BREAKING NEWS: GM Bavasi Fired!
by Dustin Shires ~ June 16th, 2008
I have just read that the Mariners have fired GM Bavasi. This came as a total shock to me. I was watching the College World Series and the bottom bar that updates ESPN viewers with all sports news flashed “Mariners fire GM Bavasi…” So I go to trusty ESPN online and find out that, sure enough, he was let go.
The Mariners currently hold the worst record in the MLB, even though they were expected to contend for a playoff spot in 2008.
Vice president and associate general manager Lee Pelekoudas will take over for Bavasi. CEO Howard Lincoln said that a new general manager search will be conducted immediately, and Pelekoudas will be a cantidate.
Bavasi compiled a 2008 roster that is worth $117 million, and still cannot win.
So long, Big Bill!
20 Responses to BREAKING NEWS: GM Bavasi Fired!
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1 June 16th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
About time…
next up is Mclaren.
2 June 16th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
The whole house of cards is about to fall and no wonder this is the most inept team I have seen in years.Our offense is so non-existant I find myself impressed if we score more than 3 runs in a game.
I am excited about one thing though and thats the fact that we get the #1 draft pick next year…….sheesh…..and with our luck it will be the one year no studs are avialible.We should be sending up alot of our triple a talent pretty soon if you ask me what do you guys think about that?
3 June 17th, 2008 at 12:34 am
AAA talent, sure, but there are no spots open. Are you going to bench Vidro, Sexson, Johjima (any of them) for Clement? Answer, no…McLaren is still managing…
Are you going to bench Lopez for Chen?
As for talent, if we get the number 1 pick we are drafting Steven Strasburg from San Diego State. He’s an absolute stud on the mound.
4 June 17th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
God I hope McLaren’s firing comes soon….And once again I’ll say….Felix is pitching well enough right now that we can win atleast every 5th game (or have a good chance of winning)…
5 June 17th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Personally I think JJ should be our 8th inning guy when he comes back…Atleast until he gets back into form…Morrow is absolutely unhittable right now. Being able to throw his curve ball for a strike makes hitting his fastball just about impossible…
6 June 17th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Brandon Morrow needs to go to the minors so the M’s can build a solid rotation for next year…we cant be tempted by his 100mph unhittable fastballs..he’s too good to be a close
7 June 18th, 2008 at 7:05 am
I think the GM will come from within.
@ #6: That has been the thoughts of most of us for the last year and a half and still probably is. At this point, however, I have some doubt as to whether or not Morrow will be in the rotation anytime soon. There is a chance that he becomes the next closer, unfortunately.
Hopefully the organization can figure some things out now that they’re going in a new direction.
8 June 18th, 2008 at 7:13 am
Also, Bavasi has improved our farm system, so at leat there’s that. We may reap the benefits of Bavasi’s tenure in the future, the same way as the Angels did, but more on that later…
9 June 18th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Am I the only person that wants to see Morrow a closer, rather than a starter?
10 June 18th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
No Dustin you’re not alone. I would also rather see Morrow as a closer.
11 June 18th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
I too would like to see Morrow as our closer…Like I said before I think JJ should be our 8th inning guy when he comes back….I see All-Time great closer potential in Morrow (Rivera/Hoffman type potential), especially if he can develop a changeup/splitter to go along with his fastball and curve…If he becomes a starter I don’t think he’ll ever be any more than an above average starter…
12 June 19th, 2008 at 11:57 am
And now McLaren’s gone, with Riggleman as the apparent manager for the rest of the season. Last night I was curious for some reason, and I found out the Mariners have hit one three-run homer since May 12, and no grand slams, of course. The M’s aren’t even getting those meaningless late-game three-runners by Balentien any more. It’s beyond the point of futility.
13 June 22nd, 2008 at 12:11 am
Morrow would be a nice closer for a while, but since Seattle will once again be rebuilding they may as well get him in the rotation. Great closers are often failed starters, not the other way around.
