Cliff Lee was traded for a top ten prospect with left handed power. Exactly the kind of power that actually works at SafeCo. He hasn’t worked out yet, although you’ll note that he was on pace for 25HR this year even though his BA/OBP were in the toilet. While this deal may or may not work out, it is *exactly* the kind of deal the M’s should have been making, and still should be making.

They just did the same thing with Pineda, delt from an area of strength to try and gain in an area of weakness. Montero is not left handed, but he hits to the opposite field effectively making him a left handed hitter equivilent. Jack has also been drafting left handed power such as Nick Franklin and Dustin Ackley.

Will it all work? Maybe, maybe not. But at least its a plan that makes sense, rather than Bavasi repeatedly throwing big money at players and then being shocked when the shotgun approach did not build a competitive team.

You just hit the nail on the head.The M’s will never win so long as they have this fool of a GM. Zduriencik is the darling of all the local statgeeks (with “Big” Dave “#6org” Cameron as guideon barer) because when Zduriencik was first hired he stated that he “employed a stats guy”. From that point on he can do no wrong in the eyes of the statgeeks. I have heard calls to fire everyone above Zduriencik. I have heard calls to fire everyone below Zduriencik. But NEVER Zduriencik himself. He is the one that puts this roster together. But hey, he “employs” a stats guy….

Let’s look at some of the great moves that have Mr. Jack Zduriencik held in such high esteem:

Signed Chone Figgins to a $36M contract. Yeah. I know.

Traded a potential stud SP in Brandon Morrow for (now) middle reliever Brandon League. How’s that deal working out Jack?

Traded Micheal Morse to the Gnats for Ryan Langerhans. Yes, THE Ryan Langerhans.

Traded rental Cliff Lee to Texas for Justin Smoak (bust) and Blake Bleavens (bust).

Traded a #2 starting pitcher to NYY for a platoon RH DH who can not hit RH pitching. (I guess it is not his fault that said pitcher blew out his arm trying to impress those important people in ST)

Drafted Dustin Ackley #2 overall in the draft, and gave him a $7.5M signing bonus. Ackley is currently hitting .226.

Traded starting pitcher Doug Fister to Detroit for AAAA players Casper Wells and Charlie Furbush.

The list could go on.

It is certainly understandable that Mr. Zduriencik is held in such high esteem. He has done a fine job so far. But, hey, he employs a “stats guy”. And how has he “rebuilt” the farm? Yes we have a couple of kids pitching at AA who look good. But no position players at all. If Mr. Zduriencik was paying attention he might understand that, perhaps, just perhaps, the M’s can’t hit! Grow a clue Jack.

Glad I got that out of my system.
/Rant Off

As for Ichiro, he is a class act. He may be a shadow of his former self (we will see when he get’s enthused about actually playing for a good team) but he will always hold his head high. The Yankees are lucky to have him. I am not a fan of the Yankees (exactly the reverse) but I will always root for Ichiro. Good luck Ichi. Real M’s fans are behind you 100%. And we will never forget what you brought to this city.

What? Ichiro’s going to Manchester United?

As for the Cliff Lee “screwing,” the M’s gave you Pineda, what more do you want”

Here’s a thought. Perhaps the Mariners could have resigned Cliff Lee instead of trading him to a rival? What would the Mariners be with Cliff Lee, Felix Hernandez, and Ichiro to get on base and steal? Does the combination of Drysdale, Koufax, and Wills ring any bells with you?

Pedagoguish

My advice: stop listening to sports radio. It’s a cancer.

You apparently don’t even know that the Mariners’ stadium is paid off. There haven’t been any stadium taxes for them since last year. (Gee, are people tired of paying X tax? Duh. The PI actually had to do a poll on that?)

And the Canucks are from Vancouver BC, which is a city that isn’t a part of Seattle. Just thought you’d like to know that.

That said, Howard Lincoln has pretty much been the constant in the past near-decade of on-field failure and off-field fan abuse.

But banish all the teams just so you can enjoy your hacky-sack in peace? Well, as I said, stadium’s paid off, not much we can do there. Sorry.

My personal opinion is that if 2014 is not a year of serious improvement it’ll be time to end the Jack experiment. But I simply can’t blame him given what Bavasi, the worst GM in the majors for years, left him.

Also, why is it a problem to trade Cliff Lee within the division when he’s on the last year of his contract and the M’s are not a contender? There was no reason to care that season since the M’s weren’t contending, and there was no reason to care about the future since at the end of the season Lee was free to sign with anyone(in or out of division). I am not certain what your logic is on that count, they got their 1B of the future out of the deal in exchange for a two month rental pitcher.

The Mariners told us everything they needed to say about their plans for future championships when they traded Cliff Lee within the division to Texas. The message: we have absolutely no intention of seriously competing for a division title in the foreseeable future.

The Mariner ownership is content to maintain an exhibition squad here in Seattle. Their aspiration is to play something around .500 ball, draw maybe two million fans a year, and provide a venue for people from Walla Walla, Zillah, and Humptulips to come to the big city and see the Yankees, the Red Sox, or the Rangers play real baseball.

Here’s the solution to Seattle’s problems. Seattle is blessed to have God’s gift to general managing in one Jack Zduriencik. To here it told around here, Zduriencik has built the greatest farm system in the history of baseball. Great! Here’s what he should do. Take the lowest rung of the system and fire everyone. Then move our single A farm team down to replace that entire squad. Our double A squad will become single A and the triple A squad double A. The entire Mariner major league team will move down to Tacoma to become what they really are, a minor league squad. To fill out the rest of the season, the Mariners can have an open tryout to select a new team. A couple of dozen local ballplayers will have their Field of Dreams fantasies realized, and the fans will see baseball that is no worse than what we have now.

God bless you, Ichiro. You suffered here for a decade. Now you actually have a chance to win.

It’s no wonder 57% of Seattleites are damn sick and tired of paying stadium taxes that benefit the billionaire leeches who profit off our sweat. (refc. Seattle PI, 2011)

I really do wish the owners of the Ancient Mariners and the incredibly talentless Shehawks would make like Robert Irsay and ship our teams off to Sweetgrass freaking Montana. Oh, and they can take the Canucks (contraction of CANnot win, team sUCKS) with them.

This is what the Mariners’ logo should be: http://dougblot.blogspot.com/2007/05/ancient-mariner.html

But it is almost always the case that the Yankees add players and there was no discussion before hand. Lance Berkman and I-Tod come to mind.