Open casting call for Mariners GM

As if it wasn't bad enough to finish with the second-worst record in baseball, the Mariners are managing to start the off-season with the team's trademark ineptitude. The Mariners are in the market for a new general manager. Candidates have been targeted, interviewed, vetted and now, nothing.

According to the SeattleTimes:

The team's list has been reduced to Kim Ng, assistant GM of the Dodgers; Jerry DiPoto, director of player personnel for the Diamondbacks; Tony LaCava, assistant GM of the Blue Jays; and Jack Zduriencik, the Brewers' VP for player personnel.

Not a peep from the team. They've dragged their feet for so long that they might not be able to announce a new GM until the end of the World Series, due to Major League Baseball's rules against making news during the Fall Classic.

What awaits the new GM?
1) A new manager - A new GM will want their own manager not some leftover from the previous failed administration. Best to get cracking before all the good candidates are elsewhere.
2) Beltre - He's in the last year of his deal. He still has SOME value and a new GM may look to deal him for a few prospects.
3) Raul - Do you break the bank to try to resign him in the free agency market? I say no. I love Raul. He's a good player and a good guy, but he's 36 and this team needs to get younger.
4) Bedard - Do you offer him arbitration? I think yes. Sure, he was a total stinker last year, but he is due for free agency after next season, which means he will AT LEAST try.

That's only four major decisions, but please take your time, think it over, and let us know whenever the time is right. In the meantime, I will bleed to death from a thousand paper cuts.

UPDATE - The Associated Press is now reporting that the Mariners have selected Milwaukee Brewers executive Jack Zduriencik as their new general manager. Here's the write-up from when he was named Baseball America Executive of the Year in 2007.

It's Never Too Late

Can I get an altogether now, "It's about time!" Finally, the Mariners' Cutting-Our-Losses Department is getting some sac. The latest evidence comes from the release of designated "hitter" Jose Vidro. A few of his teammates feigned dismay because he had picked it up since the All-Star break. But Vidro was still the league-worst stick at his position, compiling a .234 average, with 7 homers and 45 RBI. He was designated for assignment, which means the team has 10 days to trade or release him. It would be great if the M's could get something in return, but either way, this is addition by subtraction. Wladimir Balentien has been hitting the cover off the ball in Tacoma, and will take Vidro's place. The M's collective weight is now a little less dead.

The Mariners also sent Brandon Morrow down to Tacoma to start becoming a starter. This is a smart move too. Number one draft picks aren't groomed to be middle relievers, and with JJ Putz getting healthier, the closer role isn't his for the taking. The hope is that Morrow's anticipated transformation will help fans forget about the M's snub of local boy Tim Lincecum. So far so good: in his first start for the Rainiers, Morrow threw one and two-thirds scoreless innings before reaching his pitch count of 35.

Meanwhile, is Raul Ibanez fixin' for a post-trading-deadline deal? It looks as such, with his team-record 14 RBI in his last three games. Maybe it's not too late to deal him and/or Jarrod Washburn.

The Mariners' starting lineup Tuesday night featured 4 players who started the season at AAA. The 8-7 win over the Twins notwithstanding, the M's results will probably get uglier before they get prettier, but turning the roster over like this is the right thing to do. And it's never too late to do the right thing. Miguel Cairo, I'm looking in your direction.

Trading Dudline

So the trading deadline has come and gone and the Mariners underwhelmed again. If we go by The Dice Game's scorecard, the M's batted .333 -- good batting average, crummy trading average. Maybe it was pride overcoming former travel manager Lee Pelekoudas, but from here it looks like inexperience.

First, the good. The Mariners did deal octogenarian reliever Arthur Rhodes to the Marlins for Gaby Hernandez, a 22-year-old pitcher described as a mid-level prospect. That the Mariners landed a former third-round draft pick for a guy with no future is admirable. Rhodes will be the answer to a trivia question for having gotten ejected from his final game as a Mariner. Way to go out fighting.

