Questions For Jack Z Thread
If you missed the announcement last week,, we are now able to confirm that Jack Zduriencik and members of the front office will be joining us for a pre-game Q&A at the USSM/LL event at Safeco Field in on September 4th. There’s obviously a lot to talk to Jack about, and this is your chance to get to hear the GM discuss what went wrong this year and what they’re planning on doing to fix things.
For logistical reasons, we’re going to handle the questions in a moderated fashion, rather than trying to pass a microphone around a crowd. So, this thread is for submitting questions to be asked of the front office in 11 days. We’ll use this thread heavily when deciding which questions to put to the guys, and the Q&A will be heavily driven by user submitted ideas. So, if you want to hear Jack answer something, leave it in the comments, and then buy your tickets to the event. For $20, you get a Q&A with the front office, a couple of hours to hang out with USSM and LL readers before the game starts, your ticket to the M’s game that night, and a t-shirt. It’s a steal. Be there.
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Why is Lopez still a Mariner and/or getting at-bats?
What sort of results, if any, have you seen from Dr. Elliot’s training program at the minor and major league levels?
Are many of the major leaguers adopting it, or is it primarily only being used in the minors?
Q: What steps have you taken to improve the development of young talent in the system? Which steps do you believe to be most significant?
Q: How do you judge your scouts? Do you train them or do you rely on their existing experience?
Q: What has been the most disappointing outcome of one of your decisions? What has been the most encouraging outcome?
Q: Do you encourage your managers and coaches to learn a second language? How many people in the system can speak Spanish? Japanese? Korean? etc.
Concerning life, would you prefer a psychic or a sidekick?
What will you do differently in terms of the process of selecting a new manager than you did last time?
What the hell happened?
At the major league level, how big of an impact, either positive or negative, do you think a manager can have on a team in terms of wins and losses.
Do you cry everytime Brandon Morrow pitches?
Q: In your opinion, what areas of the Mariner’s minor league system are in the best shape? What areas most need improvement?
Q: Would you support allowing MLB teams to trade draft picks for players like they do in the NFL? Why?
How do you plan on stretching Michael Pineda innings next year and so on?
When interviewing potential Managers, what are you looking for in them?
Year one went extremely well, Year two, well not as well. What have you learned throughout the adversity of this year that you didn’t struggle with in Year one.
When the season is over in terms of making the playoffs, how do you motivate the guys (especially the young guys) to keep pushing toward the goals the team has set? Do you ever sit them down and say something along the lines of “we know this year was rough but here are 3 things we’re going to do to turn into a contender, and we want you guys to be on board with the plan so we can reach our goals” or do you just let them go and hope they come back inspired the next season?
In an interview, a managerial candidate asks you what recourse he will have to discipline players who are guilty of public insubordination. What will you tell him?
Do you have a lot of input in constructing the team roster, such as moving guys from one position to another, or do you get the guys and let the manager figure the rest out (how best to use them)?
Thanks for the opportunity to chime in.
What is Jack’s strategy re: power bats? Projecting the 2011 roster, does he see any short-term impact bat from the team’s MLB-ready prospects? If not, and power is a priority, is the team prepared to pay in free-agency? Or will it shop for bargains (yet again)?
How willing are big ticket free agents willing to come to Seattle? Does it only take money, or are they not interested in joining a team that hasn’t been considered a real contender for a very long time. Besides the ugly travel aspect of playing in Seattle, what are some other reasons you’ve heard players mention for not wanting to come here.
How do you evaluate players going through to both sides of the trade? Also how ecstatic where you when we got Cliff Lee for that package?
Also could you describe Lueke’s character? Obviously from twitter he’s been a choirboy but what does the coaches think of him and will he pitch in Seattle?
Do you attribute Franklin Gutierrez’s hitting woes to the firing of Allen Cockrell or to a off year and why has Franklin’s UZR decreased so much since the previous year when he has looked just as good or better then the previous year?
Are there any players that you would not consider trading if you believed the deal would make the Mariners a better team?
Q: Has this season’s results altered your long-term approach in any way?
Do you think the foreseeable Mariner roster will be competitive in the next 2-3 years, ie in the range of 80-90 wins, with a few changes or should there be significant turnover to the roster.
In otherwords, with the near-MLB ready prospects like Ackley, Pineda etc be enough to make the roster competitive with a few strategic additions.
Or should as much value be squeezed from the current roster in trades in order to build a more sustainable core at the expense of a longer time frame.
