Is there any hope? Yes. Thankfully.
Jack Zduriencik is our hope. The new JZ. Hence the title of the post.
(In college, a guy we hung out with named Matt asked the lady at the cafeteria that question after Adam ordered a Philly Cheesesteak. One of the top lunch room moments of all time).
Since becoming the GM of the beloved hometown nine, he has done the following:
Traded JJ Putz, Sean Green, Jeremy Reed, and Luis Valbuena for Aaron Heilman, Jason Vargas, Mike Carp, Maikel Cleto, Ezekiel Carrera, Endy Chavez, and Franklin Gutierrez.
Traded Heilman to the Cubs for Garrett Olson and Ronny Cedeno.
Signed Russell Branyan and Ken Griffey Jr.
Traded Fabian Williamson for David Aardsma.
How did those deals work out? In a few months time better than all of Bavasi’s actions put together.
I am not ready to say Jack Z is the savior. But he has given me hope. And as Winston Churchill once said, “All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom; justice; honor; duty; mercy; hope.” Ignore the other words, just focus on the hope. Everyone knows that is what Churchill meant.
Putz instantly became the eighth inning set up guy for the Mets (at $6 million per year and 32 years of age) and has not been lights out. He hasn’t been bad necessarily, but a 3.81 ERA sits below Sean White, Shawn Kelley, and David Aardsma of the Mariners (who combined make about $1.2 million). Meanwhile Sean Green has been pretty awful with an 0-2 record, 6.98 ERA, and 1.86 WHIP. Jeremy Reed remains irrelevant as he was for years in Seattle. Congrats Jeremy, you suck but not enough for anyone to care.
The Indians received Luis Valbuena who is now on the major league roster, but hitting only .188. He was grea
t in AAA at .321 and .436 OBP. The Indians received Joe Smith (really that is his name) who has been atrocious (7.11 ERA in 6 1/3 innings all in April).
The Mariners gained two starting outfielders in Chavez and Gutierrez who immediately changed the outfield defense. Chavez has a UZR of 2.4 (ultimate zone rating) and Gutierrez sits at 6.1. That puts Franklin only behind Mike Cameron (a golden god in my book) and Matt Kemp among all major league center fielders. Offensively neither will be confused for Evan Longoria (or Eva Longoria on some days) as Chavez sits at .289, 2 HR, 13 RBI, and eight steals. Gutierrez is hitting .258 with three homers and 19 RBI. Yet when I examined a little closer, Gutierrez adds a lot of value. He is in the top five of OBP among the Mariners – nothing to brag about necessarily – and has swung at only 22.4% of pitches outside the strike zone. That percentage is tops on the M’s. In comparison, Jose Lopez swings at 33.3%, Yuniesky Betancourt at 38.6%, and Adrian Beltre at 39.2%. All three of those players sit in the bottom eight of eligible players in the AL. Pathetic.
Jack Z’s acquisitions are paying dividends already. Three of the top four hitters on the Mariners in terms of average where JZ’s acquisitions. Four of the top five OBP as I said earlier. The other player? Ichiro.
Meanwhile Cedeno provides some back up infield help and Garrett Olson has been serviceable as a spot starter. He dominated the Giants and then was cruising for five against the Angels until he started remembering he was Garrett Olson.
Aardsma is almost lights out as closer since replacing Brandon Morrow. He blew it yesterday after throwing a fourth consecutive day, but admitted to having nothing in his arm. As a fellow self-depricator like Aardsma, I believe him when he says that. He isn’t LeBron blowing smoke up anything that moves. Even with yesterday’s blow up, Aardsma has a 2.13 ERA, hitters are only batting .169 against him, and he is eight for nine in save opportunities. The man they traded, Fabian Williamson, is having a good season with a 2.82 ERA in A, but that is low minors. Plus the Mariners have 72 first round draft picks to become relievers in the future with Philipe Aumont in A and Josh Fields in AA already.
Mike Carp is hitting .291 with eight homers and 24 RBI (also .935 OPS) in AAA and Carrerra is raking in AA with a .351 average.
Russell Branyan is dominating for some reason as he sits at #8 in the AL in OBP, #4 in OPS, and leads the team with 11 homers. He is hitting an ungodly (for Branyan) .323 with 23 RBI. Cost? $1.4 million. Ken Griffey is not excelling, nor is he average. Yet he only cost $2 million for one year. Big deal. Remember Bavasi gave the worst pitcher in the league $48 million over four years. I hate you Carlos Silva.
As you can see, JZ (why would I call him anything else?) dominates Bavasi. Yet it is early. A lot could change for the better or the worse. The next two tests come up quickly for JZ in the MLB draft (#2, #27, and #33 overall picks) and the trade deadline (Beltre, Bedard, Washburn?). Either way I imagine JZ sitting in his office with his Roc-A-Fella mates, saying to himself, “Bill Bavasi is the world’s biggest jackass”.
