before I continue my off season analysis of the Mariners I would like to touch on a few things. We all know this is a very important offseason for Jack Z. not only because it’s about time the Mariners put a good team on the field but it’s also the last year of Z’s contract. Therefore, nobody on this team is off limits when it comes to possible trades. The only exception I see is Felix Hernandez. I don’t see ownership signing off on a trade of its franchise player.

Ok, on to second base. I was surprised to see that Dustin Ackley was in the running for the Gold Glove Award. I don’t know if this is a reflection of the lack of good defensive second baseman in the American League or Ackley’s ability to play second base. I know there are many sabermetric calculations that measure a player’s ability and Ackley registered high on some of these calculations. But when I apply the eye test I see a very mechanical and not too athletic second baseman. But I also see a guy who made most of the routine plays, although very few spectacular plays and turned the double play well. That’s pretty good for a guy who has only been playing second base for a couple years.

Now when I compare him to how Kyle Seager plays second base I see two different players. Seager is much more fluid, natural, looks more comfortable and turns the double play better. Yes I know Seager has played second base more in his life than Ackley but for this post I am merely comparing the two.
If I could include Ackley in a package to get a third baseman or an outfield power bat I would. I would prefer Seager playing second and another legitimate player at third.

But as it stands now I think Ackley will be our second baseman and Seager our third baseman next year. We do however have a multitude of middle infielders on their way so that is one more reason to not rule out a trade. One last thing on Ackley. I would not move him to the outfield. He does not hit for enough power. His value is at second base and Jack Z. was smart enough to know this from the beginning. Besides we have had enough outfielders with no power over the years, most notably a certain right fielder we had for the last 12 years.       


Article By:

Cecil
Cecil's Corner