FanHouse Bill Bavasi

SEATTLE -- Given that the Mariners have struggled mightily offensively, the signing of No. 2 pick Dustin Ackley serves as a serious momentum boost for an organization looking to escape a series of shaky moves under the Bill Bavasi tenure.

For example, Bavasi traded Adam Jones and George Sherill for Erik Bedard, and he selected Cal's Brandon Morrow over the University of Washington's Tim Lincecum in the 2006 draft. Morrow is in the minors while Lincecum is one of the top starting pitchers in the major leagues.

So the Mariners needed this. They needed to sign the best hitter in college baseball. Ackley hit .422 with 22 home runs and 73 RBI in 66 games for the University of North Carolina. Signing him went down to the final minutes, with general manager Jack Zduriencik revealing that the deal was agreed upon at 8:45 PM PT, about 15 minutes before the deadline.

BALTIMORE -- Sheila Dixon ought to dig up Bill Bavasi's address and send him a long, well thought out thank you note. Someone in the Charm City ought to show some appreciation for the former Mariners general manager for doing his best to get the Orioles turned around, it might as well be the mayor of Baltimore.

It was two winters ago that Bavasi sent Adam Jones, Chris Tillman and George Sherrill to the O's in exchange for Erik Bedard. For the first time since that deal, all three appeared on the same major league field together.

Jones homered and had four RBI in Baltimore's 7-3 win. Sherrill was in line to get the save, warming up in the bullpen in the bottom of the eighth inning before getting the night off when the Orioles tacked two runs onto their lead. And Tillman, making his major league debut, got a no decision after allowing three runs in 4 2/3 innings. Not bad for a start.

"We can hit, it's a matter of good pitching," Jones said after the win.

It has to be somewhat painful for Mariners fans to see Adam Jones having so much success in Baltimore. He was once the future of the franchise in Seattle before the evil Bill Bavasi sent him to the Charm City as part of a package for Erik Bedard. In his first season in Seattle, Bedard missed most of the season thanks to injuries and he has been pretty good this year.

Still, when Mariners fans see that Jones is hitting .344 with an OPS of 1.008 and 11 homers and 36 runs driven in for the Orioles, it has to sting. You know what probably stings more though? Well, Jones made his third trip back to Seattle on Monday and when asked if he had any special feelings for the team and city that gave him his first chance at big league stardom he let Seattle know that he's moved on.

Bob Melvin will not be manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday, according to a report in the Arizona Republic. Melvin has already been fired, a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity told the Associated Press.

A.J. Hinch, a catcher who played seven years in the majors, will replace Melvin, according to a report by SI.com.

Arizona is 12-17 after Thursday's 10-inning loss at San Diego and in fourth place in the NL West. The Diamondbacks' core of young talent has not progressed as some had expected after the team reached the 2007 NLCS under Melvin. He was NL Manager of the Year for that season.

FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Seattle Mariners.

The Mariners of 2008 provided a case study in why overachieving isn't always a good thing. The team won 88 games in 2007, which could be looked at in one of two ways. You could say the team was close to contending and should go all in for a run at the postseason, or you could look at their expected record and say that the team outperformed expectations and shouldn't do anything drastic.

The Seattle Mariners have a bit of a rebuilding project in front of them, and the new administration knows that. General Manager Jack Zduriencik could be in search of signing a few veteran free agents, though, just to stay at least somewhat competitive for the next few years while they attempt to rebuild their farm system -- after former GM Bill Bavasi mortgaged it for Erik Bedard.

Today they tried to snag one early in the Hot Stove season, making an offer to, uh, I don't know. I can tell you who it's not, does that help?

He wouldn't name the player, but it isn't Ken Griffey Jr. Ok, so that really narrows it down.

Zduriencik also let us in on the fact that it was a position player, not a pitcher, and that he hopes to know within the next couple days.

So that's what we know. Let's just play a game here and try to guess who it was. We'll narrow the list by eliminating very high-priced talent. As Jacob told us in the Mariners' footprints, they need an offensive player. Raul Ibanez is departing from the outfield, and I think replacing him is their most pressing need.

In 2009, the Mariners became the first team ever to win fewer than 100 games with at payroll over $100 million. Midway through the year they fired GM Bill Bavasi, and have since undergone an exhaustive search, looking for someone to right the ship. Today, they announced their decision:

Milwaukee Brewers executive Jack Zduriencik is the Seattle Mariners' choice to be their new general manager.

