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How To Mislead With Words

I see Pravda's been hiring:

Of the three, Ibanez is the player the Mariners would love to have back.
...
The Mariners, though, clearly want him back -- new general manager Jack Zduriencik reached out to Ibanez by telephone.

The truth about that phone call, from three different sources, one of them being literally the very next paragraph from the same story:

"This guy deserves a phone call from the general manager because of his contributions to this club, this city, and the type of person he is, a guy of great character," Zduriencik said. "We'll see where it goes from here."

Ibanez, 36, hit .293 this year with 23 homers and a team-leading 110 runs batted in. Zduriencik termed the conversation "very cordial" but was noncommittal about how hard the Mariners would pursue re-signing Ibanez.

"It was nothing more than a complimentary conversation of respect that he very well deserves — an introduction so he knows who I am," Zduriencik said.

If the Mariners really badly want Ibanez to come back, there's no indication of it anywhere, save for this article, in which the statement is totally unsubstantiated. It's like saying "Erik Bedard is an alcoholic. He recently went to the store." The former sentence is in no way supported by the latter, especially if you already know prior to writing that the reason for the action in the latter is completely unrelated to the former. So it's more like saying "Erik Bedard is an alcoholic. He recently went to the store" when you know with absolute certainty that all he bought were Shark Bites and granola*. It's just a silly and irresponsible thing to write.

Raul Ibanez is a below-average player. He's also 36 years old and has been to the playoffs once. I highly doubt GMZ wants to pay for him to come back, just like I highly doubt Raul would want to re-sign. The reason for the phone call was to allow a new GM to introduce himself to the team's elder statesman and express his gratitude for all Ibanez has done over the years. That's it. It was out of respect, not some desire to convince a declining veteran to stick around and not win ever.

Old players who aren't very good and are overvalued by the market serve little purpose to a ballclub in transition, and GMZ knows that. The local media is gonna need to learn how to let go. Shit's about to get real.

Star-divide

* if all Erik Bedard bought at the store were Shark Bites and granola I would be more inclined to call him a stoner**

 

** I am not calling Erik Bedard a stoner

1 recs  |  Comment 55 comments

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Not even close

I got to witness this firsthand/ It was perhaps the highlight of my baseball life.

by JI on Nov 14, 2008 5:32 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

I was at that game.

I sat in the lower right field level seats, and I was really excited to see Ichiro up close. Unfortunately, that was the only day out of the year that Hargrove makes Ichiro DH.

JI/Robert '08!

by Fin on Nov 16, 2008 12:35 AM PST up reply actions   0 recs

It would be entertaining, to say the least.

""Bobby Crosby’s Release" - Sounds like a good title to Mr. Crosby’s first work in his next career now that we know he can’t play baseball." - Joey C.

by Blicks on Nov 16, 2008 7:19 AM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Well Z's quote indicates the opposite of wanting him back...

It seems to imply that the only reason he called Raul is because he “deserved” it. On top of that, when does a GM ever have serious intent to resign a guy and say, “We’ll see where it goes from here.”? No, they normally say, “We really want (Player X) back and will do everything to re-sign him.” I think this can only be a positive sign of no Raul in our future. Plus you have to think Z, over almost anybody else, would love to get himself some more draft picks considering his background, right?

Oh, and Erik Bedard is an alcoholic…

by SethGrandpa on Nov 14, 2008 4:19 PM PST reply actions   0 recs

Once he realizes he can't get a major league deal anywhere else

he’ll come back to Seattle because we’ll at least guarantee him $850,000 or so to sit on the end of the bench.

That’d be my guess, and for some reason I wouldn’t be disappointed if that happened

Determined, Jonesing Commentor | Proud proprietor of Washingtonhighways.org

by I'm NOT Corco on Nov 15, 2008 1:26 AM PST up reply actions   0 recs

according to WIllie on KJR

he hasn’t heard personally from Z or the FO; he knows they have talked to Boras, but he was honest and said he didn’t know if the call was about him or not.

by msb on Nov 15, 2008 8:50 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

I wonder if GMZ asked him about the lawn dart?

I am no longer in Spokane, but I think I'll keep the name anyway.

by InSpokane on Nov 14, 2008 4:41 PM PST reply actions   0 recs

*braces self*

I’m totally ready, let’s do this.

by section331 on Nov 14, 2008 6:08 PM PST reply actions   0 recs

Rec'd for "Shit's about to get real."

Best laugh I’ve had all day. So true.

by Double06 on Nov 14, 2008 6:40 PM PST reply actions   0 recs

Tiny update

From John Hickey:

’’We’ve only talked the one time, but I think the conversation we had was cordial enough,‘’ Zduriencik said. ’’He’s going to want an update. I think he will want to know who our manager is before he makes any decision.’’

Sounds like from Zduriencik’s perspective, Ibanez is a nice guy to have around but he will not go out of his way to keep him.

Wait a sec, we’re supposed to want Ibanez back really badly…or something.

by ThundaPC on Nov 14, 2008 8:45 PM PST reply actions   0 recs

OHHH....that article is by Rhett Bollinger

The same guy that came up with this gem when describing Bill Bavasi’s tenure:

The son of renowned MLB executive Buzzie Bavasi relied more on statistical information than he probably should have, which proved costly.

Ahhh…yep, MLB.com hired a good one here….

by ThundaPC on Nov 14, 2008 9:01 PM PST reply actions   0 recs

Bollinger is

a recent journalism grad who’s popped up recently covering several teams for mlb.com

by msb on Nov 15, 2008 8:55 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Dear Heavens, NO!!!!

Jeez – someone who’s actually DUMBER than Street?

Heck, give the gig to Divish or something. Or one of out-of-work Times writers…

This signature space for rent.

by PositivePaul on Nov 15, 2008 10:41 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Remember when we had Brock?

Those were good times. Too brief, I fear.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett http://mvn.com/marinersminors/

by JY on Nov 15, 2008 11:34 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Now we have him down here in S.D.!

Too bad no one alive enjoys reading about the Padres. Because he’s damn solid.

by Teej on Nov 16, 2008 12:55 AM PST up reply actions   0 recs

No kidding...

This signature space for rent.

by PositivePaul on Nov 17, 2008 3:24 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

I wonder how long the conversation actually was?

How long does it take to show respect but decline interest?

by mark sobba on Nov 15, 2008 10:57 AM PST reply actions   0 recs

you know those phone calls after bad dates?

The ones that are made out of social obligation, even though you know there won’t be a second date, but you’re just masochistic enough to make the call anyway because you think it’s expected of you? Two minutes of awkward small talk followed by “Well, see you around….”?

This call probably lasted about that long.

Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Nov 15, 2008 11:22 AM PST up reply actions   1 recs

Just a guess...

Is your last name on the back of your belt?

Screw you, Mariners. I'm back in football's loving arms. *edit: well, shit. This isn't going well.

by kevin_ess on Nov 15, 2008 3:36 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Just out of curiosity I wandered onto the ESPN hot stove page

And had a really good laugh at what they had for the Mariners projected starters. Apparently Wlad Balentien is going to clone himself and they will be in LF and CF. Bryan LaHair is still at first. And my heartiest laugh….Cesar Jimenez will be catching. I thought we had good depth there? I guess not. God ESPN is dumb.

by Scrupio on Nov 16, 2008 6:40 PM PST reply actions   0 recs

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