Now, the bad. The M's failed to trade Raul Ibanez, even though talks with several clubs apparently heated up before the deadline, specifically with the Blue Jays, as reported by Geoff Baker at the Times. According to Toronto GM JP Ricciardi, the M's shot down the deal, even though Jayson Stark had Ibanez going to Toronto for two major leaguers. Said Ricciardi: ""We were ready to go forward. I think at the end of the day they just didn't feel as comfortable going forward to finish off the trade."

If the Mariners were offered anything close to two major leaguers, how could they turn that down? As an aging but still-productive slugger at a reasonable price, Ibanez virtually defines the kind of player who gets dealt at the deadline. It's unacceptable that nothing got done here. Bring out The Gimp -- even if he is sleeping -- because he probably plays better leftfield than Ibanez.

The M's also didn't unload Jarrod Washburn. His recent good outings had elevated him to desirable deadline prospect, and the Yankees wouldn't bat an eyelash at his salary. His trade value won't get any higher, but his paycheck does next year.

Other pieces of flotsam like Carlos Silva, Miguel Cairo and Jose Vidro didn't budge either. You're getting virtually nothing from these guys right now, so it doesn't much matter if you get virtually nothing in return for them. At least you get their bloated salaries off the books. See: Sexson, Richie.

Of course a lot of things had to happen for the Mariners' hopes to fall into place. The Dodgers' late swoop-in to claim Manny Ramirez altered several teams' plans. But that's the thing: this is a fluid situation and the aggressive teams win out.

Sure the Mariners have made some epic blunders at the deadline before. The 1997 debacle that landed Heathcliff Slocumb for Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek comes to mind. But some of the M's worst moves came when they were buyers, not sellers. Famously, the 1987 Braves (sellers) made a deadline deal with the Tigers (buyers), giving up Doyle Alexander for future Hall-of-Famer John Smoltz. We're not expecting heists like that, but you have to do something.

In a sense, the Mariners did make one notable trade. They swapped Bill Bavasi's ineptitude for Lee Pelekoudas' inexperience. The results look pretty much the same.

That's pride f***in' with you

Many SGB readers may know that this is Marcellus Wallace's line in "Pulp Fiction" when he pays off Butch (Bruce Willis' boxer character) to take a dive in the 5th round. I couldn't get this line out of my head as I thought about the pending trade deadline and the quandary our 39-65 Seattle Mariners find themselves in.

Acting GM Lee Pelekoudas needs to take heed of Marcellus' wisdom as he weighs trade offers. Yuniesky first brought up the subject in May, but let's be clear once again. Lee, get what you can and don't let pride f*** with you. This team is no good and don't let whatever small role you had in putting this team together affect the expediency with which you dispatch them to the far corners of pennant contending universe.

Here's the latest rumors:

* Jarrod Washburn to the Yankees - This sounds like a salary dump. The Mariners want some mid-level prospect for Washburn, who has been pitching very well as of late. The Yankees seem to be balking at this. If the Yankees are willing to take on Washburn's salary (about $10 million) for next season, I'd deal him for a bag of bagels or a decent slice. Don't play your hand too hard, Lee.

* Arthur Rhodes to just about everyone - The fact that people are interested in Arthur Rhodes is just another example of how baseball teams are always looking for lefty relief pitchers. Yes, he is having a decent year and has been very good recently, but he is 38, was on the shelf all of 2007 and had a 5-plus ERA in 2006 with the Phillies. So, I'd be happy with anything here including a shishkaberry for Yuniesky. (The SGB one not the Mariners' one. Although that chubby Cuban looks like he's had a stick or two (dozen) in his life.)

* Raul Ibanez to the New York Mets - This one is a little more difficult. Ibanez is the only bat to worry about in our punchless line-up. Also, he is a bargain -- one of the few in the Mariners line-up -- at $5.5 million a year. But hey, that's why people want him. You don't hear a lot of offers for Willie Bloomquist, do you? The Mets seem to be saying that the Mariners are asking too much. I assume this is standard negotiating policy, but the Mariners have to deal him. Try to get more than 5 cents on the dollar, but if you can get a few mid- to upper-level prospects for him, then do it.

If anyone else hears any decent rumors, we'd love to hear them. As a departing shot, I turn once again to the words of Marcellus Wallace.

"F*** pride! Pride only hurts, it never helps."