..........

Sandy reminds us that the culture of a winning org doesn't begin at Safeco.

Kinda reminds in turn of a debate, last summer, in which locals wanted to know why minor-league teams didn't feed players better than they do.  

The debate shifted over to a Yankee discussion board, in which the Yankees were given credit for treating rookie-ball players "like Yankees," and the dividends this paid later on, after they were stars...

Minor-league teams feed players better than fans think they do, but we digress.  Sandy's point about "the way a player carries himself" is, of course, well taken...

.

One thing that is rice paper fragile is maintaining an ORGANIZATIONAL culture that demands EVERYONE prove themselves through hard work and performance on a daily basis.  For me there is absolutely zero difference in terms of the organizational detriments of "veteran entitlement" vs. "prospect entitlement".  The key word is entitlement.  You entitle anybody, you have negative blowback.  Doesn't matter if you're a future Hall of Famer (Griffey, Ichiro), or top draft pick, (Ackley, Hultzen). 

Exactly.  Baseball coaches at org level have this attitude in every cell of their bodies.  Pay yer dues, man.  We all had to!

Tell you what I love about this attitude... 

In chess (for example), that is precisely the difference between a virtuoso grandmaster, and a rash, brutish, emotional young player who loses a lot.  The young player is too quick on the trigger.

I can relate!  In chess, a weak player rushes in amateurishly with his attack.  His greed fouls up his play.

Same with poker.  A weak player wants to scoop a big pot before he's correctly prepared the situation.

It is amateurish to G-R-A-B for success before it's really there.  I gotcha, San-Man.  :- )

.......

But.  Was Michael Pineda promoted because he had a Willy Wonka Gold Coupon? or was Pineda placed into the Mariners' rotation because, other than Felix, he was the best pitcher in the organization?

Jack Zduriencik isn't talking about hoping that James Paxton will "come to camp and make a statement" because Paxton's a golden boy.  What he is talking about is:  What if James Paxton is one of the Mariners' 5 best starters?

At that point, we're not talking about entitlement, are we.  We're talking about removing the prejudice against talent and early performance.

.

Ackley wasn't hitting 1000 in AA and AAA ... but almost every comment I read from teammates was filled with awe and respect.  Even though the numbers weren't there ... by playing beside the man, all the other players got an appreciation of WHY he was so highly regarded.

Bingo again...

"Keep your mouth shut, newbie, and let your bat do your talking" is super important to the established ballplayers.

Too super important.  This kind of petty jealousy can easily blossom into a "Lynch Ichiro" 100-loss season.  But that's another discussion :- )

Ackley's bat far out-boomed his mouth.  Beautiful.  But then again, I haven't heard about James Paxton running his mouth, either, have you?