Thank You Bill Bavasi

Since the Seattle Mariners cannot score more than one run in any given game, I did not feel like they are worth mentioning. Yet I do have hope thanks to Jack Zduriencik. Although my hope may be false since I am comparing him to Mr. Bill Bavasi.

I spent much of the Bavasi years in strong denial. I tried to believe in what he was doing, even convincing myself in the 2004 season that the Mariners would be better than the Red Sox. I did a whole statistical analysis and everything. Of course the Mariners went on to lose 99 games and the Red Sox won the World Series. This was followed by Justin laughing in my face repeatedly.

When looking back at the Bavasi years all I see is poop. Honestly, these could have been the worst four years in the history of general managers. I can’t believe how bad he was at his job. If I was that bad at teaching I would be living in a box right now on Cherry and 10th.

A blog commented in 2007 on the best and worst moves (this was pre-Bedard trade) in Bavasi’s era. These were the best trades:

Randy Winn for Jesse Foppert and Yorvit Torrealba
Dave Hansen for Jon Huber
Marcos Carvajal for Jose De La Cruz
Aaron Taylor for Sean Green
Shin Soo Choo and Shawn Nottingham for Ben Broussard
Chris Snelling and Emiliana Fruto for Jose Vidro

The best trades turn out to be in many ways the worst ones. The author assumed Vidro and Broussard would help the Mariners. Um, no. Take the Broussard deal. Choo is hitting .305 with five homers and 26 RBI this season. Of course no Mariner has as many RBIs as Choo does this season. He is a career .293 hitter. Great deal.

Jesse Foppert? Yorvit Torrealba? Not in the system.

The presence of Jose Vidro on my television for a year made me have suicidal thoughts.

Sean Green is the only player Bavasi acquired who did anything with his life.

Those are the good trades. THE GOOD TRADES.

Lucky for me, the Tacoma News Tribune’s Darrin Beane listed all the Bavasi transactions on his blog. You can see it here.

http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/mariners/2008/06/16/the_bavasi_years

The very first transaction Bavasi made was signing Raul Ibanez to a three year deal. Why didn’t he stop then? Just don’t make any other transactions and the Mariners probably would have won more games over those four years. Isn’t that amazing? Being a wall or a doorstop would have been more effective than being a human being in the case of Bill Bavasi.

In December of 2003, he signed Scott Spiezio to a three year deal. In January of 2004, he signed Rich Aurilia to a one year deal. Aurilia was gone in July. Spiezio somehow made it to 2005. Spiezio hit .215 in 2004 and .064 in 2005. Awesome.

Bavasi traded Freddy Garcia and Ben Davis for Miguel Olivo, Jeremy Reed, and Mike Morse in June of 2004. Garcia went 40-23 in two and a half seasons for the White Sox while Reed and others peed on themselves.

Hey in December of 2004, Bavasi signed Richie Sexson. (.244 hitter with 497 K’s for $50 million).

He also signed Pokey Reese (never played a game), Carl Everett, Matt Lawton, Fernando Vina, Kevin Appier, and Brad Wilkerson who all did absolutely nothing for the Mariners.

Hey in December of 2005, Bavasi singed Jarrod Washburn. (26-46 with 4.49 ERA for $37 million).

Even small deals like trading Matt Thornton for Joe Borchard or Yorman Bazardo for Jeff Frazier blew up in Bavasi’s face. Thornton posted a 2.67 ERA in relief last year for the White Sox and sits at 2.12 this year. Oh and he is left handed. The Mariners have no lefty relief right now. Bazardo is in AAA but has a 4-2 record with a 3.64 ERA while Jeff Frazier was later traded back to the Tigers. Incredible.

Or how about acquiring Eduardo Perez for Asdrubal Cabrera? He is hitting .320 with 25 RBI. Again those would be tops on the Mariners, but thankfully we have Jose Lopez who loves being mediocre. Oh and Eduardo Perez is horrible. At broadcasting. Super.

Cody Ransom? Staring third baseman for the Yankees before A-Rod stopped being a baby. Given up for cash by the M’s in 2006.

Horacio Ramirez? Acquired for Rafael Soriano on December 7, 2006. Released in March of 2008. One year – 7.16 ERA.

Hey in December of 2007, Bavasi signed Carlos Silva to a four year deal. (5-18 with a 6.77 ERA thus far in his second year, $24 million owed the next two years).

And of course the Erik Bedard trade. While Bedard has been good this year posting a 2-2 record with a 2.64 ERA, he only threw 81 innings last season. Meanwhile here are the players the Orioles acquired:

Adam Jones - .362, 9 home runs, 30 RBI this season. A stud.

George Sherrill – 31 saves last season, 9 saves this year with 2.89 ERA

Chris Tillman – 5-0, 2.13 ERA, 44 K’s in eight starts. (#2 prospect in the system).

Kam Mickolio – 1-2, 5.65 ERA as a reliever in AAA

Tony Butler – 3-4, 4.42 ERA in A as a starter

Wow, that was depressing. Hey look, the Mariners are on TV soon. Oh. Dear. God. I just realized I didn’t even include the signing of Jeff Weaver.