Awwwwww. It only lasted an inning and a half, but hearing Mariner's baseball on the radio this afternoon was just what my winter-soul needed. With a bunch of new players... the first four batters in the line-up all played in other organizations last year... they scored five runs in their two innings. Marco put them down one-two-three.
For stat-heads, like me, if they can keep that up it figures they would average 22.5 runs a game and goose-egg the other teams. No?
.......
I'm hoping the rumors that the M's are looking to acquire free agent catcher, Martin Maldonado are wrong. It sounds like a hedge bet on Dipoto's part. Having discarded an excellent catcher, but inconsistent hitter, in Mike Zunino, to get so-so defensive backstop but good hitter, Omar Narvarez and then bring in a feeble-hitting good glove like Maldonado sure looks like second-guessing.
I'm disposed to like Dipoto. I like his upbeat personality and his honesty about his moves, but I'm not ready to consider him a great GM until he gets the Ms in the play-offs. And my greatest concern is he may lack the resolve to stick with his decisions.
My misgivings started at the trade deadline last season. Instead of acquiring or renting players to supplement his two-year strategy of using the core of Gordon, Segura, Cano and Cruz to win it all, nothing happened... Cano got suspended, the team's offense cooled, everyone got tired. Without the boost of fresh blood, they played mediocre baseball the rest of the season and saw the A's shoot past them for a play-off berth.
Once the team fell out of contention, Dipoto announced a new strategy for this season, a "step back," which quickly turned into a big-time rebuild that discarded the most of core along with pitching aces, Paxton and Diaz.
So now, why would Dipoto try to get back a Zunino when you could have kept him in the first place? Is the Narvarez experiment to improve his defensive skills not working? Is this a money thing? I don't know. Zunino made $2.95M last year, looks like Narvaez earned $600K. Maldonado made more than Zunino last year. If they get Maldonado, the money could just be a push.
I only know a little about baseball, but I know a lot about leadership. I've spent 50 researching, teaching and training leadership. Great leaders are decisive. Flexible for sure, but careful to see their decisions all the way through. I hope Dipoto has the courage of his convictions, but I worry he starts to second guess himself before committing fully on his strategies.
........
Astronomical note: It's worth waking a little early the next couple of mornings. Low on the SE horizon you can watch Jupiter rise, followed about an hour later by Venus and Saturn coming up almost side-by-side. A good omen for the Mariner's season, I think.
.......
I'm hoping the rumors that the M's are looking to acquire free agent catcher, Martin Maldonado are wrong. It sounds like a hedge bet on Dipoto's part. Having discarded an excellent catcher, but inconsistent hitter, in Mike Zunino, to get so-so defensive backstop but good hitter, Omar Narvarez and then bring in a feeble-hitting good glove like Maldonado sure looks like second-guessing.
I'm disposed to like Dipoto. I like his upbeat personality and his honesty about his moves, but I'm not ready to consider him a great GM until he gets the Ms in the play-offs. And my greatest concern is he may lack the resolve to stick with his decisions.
My misgivings started at the trade deadline last season. Instead of acquiring or renting players to supplement his two-year strategy of using the core of Gordon, Segura, Cano and Cruz to win it all, nothing happened... Cano got suspended, the team's offense cooled, everyone got tired. Without the boost of fresh blood, they played mediocre baseball the rest of the season and saw the A's shoot past them for a play-off berth.
Once the team fell out of contention, Dipoto announced a new strategy for this season, a "step back," which quickly turned into a big-time rebuild that discarded the most of core along with pitching aces, Paxton and Diaz.
So now, why would Dipoto try to get back a Zunino when you could have kept him in the first place? Is the Narvarez experiment to improve his defensive skills not working? Is this a money thing? I don't know. Zunino made $2.95M last year, looks like Narvaez earned $600K. Maldonado made more than Zunino last year. If they get Maldonado, the money could just be a push.
I only know a little about baseball, but I know a lot about leadership. I've spent 50 researching, teaching and training leadership. Great leaders are decisive. Flexible for sure, but careful to see their decisions all the way through. I hope Dipoto has the courage of his convictions, but I worry he starts to second guess himself before committing fully on his strategies.
........
Astronomical note: It's worth waking a little early the next couple of mornings. Low on the SE horizon you can watch Jupiter rise, followed about an hour later by Venus and Saturn coming up almost side-by-side. A good omen for the Mariner's season, I think.
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