Bavasi-How much time?

[johnny]

Any thoughts fellow M Fans? See Below
from the USSMariner website:


Seattle shocker: some fans want Bavasi canned
Filed under:
Mariners
— DMZ @ 9:10 am.
Firebillbavasi.com. Contains petition, etc, and a logo that I suspect will get them a Cease & Desist pretty quickly.

Except as an exercise in venting, this is pointless. He’s almost certainly going to be fired if the team doesn’t turn around this year, in part because the powers that be know the fan base is discontented, but also because they’re going to have to heap blame somewhere and the chances they’ll consider themselves as candidates is somewhere between naught and zero.

And if the team turns around, wins 90 games and heads to the playoffs, there’s not going to be any widespread fan support for firing him anymore.

This isn’t going to bug the GM, though. He understands this is part of the job. To quote Bavasi himself from a 3/2004 PI article titled “Internet critics aside, Bavasi gets high marks“*:

“Any coverage is good coverage, even if you’re getting ripped,” he said. “It’s when they stop writing about your ballclub; then you’re in trouble.”

[Zito75]

He should have never been hired. The dude is about as useful as a screen door on a submarine. I'm willing to bet he'll be canned (or will have resigned) by August just due to the fact that the M's rotation is terrible. One stud and 4 stiffs won't cut it in the AL West.

[Mariner Fan]

When I think about the stiffs that Bavasi has brought in I just want to puke. On top of everything else we are still paying for them holding us back from getting better pitching.
Pat Gillick had a real clunker with Jeff Cirrilo too so I guess they all can screw up.
I'm wondering if someone put a hex on our team. How many players with great reputations signed with Seattle then completely went downhill? :grouchy

[johnny]

can you say: Al Martin

Talk about :grouchy :grouchy :grouchy
That dude was another so called good hitter who came here and just went to pieces. And then his fielding...hard to believe he was a professional ballplayer.

[Mariner Fan]

Scott Spiezio is my vote for worst pickup. What a bust and I actually liked the guy!

[johnny]

Spezio:

Man, I had forgotten about him. Now my lunch is starting to make it's way back up my throat. :grouchy

Well, gotta go and check out the pre-hawk talk. :radio
It just might be the year!

[charlesTG126]

As much as I loved Pat Gillick, the annual deadline-headline of "M's Stand Pat" got more than a little bit old.

[Sweet Lou]

When did Gillick first start the GM job for Seattle? Wasn't he the guy that got Ichiro, and was instrumental in that wonderful run from 2000 to 2003, or whatever?
My vote for his worst pickup was Cirillo. Man was I disappointed in how badly Cirillo did.

[johnny]

Spot On Sweet Lou

Jeff Cirillo-M's killer :grouchy :grouchy :grouchy
Well, to be fair he wasn't the only reason the M's fell off but damn he wasn't helping things.
First off, when he came over to play third base (very decent glove) he had like a career .300 plus Batting Average. Okay, I know that he hit in more hitting friendly parks than Safeco Field, but no one was asking him to be a power hitter or even match those great numbers in 2000 in which he hit in 115 RBIs and hit .326. Would it have been too much to expect something in the high .280's or so? Instead, he promptly starts hitting like .250 and then .205 or so. His fielding drops and before you know it he is down in Tacoma playing minor league ball on assignment. I would see him at the Ranier games there and he never stood out as the best player on the field. I am sure injury must have had something to do with it but he fell off the table so quick. Once the hitting went it seemed his fielding suffered.

Now he is back with the Brewers and making a comeback of sorts. Hope it works out for him.

In regards to Pat Gillick, I think he got hamstrung by our ownership group at mid-season in regards to going out and getting/spending the extra bucks. Although to be fair, when you look at the initial payroll levels of the M's they are always at the top end. Pretty much seems that they would set the budget and that was it unless they got a raging good deal like paying $350k for Babe Ruth. But those deals aren't gonna happen too often.

[KillaK]

I just wonder what direction he's headed in- He didn't seem to be fully committed to a "rebuilding" process untill very recently (as noted by the Cirillo, Ibanez and Spezio pickups, and as disputed by the Everett, Sexson and Washburn signings). I feel that whatever direction a team goes, they should do it "balls deep". If you are going to overhaul a team, don't make commitments to some guys who will help in the future and some that aren't going to be there.

They need a young nucleus, and I feel that he's looking to get that from Beltre, Hernandez, Betancourt, and Reed (and Ichiro, who looks like and may very well be 25 years old). And even though all teams, young and old, need some sort of veteran presence, frankly I don't see how getting guys like Everett and Washburn accellerates this rebuilding process at all, it just turns them from a 60 win team into 70. Sure, we had some money to burn this offseason. But in Washburn's case, that $8 mil this year (when he's age 31, 10-10, 3.50 ERA or so for a crappy team) will be $9.5 mil or so in 2009 (34, and not nearly approaching those numbers for a team full of good players just entering their prime who just need a few pieces to become big time competitors).

So either way, i hope he figures it out. for our sake and his own.

[Yankeebiscuitfan]

How about Gene Michael to be your GM?

He did a good job during the "abscence" of Steinbrenner during the early nineties.

[KCGHOST]

How about Gene Michael to be your GM?

You mean the guy who was a part of the braintrust that decided signing Jaret Pavano was a better idea than signing Carlos Beltran??

[Yankeebiscuitfan]

You mean the guy who was a part of the braintrust that decided signing Jaret Pavano was a better idea than signing Carlos Beltran??

Yes that one. IMO those two deals were mostly sealed by Brian Cashman.