- Thread starter
- #1
ESPN's Keith Law: Mariners offense "stinks," Zduriencik to blame
The Seattle Mariners, a team that boasts Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager in the middle of the order, ranks last in the MLB with a .230 batting average. They're 32-39 through 71 games, and have largely been one of the biggest disappointments in baseball to this point.
It doesn't take an expert to determine that offense is the issue plauging the Mariners again this season. But who's to blame for the poor performance of the lineup? If you ask ESPN senior baseball writer Keith Law, it's the man who assembled the roster, general manager Jack Zduriencik.
"The offense stinks. That's really the bottom line. Jack Zduriencik has not been able to build an effective offense in seven years as general manager," Law told 710 ESPN Seattle's "Brock and Salk" on Tuesday.
Zduriencik has tried mightily over his tenure to build a formidable offense in Seattle, but even though signings of Cano and Cruz in back-to-back offseasons created a ton of buzz about the team, it hasn't translated in the win column. Cano is hitting .244 this season, 63 points lower than his career average, and Cruz has cooled off after a red hot start, hitting just .247 with two home runs over the last month.
In an attempt to provide some help for the struggling Mariners offense, Zduriencik traded for slugger Mark Trumbo earlier this month, and the early returns couldn't really be much worse – Trumbo is hitting .169 and has just one homer through 16 games with the team.
To Law, the Trumbo trade underscores a problem with Zduriencik's philosophy. He values power, which Trumbo has in abundance, over getting on base, which Trumbo (career .295 on-base percentage) has never been known for.
"He doesn't put together lineups that get on base, and it's hard for any team to score enough runs if you're not getting enough base runners," Law said of Zduriencik. "Power helps, power can certainly win you ballgames, but it's not gonna win you enough if you don't have guys on base."
So why does Zduriencik deserve blame over second-year manager Lloyd McClendon?
"I have said in the past, I don't think Lloyd McClendon is a particularly good tactical manager, but he doesn't pick the players," Law said. "Ultimately if you're looking for someone to blame, it has to be the general manager in this case. He assembled the roster, this roster is his responsibility, and all accountability for the players actually on the roster should go to him and zero in that situation goes to the manager."
And if the consideration that Zduriencik has simply been victim of bad luck is out there, Law is quick to shoot that down.
"Other than Cano having a disaster season, which I don't think you can blame on anyone ... what's bad luck there?" Law asked. "Trumbo was a terrible offensive player to begin with. It's not like you could have expected him to hit well. He has no track record of doing that. I look up and down this roster, I don't see bad luck in that sense ... It's an ineffective offense."
The Seattle Mariners, a team that boasts Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager in the middle of the order, ranks last in the MLB with a .230 batting average. They're 32-39 through 71 games, and have largely been one of the biggest disappointments in baseball to this point.
It doesn't take an expert to determine that offense is the issue plauging the Mariners again this season. But who's to blame for the poor performance of the lineup? If you ask ESPN senior baseball writer Keith Law, it's the man who assembled the roster, general manager Jack Zduriencik.
"The offense stinks. That's really the bottom line. Jack Zduriencik has not been able to build an effective offense in seven years as general manager," Law told 710 ESPN Seattle's "Brock and Salk" on Tuesday.
Zduriencik has tried mightily over his tenure to build a formidable offense in Seattle, but even though signings of Cano and Cruz in back-to-back offseasons created a ton of buzz about the team, it hasn't translated in the win column. Cano is hitting .244 this season, 63 points lower than his career average, and Cruz has cooled off after a red hot start, hitting just .247 with two home runs over the last month.
In an attempt to provide some help for the struggling Mariners offense, Zduriencik traded for slugger Mark Trumbo earlier this month, and the early returns couldn't really be much worse – Trumbo is hitting .169 and has just one homer through 16 games with the team.
To Law, the Trumbo trade underscores a problem with Zduriencik's philosophy. He values power, which Trumbo has in abundance, over getting on base, which Trumbo (career .295 on-base percentage) has never been known for.
"He doesn't put together lineups that get on base, and it's hard for any team to score enough runs if you're not getting enough base runners," Law said of Zduriencik. "Power helps, power can certainly win you ballgames, but it's not gonna win you enough if you don't have guys on base."
So why does Zduriencik deserve blame over second-year manager Lloyd McClendon?
"I have said in the past, I don't think Lloyd McClendon is a particularly good tactical manager, but he doesn't pick the players," Law said. "Ultimately if you're looking for someone to blame, it has to be the general manager in this case. He assembled the roster, this roster is his responsibility, and all accountability for the players actually on the roster should go to him and zero in that situation goes to the manager."
And if the consideration that Zduriencik has simply been victim of bad luck is out there, Law is quick to shoot that down.
"Other than Cano having a disaster season, which I don't think you can blame on anyone ... what's bad luck there?" Law asked. "Trumbo was a terrible offensive player to begin with. It's not like you could have expected him to hit well. He has no track record of doing that. I look up and down this roster, I don't see bad luck in that sense ... It's an ineffective offense."