Zduriencik and Wedge
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Q. Again: what's the effect on Zduriencik?
A. Geoff Baker laid all this out very well, a month ago, what the year extension means. It means very little. They'll write it off, if and when they feel like it, but they don't want the organization feeling unstable.
The ownership committee is evidently going to evaluate Zduriencik this winter.
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Q. Maybe Chris Larson and Howard Lincoln haven't noticed that Zduriencik would be on his third manager?
A. They're smart guys. They absolutely will not be fooled into thinking, "Hey, maybe this was Wedge's fault." Nope. If there was one thing we'd like to give to the outside commentator, it would be a greater respect for the sheer brilliance of the typical rich corporate executive in America. He's not dumber than you and I are. He's smarter.
But what it would do, if they were already inclined to keep Zduriencik, is it would give them an excuse to give him One Last Chance.
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Q. Would it be tough to get a decent replacement? Gordon doesn't want a rookie like Wakamatsu, signing on for a brief trial. Can you get Joe Girardi, if Zduriencik is lame-duck?
A. Here, you are underestimating the number of zeroes on the paycheck of a big league manager, my friend.
There will be five or six guys who would wait for a better chance, like probably Girardi. The other 7 billion people, minus five or six, will walk on crushed glass to take the job.
Lincoln and Zduriencik aren't worried about whether they'll have a line in the hall for the interview. Those 5-6 big name HOF managers, you can probably forget about them coming to Seattle, yeah. But that leaves 7 billion minus five...
Then again, maybe Joe Girardi is sick to the gut of the New York Yankees. Maybe the cow chips have piled up ankle deep, and then calf deep, and now thigh deep. Maybe if you talk to him sweet, and show him the long green, he'd take a job even though it had negatives? It's called "corporate recruiting" and it's a lot of things, but it's not simple.
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Q. Is it legit to say that a manager needs respect in the clubhouse?
A. The moment the clubhouse smells blood, the manager is done and the season is done. No doubts there. Here is a lecture that Sir Alex Ferguson gave at Harvard.
Zduriencik's done an awesome job, watching Eric Wedge's back through three losing seasons. The moment that Zduriencik was no longer willing to watch Wakamatsu's back, Wak was gone.
The Mariners are well aware of the manager's need to be in control. As it pertains to that concept, Howard Lincoln has fangs down to his chin. Last thing Lincoln ever wants to see is for the worker bees to overrun the hive.
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Q. Leaving us where? Are the 2014 Mariners in better shape with a managerial change?
A. Bill James, in historian mode, once observed that almost all Cinderella turnarounds are done after a change of the field manager.
For three years, the Mariners have seemed (1) logically run and (2) completely snakebit. It wasn't that Michael Morse and Raul Ibanez weren't sabermetric players; Morse got hurt and that's a field scout issue, the issue of durability. Raul? How can you say that Raul was part of the problem in 2014?
Montero, Smoak, and Ackley seemed like good ideas at the time. But everything these Mariners touch, turns to mush.
My basic reaction: a change of leadership would be a fresh draw at the deck.
Or not,
Dr D