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Pineda wasn't a club-controlled TOR starter when traded? And he had no 'issues' when he left town, else the Yankees wouldn't have traded for him.
If Cliff Lee was 'never re-signing', then that's an indictment on Zduriencik as well. A GM should be able to recruit and sign top talent, period.
You can break down each individual decision or event and justify it, sure. I'm taking a 30,000-foot view and evaluating things as if I owned the Mariners and Z worked for me. Where are we at right now, and is that what I expect after 5 years on the job?
If I owned the team, I don't care how the Angels and Toronto are doing less with more. I don't care how the A's do more with less. I care about the progress our team has made, is making, and how we are positioned to contend for the next few years. If after 5 years we're still sending tomato cans to the mound half the time, that's a failure. If we still don't have a shortstop who can hit, that's a failure. I wouldn't care about the 'breaks' that led to Hultzen getting hurt, or whatever. Maybe if Hultzen had been promoted earlier he wouldn't have gotten hurt, you just can't say. What happens on Z's watch is what I would hold him accountable for.