What is it like working for Lincoln and Armstrong? Are they the worst bosses ever? Does your daughter know more about baseball than they do?
Jack,
How much of the League/Morrow trade was for the reason of getting Chavez? Was he a bigger part of the trade in your mind than what has been reported or was he a throw-in that we got a bit lucky with?
Thanks!
Q: Although this year’s team was built primarily on defense, what kind of team do you envision having on the field by the time your plan comes to fruition (ie. in 3 to 5 years)? In other words, do you prefer strong pitching and defense, strong offense, or a good mix of both?
Will Dan Brown be a part of the interview process? Are there any names that we hear a lot about that can be eliminated? Sweet Lou, Bobby Valentine, or Joey Cora…?
Do you feel that Mariners have went with too much of a “Mambi-Pambi” approach in signing free agents where they’ve signed “high character” guys that might be lesser baseball players as opposed to guys that are more “low character” that are better ball players?
Do you think this approach has changed with you now running the ship?
What statistics and/or statistical projections do you use when evaluating players? How much emphasis do you put on these statistics, as opposed to more traditional scouting?
Q: How do you evaluate manager performance, and what would be the key traits you’ll be looking for in Wak’s replacement?
Follow up Q: Have you spoken to Pete Mackanin about the open position?
In which current NPB (Nippon Pro Baseball) players are the Mariners interested for 2011 or beyond? Two good fits come to mind: Hiroyuki Nakajima, current SS for the Seibu Lions, and SP Wei-Yin Chen of the Chunichi Dragons.
In your opinion, was the Griffey situation poorly? What could have been done differently to have handled it better? Was it unfair to Wak to have to handle it on his own or is that the job of the manager?
Some have speculated that the poor performance by Jose Lopez and Chone Figgins is due, at least in part, to the fact that they were switched from their natural positions. Do you believe there is any truth to that, or do you attribute their performance to other factors (i.e., randomness)?
Q: Why did you bring back Junior instead of having a feel good end to his career, after last season? Also, why did he really hop in a car and do a road trip across country to leave.
Q: When will the Mariners finally make it to the World Series? (Or the playoffs for that matter again.) And what is the ETA.
Q: Given what happened with Junior, is there now bad blood, or does he still love Seattle? He seems to communicate with the FO quite a bit. Do you think he’ll be entering the HOF as an Mariner or not?
Scouting question:
With the easy availability of pitch f/X data, it would seem as though hitters who have the flexibility to alter their stances to take advantage of pitcher weaknesses and predilections would be great to have.
Is there any way of scouting for such hitters and/or training such hitters while they are still in the minors?
We’ll use this thread heavily when deciding which questions to put to the guys, and the Q&A will be heavily driven by user submitted ideas.
After reading this thread, God, I hope not. Some of these questions are horrible- you might as well be asking “So, Jack, when did you stop beating your wife?”
Anyway…
Jack, what has the 2010 season taught you that you didn’t know before it started?
I forgot to add a few questions, and they may have been already addressed above since I didn’t read all … however …
Q: Why is Lopez at 3rd and Figgins at 2nd? (Instead of the other way around.)
Q: Which leads to, why is Lopez even on the team?
Q: Finally, why not dump the junk, and bring up kids as replacements so at least they can get evaluated and get some experience at the MLB level?
Daren Brown?
Dear Jack Z.,
Any progress on MLB team’s owning draft choice slots, i.e., they can be traded, and not lost due to a greedy agent / player and ‘signability’ issues.
Thank you.
Even if Z could talk about that, at this point both would have to be posted by their respective ballclubs, so we don’t really have control over that.
Chen Wei-Yin may be posted this year, but as for Nakajima I think Seibu has at least 3 years left of club control before international FA, so I don’t think the possibility of him being posted is likely until maybe the year before FA, and by that time he’ll be close to 30.
I think the better question is whether or not the staff has considered getting HS/university players that may be off the board (kind of like Pedro Okuda).
Several Mariner prospects such as Ackley, Pineda and Smoak are very highly-heralded and come with some pretty lofty expectations from both the fans and the organization. What kind of expectations do you have for some of these young players and how are they communicated to the players themselves?
Q: What member of the 2010 draft class is on the fastest track to the majors? Stephen Pryor has sure been doing good, but is there any other players who have done good since being signed?
Q: How close is Josh Fields from being in the Mariners bullpen?
Q: Will Matt Mangini get a chance at 3rd as a result of his breakout season in Triple A? Also, will Chone Figgins move back to 3rd or stay at 2nd? Will Ackley stay in the minors for a year or will he become a starter for the Mariners next season (or does the choice hinge on his spring training)?
