More Disfunction In Seattle

[Bavasi has received complements from everyone commenting on his firing for his non-GM actions. He was willing to talk kindly with even his harshest critics, and I respect that. Still... horrible General Manager.]

I was looking at a list at all of Bill Bavasi's moves as the M's GM, and a couple struck me as funny:

April 3, 2004
Acquired infielder Jolbert Cabrera from the Los Angeles Dodgers for RHP Aaron Looper and LHP Ryan Ketchner.

April 12, 2004
Acquired RHP Aaron Looper from the Los Angeles Dodgers for LHP Glenn Bott.

He traded a player away, and then traded to get him back a week later. Now none of these guys are (or were) particularly good, but this is not the kind of move a good GM usually makes.

I'm also pretty surprised that manager John McLaren still has a job. He is the one who keeps playing Miguel Cairo at first for some reason that has very little to do with how baseball teams actually win games. Now he's going to move Ichiro - a guy who handles center well and whose bat is an asset there - back to right-field. Ichiro is a good hitter, but his lack of power is not what you want from a corner outfielder. Plus, it's much easier to find a guy who can hit and play right, than a guy who can hit and play center. Willie Bloomquist (who isn't very good, but has still expressed interest in leaving the M's and going to an NL team) takes Ichiro's spot for now.

“I’ve been thinking about it for over a month. It’s nothing against Ichiro in center field, of course. I just think he’s a great right fielder and I want to see his zest and smile and everything going,” McLaren said. “What I remember is just spectacular things and I want to try that. I’m not sure it’s going to work or make any difference whatsoever, but I’m going to try it.”

If by "work", he means the team will start winning games then no, it won't work. Making personnel decisions based on zest and a smile - that's quality baseball.

[I know I've been really hard on Seattle, but it is a multi-million dollar organization run a little worse than a five year-old's lemonade stand. If they admitted that the lemonade wasn't very good (Brian Sabean in San Fransisco is pretty bad too, but at least he didn't say that his team was in a position to make the playoffs) then it would be fine. The problem is, they say it's the delicious, even though it sucks because they have no idea how to make lemonade. Seriously, lemon juice, water, and sugar is too complicated for this team.]