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The last week, they've been showcasing Jack Zduriencik on MLB Network.  Jack Z did a really good job in analysis, and gave off a more "I'm OK, You're OK" vibe than Tony Blengino seems to have experienced.

....

At the end of the week, Brian Denny .... no, it's Kenny.  did a "fireside chat" with him on two opposing stools and politely did an "exit interview" with him.  You know, "Make your case for your next GM job."  Kenny started with, "How important are analytics?"  Jack Z lit up.  The 10-man meetings were all kinds of fun.  The Seattle saber team would present absolutely everything it had on a player, and they'd go back-and-forth on it.  ... focusing on Trumbo's HR and RBI, no doubt?  Kidding.  The average blog commenter is MUCH more behind the curve in his comments than any MLB GM is, on Baseball Prospectus.

Zduriencik ticked off on his fingers, "I've accomplished a lot of things in this game," crosschecker, Director of scouting, Director of minor league ops, Assistant GM, GM ... he named about 8 things and finished "I'm wide open."  He's on MLB Network because he'd like to get going on his next Asst GM / GM gig.  You and I would do the same.

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Kenny asked him what went wrong in Seattle.  You know, cordially.  Here's your chance to defend yourself.  Z was interesting:

"We had a lot of weird things happen.  We had two guys die - a player we thought would be our center fielder for years to come (Greg Halman).  Another guy in a boating accident (Victor Sanchez).  We had Franklin Gutierrez develop a strange disease.  Danny Hultzen we thought would be a star; he got hurt.  Dustin Ackley didn't develop ..."

Observations:

1.  Sanchez and Halman, though tragic, weren't material losses to the M's, and 29 CEO's know that.  But along with Gutierrez it goes to the idea of being snakebit.  It's easy to imagine a couple of CEO's looking at it and thinking, "Yeah, there are a lot of times the first try just doesn't happen."  ... as against that, you have Zduriencik's age.

2.  Had Franklin Gutierrez stayed healthy, and Danny Hultzen become a 17-game winner, that would have been a long stride forward.  Point conceded.  Certainly it would have put the M's in the playoffs in 2014.  How much it would have raised the 91-loss average, I dunno.  Pete Carroll had a couple of NFL tries at it, you know, before it jelled.

3.  Dustin Ackley ... I also had this feeling about Ackley, and Smoak, and Montero.  Also Saunders and Zunino.  You can talk about player development, but those five guys were ML-ready, as a group.  You deal for Jesus Montero *after* he has splashed in Yankee Stadium, and then he gives you squat.  Personally I always felt bad for Zduriencik about these five guys.

3a.  The player-development thing ... it's a catch-basin for things we don't really know much about.  Seems a little too easy to say, "They all crashed and it must be Jack Zduriencik's fault."  No, it mustn't.  That said, "The Cardinal Way" is one that keeps the strike zone in the forefront of hitters' minds, and we're free to hope it makes a difference.

4.  That said, I personally wouldn't hire Jack Zduriencik as GM.  I would hire Jerry DiPoto, though, and that remained true in the wan days just before the Lind and Iwakuma deals.

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BTW, DiPoto wants to give it a go with Hultzen as a reliever ... not sure I've ever seen a closer with a lefty side arm slot, have you?  But as to the idea of (1) pinpoint FB accuracy crossed with (2) breaking stuff thrown 1st pitch to the overagressive hitters .... the archtype is Dennis Eckersley.

FWIW,

Dr D