Q: I’ve heard a lot about Justin Smoak and Josh Lueke, what can we expect from the other 2 players obtained by trading Cliff Lee and Mark Lowe?
Q: What do you look for in adding relief pitchers to the roster?
Q: If you were to ask a potential manager about when and how to use his relief pitchers, what would you be hoping to hear?
Q: What’s the biggest misconception about how the Mariners organization operates?
Q: Last year at the event you talked about the fact that you can’t predict when players will ‘figure it out’…and that some never do. Can you identify minor league players for us who you believe may have ‘figured it out’ this year?
Q: In addition to having done virtually everything on your way up to the general manager position, you were also a ballplayer for about 2 seasons (in 1973-74). In your estimation, were there any essential things you learned in your pro ballplayer days, things that help you to this day?
Q: The time to hang up the spikes comes for everybody who ever plays baseball. But what thoughts do you remember having when you decided it was your time to end your professional playing career?
Q: Was “Jack Zduriencik, general manager of a major-league baseball team” always your goal? If not, when did you decide that this current position was what to shoot for?
Q: Not so long ago, baseball had the Golden Age Of Power-Hitting Shortstops. Nowadays it’s hard to find someone who can play the position satisfactorily, but many teams carry a superstar at Second Base now. What has been the primary reason behind this shift, IYO? Is it strictly cyclical?
Q: Without telling us what or who you’re looking at as the next permanent (so to speak) Mariners’ skipper….do you know approximately how many candidates will be on the list of possible hires when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, and you choose?
And with the caveat that these things often take longer than you wish, do you have any sort of date in your mind as a timeline for which to fill the position (besides before Spring Training 2011, of course…)?
Q: Do you think the concepts of current defensive metrics (as well as concepts such as wOBA) will ever catch on to the more general baseball-watching populace?
Q: What, if any, changes do you expect might happen to revenue sharing / the CBA after the recent leaking of financial reports for the Pirates, Mariners, etc?
Q: When and how do you make the decisions about the percentage of the budget allocated to the different areas under your control, from Free Agent, Draftees, International signings, etc. Is it a fluid system, where often what you originally allocated is too much/not enough and you have to adjust?
Q: Can you point to any personal failures/successes that were not fairly obvious or even ones that were never reported in the press?
Q: Outside of personnel or budget, can you point to something that another GM in the majors has that you don’t, and you really want?
If there is time, I think that maybe James Lipton’s questionnaire might be fun:
1. What is your favorite word?
2. What is your least favorite word?
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
4. What turns you off?
5. What is your favorite curse word?
6. What sound or noise do you love?
7. What sound or noise do you hate?
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
9. What profession would you not like to do?
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
Q: Do you actually follow the USSMariner blog during the season? Or any other local media? And do the various fan “outcries” that happen throughout any given season ever actually have an impact on the decision making process?
(ie, with Junior, Wakamatsu, Lopez, Rob Johnson)
Do you feel like you gambled too much with the roster this year – or is its failure just a confluence of very abnormal bad luck and under achievement?
While not necessarily impossible, it seems unlikely that this team could make all the necessary additions to realistically compete in 2011.
Given that, is it worth it from a front office perspective to admit to fans that the team is still in rebuilding mode going into 2011 and hope people support the youth movement? Or do you risk further disappointment, sell the team as a winning product (“Believe Big”), and hope for the best?
I’ll hang up and listen.
‘m m member when…you signed Eric…..Byrnes…and like he pulled the b..bat back on a squeeze play, then rode his bike out of the club house past you?…THAT WAS AWESOME!
Q: In your opinion, what do the Mariners need to do differently in order to win the World Series?
Q: How much do you weigh positional skill (i.e. ability to play shortstop, third base, etc.) against overall athletic ability when evaluating prospects?
Q: Who is the most gregarious member of the team? Who is the shyest?
Q: How soon in the offseason do you like to have the next year’s roster set? Is there a point that is too soon? Is there a point that is too late?
Q: What process do you go through in evaluating foreign players? Does it differ from domestic players?
It seems like Wak’s choice at the beginning of the season to push “small ball” while not requiring nor even seemingly asking the players to practice it outside of spring training could be a likely cause for why the Mariners made so many uncharacteristic mistakes on the basepaths this year. What are your thoughts on this and if the same approach is taken next year, would you like to see the manager set up some set of regular drills to practice these skills, similar to what the Angels do?
