Jack Z fired from the Mariners!

[Tech Worlds]

Lather, Rinse, repeat.

 

[Hawkfan77]

Lather, Rinse, repeat.

Yup, anyone excited about this news get ready for more of the same

 

[mbtitleist]

Not at all surprised by the firing - but the timing seems rather odd.

It seems weird to me, too. Mike Salk posted an article yesterday calling for the firing, and then Jack was fired the next morning. I don't follow the Ms too closely, but is ownership really that manipulable or does Salk generally act as their mouthpiece? Timing seems awfully coincidental.

My guess is Salk has an insider and decided to write that piece when he knew it was all but a matter of time until Z was fired. As for the timing, I'm fine with it. It allows them to start officially looking around right now so that they can (hopefully) get a head start on some of the other teams that may end up going thru the same thing at the end of the season.

 

[DavidSeven]

My guess is Salk has an insider and decided to write that piece when he knew it was all but a matter of time until Z was fired.

Makes sense, though it sort of makes Salk look like an opportunist to me.

 

[chris98251]

The problem is they need a baseball guy running a baseball team and Lincoln and Armstrong are not that. They hire guys and don't let them be GM's, it's why Gillick left and Lou left.

 

[Sports Hernia]

Until Howie goes expect more of the same. The things I've heard from folks that used to work for the M's is that nothing gets done without Darth Howard's approval.

 

[Tical21]

I'd bet 1000/1 that nobody involved with this decision has ever heard the name Mike Salk before. You guys didn't expect it to happen before the season ended? I might be wrong, but I think this is about when it generally happens. When you're on the hot seat, and it becomes clearly evident you're not going to be able to keep your job, any day could be the day. I see nothing odd about the timing of this.

Are they going to be able to make a splash hire? How fun would Steve Philiips be?

It's going to be really hard for the GM they bring in to keep his job. DJ Peterson still looks terrible this year. Alex Jackson can't hit in A ball. This is going to take YEARS. I hate to say it. I HATE to say it. I will have tears rolling down my face if they do it, but if they ever want to win while Felix is still in the majors, they need to trade him to another team. Blow it all up. Cano, gone. Cruz, gone. Seager's young enough to keep. It's time to go Houston Astros and get all the young talent we can. It is the one and only chance we have to be any good in 5-7 years. Not doing so only prolongs the misery. Can a new GM get the go-ahead to blow it up? Probably not while our boy Howie is still here.

 

[Rob12]

Good. I like the touch of sending Mike Zunino down as well. That was a nice touch on showing the ineptness of Jack in rushing a youngster that had a damn promising career ahead of him.

The fact that he got seven years here is so Mariners.

Maybe one day this organization can be worth a damn.

 

[Rob12]

The higher ups get a lot of blame, but it is pretty easy to see that 90% of this team's issues are on the field. They haven't been finding the right talent and/or grooming it. If they had just hit on like one or two of Montero/Smoak/Zunino/Ackley/Hultzen, this whole thing could look entirely different. Instead, each of them is basically a monumental type bust. When Kyle Seager is the only halfway decent offensive player your system has produced in over ten years, you've got major problems with your baseball people. I guess you can blame the people that hire these baseball people, and that's fair. I guess if we had better upper management, maybe they would've hired somebody better than Jack Z.

Gosh, that "prospect list" is depressing.

Montero: Development problem coupled with his own lack of self-control.
Smoak: Rushed, another development problem.
Zunino: Criminally rushed, and hopefully not ruined.
Ackley: Development problem, rushed, shuffled between positions.
Hultzen: "Safest" pick in the draft, much like Aaron Curry. Cross body motion screamed future injury nightmare.

The minor league system as a whole this year has been a complete exercise in futility. The people in place that develop these "prospects" have failed miserably.

It's not just an ownership or GM problem. That's a lot of it -- however, the people in place in the development department need to be given their walking papers as well.

This organization is in a terrible, terrible place with some albatross contracts readying themselves to taking up much of the resources with little benefit.

It's amazing that this organization has found a way to piss away the career of one of the greatest right handed pitchers ever.

 

[Happypuppy]

Right now it is a team without a identity. The Seahawks we known who they are strong D and run the ball down your throat

The Mariners ?

Speed ?
Defense ?
pitching ?
Power ?

I see no true out fielders. We have slow plodders playing R and L and center who knows ?

We tried converting Ackerley to and out field and we seem to be doing the same with miller.

This stuff should have been done in the minors along with teaching... Things like how to bunt.

 

[Sports Hernia]

I agreed with Tical's post until the trading of Felix, that would be dumb unless it's for Trout or Stanton, and neither team would make that trade. That would set the M's back even farther with a bigger hole to fill as guys like Felix don't grow on trees.
Plus you expect a Howard Lincoln hired GM to get great value in a trade like that???

