The '15 season was "supposed to be the culmination" of Mariners Exec VP & GM Jack Zduriencik’s now-seven-year plan to return the team to the playoffs, but just over a year after receiving a contract extension, "he’s unemployed," according to Ryan Divish of the SEATTLE TIMES. Mariners President & COO Kevin Mather flew to Chicago last week and informed Zduriencik that he would be "relieved of his duties." Mather said, "I said goodbye to a very loyal, hard-working baseball man who I considered a friend." Mather in '14 gave Zduriencik a contract extension, and on Friday he said, "Last year was my first year, and I thought Jack worked hard and I thought the ballclub made progress, and quite frankly I thought we made progress all the way up in the pyramid." Zduriencik said, "It just didn’t work out like we hoped it would.” Divish noted Mariners ownership gave Zduriencik a $130M payroll this season -- the "highest in team history." The search for Zduriencik’s replacement "begins immediately." Mather will "handle the hiring process but will involve" team Chair & CEO Howard Lincoln and Chair Emeritus John Ellis in the search. Mather is "open to all candidates but has his preferences" (SEATTLE TIMES, 8/29). In Seattle, Geoff Baker noted Zduriencik "had no qualms about demanding excellence and accountability." But through seven years of Zduriencik’s tenure, that same accountability "eluded the general manager’s chair" (SEATTLE TIMES, 8/29).
FAILURE TO DELIVER: In Seattle, Larry Stone wrote the move, which came "a year to the day after Mather extended Zduriencik’s contract and said the team was 'well-positioned' for yearly contention, was a move the Mariners had to make." Indeed, it "was overdue, as even Mather admitted." He said, "I was so optimistic about 2015 at the major-league level that I waited too long to start asking myself and others the tough questions about what’s going on here, what’s going wrong." Stone wrote the "busted draft picks and backfiring player acquisitions are piling up," and the "bad vibe surrounding the team has reached new levels." Most importantly, hope for the future "has withered away." To bring Zduriencik back "would have been to stubbornly cling to a vision that clearly has been misguided." The hiring of a new GM will be the "first major test for Mather." It will be "interesting to see if changes are also coming above Mather" in the realm of Lincoln, now in his mid-70s, or in ownership. It is "time for new blood there, too -- and the prospect of Lincoln’s eventual involvement in this GM hire doesn’t inspire me with confidence" (SEATTLE TIMES, 8/29).
STUNTED DEVELOPMENT: MLB Network’s Greg Amsinger said Zduriencik was a "draft-and-development guy, but when you look at the guys he drafted, especially in the first round, they really didn’t pan out." Amsinger: "It makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it, that this move was made. ... Accountability doesn’t just lie on the GM, but someone has to take full responsibility” (“MLB Tonight,” MLB Network, 8/28). ESPN's Keith Law said, “The Mariners have not drafted well or developed well, and I think that is really symbolized in what they did the three times under Jack Zduriencik that they picked in the top-three picks overall. ... Three times they had an opportunity to get a star at or near the top of the draft and got essentially nothing from them. It’s very hard to overcome mistakes like that in the draft when it’s compounded by problems with player development” ("Baseball Tonight," ESPN2, 8/29). In Tacoma, John McGrath noted of the six first-round draft picks under Zduriencik, the "only player remaining on the big-league roster" is P Taijuan Walker, and he is only a "modest success story." McGrath: "Of all the numbers underscoring Zduriencik's struggles in Seattle ... none is more damning than 30. That's how many hours the 2015 Mariners have owned a record over .500. They beat the Angels in the opener" (Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE, 8/29). SI.com's Jay Jaffe wrote it is "amazing that he lasted nearly so long given that his poor track record was accompanied by some embarrassing gaffes." He was on the "short end in numerous trades, he's drafted poorly and he's been charged not only with poor leadership but also with being completely miscast" (SI.com, 8/28).