I would really like to hear an opinion on whether Blengino has been relegated to a lesser role and the organization will be giving less importance to sabermetric thinking. Since I don’t see getting an honest answer to that question, just something along the lines of your previous post:
Moratorium
Q: To what degree do you feel like this season has been a litmus test for sabermetric thinking? Did you rely too heavily on statheads and will you be adjusting your approach to player development and projections more towards traditional scouting views?
Q: (Needs to be toned down but) You made a lot of moves this off-season and aside from the Cliff Lee trade they’ve been failures or spectacular failures. If you had it to do over again, are there moves that you wouldn’t make again?
How much influence does your on-field staff have on the make up of the roster?
How much influence does the front office have on in-game strategy?
What is the most difficult aspect of the job for you?
How well are you meeting your expectations of where you feel the organization should be at this point in time?
We have heard the rumor of a member of the ownership having never attended a home game.
Is this true?
Mr. Yamauchi, the former majority stockholder is now 83, and not going to fly from Japan just to see a game. He watches them on tv. The other 15 owners live here, and are regularly at games.
Jack,
Do you think that some of the problems with player development and the glaring disparity of the MLB performance of prospects vs. their AAA stats may be due to the PCL being a weak league?
Do you think the level of competition, for both hitters and pitchers, is too low to provide adequate preparation for MLB? Is it two weak to effectively sort the wheat from the chaff?
If this is the case, is it forcing the team to “drop it’s collective pants” in front of the MLB fans and do most of the evaluation at the big league level?
Follow-on: What happened to Jose Lopez? Ok admit it, he lied about his age coming out of Venezuela and is actually 42 years old.
Have you considered talking to Ryne Sandberg about the field manager position?
Jack,
I would like to follow up on IwearMsHats question. I too was there for the Eric Byrnes “buntpocalypse” , which I witnessed actually sucking the souls out of the fans in my section. (it looked even crazier from the TV angle when I got home)
The question is, how soon can we get the “Beelzebunter” back in the fold so that we may worship him as a symbol of this season’s epic levels of chaos and fail.
I for one welcome the Anti-Bunter as our new baseball overlord!
Q> What are your goals for the team prior to the 2011 spring training?
Q> Are you going to try and improve the team through free agency, or do you feel that there is enough in the farm system to make 2011 a winning season?
Q> With free agency coming up soon, what types of players are you going to focus on landing in Seattle? Will it be established everyday single position players, more versital guys that can fit in multiple rolls, or will you be looking at more restoration projects?
Q> Will you be looking more at players that are low risk, or are you going to continue to sign high risk guys like Bedard? After this season, where all of the high risk guys failed to make any impact at all, are you going to be more cautious about bringing those types of players in?
When can we reasonably expect to see Michael Pineda in Seattle? Sepember? Start off next year?
IwearMsHats, that was the funiest thing I read all day today! Thanks, I needed that!
As a general manager and as a front office, what steps do you take when a player is greatly underperforming for an extended period of time to help correct their performance (outside of benching/replacing them)? Are these responsibilities delegated entirely to the field staff?
How about we ask all the stupid questions, online so GMZ gets ones he can answer…
Which roster moves have you not yet been announced? (although i think this would be a funny first question just because it is so over the top)
What private / confidential details of players lives are you willing to leak?
Are the Mariners reluctant to hire a tough charismatic field manager?
Q: Do you think the starting SS for 2012 and beyond is currently in the organization, or will you need to make a move to get him?
Q: The M’s have produced very few MLB-caliber position players in the last ten years. Why such a bad track record and what have you done to improve it?
The M’s have produced very few MLB-caliber position players in the last ten years.
Isn’t this true of starting pitchers as well. The M’s seem to have produced a lot of quality setup men but in the last decade King Felix, Jose Lopez, Choo, Cabrera, Adam Jones, and Michael Saunders seem to be the only regulars out of the system (and the jury is still out on Saunders to some degree). I’m sure I missed a couple, but that’s still terrible if you can’t produce more guys who are among the top 15 on a major league roster.
Yeah, pitching has been a problem, but not as bad. The M’s have produced one genuine great pitcher, and have been able to patch together a decent staff. They’re middle-of-the-pack in the AL for pitching WAR this year.
Position players on the other hand have been a disaster. They’re last in the AL in position WAR this year. Plus, they’ve been trading pitching for position players for a while. Remember that Guit cames to us largely because of JJ Putz, and Smoak was courtesy of Cliff Lee (who came to us for two pitching prospects and an A-ball OF) and Mark Lowe.
