Kibitz Korner: Wak Watch (3)
But Zduriencik knows exactly what has been said on his non-support of the manager -- at least in public -- since the Figgins argument in the dugout. Travel from city to city, as we have this week to Chicago and now Minneapolis, and the people who work in baseball cannot understand how Wakamatsu is being allowed to twist in the wind like this.
They can't comprehend why Figgins was not made to apologize, if not to his manager, then at least to the fans for what happened in the dugout. Nor can they comprehend why Zduriencik has yet to come out in support of the manager on this.
All you need to say, if you're Zduriencik, is, "The manager's decision is final. All players have to respect and abide by it.''
This is crisis management 101 in baseball and any sport. Say it, and the speculation about Wakamatsu eases a bit. But it's too late now. Zduriencik didn't even give him that.
Do you think Mike Scioscia would have tolerated a dugout incident like that in Anaheim? Do you think Angels management would have allowed that to happen without stepping up to support Scioscia?
SSI reported, the night of Figgins' amazing mutiny in the dugout, that the very next morning we would know Wak's destiny in Seattle.
Zduriencik has laid the cards on the table: Wak's gone.
I'm a big Don Wakamatsu fan, but look at it from Capt Jack's point of view. He constructed a roster which he, and I, and Matty, and LL, and Taro, and everybody thought had a shot. Those 25 players wayyyyyyyyyyyy underperformed. The season is a joke, and from Capt Jack's point of view, Wak just didn't deliver him the wins.
It says here that Zduriencik -- a professional without a doubt -- has been doing a slow burn over Wakamatsu's results since mid-May at least.
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And that's why I suggest that Monday's off-day, with this team likely to lose a seventh straight game tomorrow, would be about the time you'd expect a non-supportive front office to make a change.
Good news 1: Bill James has demonstrated, many times, that a managerial change is a great way to kick a team into gear. Go find yourself a Cinderella champion in sports history and you're 98% guaranteed to find a new manager.
Just last year, the Rockies did this:
- 18-28 = record under Clint Hurdle
- 74-42 = record under Jim Tracy
Managerial changes don't always work, of course, but you've got a team farrrrrrrrrrr underperforming, and a Bobby Valentine type move might very well cause an instant return of all of the M's hitters to their lifetime OPS+'s.
It's quite possible. Swap Wak for (say) Bobby V and starting that very game, you're just as liable to see Figgins creating 6 runs a game, Lopez 5, Gutierrez 5, etc etc.
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Good news 2: Zduriencik is putting it on the marquee, for all of us to see, that he thinks Chone Figgins will deliver on his contract.
Letting Figgins get away with his mutiny isn't the most principled thing this front office will ever do. But it shows you that they suspect that as soon as the new manager is here, the M's could revert to their 1-2 All-Star leadoff punch.
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The team is 6-22 since July 1. They just fired their Felix Hernandez bullet, now must go three more games without him -- mercifully being spared a fourth by the off-day. Continue at their .214 winning rate since July 1 and the M's will finish with 111 losses.
Zduriencik does not want this team to get used to losing. He explained the Mike Sweeney decision in those terms. Ditto the Casey Kotchman move. He's trying to install a winning culture, to avoid the 1980's Mariners whipping-boy culture.
Logic would dictate that he's going to change long before the winter gets here. SSI predicts that Zduriencik will choke on the chicken-bone of 105 losses and start swingin'.
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I like Wak, but he'll land on his feet. This ballclub is sunk without a bubble. At this point, the kickstart would be logical.
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We'll see,
Dr D