The farm system sucks, and the fundamentals of this team are horrible which is a product of a poorly ran farm system.
They need to start drafting better and not calling up players until they are fundementally sound.

 

[Hawkfan77]

It's going to be really hard for the GM they bring in to keep his job. DJ Peterson still looks terrible this year. Alex Jackson can't hit in A ball. This is going to take YEARS. I hate to say it. I HATE to say it. I will have tears rolling down my face if they do it, but if they ever want to win while Felix is still in the majors, they need to trade him to another team. Blow it all up. Cano, gone. Cruz, gone. Seager's young enough to keep. It's time to go Houston Astros and get all the young talent we can. It is the one and only chance we have to be any good in 5-7 years. Not doing so only prolongs the misery. Can a new GM get the go-ahead to blow it up? Probably not while our boy Howie is still here.

Hahaha this team will not be blown up and there will be no rebuild. Will not happen.

 

[KitsapGuy]

Mather said it was not out of the question that the new GM could be hired before the end of the season but I would expect more realistically we will see the new GM in place in the first or second week of October. He expects whoever that person is has already been watching the team closely and doing a thorough evaluation of the organization. In other words, this person will hit the ground running.

This will be Mather's hire. Chairman and CEO Howard Lincoln will be a part of the process, and Chairman Emeritus John Ellis will most likely be consulted. Final candidates will meet with ownership but when all is said and done, it will be his candidate they go with. He is ready to find that person, but he will practice what he preaches when it comes to asking for help. He will use his resources.

"I've been in baseball since '89," he said. "I know a lot of baseball executives. I have people I can call, I have people I can jump on an airplane and go see and vet candidates. There's a lot of close, longtime steady baseball people that I am going to lean on. I also have a great ownership group. Their opinions matter and I am gong to make sure that they are heard as well."

According to a number of national reports, the job in Seattle is very desirable. Two former GMs I talked with today indicated as much, saying the talent in place and resources seemingly available make winning quickly very much a possibility. Mather has a list of candidates that he expects will grow in the coming days. The expectation for the new hire will be great.

http://mynorthwest.com/374/2802461/What ... r-a-new-GM

 

[Sports Hernia]

Mather said it was not out of the question that the new GM could be hired before the end of the season but I would expect more realistically we will see the new GM in place in the first or second week of October. He expects whoever that person is has already been watching the team closely and doing a thorough evaluation of the organization. In other words, this person will hit the ground running.

This will be Mather's hire. Chairman and CEO Howard Lincoln will be a part of the process, and Chairman Emeritus John Ellis will most likely be consulted. Final candidates will meet with ownership but when all is said and done, it will be his candidate they go with. He is ready to find that person, but he will practice what he preaches when it comes to asking for help. He will use his resources.

"I've been in baseball since '89," he said. "I know a lot of baseball executives. I have people I can call, I have people I can jump on an airplane and go see and vet candidates. There's a lot of close, longtime steady baseball people that I am going to lean on. I also have a great ownership group. Their opinions matter and I am gong to make sure that they are heard as well."

According to a number of national reports, the job in Seattle is very desirable. Two former GMs I talked with today indicated as much, saying the talent in place and resources seemingly available make winning quickly very much a possibility. Mather has a list of candidates that he expects will grow in the coming days. The expectation for the new hire will be great.

http://mynorthwest.com/374/2802461/What ... r-a-new-GM

The problem is Howard Lincoln is still PART of the process. He is Mather's boss, his fingerprints will be all over this hire as they've been for every FO hire since he's had the position he currently holds. Nothing is different other swaping Mather for Armstrong. As long as Howard has a job with the Mariners, I will expect the same results.

 

[chris98251]

Yep the whole blessing of everyone and the owners is about making sure the next GM is a yes man and won't make waves. So business as usual.

 

[mrt144]

Great news, now if we can just fire Chuck, Howard and find an owner that actually cares we'd be in business.

Owners have spent a lot of money to be fair to them.

Manager is next, don't we think?

Yeah, millions on a scoreboard so we can watch the M's fail larger.

 

[Sports Hernia]

They said that decision is up to the Next GM. More than likely he'd want his own guy unless they hire the typical "yes man" that Howard Lincoln so desires.

 

[Blitzer88]

About time.

 

[chris98251]

They said that decision is up to the Next GM. More than likely he'd want his own guy unless they hire the typical "yes man" that Howard Lincoln so desires.

New GM : Mr. Lincoln Sir what do you want in a Manager

Howard : Cheap, Unknown, Just like you are, nobody upstages me around here, oh and he has to be a fall guy as well. I can't afford to take responsibility for anything, it would ruin my reputation.

 

[Largent80]

They have replaced the GM more than once with the current higher up and the result is?

Continued sucking. It's time to clean the cupboard and NOT blame players/managers.