Two of the teams that during spring training were picked to at least contend for their divisions have begun the process of dealing with the epic failures that they have become so far this season.

The Seattle Mariners let GM Bill Bavasi go after accumulating enough talent to contend for the weak AL West title or make the playoff. He had been there since 2004 and has been rebuilding ever since. The team has talent, it just has no focus. In the article at MLB.com, M’s CEO Howard Lincoln said:

“We have tried to be patient, some say too patient. But given this team’s record, change is in order. As we replace Bill Bavasi as executive vice president and general manager, on an interim basis, with Lee Pelekoudas, we have determined that new leadership is needed in the GM position. With new leadership will come a new plan and a new approach.”

The question I have is what plan and what approach. I feel that having been a Mariners fan since moving back to the States after the strike season, the team has been without a direction or a plan since Lou Piniella left. They have no fire, they have no purpose, they look like a team that is collecting paychecks. I have seen them on TV and in person and you do not get the sense of urgency or confidence that a winning team must have. I don’t know what the problem with the organization is but it can’t all be the GM’s fault. For the record, I have followed the M’s casually for over 10 years but am finally getting behind the home team again, the Texas Rangers. Who had found themselves in very similar situation s many times before. I think that in order for the Mariners to begin to rebuild again, getting rid of the overpriced under performing talent is what is required. Sexson for one has been a bust, Beltre is not what he used to be, Bedard was costly to the organization and getting a boatload of young talent from a contender in need of pitching should be investigated. That is why I think the GM got the axe, Bavasi was personally vested in all the players and that can be a hinderence to pulling the trigger on a great or even good deal involving someone you are vested in. As of today the have the worst recor in all of baseball, no where to go but up from here. Ichiro in a Rangers uniform would be fantastic.

As for the other firing yesterday, finally the Mets let Willie Randolf go. I don’t know what took so long. I don’t follow anything NY based on a regular basis unless the Yanks start losing then I will follow that religiously. How could they do that to him? they kept him dangling for almost half a season. Were they expecting some kind of majic dust to fly out of his butt and get his team to play better. They haven’t been all that bad. They are as of today 34-35, 6.5 games out of the NL East lead and 7.0 game out of the wild card. The only thing i can figure is that the Mets thought they owed him enough of a chance to get the ship righted. After the debacle that was the end of last season, I don’t think he deserved the chance. That being said, you now have a team that is playing better in the last week or so. (Could that be due to the eventual firing of the manager? Either trying to save his job or looking forward to him being gone?) And a respected baseball man who is unemployed mid-seasson. I have always felt that firing a manager in the middle of the season signals to the rest of the league that we have given up. Jerry Manuel has a very difficult job because the Mets fans are expecing him to fix it now and win big. I don’t know if that is possible. They may need to focus on getting rid of over priced talent and bringing in some flashy new guys for nest years opening of the new stadium. Because, as we all know, they are second fiddle to the Yankees and guess who else is opening a new stadium next year.

All in all, I think these moves were necessary for the survival of these teams. The Mariners need direction and the Mets need to cleanse themselves of the bad mojo from last year. I think this will lead to at least a very interesting trade season and possibly some interesting faces in new places.

Tags: Bavasi, Fire sale, Mariners, Mets, Willie Randolph