Order from Chaos is the recipe for bringing the Mariners out of this death spiral.
Firstly you define this team as one where youth and prospects are the order of the day.. if we're going young then lets abandon the "Who is the right veteran catcher" or "Which bad 2B do we throw good money at?" If we're young, then play the young guys. Smoak, Ackley (perhaps after the 25 games in Tacoma), Saunders, Felix, Fister, Vargas, pineda, League, Franklin (in 1.5 years) etc. Ride the youth wave until they learn to win.
In that scenario, Figgins goes (well, Figgins goes in any scenario where order is a driving principle). I think you look at Guti as trade bait (we've seen his normal performance numbers). You find young guys who will grow. You're short two OF's in this scenario....in the sense that you need a LF to replace Guti (If Saunders goes to CF) and you need a RF in the pipeline.
Z is in a bad spot, though. He sold some of his GM soul with the idea that the M's could compete this year. In doing so he saddled them with a bunch of $8M years of a punch and judy, aging, league average defender or less, who turns out to be a malcontent. This guy was to replace the ultimate gamer who played with a totally sproined testicle and never complained and was a picture of stability.
Z added a $12M cancer in LF in exchange for a $12M questionable arm. The arms had a not bad season. The cancer was as advertised.
Believing the above two guys were what was needed offensively, he did pull off a slick trade to get a toop-flite starter, giving the M's perhaps the best 1-2 punch in baseball.
He resigned a broken-down baseball card in hpes that he would be some sort of gray-beard Yoda. He ended up being some sort of gray-beard disaster.
Now Z has to pivot and advance "backwards." Now we're a team of the future. I don't think he can make this piroette and survive. And unfortunately when he gets canned at the end of the year, more chaos is created.
This is order. Be young. Embrace it. Baby steps this year. Bigger one's next.
Realize that ichiro has long been the leader of this team because he shows up everyday, prepares like a professional, performs like a professional, and carries himself like a professional. No drama queen "look at me" or "I was robbed" crap. You want young players to learn how to be winners. Tell them to shut up and emulate Ichiro.
Now that would be terrific order.
moe
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