Q: Will the budget be higher or lower next season?
Q: Minnesota-style small ball, as well as past Atlanta-style pitching and defense, doesn’t seem to be working that well for us at the moment. What are the chances of getting some serious power hitters in the line-up and moving in the fences?
Q: Is there any inclination to re-acquire Cliff Lee, since he seemed to perform pretty well here during his stay?
Q: What are the plans for DH next season? This year we’ve had a strange plethora, and eventually got Branyan back, but it seems as if he’s the typical “all or nothing” type hitter — and next season he’ll be one year older, one year closer to retirement.
Do you plan on bringing Russell Branyan back next year? 5 mil is pretty cheap for a 25-30 HR .800+ OPS guy, even with all the strikeouts.
Q: Do you think it is important or even desirous to have a full time designated hitter on the roster (like Edgar) or can that job be handled by players rotating through it on days they don’t play in the field?
Q: What factors should we use to judge your performance next year? What factors should we use to judge the Manager next year?
Q: What is the most surprising development in Major League baseball this year?
Q: Are you waiting for the owners to accept your letter of resignation?
Q: Given that the lag between changes in on-the-field success and changes in attendance can be years, are there other teams out there who might decide (as the Pirates apparently did in 2007-8) that it’s not in their financial best interests to try to field a competitive team?
Can we get realigned into their division?
Q: Will you specifically be looking at getting a demonstrative manager in the mold of a Lou Piniella in the offseason?
Q: Can you give fans a BALLPARK timeline as to when they should REALISTICALLY expect this team to start competing for (at minimum) American League West titles? That is, assuming most of the prospects this team is counting on in the next couple years such as Justin Smoak, Adam Moore, Michael Saunders, Dustin Ackley, Michael Pineda, etc. pan out the way you envision them to.
Or a shorter way to answer the question would be:
“If ‘Ground Zero’ (this team being 0% of the way to achieving your goals as GM) was the day you were hired in 2008, where is this team now on a scale of 0-100?”
Is it true that you may have Nick Franklin skip High desert all together and send him straight to West Tennessee and maybe even be a September call up next Year?
(From what Ive seen he looks like a Gold glove, 20/30 guy at Shortstop, no less)
With Eric Byrnes now out of baseball after that squeeze incident, which was blown way out of proportion. Is he being considered for the managerial job next year?
Will we see James Paxton signing soon? Please?
Would you consider bringing a former GM (like Towers or Gilleck) into the office for feedback and an advisory role?
Can we make a trade with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays please?
Does ownership or GM’s have any role in deciding what the 25 man squad looks like out of Spring Training? If so, who advised to have Byrnes/ Griffey/Sweeney
Would you consider getting rid of the Moose to bring in Eric Byrnes trying to “bunt” as the team Mascot?
I think his pure unadulterated awesomeness would be good for 10 wins right there.
That is hilarious, but I suppose in line with keeping a family friendly “circus” atmosphere at at the ballpark. Thanks for the laugh!
I also love the mascot idea, which would put us well on our way to going “Full Veeck” although they say you should never go “Full Veeck” . Wouldn’t all of you rather have a pig bringing out the new baseballs than watch Jose Lopez at bat? Of course you would.
Jack,
Since “believe big” went out the window when you had to can Wakamatsu, who had obviously turned into a nimrod, is the team working on a new motto for next year? Will the new motto be careful not the overhype expectations while we “rebuild”?
Suggestion: We suck less!!!
[Rizzsvoice] Say, friends, be sure to join us early next Tuesday for special pre-game activities with the M’s new mascot, Byrnsie the Mad Bunter! Kids can compete in an around-the-bases-and-through-the-clubhouse Beach Cruiser bicycle race with bonus points for running over Jack Zduriencik lookalikes. Or, they can try their luck at the pop fly contest, where they try to catch a pop fly in Left Field while running through an obstacle course, chased by angry bees. And the first ten thousand fans will receive free Wacky Hair Wigs courtesy of Archie McPhees! [/rizzsvoice]
Safeco field has been particularly punishing to right handed pull hitters. While it’s beneficial to pitchers, left-handed contact pitchers in particular, isn’t it a significant disincentive for free agents to come here?
They take a hit to their stats and in several, albeit anecdotal, cases they hit badly for the first season or so. Lesser stats ultimately translates into less compensation. There are many more right handed hitters than left handed pitchers.
Would it not be beneficial to reduce the penalty that Safeco has on hitters?
