As I write this your Seattle Mariners are wrapping up a dismal year, losing 100 games and now planning golf vacations.
Except for the 1995 and 2001 seasons, we Mariner fans have been disappointed by July, fed up by August and are rooting for the Seahawks by September. We are stuck in mediocrity, and our only pleasure comes from watching our two stars, Felix Hernandez and Ichiro. We are what everybody in baseball says we are, a minor league franchise in a major league town.
The Mariners have tried to be competitive in our small market. Yes we don’t have the payroll of the Yankees. No team does. But since when does a winning season happen, just because you have the biggest checkbook? The answer is, it doesn’t. Your Mariners can be competitive next season, if they stop following the same useless formula of doing what has not worked before.
Every year seems to be a copy of the year before: we have one All-Star pitcher, and Ichiro. Or our pitching staff is pretty good, but our hitters are allergic to fastballs. Or we hit the ball like the 1927 Yankees, and our pitching staff couldn’t get Mother Teresa out. Every spring we turn optimistic, just to find out in June that something else is wrong with the ball club. So what’s the answer?
Instead of trying to sign the free agent to a big, fat contract, and later watch him hit .210, or watch him spend the entire year on the disabled list, why don’t we start giving the kids a chance? After all, what are we waiting for, the future? This is professional baseball; the future is now. Stop trying to build up our minor leagues to play great for someone else’s team. Give these kids a chance to shine before the September call ups. We have tried to trade for established stars – how has that been working for us? I would rather see us field of team of 19-year-olds, than watch another expensive free agent signing.
Can we work on this, Mr. Zduriencik? Quit spending the cash on some has-been. Get your scouts out there in the field of dreams and find me Roy Hobbs. Let’s sign those kids and watch them either succeed or fail. Either way, I’d rather watch that than see Eric Byrnes hit .107.
Yes, we still have the best hitter in baseball (Ichiro.) Yes, we have the best pitcher in baseball (Felix Hernandez.) It stands to reason that with some better scouting and taking a chance on some minor league talent, we should never lose 100 games in a season. Let those kids play, Jack – the other way just isn’t working anymore.
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