Since becoming the GM of the beloved hometown nine, he has done the following:
Traded JJ Putz, Sean Green, Jeremy Reed, and Luis Valbuena for Aaron Heilman, Jason Vargas, Mike Carp, Maikel Cleto, Ezekiel Carrera, Endy Chavez, and Franklin Gutierrez.
Traded Heilman to the Cubs for Garrett Olson and Ronny Cedeno.
Signed Russell Branyan and Ken Griffey Jr.
Traded Fabian Williamson for David Aardsma.
How did those deals work out? In a few months time better than all of Bavasi’s actions put together.
I am not ready to say Jack Z is the savior. But he has given me hope. And as Winston Churchill once said, “All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom; justice; honor; duty; mercy; hope.” Ignore the other words, just focus on the hope. Everyone knows that is what Churchill meant.
Putz instantly became the eighth inning set up guy for the Mets (at $6 million per year and 32 years of age) and has not been lights out. He hasn’t been bad necessarily, but a 3.81 ERA sits below Sean White, Shawn Kelley, and David Aardsma of the Mariners (who combined make about $1.2 million). Meanwhile Sean Green has been pretty awful with an 0-2 record, 6.98 ERA, and 1.86 WHIP. Jeremy Reed remains irrelevant as he was for years in Seattle. Congrats Jeremy, you suck but not enough for anyone to care.
The Indians received Luis Valbuena who is now on the major league roster, but hitting only .188. He was grea
t in AAA at .321 and .436 OBP. The Indians received Joe Smith (really that is his name) who has been atrocious (7.11 ERA in 6 1/3 innings all in April).The Mariners gained two starting outfielders in Chavez and Gutierrez who immediately changed the outfield defense. Chavez has a UZR of 2.4 (ultimate zone rating) and Gutierrez sits at 6.1. That puts Franklin only behind Mike Cameron (a golden god in my book) and Matt Kemp among all major league center fielders. Offensively neither will be confused for Evan Longoria (or Eva Longoria on some days) as Chavez sits at .289, 2 HR, 13 RBI, and eight steals. Gutierrez is hitting .258 with three homers and 19 RBI. Yet when I examined a little closer, Gutierrez adds a lot of value. He is in the top five of OBP among the Mariners – nothing to brag about necessarily – and has swung at only 22.4% of pitches outside the strike zone. That percentage is tops on the M’s. In comparison, Jose Lopez swings at 33.3%, Yuniesky Betancourt at 38.6%, and Adrian Beltre at 39.2%. All three of those players sit in the bottom eight of eligible players in the AL. Pathetic.
Jack Z’s acquisitions are paying dividends already. Three of the top four hitters on the Mariners in terms of average where JZ’s acquisitions. Four of the top five OBP as I said earlier. The other player? Ichiro.
Meanwhile Cedeno provides some back up infield help and Garrett Olson has been serviceable as a spot starter. He dominated the Giants and then was cruising for five against the Angels until he started remembering he was Garrett Olson.
Aardsma is almost lights out as closer since replacing Brandon Morrow. He blew it yesterday after throwing a fourth consecutive day, but admitted to having nothing in his arm. As a fellow self-depricator like Aardsma, I believe him when he says that. He isn’t LeBron blowing smoke up anything that moves. Even with yesterday’s blow up, Aardsma has a 2.13 ERA, hitters are only batting .169 against him, and he is eight for nine in save opportunities. The man they traded, Fabian Williamson, is having a good season with a 2.82 ERA in A, but that is low minors. Plus the Mariners have 72 first round draft picks to become relievers in the future with Philipe Aumont in A and Josh Fields in AA already.
Mike Carp is hitting .291 with eight homers and 24 RBI (also .935 OPS) in AAA and Carrerra is raking in AA with a .351 average.
Russell Branyan is dominating for some reason as he sits at #8 in the AL in OBP, #4 in OPS, and leads the team with 11 homers. He is hitting an ungodly (for Branyan) .323 with 23 RBI. Cost? $1.4 million. Ken Griffey is not excelling, nor is he average. Yet he only cost $2 million for one year. Big deal. Remember Bavasi gave the worst pitcher in the league $48 million over four years. I hate you Carlos Silva.
As you can see, JZ (why would I call him anything else?) dominates Bavasi. Yet it is early. A lot could change for the better or the worse. The next two tests come up quickly for JZ in the MLB draft (#2, #27, and #33 overall picks) and the trade deadline (Beltre, Bedard, Washburn?). Either way I imagine JZ sitting in his office with his Roc-A-Fella mates, saying to himself, “Bill Bavasi is the world’s biggest jackass”.
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