| Authored by Lee Dorner - 1st March, 2010 - 4:19 pm
 Jack Zduriencik would probably be a household name in Seattle by now, if anyone knew how to spell it. The second-year Mariners general manager has been the MVP of the club's offseason, thanks to a few great trades that have the Emerald City thinking about an AL West title.
This offseason, he?s added the likes of Milton Bradley, Chone Figgins, Casey Kotchman and some former Cy Young award winner who just pitched a brilliant postseason named Cliff Lee, to name a few. But Zduriencik has been making his presence felt since he arrived in Seattle a little more than a year ago.
One of his best personnel moves to date might also be one of his earliest and most overlooked. Hiring Don Wakamatsu as the team?s manager in 2009 was a bold move to say the least. Zduriencik had only been a general manager for a month, and he went out and hired the relatively unknown Wakamatsu as the team?s field manager.
In his rookie year as a manager, Wakamatsu took the Mariners from a 101-loss team and led them to an 85-77 record, providing some badly needed stability in the dugout. Before him, the Mariners had gone through five managers the six years since Lou Piniella left.
Zduriencik made huge contributions to the lineup as well in 2009. He signed first baseman Russell Branyan for $1.4 million, which was an absolute bargain-bin price compared to what they had been paying for the position when Richie Sexon was in town. Branyan proceeded to have a career year, belting 31 homers and picking up 76 RBIs.
He also brought Ken Griffey Jr. back to Seattle after nine years in Cincinnati and a brief detour with the White Sox, which was a great move for the club. His true value is in the veteran leadership and morale he brings to the clubhouse. He could be seen constantly joking around in the dugout last season, contributing to the visibly improved mood of the team that had lost over 100 games just one year prior, and his 19 home runs in limited playing time were a welcome bonus.
Zduriencik then made a big splash with his first trade as general manager, shipping closer J.J. Putz and reliever Sean Green out of town, along with center fielder Jeremy Reed, in a three-team deal that saw the Mariners pick up Franklin Gutierrez and Endy Chavez.
Reed hit .242 last season, Green?s ERA has been above 4.50 for each of the past two seasons, and Putz was a complete disaster for the Mets, while Gutierrez was a defensive stud in center field for the M?s, and had the best year of his career offensively, with 18 home runs, 70 RBIs and a .283 average. This trade gave Seattle its center fielder of the future, while none of the outbound players accomplished much of anything last year.
His next great move was trading a minor league pitcher to Boston for David Aardsma, who developed into the team?s closer and was lights-out for much of the season. Aardsma saved 38 games and had a 2.52 ERA, and more importantly he is the closest thing to a true closer the Mariners have had since the 2007 edition of Putz.
So almost everything he touched turned to gold in his rookie campaign, which was a welcome sight for Mariners fans after the many questionable moves of the Bill Bavasi era. But it wasn?t the first time Zduriencik has proven to be a valuable part of a major league club. He was a scouting director for the Milwaukee Brewers until 2008, when he became an assistant to general manager Doug Melvin. During his time in Milwaukee, Zduriencik was responsible for drafting Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Yovani Gallardo and Rickie Weeks, and was credited by many people in the Brewers organization as being a big part of the team?s turnaround in the late 2000?s. In 2008, Melvin said the best decision he had made in Milwaukee was keeping Zduriencik within the organization.
Considering what he inherited when he took over for Bavasi last season, expectations weren?t too high, and he certainly exceeded them by any standards. This year, however, will be the real test, and so far he looks to be on the right track in turning the Mariners into playoff contenders.
He set the tone in a big way this offseason by sending three prospects to Philadelphia to acquire 2008 Cy Young winner Cliff Lee. Although his numbers weren?t quite as impressive last season as they were in his Cy Young campaign, Lee still proved to be an incredibly valuable arm, racking up over 230 innings and sporting a 3.22 ERA. If that wasn?t enough to convince major league GMs to take notice, Lee was untouchable in the playoffs, going 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA. Alongside 2009 Cy Young runner up Felix Hernandez, Lee will make one of the best pitching staffs in the league even better in 2010, and all it cost the Mariners was three minor league prospects, none of whom were close to being major league-ready.
Signing Chone Figgins away from the Angels was another slick move, as it weakened the Mariners? most dangerous division rival and provided them with a great replacement for departed third baseman Adrian Beltre. Figgins is a great OBP guy, and even though he has traditionally been a leadoff man, Wakamatsu probably won?t lose much sleep trying to figure out how to fit such a good speed and contact player into the lineup behind Ichiro.
Then there was the Milton Bradley trade. Importing Bradley and his history of temper tantrums and clubhouse disruption might seem like a risky venture, but Seattle could be a perfect fit for him. First of all, Zduriencik only had to give up pitcher Carlos Silva, who did a whole lot of nothing in Seattle. His ERA was 6.46 in 2008 when he went 4-15, and he threw just 30.1 innings last season, missing most of the year with an injury to his throwing shoulder. He also has two years and $23 million left on his contract, so he certainly won?t be missed.
Meanwhile, Bradley is a former All-Star who had a .321 average and a .436 OBP in 2008 with Texas. His numbers dipped last year with the Cubs, but his OBP of .378 was still respectable, and his volatile temperament should react better under the watch of a laid-back and calm manager like Wakamatsu, as opposed to Chicago?s fiery Lou Pineilla. Griffey will be back to provide veteran leadership and keep clubhouse spirits high, so Seattle should be as good a situation as any for Bradley to get his career back on track.
It was a bit of a surprise when Zduriencik swapped Brandon Morrow for another hard-throwing reliever in Brandon League, and minor league outfielder Johermyn Chavez. The two hurlers had very similar numbers last season, but the deciding factor in this deal was likely Morrow?s inability to be a reliable starter. He got a handful of starts in 2008 and a few more last season, and expectations were sky-high for him considering he was drafted ahead of back-to-back Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, but he wasn?t able to replicate the success he had coming out of the bullpen.
After picking up Lee and resigning Bedard, demand for another starter decreased, and Zduriencik decided the club wasn?t going to wait around to see how Morrow turns out. League has had an up-and-down career in Toronto, but his consistency improved last season when he stayed with the big club all year and threw 74.2 innings, and he can dominate major league hitters when he is at his best.
Casey Kotchman and Ryan Garko have been brought in to platoon at first base in place of Branyan. Although neither of them has the pop that Branyan displayed last season, having right-handed and left-handed options at first base will give the line-up some flexibility, and they would be hard-pressed to combine for the kind of strikeout numbers Branyan had. The Mariners might miss a few of his long-balls, but in a pitcher-friendly park like Safeco, it can be difficult to rely on big power hitters to be consistently productive so Garko and Kotchman should prove to be valuable acquisitions in 2010.
Since neither the Rangers or Angels seem to have improved their rosters this offseason, the Mariners look like they could be legitimate contenders this season in the AL West. They had the best record of any AL team against AL West opponents last season, and with Lee now taking the mound every five days, that record should get even better this year.
Zdureincik has brought playoff expectations back to Seattle with a little more than a year?s worth of wheeling and dealing. Of course, expectations don?t mean anything if the on-field product doesn?t take care of business, or if the injury bug starts to bite. Just ask Mets fans. But as he prepares for his second season as a major league general manager, Zduriencik has done everything he can to give the Mariners a good chance to compete for a division title, short of trading away some of the extra letters in his name. |