And Brian, I don’t know why you think Morrow could be a Hoffman/Rivera type. Neither guy is anything like Morrow, as far as I can tell.
14 June 22nd, 2008 at 12:40 am
I may be making an assumption for Brian, and correct me if I’m wrong please, but I think that he means the dominance and consistency, not exactly the pitching style.
Morrow has all the tools to be a dominant closer. I still don’t think he can be a long appearance pitcher. Every time he went over 3 innings last year he got hit or tired out. His tools as a closer, shown so far in 2008, have been nothing short of spectacular. He seems to be in the zone when he’s given the ball for 1 inning.
With Josh Fields being drafted I really do think that Morrow will be thrust into the rotation for 2009. Don’t get me wrong, I want the best for the team and I hope he succeeds, but I just don’t see it. Fields could/will be up with the big club soon; he’s virtually unhittable, even to the best of the college players. He’s got nasty, nasty stuff, the making of a fine stopper.
The one problem I do have is that if Putz comes back and doesn’t perform well, do we leave him in to close since the season is already gone, or do we give the closing role back to Morrow? What about next year…Morrow is in the rotation and Putz goes down again, do we let Morrow start or close?
It just seems to me that the most value we can get out of Morrow is when he’s closing the game for us.
Thoughts?
15 June 22nd, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Personally I think we’d get more value with him in the rotation. Especially if we can’t sign any starters this off-season because I would much rather have putz closing and morrow in the rotation than morrow closing and batista in the rotation.
Also, if Fields is as nasty as you say he is, why not just make him the closer if Putz flops next year?
16 June 22nd, 2008 at 6:05 pm
I honestly think that is a very likely scenario. And I like that, but I’ll go with Morrow right now…
17 June 22nd, 2008 at 9:16 pm
It doesn’t take a great pitcher to be a great closer, people!
Yes, Rivera and Hoffman are great pitchers because they did it for so long, but the majority of closers are dominant for a handful of seasons than fade away. Closers are 5th, 6th, 7th, 10th round picks that struggled to find their niche in the rotation or anywhere else.
Now, maybe Morrow proves to be this time; proves that he can’t cut it in the rotation. THEN he goes to the closer role. If he’s got the potential he should have as a top draft pick, there is no way he should be the closer. A total waste of a pick. There are other arms in the organization that can be great closers, there always are. Rarely do we here about a great up and coming closer impressing everyone on his way through the minors. They burst onto the scene without anyone knowing anything about them only because they don’t have a hyped history.
Good relievers are not hard to find. Every team has a couple, and very few were high draft picks and even fewer of those high picks, if any, were drafted and developed as relievers. Good starters, on the other hand, are impossible to come by, and thus all top drafted pitchers should be developed as starters.
A while back I endorsed the Morrow as permanent reliever, to a point, and I have no doubt he could be good there for some time, but it’s a stupid thing to do, especially with a team out of contention. Now that Seattle is out of it, there is ZERO reason why he’s still in the ‘pen.
My gut tells me that Morrow may be a career minor leaguer, but it defies logic to not at least try to start him.
18 June 22nd, 2008 at 9:56 pm
And moments after I type that I realize that Seattle took a closer with the 20th overall pick. Gimme a break I’ve been out of it for a while
Anyway, that is all the more reason to get Morrow out of the bullpen.
And, once again, my logic (and others’ logic) is erased by the dreaded “Mariner logic”
19 June 22nd, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Morrow should be put nto the rotation now. Closers are the most overated position. #3 starters have more value to a team then even dominant closers. Morrow has the 2nd highest fastball speed average in the leagues behind Matt Lindstrom of the Marlins. Morrow’s changeup has become nasty and has more movement on it then Cole Hamels changeup (his best pitch) and his slider is good also. Morrow could be a TOR type pitcher and its stupid to leave him in the bullpen any longer.
20 June 22nd, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Also Morrow’s LD% is down from 17.6% last year to 14.3% this year and his GB% is up from 35.2% last year to 42.9% this year. He’s also stopped walking people.