Don’t make me come over there. The team didn’t hire Bavasi because he presented them some kind of rationale, they hired him because he’s like the players they’re signing — he’s a team character guy with experience, has a scouting and player development focus, and he’s an organization man in the Gillick mold. He’s also pliable. Bavasi didn’t make the kind of presentation that got Riccardi the Toronto job. Bavasi went through some interviews and they said “good enough”. They chose not to pursue innovative or interesting candidates who might have blown them away, because they didn’t want that kind of GM. They wanted Bavasi.
In other news, check out this article on Cameron’s defense. It’s cool to read about the “how” of Cameron’s ball-catching.
Sorry Derek, but I just can’t agree. Just because they have a plan that we think makes little sense and is doomed to failure doesn’t equate to not having one at all. The odds of Bill Bavasi convincing a successful businessman like Howard Lincoln to give him a position of this kind of importance without laying out any kind of firm rationale is beyond unlikely. As much as we rail on management, they aren’t stupid people unable to get a high school diploma because they lack basic understanding. They simply subscribe to archaic principles that are clearly wrong. There’s a big difference. Bill Bavasi isn’t stupid, and I’m certain the team has laid out and executed a plan that they believe will work. The problem is, they’re just wrong.
In other news, Jeff Shaw over at the tremendously underrated San Shin blog points out that the Mariners were calculated as one of the five richest sports franchises in the U.S.. The only baseball teams ahead of them were New York and Boston. Make no mistake about it; the M’s are a cash cow, making humungous profits, and plowing only a percentage of what other teams spend back into their product. The Mariners have limited themselves to a $95 million budget to maximize their financial rewards. This team could easily have a payroll $20 million higher without even thinking about budget constraints.