The 57-year-old Zduriencik spent nine years in Milwaukee's front office, most recently as the special assistant to general manager Doug Melvin.

Since Zduriencik came to Milwaukee in 1999, he made the call to draft Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks as well as 2007 NL Rookie of the Year Ryan Braun, J.J. Hardy, Corey Hart, Yovani Gallardo, Manny Parra and Tony Gwynn Jr. -- the foundation of Milwaukee's playoff team this season.

That certainly is an impressive resume, as Zduriencik is known as one of the best, if not the best, scouting directors in baseball. But you have to wonder if Seattle wouldn't have been better off going with one of the other candidates, like Tony LaCava or Jerry DiPoto.

This is not to say that Zduriencik is a bad hire; he'll certainly get them going in the right direction. But the current Mariners' regime has the reputation for being very old school, and almost ignoring sabermetrics. It seems like they may have been better served to do a complete 180, and go with one of the "new school" candidates. Now, we'll have to see if Zduriencik surrounds himself with enough statistically minded people to completely change the culture and vault Seattle back into contention.

So the Seattle Mariners fired general manager Bill Bavasi back in June, yet they still haven't made any ground in figuring out who their next general manager is going to be. They've interviewed four candidates for the job, including Kim Ng who would be the first female general manager in baseball history. Aside from Ng, they've also talked to Arizona's Jerry DiPoto, Toronto's Tony LaCava, and Milwaukee's Jack Zduriencik.

Now there was some speculation that the Mariners would announce their choice today, but at the moment it doesn't look like that's going to happen, which could be a problem once the World Series starts tomorrow night. MLB isn't too fond of major announcements during the World Series.

Of course, if the Mariners want to they can ask Bud Selig for a waiver to allow them to dare interrupt the World Series, and though team President Chuck Armstrong says he isn't sure whether or not he's going to ask, I am. He's not, and the Mariners won't have their general manager before the World Series is over anyway.

The reason for this is because they're waiting for Pat Gillick. Gillick is a former Mariners GM, and he's currently the Phillies general manager. He has made it clear, though, that he'd like to retire at the end of the year. I have no doubt that Seattle's plan is to wait out the Series and then gauge Gillick's interest in returning to Seattle as head of baseball operations, and then having him choose the new general manager.

If you're a baseball fan who likes surprises, then the 2008 season has been a special treat. The Rays are the most notable team that has exceeded expectations, but the Twins, White Sox and Marlins are also surprise contenders.

Of course, those pleasant surprises have come at the expense of several clubs expected to be much better this season. Whether because of a big free-agent signing last winter, a deep October run last season or the (hint, hint) crushing burden of a massive payroll, the baseball landscape is littered with flops as August comes to a close.

The following is a countdown of the seven most disappointing teams this season.

7. Padres: Mired in last place in the abysmal NL West, it's easy to forget that this team won 89 games last year and was a (phantom?) Matt Holliday slide away from a playoff spot. Even when they were winning division titles, the Padres operated on a thin margin. Injuries and underperformance are at the root of their struggles.

Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Kouzmanoff and Brian Giles are the only offensive regulars who have played more than 100 games. Ace Jake Peavy spent a month on the disabled list, while No. 2 starter Chris Young has made only 13 starts. Veteran closer Trevor Hoffman has also been extremely shaky.

Seeing as how the Mariners really suck this season, I've kind of stopped paying attention to them. Of course, because of that, I forgot just how bad the team really is. Thankfully the three games I just saw them play against the White Sox in Chicago this week reaffirmed everything I previously knew.

One of the reasons the Mariners are so horrible this season can be attributed to the Erik Bedard trade. The Mariners sent Adam Jones, George Sherrill, the Space Needle, and majority ownership in Starbucks to Baltimore for the southpaw. While a lot of people thought the addition of Bedard would help the Mariners win the AL West (I only had them as the wild card, so I guess that makes me slightly less stupid), thanks to his injuries and ineffectiveness, they're fighting just to avoid 100 losses this season.

Bedard cost the Mariners their season, and the jobs of John McLaren and Bill Bavasi. Fortunately for all involved, the odds of Erik returning this season to claim the livelihoods of others are slim at best.

Pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre and [Jim] Riggleman both say that Bedard did not come out of his last throwing session feeling well, as he had in previous outings.