What a shocker. No idea why he made the decision and chose today to resign. But he does go down on top, and with the second consecutive sweep, he avoids losing # 100 w/ the M's.
Welcome, John McLaren! You're the right man for the job.
Thanks, Hargrove, for making the decision. You're a good man, and I'm glad to see you make the choice, rather than having the choice made for you.
Go off into the sunset with your Harley! And enjoy the hell out of it.
I posted this at the P-I Hickey Blog:
ReplyDeleteI think Hargrove had his good points and bad points, and that this season the club was doing well under his guidance. Although I had fears he was going to burn out Putz, Sherrill, Morrow and Green, I almost hate to see him resign, probably just because it seems odd to me that he would leave right during the middle of a time when the team is having such a great run. I think the front office did the right thing to turn the club over to McLaren at least for the short-term. We'll see how he differs in style and demeanor from Hargrove, and it will provide plenty of fodder for discussion.
Now that that's out of the way, the team needs to focus on continuing its good play, and the front office needs to start thinking about what to do re. the roster during the coming month. If the Mariners are still 12 games over .500 in three weeks (did any of us actually believe that at any point this season we could talk about the Mariners being 12 games over .500?), it seems like Bavasi will be a buyer, not a seller. That could be good, or it could be bad... although...
My asbestos suit is on:
I'm beginning to be willing to cut Bavasi at least SOME slack. Given the performance of the Mariner bullpen this season, it looks like we are doing o.k. without Rafael Soriano (although it would have been nice to have gotten a valuable pitcher in return from the Braves). Miguel Batista has pitched well after a somewhat rough start, and if he can consistently pitch as he has for the past month, I feel fine having him in the rotation along with Weaver and the others.
Go ahead and flame me for saying this too, but Weaver is showing signs that he has talent. Since he got off the DL Jeff Weaver has pitched 32.2 innings, during which time he has had an era of 1.65 and a WHIP of 1.25. Who knows if he can keep it up, but I don't think you can ask much more from a guy who was 0-6, 14.32 when he went on the DL and whose ERA had been as high as 18.26 at one point. Granted, he is 2-6 with a 6.75 ERA overall, but the way he pitched in the post-season last year and the way he has thrown since his return to the rotation suggests enough talent to me that yes, he WAS at least worth a look. Jose Guillen has been a halfway decent addition, and hasn't really lived up to his bad reputation so far... and although I'd like more power from the DH position, Vidro hasn't been awful. I have to remind myself that Bavasi did sign Johjima, who has proven to be a very good catcher. Bavasi has held onto Ibanez, Betancourt, Lopez, Putz, Felix and many of the team's young pitchers so far. I'm nowhere near giving the guy an A for his entire time in Seattle, but I'm willing to say he's worth an overall grade of C at this point... I don't think the fact that the team is now 45-33 represents a case of the blind squirrel finding the acorn as much as it does a front office that might have at least a partial inkling of what it's doing and that has combined that with a bit of luck to provide fans with a good ballclub for 2007 so far.
For now, I'll eat some crow and I'll give Bavasi some credit for helping create the roster that has given us what we have seen on the field this season.
I find cautious optimism the best approach to take at this point. I still tend to shudder at the thought of Bavasi making wild, panic-driven deals at the trading deadline, but who knows how he might do given that he could be operating from a position of strength this time, as a buyer... not as someone managing a fire sale.
Go Mariners!
(and like you wrote, Paul... I hope he enjoys some time relaxing a riding his Harley! I think it takes an honest person to stop when he knows it's really the right time to stop. Good for him!)
Actually, Snave, I'm not going to flame anyone for saying good things about Jeff Weaver. Heck, I have no right to, considering I wanted to sign him to Washburn's contract before 2006. Heh. I'm actually very happy he's pitching well again. It's 'progression' back to the mean, most likely, but still, if he can pitch like this or even slightly more average (he is sorta pitching out of his own league right now), he's a big piece to the M's future success in 2007.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that if the M's stay in contention over the next several weeks, they should be buyers, I'm scared as heck as to what Bavasi's going to bumble this time. Trading Soriano away in itself wasn't the problem I have w/Bavasi. Heck, I was all for dealing him. But it's precisely what Bavasi got in return, when there were many other deals to be made for MUCH better players in return that frightens me greatly. I'd trust him more if he were a seller than a buyer. I'm not nervous that he'll trade Adam Jones -- that's clearly not going to happen (and if it does, for any player not named Johan Santana, Miguel Cabrera, Albert Pujols or maybe a few other names, I'm totally stormin' Safeco with torch in hand...). But I really fear another Varitek/Lowe for Slocumb deal.