I sure hope the M’s don’t shit in their nest because having a couple of affilliates close is marketing genius.

Here’s the thing. The minor league team owner makes his money from the gate. From merchandise. From concessions. They don’t have big TV or radio contracts.

So – more than the majors, the minor league owners NEED that team to perform well, to draw well. I mean, they can draw some folks with the promotions, but the season ticket holders who are their base revenue…they’ll want the team to WIN. Why should they (in Texas, in California, in Tacoma even) give a rip about whether the Mariners end up doing well or not?

If the parent club doesn’t take that into account, then the minor league owners – at ANY affiliate level – would be perfectly justified in not wanting to re-sign an affiliation agreement.

Man, this sucks because the Rainiers new owner lives in Texas and has most likely seen that quote as well, and they’re in the middle of re-negotiating an affiliation agreement too.

Poisoning the well makes our observations of theirs more objective than theirs are toward the truth?

Seriously though, there may be some validity to either viewpoint, but right now those of us who don’t have direct sources (myself included) are more likely to “read into” something than actually take it FWIW, if that makes sense.

I’m willing to wait and see what comes down. I feel fairly confident in the thought that they will take care of that “business” but I’d like to see what transpires in the months ahead.

“They have been told that the Mariners don’t have any interest in winning at Double-A,” said a source close to the situation who did not want to be identified. “They’re just interested in developing players.”

I thougth that developing players is why MLB clubs have minor league affiliates. That quote seems more like a justification than a reason for changing MLB affiliates.

As far as the “Grover Gone on 07″ question, it would seem odd to fire Hassey if Grover was going to be back next year. Unlike the rest of the coaching staff, which floats quite a bit, bench coaches and managers tend to be joined at the hip (at least until and if the bench coach gets a shot at managing).

But then oddities abound already. Hassey bailing immediately instead of sticking around for another three weeks – that’s odd. I don’t undertsand it unless Hassey was just incredibly unhappy about something. Coaches get fired every season and it isn’t a black mark. Comes with the territory, and doesn’t make you unemployable elsewhere. Leaving in a hurry – even if everyone says it’s voluntary – makes it seem like Hassey was canned for something other than a losing season and becomes something he probalby has to ‘slpain to potential future employers. Unless of course he just expects to hitch up with Grover in the next gig.

More Kremlinology. Da, but what else do we have to do for the rest of this season? See if Meche can pitch well enough to earn us a compensation pick?

of course Scott Miller at CBS thinks it means the opposite: “The firing of bench coach Ron Hassey in Seattle, a close friend of Mike Hargrove’s, as well as administrative coach Dan Rohn (administrative coach?) signals that everyone there — including Hargrove and GM Bill Bavasi — are a few steps closer themselves to walking the plank. Hargrove has one year left on his deal. “

there was also an interesting piece out of Texas that the Missions might be looking for a different affiliate team today

Is Ichiro channeling Vic Davalillo, who I think is still active in the Venezuela winter league?