1997, part 4
=== Echoes, Dept. ===
The second thing that angered the faithful was (2) their weird insistence that Jose Cruz Jr. was a likely future Hall of Famer. They saw Cruz as a franchise player for the next 15 years. The Mariners' administration (and, incidentally, Jemanji) cried from the rooftops that Cruz was not going to be a great player.
This was one of the great 2-on-1,000 firefights in which Silentpadna and Jemanji tried to single-handedly hold back the cyber lynching. We had exactly as much success as we did in the Bedard trade. :- )
And in this case the M's were right. Cruz finished his career with a 102 OPS+, but to this day the M's faithful remember the trade as a hijack.
You can draw the obvious parallels to the Adam Jones trade. He is currently running a 77 OPS+ for the season, 90 for his career. If he finishes with Cruz' 102 OPS+, it won't affect the visceral reaction to giving him up. He was perceived as a franchise player when traded, and that's the emotional imprint we're left with.
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It's almost beside the point that Slocumb, Timlin, and Spoljaric did ransom the 1997 season: Slocumb saved 10 straight games, Timlin and Spoljaric pitched reliably, and the M's won the division by 6 games.
Weirdly, the Pat Gillick - Davey Johnson Orioles had little trouble dispatching the M's roster of HOF'ers. The Mariners have always suffered a huge advance-scouting deficit. In this case, the Orioles executed an interesting anti-Unit strategy: protect the knees against fastballs. When they got fastballs down, they hit them - enough to beat the Big Unit, anyway.
Though it's not remembered that way, the 1997 Jose Cruz Jr. trade was one of Chuck Armstrong's most baseball-savvy moves -- he had the guts to give up a fan favorite with huge upside, and redeem a chance for the 1990's M's to take their place in history.
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=== 2010, the Punch Line ===
On Sunday, as the M's lost their 2nd straight game on a walk-off homer, the 2010 M's entered the same twilight zone as was inhabited by the 1997 Charlton-Ayala club.
I don't know how it's happening or what the explanation is, but something is going on with the 2010 M's that goes far, far beyond a weak offense or a zapped will to win. ... you can't lose 15 April-May road games in the other guys' last at-bat. It's unpossible.
This is worse than 1997. I'm now tuning in, in morbid fascination, to see what piano is going to fall on the M's heads next.
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In 1997, they traded for three relievers. I don't know what you trade for, in order to stop a 15-walkoff losing streak. Relievers, I think, but you tell me.
Jack Zduriencik, in his wisdom, is using his head and not his heart. He continues to believe in the M's chances, as he should.
SSI commends this, but if it were in Capt Jack's shoes it would do something drastic. The offense has revived, and the pianos continue to fall. Something needs to happen to break the M's pattern. Walkoff losses will eventually convince a ballclub that it's not going to win.
In the meantime, discount game at the ballpark tonight. Should be very amusing. :- )
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Cheers,
Dr D
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