That is very funny.
Question For Jack Z.–Have the Mariners considered putting in a bike lane for ease of exit from the clubhouse.
Q: Are these fleece blankets or large crying towels?
Q: When you took this job did you ever envision yourself out in the 300 level in a meaningless game in September trying to convince a bunch of us not to jump?
Q: When Don Wakamatsu was hired, his familiarity with the AL West was cited as a positive attribute. Do you think getting his ass kicked by the AL West made him even more familiar with it?
Q: The Mariners have now fired European-, African-, and Asian-American managers, when can we expect to fire our first Hispanic manager or does Marty Martinez count?
Q: Will you bring a UFC match to Safeco Field or just leave them in the dugout?
Q: Do you think Ichiro is selfish for only being the greatest lead-off hitter and defensive right fielder of his generation and never having a bad back or hammies?
Q: Are you related to the old Rainier Brewmaster? Does this season make you wish you were?
Q: Are the digitally created hydroplane races on the scoreboard rigged? Should I stop wagering on them?
Q: Do you think the ban on the use of PED’s in baseball has affected Madonna’s sex life?
Q: When is Josh Wilson Bobbleglove night?
Q: Could you use a hug right now?
Q: Would the Mariners consider adding a Rick Kaminski or Edward McMichael bobblehead night to the list of 2011 promotions?
What are your thoughts of potentially seeing Bobby Valentine in the Mariners dugout managing the ball club next year? He seems like a great fit for us and exactly what we need…
It seemed that you had a desire to get rid of all semblance of Bavasi and that lead you to make poor decisions in getting Wilson and Snell as well as getting League for Morrow. Is there any truth to that?
What is the deal when we get the bases loaded? Have you looked at the statistics from this season on how many runs we score when the bases are loaded with less than 2 outs and how many runs we score versus the league average?
Former General Manager Bill Bavasi was quoted by the New York Times this spring, saying that “We were on strict orders when I got there that we were not going to tolerate any five-year plans” (www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/sports/baseball/28choo.html).
Were you given a similar directive when you took this job? Has that policy changed, and if so, how?
Q: What is your process for evaluating potential free agent signings? What information do you use?
Q: Excepting the Mariners, who has the best scouting operation in major league baseball?
Q: Excepting the Mariners, who has the best player development operation in major league baseball?
Q: If the ownership gave you an additional $1 Million to spend on things other than player payroll, what would you spend it on?
***I got TICKETS to the U.S.S. Mariner EVENT***
Something suddenly came up. They should not go to waste, so they could be yours. $15 per. I have 4 of them in section 323, row 14, seats 7-10.
Remember:
3:30 pm Q&A pre-game, gates open at 3:20!
ussmariner T-Shirt!
ussmariner pre-game mixer!
Seat to game vs Indians
(btw, blanketfleece to first 15,000 fans. you’ll be in the stadium already!)
gjasmith@msn.com
I have to say, although I learned a lot from the serious questions and liked many of them, it was the funny ones that kept me reading this whole post. If you can’t laugh about the state of this franchise right now, you’d cry your eyes out. Thanks for the funnies! (The Eric Byrnes “THAT WAS AWESOME!!” gets my vote as the best one
On a scale of 1-10, how much freedom do you have to do whatever you want?
10 being able to trade Ichiro to the Angels without talking to anyone in the M’s org.
1 being all transactions need approval from pres/ceo/ownership and some are dictated
Safeco field has been particularly punishing to right handed pull hitters. While it’s beneficial to pitchers, left-handed contact pitchers in particular, isn’t it a significant disincentive for free agents to come here?
Do you think that SAFECO was built this way, so we wouldn’t have to concern ourselves with signing the FA Big Boppers–they wouldn’t sign anyway?
Q: Do you think it more likely that clubhouse chemistry breeds success, or success breeds clubhouse chemistry?
Could you give a play by play of how the Griffey resigning went down this year. Who initiated what? What was the process that went into that signing and how many conversations were there about his role on the team.
trying to buy/get tickets link asks for promotional code what ‘s up with that,does anyone know code
@madatms: See a few posts above yours. Dingla has some tickets to sell.
Code is USSM ,got my tickets (2)
ok
How many times out of 100 do you think the Rainiers would have beat the Mariners this year?
Why was Rick Adair allowed to tell guys like Brandon League (splitter) and Luke French (slider) that they should throw their best pitch less? Is there any way for a GM to intervene when you hear a coach give out such terrible advice?