Fan Gauge: Zduriencik Front Office

Love. Because of who they’ve gotten us and how they’re handling Milton. Two different skill sets.

But some of the bad decisions about the roster are so out of line with all of the good decisions that have been made previously- it’s really hard for me to place too much of the blame on Z and Co and I end up assuming that it’s on Wak.

I still have a lot of faith in the front office, both in terms of solving problems in the short term, and for our future.

Their record isn’t perfect, but I wouldn’t trade them for another front office outside of maybe Boston or Tampa Bay.

Plus, unlike when you hire some retread GM or a loyal team player like a Lee Pelekoudas, there’s a sense of pride in being the first team to really exploit the talents of a group of people like Zduriencik, Blengino, etc. It’s not like we were fighting three other teams for Z’s services and we just outbid everyone. He was the dark horse and he won, and he then showed immediately why he was the right choice.

It’s similar to the feeling of rooting for a homegrown prospect over a free agent your team went out and purchased, if that makes any sense. He’s ours, dammit.

This front office has done some amazing things certainly. Gutierrez, Aardsma (do a degree), creating a culture where Felix felt comfortable signing an extension, getting rid of Yuni, Branyan and then Not Branyan, Cliff Lee, creating a surplus of pitching at the back-end of the rotation, generally being quick to respond to situations, Milton, of course.

From my own angle, I would also complement them on the training programs, the emphasis on establishing a Mariners way of doing things within organization, and making some player development decisions that have paid off. I was not initially impressed with the addition of Nick Franklin to the group on draft day, but I have to say I’m really excited about him right now. So there’s all that. Jury is still out on Baron.

I don’t want to be too demanding, to come to the table with a “what have you done for me lately” mindset in light of recent struggles, because they likely do have more information than I do. Perhaps Shawn Kelley was struggling in some mechanical way that warranted demotion. Perhaps Hannahan quite simply isn’t ready, certainly not to play the middle infield, what with his first appearance at second coming last night.

But there are things that they do where I find myself wanting. The Mariners knew that they were coming into a season with pitching and defense being their strongest suits. In this case, I’m a little bit baffled as to why they didn’t put a greater effort into getting one more bat. I realize that this may be difficult, given that Sweeney/Griffey are without defensive positions, but that was a position that they put themselves in. Perhaps there was something we could have done other than pick up Byrnes, though it seemed like a good idea at the time. Perhaps there was another option out there for catcher that was not so similar to what we already had, though I certainly prefer Moore.

I don’t know that I’m making any headway with this particular argument, or even approaching a point. As I emphasized before, there’s a lot we don’t know about what goes into decision-making. My only problem is that, recognizing that we were operating on a fairly thin margin, they did not make decisions that could have pushed us over the top, and seemed feasible at the time. They did a lot to turn around the organization, that cannot be understated in any way, but I wonder if while looking at the big picture and trying to put things in a greater context, they lose sight of certain little things. There are worse ways to screw up though, and I’m certainly a victim of the same myself.

Also, I feel like a sheeple for seemingly not differing with the trends of LL fans in general for most players.