I go back to what I've said on this from the beginning. Geoff is hunting for front-office accountability and he's using Lueke's past crime, present situation and future career as his crowbar to lever some cracks in management's claims. It's not a straight portrayal of all the facts, just the ones that suit the argument and presented to put Lueke in the poor light his actions have allowed.
Because Lueke pled no-contest, he is a criminal. That's a fact. Whether taking a plea for 42 days in jail over his potential several year sentence if convicted at trial is a reasonable thing to do is not discussed. He lied to cops and his DNA was evident. Whether he did or did not do the crime would be left to the judgment of 12 people getting incomplete facts and believing one side or the other in the he-said, she-said testimony.
The interesting angle for Baker is the front-office disconnect beween what Jack knew (or should have known) and what he told Chuck and Howard. He had limited space and an argument to present, so he lined up his ducks and started shooting.
I agree, that's interesting.
But the way Lueke is presented in the article is brutal. It helps the angle and keeps the heat on Jack, but it doesn't explain why Lueke might have chosen to take a plea, or ask anyone who knows him to defend him as he pleads in the article. And that's okay, to a point. Lueke's purpose in the article is to be a criminal, and his crimes are what were either miscommunicated or lied about by or to Jack Zduriencik. Lueke is not the story, he's the angle.
I agree with Geoff, it's not his job to be a PR man for the Mariners. They have other guys (ones who should be fired) who should be doing that and are repeatedly dropping the ball.
I just hate seeing Lueke be the crowbar and take the beating. He took the plea, he admitted guilt, so he can't say, "I don't deserve this." From Geoff's article it's apparent that the girl involved didn't have it any easier. It's not Baker's job, as he says, to soft-peddle.
But I don't like other people's misery being used on a headhunting mission. Sometimes that's the only lever available, but if stories are gonna be written about Lueke (or the girl) I'd prefer they be about them and not just capitalizing on their situation to make someone else look bad.
I hope the Ms get off their lazy, incompetent butts and get in front of this at SOME point instead of hoping it blows over. It's not going to blow over. If Lueke gets a promotion in September, it'll come up. If he goes to Spring Training, it'll come up. If he cracks the 25 man, it'll come up. When he pitches, when he wins or loses, when he goes to opposing stadiums...it'll be there. What he did, how the Mariners handled the trade and the revelations, it'll all be there.
If we trade Lueke for a bag of baseballs it'll still be there. Smoak is with us as part of that trade, as is Beavan. When those guys get mentioned, Lueke will be too.
They'd better start dealing with it. Geoff's not gonna let it go. It's a story, and if they want that story to be told with a different angle than the one Baker's using, then they'd better find one and present it - and keep presenting it.
Or Lueke's head is gonna be up there next to Fusco's and probably Zduriencik's by the time this whole thing is done. If Jack flat-out lied to his bosses, he's in trouble. If they can't come to a resolution on it (assuming Fusco wasn't the resolution) and show both resolution and resolve with Lueke's situation, it's all going to end badly.
Jack screwed up. Baker called him on it. As Geoff said, it's been 2 weeks and it's still Jack's move.
The clock's ticking.
~G