#1 SP

[Mariners_44]

Houston just got Verlander... Man, the rich just got richer..

That's what championship organizations do. Reminds me of the Hawks, at least we have that going for us.

 

[seahawksfan234]

This will truly be my last off season this winter watching the Mariners if they don't sign a top end SP. No excuses. Either they get it done or I won't waste another year on them. I think 42 years of rooting for a loser earns me that right. Even the few times they won, management.ownership did nothing to help them succeed in the end. I went to every '95 home playoff game even though it was a 4.5 hour round trip. I have been to spring training about ten different years and when my wife wanted to move to find the sun I picked down there because of them. I have paid my dues. Hell I even still have scorebooks from my days as a kid keeping them while listening to the radio game after game. I love baseball and I still have some passion for the M's, but this one-sided relationship will end at the end of next off season of legit change does not take place. I guess us getting every crappy pitcher while a team head and shoulders above us pulls in the best pitcher available did it for me. Or maybe the Upton trade to the other team ahead of us.

Lucky for me, you've been rooting for the team longer than I've been alive. I've still got a few decades left to endure this shit before I give up.

I understand your frustration though. One of my best friends is a Bills fan, and their situation since 2000 kind of reminds me of the Mariners. They've been consistently mediocre over the last 17 years while still being good enough to at least entertain the hopes of 9-7 and making the playoffs.

The Mariners are in a really tough position right now organizationally. We don't have prospects, and we don't really have anything to trade for prospects. Cano and Felix's contracts make them basically worthless. Cruz is hitting well, but is an old rental who would maybe net 1 decent prospect. Kyle Seager's contract relative to his performance is "meh." Paxton has too many injury problems, and the rest of our assets are bullpen arms. I don't include Segura because I see him as someone who would still be in his prime even by the time a rebuilding project was done.

Realistically our best bet is going all-in during free agency. That stupid fucking Marco Gonzales trade ridded us of one of our best prospects who could be a centerpiece in a deal for a real pitcher, and after that trade our organizational depth in prospects is too thin to move Kyle Lewis or whoever else is near the top of the Mariners totem pole now.

Not taking into account the Leake trade, I anticipated the Mariners would have around $40m to spend. If they don't add at least $40m in payroll, I'm going to be incredibly frustrated.

 

[seahawksfan234]

I've said it before that the Mariners need to get creative in the moves they make this offseason.

Haniger and Gamel have both seen their values drop, but I've advocated making a run at a guy like J.D. Martinez then moving one or both of them in an attempt to trade for a front-end starting pitcher. Or even trade them for prospects to replenish the Mariners farm system.

Dipoto likes to trade a lot. Flip players, do something creative. He has made some very good moves, but for every excellent trade or signing he has made, he has done something incredibly stupid. I feel that this Macro Gonzales trade is going to be the next Doug Fister-type trade that we will probably bitch about on these boards for years. It pisses me off because I really fucking want Marco to prove me wrong, but he has been even worse than I anticipated. Now I'm starting to wonder, WTF do we do with him? He's not good enough to be in the rotation next year, and that's the whole damn reason we traded for him.

 

[seahawksfan234]

That's what championship organizations do. Reminds me of the Hawks, at least we have that going for us.

Don't forget the Huskies.

 

[Mariners_44]

Don't forget the Huskies.

Great point!

 

[Msfann]

Houston just got Verlander... Man, the rich just got richer..

New boss is the same as the old boss but Mariners fans WILL get fooled again. This organization obviously doesn't want to do what It needs to set it self up for success. They are too busy digging in the trash bin for blue light specials.

Dipoto should open a used car dealership with Jack z.

 

[NWinAZ]

New boss is the same as the old boss but Mariners fans WILL get fooled again. This organization obviously doesn't want to do what It needs to set it self up for success. They are too busy digging in the trash bin for blue light specials.

Dipoto should open a used car dealership with Jack z.

But they have the best PR team in baseball. They get fans out to games with bobbleheads, retirement ceremonies, we love all people gatherings, girls night, trains, kids nights, and a slew of other things unrelated to baseball games. It is so much cheaper than actually buying real pitching.

 

[wazzu31]

But they have the best PR team in baseball. They get fans out to games with bobbleheads, retirement ceremonies, we love all people gatherings, girls night, trains, kids nights, and a slew of other things unrelated to baseball games. It is so much cheaper than actually buying real pitching.

Ya, I don't get it. The Mariners really do need to look across the street at how to run an organization. Quit marketing the Mariners for the non baseball fan. You can't build a fan base when you keep doing minor league attractions but keep everything at a major league price. There business model is so jacked up. If you look at the crowds in about the 5th inning of alot special promotional nights (Not Edgar or Junior weekends) the stadium is bare.

 

[PolarVortex]

Don't forget the Huskies suck dick.

Fixed it for you

 

[PolarVortex]

Ya, I don't get it. The Mariners really do need to look across the street at how to run an organization. Quit marketing the Mariners for the non baseball fan. You can't build a fan base when you keep doing minor league attractions but keep everything at a major league price. There business model is so jacked up. If you look at the crowds in about the 5th inning of alot special promotional nights (Not Edgar or Junior weekends) the stadium is bare.

I don't think they are worried about building the fan base any higher than it currently is. Root sports is their real money maker, isn't it? Wouldn't they have run a business model that what show what the fan base might increase by if the had a real contender? I'm not sure it is enough to justify the increased investment in payroll.

What we need much more than a $25-30 million increase in payroll is for the organization to be run better. They have whiffed on the last five managers and last three GMs. And now we have at least another year before the next manager to be cycled in and 3-4 more years before the next GM is cycled in.

 

[wazzu31]

I don't think they are worried about building the fan base any higher than it currently is. Root sports is their real money maker, isn't it? Wouldn't they have run a business model that what show what the fan base might increase by if the had a real contender? I'm not sure it is enough to justify the increased investment in payroll.

What we need much more than a $25-30 million increase in payroll is for the organization to be run better. They have whiffed on the last five managers and last three GMs. And now we have at least another year before the next manager to be cycled in and 3-4 more years before the next GM is cycled in.

Them not building a real fan base is what bugs me greatly as baseball will be the first sport to crash once the television rights/cable bubble bursts. They have their gimmick nights but 85% of them would not go. What they should do while they are crappy is just lower all prices and allow younger boys to fall in love with the team. The Sonics left and the NBA is still more popular with the younger generation than the Mariners are.

 

[PolarVortex]

Them not building a real fan base is what bugs me greatly as baseball will be the first sport to crash once the television rights/cable bubble bursts. They have their gimmick nights but 85% of them would not go. What they should do while they are crappy is just lower all prices and allow younger boys to fall in love with the team. The Sonics left and the NBA is still more popular with the younger generation than the Mariners are.

It bugs me too, but the owners have a different agenda than the fans do. The only owner this city has ever had that was/is on the same page as the fans is Paul Allen. I guess maybe you could include Sam Schulman although he was more likely just the beneficiary of a smart front office.