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MLB
Mariners face cyclical obstacles in rebuilding a team
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEATTLE - The Seattle Mariners once again seem caught in no man's land between contending and rebuilding.
They are again stuck with unproductive veterans, on pace to lose close to 100 games under their sixth manager since Lou Piniella left, and facing more rebuilding after another failed effort to contend.
It's a familiar pattern, one that began in 2004. The Mariners, just three years after their record-setting 116-win season in 2001, tested Father Time once too often.
They entered 2004 with new general manager Bill Bavasi and second-year manager Bob Melvin, but the oldest roster in franchise history. Averaging 31.5 years of age, not one of the starting nine was under 30, four were 35 and older and the glue holding it together, designated hitter Edgar Martinez, was 41.
The Mariners lost 99 games, hanging on too long to Bret Boone, John Olerud, Dan Wilson and even Martinez, whose numbers paled in comparison with previous seasons. Seattle also relied on 30-something free agents Scott Spiezio and Rich Aurilia, right-handed hitters ill-uated for Safeco Field.
"When I entered the season, ... I thought we had an awful lot of opportunity to be very competitive," Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik said following the firing of manager Don Wakamatsu. "There were a lot of high expectations. There were a lot of people that thought this was going to be a terrific club.
"I still had my doubts. I thought there were some things that needed to happen. Things needed to go our way, and unfortunately we've had a disappointing season."
Zduriencik insists the team is not back to "square zero" and that there are key players in place. But there are common traits from the past seven seasons- managerial uncertainty, too much faith in declining players, bad investments,
and trying to contend and rebuild simultaneously- that is book ended by well-hyped Mariners teams losing 99 games in 2004 to almost identical results in 2010.
1 draft pick Brandon Morrow in the offseason for a relief pitcher, Brandon League, with only two seasons of club control left. Such moves, where returns are short-term, usually aren't made by rebuilding team
"Things needed to go our way, and unfortunately we've had a disappointing season."
Zduriencik traded former No.
The Mariners also appeared to be "going for it" when they traded three prospects to Philadelphia in December for Cliff Lee. The team acquired arguably better prospects in July, including first baseman Justin Smoak, by flipping Lee to Texas, but that seems more like a fallback plan than the goal all along.
ting woes, trends that plagued him again this year. A trade for Milton Bradley, 32, whose anger and emotional issues were well documented, blew up in May when he was placed on the restricted list to seek
The Mariners continued their post-2003 trend of relying too heavily on veterans past their prime, or with red flags.
Another season has dragged by while the Mariners used up one of the years in which they have franchise cornerstones Felix Hernandez and Franklin Gutierrez.
They made Ken Griffey Jr. their designated hitter at age 40, coming off a .214-hitting season, then added fading Eric Byrnes, 34, only to see both retire. Jack Wilson, 32, got a two-year, $10 million extension after injuries and bat-
JACK ZDURIENCIK
Mariners general manager
counseling.
Numerous scouts had expressed concerns about Bradley's swing before he struggled to hit above .200.
Ch o n e
Figgins, 32, got a four-year, $36 million deal, but struggled adapting to Safeco Field, second base and at No. 2 in the batting order.
It seems eerily similar to moves by Bavasi.
In 2004, the big free-agent busts were Spiezio, 31, and Aurilia, 32, right-handed hitters who never felt comfortable at lefty-friendly Safeco Field. The Mariners then bypassed left-handed-hitting free agent Carlos Delgado in 2005 and signed right-handed hitters Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre.
Sexson had a big 205 but was out of baseball by 2008.
Bavasi also signed contact-pitcher Jarrod Washburn after 2005 for four years and $37 million, despite lacking a solid def. Washburn struggled until his final contract year.
With each failure, the team compounded mistakes. There were young players in the system, but the Mariners dealt them away
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in what, in hindsight, were overly optimistic bids to contend.
Instead of rebuilding after 2004, the Mariners loaded up with Sexson, Beltre and Washburn and decided to go for it by 2006.
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Then, on July 26, with Seattle four games under .500 but still only three games out of first, right fielder Shin-Soo Choo was traded for Ben Broussard.
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Within weeks, the Martins lost 11 straight. Perez retired, while Broussard was traded a year later. Choo became a star right fielder; Cabrera, an everyday shortstop.
The Mariners stayed in contention until early September, but many felt they had overachieved. They fell out of it by losing 15 of 17.
Bavasi continued to make ill-fated deals in hopes of contending in 2007. He dealt prospects and took on big money to miscast Jose Vidro as a DH, then traded future closer Rafael Soriano for over-
matched starting pitcher Horacio Ramirez.
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" B i l l (Bavasi) has produced a winning
Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln had put Bavasi on his "hot seat" one year earlier.
"It's so disruptive to an organization to change general managers."
Zduriencik,
president Chuck
Armstrong and
Mariners CEO
Howard Lincoln
young projects will save money and bring added payroll flexibility. But big raises are also due Hernandez and Gutierrez.
on as the general manager. It's so disruptive to an organization to change general managers."
Nine months later, Bavasi and McLaren were fired.
In 2010, Seattle's young player
HOWARD LINCOLN Mariners CEO
season," Lincoln said at the time.
"That was the first challenge. He didn't get us to the playoffs, but I think he deserves to continue
must prove to weary fans, a decade since the team's last playoff appearance, that recent history isn't about to repeat itself.
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