Well my friends, another series has come and gone for the Seattle Mariners, and the result remains the same. Swept. This time by the Tampa Bay Rays. The final game of the series, an 8-0 shellacking, saw them once again fail to push any runs across the plate.
Not even the return of Cliff Lee has been able to inspire the M’s, who appear to be nothing more than a shell of the fun loving team we saw in 2009.
What has happened? What’s gone wrong? Well for starters, as much credit as we gave general manager Jack Zduriencik for turning the Mariners around last year, and deservedly so, he must also take some of the blame for failing to go out and fix what has ailed the Mariners for years: offense.
Nobody can argue that pitching and defense are important, especially in a park like Safeco. However, Zduriencik ignored the fact that the lineup features not one consistent run producer. Did he expect Casey Kotchman and Milton Bradley to fix this? Kothcman has failed conclusively everywhere he has played, and Seattle is shaping up to be no different.
Speaking of Bradley, he’s been a head-scratcher of an acquisition since day one. High risk, high reward, that was what this was all about. Well, the risk won out. After hitting just .214 with two home runs, Bradley’s anger finally boiled over after being lifted from a game by manager Don Wakamatsu following a pair of strikeouts.
Bradley is now seeking help for his personal issues, and for that I salute him. I truly hope this helps him get his mind right.
That, however, does not negate the fact that in early may this trade can already be labeled a disaster.
I’m not saying this is all Zduriencik’s fault, but a lot of this does fall on his shoulders.
He had options out there to improve the offense. He chose to ignore them. Now he must fix the mess that has been created before it’s too late.
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