USSM Event Refunds
A few of you have emailed in to say that you bought tickets to this Saturday’s USSM event, but now will be unable to attend due to various circumstances. Because we used Brown Paper Tickets to handle the event ticketing, there is actually an easy solution for you all – just call them at 1-800-838-3006, and they will refund the issued ticket to the credit card that was originally used to purchase them.
This will, obviously, make some tickets available for those of you who couldn’t make it previously. I’d suggest checking the ticket window fairly regularly if you’re looking to land a ticket or two, as we know at least a handful of people will be getting refunds.
Also, due to the need for a larger venue and a the size of the crowd, we’re going to be handling the actual asking of the questions to the M’s front office members this year. There’s just no feasible way to have an orderly, effective crowd of 500+ fighting over a microphone, especially given the seating of the hall (the rows are 30+ seats wide). So, we’re opening up the comments in this thread for you guys to propose questions that you would like to see asked on Saturday, and we will pick the best ones and put those forward to the guys.
Finally, a couple of logistical things about the event – for those driving in, Benaroya has a garage, and it should be fairly open that day (they don’t have any performances until the evening on Saturday). The fee is $11. There are also garages directly across the street if you prefer.
The event starts at 1 pm. The lobby should be open around noon-ish, so if you arrive early, you won’t have to wait outside. If you have Will Call tickets, please arrive early and claim them. We would like to avoid having a long line of people trying to get in at 12:59. You must bring photo ID to claim your will call tickets.
Looking forward to seeing you guys on Saturday. Should be fun.
Since I will not be one of the lucky few to attend the event. I was wondering if someone was going to record it?
That would be really great if it is possible.
Not possible, sorry.
Some questions I have for GMZ:
1a) What is the expected impact of Junior on the team this year? Clubhouse chemistry, Ichiro/Bradley happy, on field projections, etc.
1b) What is the expected business impact of having Junior on the team? Extra tickets sold, merchandise, community goodwill, etc.
1c) How are those expectations calculated?
It would be worth noting in this thread the 3 rules they usually have; no talking in specifics about players currently on the roster, no talking about players on other teams, no specifics on draft strategy.
Nope, that’s not possible. It’s been asked before and DMZ actually scolded a guy who, it turned out, was working for the Mariners when he was recording/transcribing the event. I was bummed myself at missing the last one (and the East Coast one, obviously) but fear not. The authors actually post a rather good recap of the day’s events. It ain’t the same as being there but you still get a lot of good info and insight.
I will be returning a ticket I bought for a coworker who forgot the event is on his wife’s birthday. Wouldn’t be that big a deal except he lives in Spokane.
Two suggested questions:
- Assuming you won’t tell us an exact figure, can you comment on whether this year’s player payroll is larger than last year, smaller than last year, or about the same.
- You’ve talked about the desire to do two things at once–making the team better immediately, and building for the future. Did the sudden availability of Cliff Lee change that balance? And if it put a higher priority on winning now, how does that change your strategy for building a roster between now and opening day?
What’s the latest on Endy? Will we see him this year in an M’s uniform playing LF, with Bradley moving to full-time (barring injury) DH?
I’m wondering what Z’s answer to this one is:
I’m a poor college student who wants to get an M’s jersey and can’t afford to mess this one up. I, of course, would get number 21 with a certain Hispanic name on the back; should I go for it?
1. Could you talk about the people in the GM office – what their responsibilities are, and what they do on a day to day basis etc.
2. The club has been active on the international arena for quite some time. It has even gone beyond the traditional Dominican Republic & Venezuelan academies, being active in the rest of South America, in much of Asia etc. How involved are you with the international scouting/signing program and how much resources would you say are spent in that area compared to domestic college/HS scouting & development?
3. Could you tell us at least a ballpark figure of the team’s current payroll budget and are there reserve funds available for the trade deadline? (Doesn’t hurt to ask)
This isn’t a “rule” per se, but asking these guys for specifics about their strategies, or free agent/trade targets, is probably going to end up in a lot of vague, unsatisfying answers. These guys play things close to the vest.
It might be better to concentrate on rather open-ended questions that let these guys riff on general topics, rather than asking them things like “why haven’t you traded for Adrian Gonzalez yet?”
Here are a few that I have, to start things down that path:
1) What surprises you most about this year’s free agent market?
2) What do you think will be the next undervalued type of asset, now that teams are starting to clearly value defense more highly than a few years ago?
3) If you’re given the choice between bringing your best reliever in in the 7th inning with the bases loaded in a tie game, or in the 9th with the bases empty, which do you choose and why?
