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The problem began years before Dr. E came on board.
The particulars of the problem are:
1) Ms haven't produced an .800 hitter *internally* since AROD.
2) MANY Ms prospects have blossomed after leaving the org, (Guillen, Choo, Morse, Adam Jones).
3) Ms pitcher development shows none of the same problems that hitters do.
4) The minor successes have typically been from a template of pure athletic instinct, (Lopez, Yubet, Seager, Saunders), with general failures by any Mariner prospect who showed any "cerebral" or "selective" foundation to their hitting. Basically, the more walks they draw early in their minors careers, the worse they do upon hitting the majors.
My assessment is that it is NOT about the physicality - the swing planes - the mechanical stuff that they are screwing up. I think they are (perhaps unwittingly), destroying player production through the preaching of "approach" to at bats.
The short hand managerial rhetoric has long been "we want intelligent at bats", which sounds good. But, what that means I think is ... "don't let strikes go by .. EVER ... and don't swing too often at pitches Waaaaay out of the zone, (if you can help it).
I think high walk players (Ackley/Smoak) are criticized for not being aggressive enough. I think players like Peguero, (whom they would "like" to strike out less often), is actually viewed more positively, because he IS aggressive.
I think Saunders is about as "passive" as the org can stand. (Now, Saunders had some real technical issues to fix, and did a wonderful job of fixing them ... which means the FOCUS on Saunders was mechanical ... not on his approach to hitting).
I think Smoak and Ackley are both suffering from too much meddling to "mold" them into something they are not.
Montero is the hardest to figure ... but BEFORE he reached the Ms, he had gotten WORSE with each promotion. I think Montero may simply have reached the limit of what his instincts can do, and has no real experience in terms of adapting his hitting to higher level opposition.