Hopes were high for Seattle Mariners fans in the spring of 2010, just as high as they were for this spring, only to be let down by one man’s decisions. General Manager Jack Zduriencik’s roster decisions took two Mariners teams on the verge of playoff contention, to hoping they stay out of the cellar.
By comparing the 2010 season to the current season we can see similarities in how they played out and also see similar moves made by Zduriencik.
Zduriencik took over as GM after the 2008 season when the Mariners fired Bill Bavasi. Seattle finished with an 85-77 record with 640 runs scored in his first year as GM. In 2010, the Mariners went 61-101 with 513 runs scored in Zduriencik’s second season.
Last year, they ended the season at 87-75, with 634 runs scored and only 554 runs against. This season is a different story, as they are on pace to finish 75-87, with 618 runs scored and 726 runs against.
Both the 2010, and 2015 seasons tell a story of how a team thought to be on the rise took a giant step back. Part of the reason is Zduriencik’s trend to sign aging players and expecting them to show no signs of decline.
In 2010 the team signed or traded for Chone Figgins, Milton Bradley, Eric Burns and Russell Branyon, who were at least 32 years old. All four of these players performed under their career averages. Bradley, Burns and Branyon were all out of baseball by the end of the 2011 season. Figgins played two more years with the Mariners and would not hit higher than a .200 batting average, which is significantly lower than his career average of .276.
Now looking at this season’s acquisitions we can see the similarities when we look at whom Zduriencik brought in to help a team that finished one game behind the wild card. The players brought in this year were Justin Ruggiano, Rickie Weeks, Seth Smith, J.A. Happ and Nelson Cruz, all of whom are also at least 32 years old.
Ruggiano and Weeks were demoted or cut, Happ has been traded and Smith is putting up numbers lower than his career averages. Cruz has been the only bright spot and he is on pace for one of the best years in his career. The problem is that Cruz is 34 years old and is in the first year of a four-year contract hitting far better than he is expected to sustain.
In Zduriencik’s six full seasons as the Mariners GM they have come in fourth place in the division four times and they came in third the other two years. This year they are once again in fourth place, six games back of the third place team.
Seattle is on their third manager since they hired Zduriencik and there has been talk of firing current manager Lloyd McClendon. The Mariners should look at the man providing subpar players to the managers, and realize he is what needs to be removed in order to break the circle of losing they are currently in.
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