One question I’ve wondered about are the rules and policies involved with rehabilitating free agents. Do clubs have any responsibility after a particular date with someone like Bedard or Endy, do they have the option to continue treatment, and what happens if they don’t?
What is the most interesting, surprising, or unusual stat that you have seen recently or used for the first time?
Is your goal to upgrade at one more position in the field and one more pitching spot before the season starts? If so, how many wins would be projected?
A slightly different version of the payroll questions that have already been posted:
Is there any chance that the payroll could be increased for a special circumstance this year?
and, roughly how much room is left in the budget?
In Griffey, Bradley, Hall, Langerhans, and Saunders we have five players for two positions? What role do you see each of them filling? (Is that too specific to strategy?)
Obviously there are some non-baseball considerations when acquiring a player like Milton Bradley. How do you research those or background check? Whom do you ask about such a player?
I hope I can phrase this question correctly.
Given the way the team is being built this year the team is clearly set to win now rather than later.
As far as future strategies going forward is the idea to keep a competitive major league team on the field while keeping most developmental resources in the minors?
In other words, will there be a year in which we spend strictly developing players on a major league team or is the team being reserved for winning as much as possible (for example, Billy Beane has essentially thrown in the towel with the A’s this year and called it a rebuilding year)?
What happened, or what was the plan for Langerhans? Did it change? If so, what happened to change it?
How important is it to educate the Mariner fan base on the use of more advanced statistics?
Here’s one I’d be interested in asking:
How often have you used Tom Tango, or other contracted advisors? Is there a specific signing or trade you could point to where his input was key?
Regarding building a roster for your home ballpark, at what point do you stop? How much is too much? In other words, how much of the lineup or rotation should be people who play really well on the road but poorly at home?
My question for GMZ:
“As opposed to your weaker brother Clark, how impervious are you to Kryptonite?”
I’m not able to make it to the event, but if I were:
What are the countries or programs to watch as far as sources of new talent in the next few years?
Do they believe the free agent market has been a bit thin the last couple years, especially around premium position players?
For position players, what do you look for when determining when to bring them up to the majors?
How much does fit with Safeco Field matter when trying to recruit people, or in determining who to acquire?
What are the one or two biggest misconceptions in the blogosphere right now (Mariners specifically or baseball in general)?
Has Wak’s “belief system” trickled down to the minor leagues and minor league instruction, and do you charge him $100 every time he says it now?
And I understand if the right people won’t be present to answer this properly. But:
Considering the economy, would the Ms consider lowering ticket prices for more sections to help increase attendance, or will they continue to charge ‘what the market will bear’, so to speak?
(I’ve long wondered why the Mariners don’t, e.g. take all those empty seats in the right field 300s and price them the same as center field or the left field bleachers. I’d think any loss in ticket revenue from those seats would be made up in concessions, and more people overall at a game makes it more fun for everyone.)
I would like to know if the fact that we will not be spending money on a 1st round pick will lead to a bigger budget in the international market or taking a more difficult sign in round 2 or the supplemental round(if Beltre signs elsewhere).
When will we able to buy our Series tickets?
My question:
For young players, how do you determine when it is more beneficial to keep them in the minor leagues vs. when to bring them up to the majors for experience?
Here’s one:
–If you had to choose today based on the current team makeup, which would be the most important criteria for an upgrade; defensive WAR or offensive WAR?
–Do you necessarily believe that D and O WAR needs to be balanced with any pickup between now and SP, and does the a trade get valued differently than a FA?
Sorry, the second part of that question should read:
–Do you necessarily believe that D and O WAR needs to be balanced with any pickup between now and Spring Training, and does the a trade get valued differently than a FA?
Q: In terms of on-field performance, what has the organization identified as the minimum level of ‘success’ this year?:
- more wins than last year
- win the division
- win the ALCS
- win the World Series
Q: In relative terms, please assess the competitive strength of the Angels and the Rangers.
In case you start running out of questions:
Favorite/Least favorite player/media person you’ve ever had to encounter in your career.
Two questions:
-What’s Bill Bavasi up to these days?
-Is he still in baseball?
He’s an Assistant GM for the Reds.
Difficult question to frame, but I think a very important one:
How much freedom does the Organization afford itself, and the General Manager, to vary the budget, and payroll, over multiple seasons based on what the market offers? For example, assume the Organization has allocated $100,000,000 to payroll in 2010, but Jack Zduriencik determines, after having committed to spend $90,000,000, that it would be inefficient to spend the remaining $10,000,000. In such a case, would the Organization reserve that $10,000,000 saved money to spend on payroll in future years, or would it take the savings as profit? Similarly, if Jack Z identifies substantial value in a particular contract that would put the Organization over-budget in 2010 by $10,00,000, would he ever be authorized to make that deal, in exchange for a commitment to reduce payroll by $10,000,000 in 2011 or subsequent years?
More broadly, to what extent is the Organization really run like a business? In what ways is it *not* run like a business?
Since I will not be one of the lucky few to attend the event, and since the event can not be recorded, will the questions be posted in the recap?
I’m interested to see what gets asked from this list
I would like to hear about their plans for Dustin Ackley, in the future (even if it is vague and speculative).
Does the front office place a high value on the “pair of aces” strategy. the cliff lee trade would seem to indicate that they want two dominating pitchers for the roster, which is not a feature many teams can afford/manage. Or was it a case of getting a good value as the previous USSM post showed where it was a plus $10M trade even if Lee leaves as a free agent.
Dear Mr. Z,
What is your take on the starting rotation? Do you feel that it is set or do you feel that there is still need for more work? If the latter, where? (i.e. – #3 or 4 or 5 hole). I’m assuming #1 and #2 are set for sure… =)
Thank you.
Serious Question: Is there any consideration at all in salary or free agent negotiations that Washington State doesn’t have a personal income tax? Theoretically a player for Seattle takes home 10.3% more than if he were to live and play in California, do we get a ‘discount’ for that?
(Also, does a Seattle player have to pay another state’s income tax for the games he plays in that state?)
Not A Serious Question: The Mariner Moose turns 21 this year, will we see him tossing back a few Mooseheads out on the town or is there a Mrs. Moose waiting at home?
Endy is a free agent and his injury was so severe he may not be playing anywhere in 2010, at least not at the start of the season.
How much work is entailed in regards to being a GM? How many hours do you work a week? How many calls do you make/receive from other GM’s per week? Are you more focused on free agents more or the trade route or does it depend on the situation?
And as Debbie Downer would say “If he ever comes back to play at all.”
Yep.
Dear Mr. Z,
Growing up, what team did you follow? What particular players were you favorites? Is there any link (ie – processes, skills, etc.) to the players/GM’s you admired and in how you go about your daily work as the Mariners GM?
I’d like to second these questions (paraphrased here):
- What’s the next major undervalued asset or attribute?
- Is there a value to having your WAR value spread across offense and defense, or are all runs created equal?
- How far can you take building your team around your ballpark?
Here are a few of my own:
- What has been your favorite move so far in your Mariners tenure? Are there any moves you regret?
- How important is a prospect’s ultimate ceiling, and how do you balance risk and reward when you build your farm system? And do you weigh risk/reward differently when you pursue free agents or trades?
- What do you hear from the media/fanbase/blogosphere that makes you roll your eyes?
- Which of your peers do you most respect?
- Can you describe how running a baseball team in 2010 is different from running a team in 2000 or 1990?
- Team chemistry is a controversial subject in the blogosphere. How do you view its importance? How important is it, and how do you go about trying to anticipate chemistry, and balancing it with production?
- When planning personnel moves, how much do you need to factor in expected fan and media reaction into whether the deal is worth doing?
- Having Ken Griffey Jr. in the clubhouse last year was reported as an important factor in last year’s success. What was your favorite Griffey moment last year?
You know, in most civilized cultures, it’s common courtesy not to quote horrible SNL characters. Just saying.
As more major league teams put an emphasis on healthy eating in the clubhouse, what are the Mariners doing at the minor league level to ensure that their future players are getting a balanced diet?
I’m not quite sure how to phrase the question, but I’d love to hear more about the farm system and the philosophy and approach to player development that the front office has taken. I was tremendously impressed with hearing Pedro talk about the minors last year and would love to hear an update on how they are implementing their philosophy, how the players are adjusting to it, and how things are progressing.
How do you balance the full-season needs of a ballclub versus the postseason needs? For instance, do you attempt to concentrate resources in the top 3 or 4 pitchers in the rotation, considering the shortening of the rotation in October? Or do you just build the club to get to October?
Dear Dr. Z,
Do you think Brad Pitt is the appropriate match for Billy Beane for the upcoming Moneyball movie? Any other suggestions?
Sorry. Momentary lapse of civility.
Guys, I have given my ticket to someone else, I *think* I selected for my name to be on the list when I bought the tickets … can I email the relevant names to someone, and if so, who? Many thanks.
Insert gratuitous Carlos Silva reference here.
(I guess the lapse wasn’t as momentary as I thought)
This is a general question and may have been asked and answered at previous events.
what is it that made them (The front office staff) want to work in baseball as a profession? Was it a team, World Series, player, etc?
- In the book Moneyball, there was a large split portrayed between stats and scouts. Your front office has melded the two, but across baseball do you still see a huge split? (If indeed the split was ever as large as portrayed?)
Jack,
Do you credit your parents or some other influential people in your life for your complete awesomeness?
My questions for JZ & Co (some of these have already been asked by others, but this is a list I’ve been maintaining for a while):
1. The Morrow trade: WTF?
2. Do you think defense is still under-valued in MLB at large? Do you think anything else is?
3. So far this off-season we saw reports that the M’s were interested in Rich Harden, Nick Johnson, etc., plus of course Russell Branyan. All of these guys are high ceiling players with considerable injury risks who likely wouldn’t play a full season of games. Given that the M’s shied away or were out-bid on all of them, is that injury risk a bigger consideration in your calculations than we tend to realize?
4. How much of a consideration was Bradley’s history when you were contemplating the Silva trade? Was there much discussion of this with Wakamatsu and the rest of the coaching staff prior to the trade?
5. When looking at what other teams have been doing this off-season, have any particularly impressed you (or, conversely, made you scratch your head)? Are there any that you think may be on the verge of “surprising” people who haven’t been paying close attention, the way the M’s did in ’09 and the Rays did in ’08?
6. In particular, what is your impression of the other AL West teams going into ’10?
7. The “win now” window with the Cliff-Felix combo a roster certainty only for ’10 seems obvious. To what extent did the opportunity to acquire Cliff Lee accelerate or change the plans you had going into the off-season and your overall “rebuilding” plan altogether?
8. Draft picks and draft philosophy: this offseason we’ve seen the M’s trade away a couple of first round draft picks, plus Clement last year, as well as giving up picks to sign Figgins.
Obviously many draft picks never pan out and there’s a tendency to overvalue your own prospects vs viewing them as currency that can be used to buy other talent, but the higher-ceiling part of the farm looks a little barren. Were the high draft picks you inherited not guys that fit into the design of the team you’re trying to build? Do you think there’s more upside to “risky” players further along in development like Ian Snell? And how does the farm get re-stocked?
9. Have you considered producing and Seattle Mariners clothing with “Department of Baseball Research” on it? I know I’d buy a hat or something.
10. Morrow — seriously, Jack: WTF?
I’d like to know more about how they value a catcher, w.r.t. offense/defense/intangibles (“pitchers like throwing to him”). How do you qualify an intangible like that? And how do Johnson and Moore fit in?
I would also like to hear more about the farm system as mentioned above. The philosophy of its development, current strengths and weaknesses, etc.
Couple more personal questions for the GM if we are lucky enough to have him in attendance:
I’m curious about what day-to-day life is like as an MLB GM. What’s the daily routine? During the season and the off-season.
Is there any aspect of the game of baseball that he finds particularly interesting? Any stats that are?
[politics]
* To Tony Blengino: Is the Mariner’s statistical department working on developing new advanced defensive metrics which the team would use to have an advantage over other teams in the future? (I dont expect any details on what they are, I’d rather they kept them secret to benefit the team, but it would be interesting to know if they are working on this).
* Similarly, are they working on any advanced pitching metrics utilizing data from PitchFX?
* To Jack: Some people consider the Morrow trade to be your only mistake. Could you explain why you value Brandon League so highly that you would give up Morrow for him? Why should we expect League to give the Mariners more value than Morrow would have?
[has its own post now, please don't just post things like this in random threads. email us or trust that we're paying attention]
Oi, that wasn’t a political statement, that was just a prelude to an actual question.
Anyway, question:
What newspapers/magazines do you read on a regular basis?
What’s your favorite book?
Will the M’s give us the opportunity like they did with RJ and Junior to show our appreciation to Adrian when he returns to Safeco in a Red Sox uniform this year?
Question To GM Jack Z. : Please comment on any discusion / progress on the proposal for Baseball draft choices to be property of the club,( as they are in football and basketball ) and can be traded, etc. It will help poor teams improve quickly and reduce agents’ power. Thank you.
Now that Beltre is gone… I’ll try to explain my question as best I can. I’m operating under the assumption that all organizations have very informed statisticians that look at players in great detail (not too farfetched, I hope).
Presumably, Beltre is going to Boston to put up better offensive numbers in his one year there so that he can cash in next off-season when people see that he is a better player offensively than he showed at Safeco.
Why was Beltre’s market for a multi-year deal (including the interest from the M’s) so small; aren’t all clubs able to look at the numbers Beltre produced and see that he would be better in mostly any other park? It’s clear in the M’s blogosphere how much Beltre is valued… where is the disconnect between what the writers on the blogs believe and what the stats/FO guys think? It’s surprising that, presumably, nobody wanted to offer Beltre the multi-year deal he was after given what he brings to the table.
Feel free to modify the question to make it easier… just something that I’ve been wondering.
1. What role does PitchFX play in evaluating and developing pitchers? Do Mariner pitchers pay attention to PitchFX? Does the coaching staff?
2. Do players in the minor league system receive instruction in nutrition?
3. Was there a player that you were *sure* would make the majors that you were wrong about? Or a player that you didn’t think had much of a shot who ended up turning heads? What did you miss?
4. In looking at a NL player, how do you evaluate their potential AL performance? Why do you think that a number of NL players have under-performed at Safeco? Is this purely a park effect, or are there other factors to consider?
1. Can you give the guys at ussmariner.com and lookoutlanding.com a press pass?
2. What has been the biggest mistake that the front office has made in the past year?
3. How do you know when to act quickly in a free agent market and when to slow down and let the market unfold?
4. Can you comment on one situation in which the Department of Statistical Research made an impact in the final decision?
5. What are the factors that go into determining whether the team should go into the season with an 11-man or 12-man pitching staff?
I’d really like to know how they model incremental runs preserved versus runs scored… I’m not a guru at this stuff, but it seems to me that pushing runs scored down (pitching and defense) gets harder and harder as your team is already strong defensively (e.g. Cliff Lee helps us *less* than a defensively weak team)…
I guess my question can be thought of as “Isn’t it relatively cheaper/more efficient for us to buy runs scored right now, vs runs prevented?” It seems like pushing up from 2.5 to 3.5 runs per game scored, is less expensive than pushing from 4.5 to 5.5 as a team. Am I crazy?
I would like to ask: Given the historical failure of the majority of such contracts is there an overall organizational philosopy regarding large multi-year deals to free agent starting pitchers?
A simple question that has been overlooked: when will we sign Felix to a 10 year extension?
What’s the latest on Dan Wilson? Is he somewhere in the FO, or is that a possibility?
What is the status of Dave Sims? How long is he slated to be the M’s TV guy for?
here
Probably never.
1. What are your thoughts on whether international players should be included in the pool for the First-Year Player Draft?
2. Would the inclusion of international players in the draft pool help or harm the Ms in acquiring these players (in other words, does Jack Z. feel that the Ms have a competitive advantage currently in scouting and signing international free agents that the draft structure would erode)?
- What are your thoughts on the expansion of instant replay?
- What are your thoughts on balls and strikes being called by a computer?
[off-topic]
I meant to ask this earlier, but I forgot.
Can we expect a press conference introducing either Cliff Lee or Milton Bradley? It seems like if it was going to happen, it would’ve been done a while ago.
When looking at a potential contract extension such as the one that might go to Felix, how much of a role does the fact that the fans have a sort of relationship with him play? In general, with contract extensions towards hometown favorites, how much more are you willing to pay to satisfy the fans over signing a similarly skilled free agent?
If anyone has a ticket to the event that they arent planning on using…please contact me @marinersmaniac on twitter
Question:
What makes the Mariners think that it will be different with Milton Bradley than every other club he’s ever played for?
Why is it worth the risk of a roster spot on a proven under achiever, who even when healthy will drop 100, 150 plate appearances below full time a season, usually without going on the DL ?
Are there not some people who would not be given a chance no matter what their potential upside? I never thought the Mariners would bring in a guy like Bradley ever. I’m keeping an open mind, but would have preferred he remained someone else’s problem.
Question: “Does winning 35 out of 55 one run games last year cause you concern? Was that a lucky outcome or do you think this team has a skillset that makes it a winner in close games?”
In the shadow of today’s announcement:
Is Edgar Martinez a Hall of Famer in your eyes and why?
Would love a ticket. Email me at douglorig@hotmail.com if you have one. Thanks.
I have a few travel/scheduling questions as I feel this area represents a competitive disadvantage for the team on the field and in the free agent market.
Given the geographic disadvantage inherent in Seattle as compared to other major league cities has MLB or have you attempted to engage MLB in possible ways to minimize the travel miles that the Mariners must make each season?
Has there been or have you lobbied for any change in the scheduling in regards to rain out make up games so as not to compound the problems already faced by the teams annual difficult travel schedule? I’m thinking of those horrible Cleveland snow games and the impact the make up games had on days off for the players.
Has the team done any studies or are any special actions taken to help the individual players deal with the excessive travel miles (and if “yes”, could any of this help the Seahawks win a 10:00AM start on the east coast)?
I have an extra ticket. Please email me at kevint.home@comcast.net. First come first served.