Are Lincoln and Armstrong that bad?

If you troll the blogosphere for the latest news on the Seattle Mariners, more than likely you come across several threads posted calling for the heads of President Chuck Armstong and CEO Howard Lincoln. The "terrible twosome," as they have been referred to, are deemed responsible for the mess the current Mariners are in. Both have been part of the Nintendo ownership regime headed by Hiroshi Yamauchi for the past 17 years. In large part, this is the same group that brought in Lou Pinella as manager in 1993, drafted Alex Rodriguez, and brought in fan favorites Jamie Moyer, John Olerud, and Mike Cameron. The ownership group was also responsible for bringing in overseas talent in the form of Kaz Sasaki as the closer, who won Rookie of the Year honors, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, a talented middle relief pitcher, and most notably, Ichiro Suzuki, who won Rookie of the Year, Gold Glove, and MVP honors in 2001.They also would get the new "Safeco Field" constructed in 1999, deemed a top 5 stadium then and one of the top venues still today.

Under the direction of Pat Gillick, the Mariners were a force from 2000 to 2003 winning a league leading 393 games, with their 116 win season in 2001 being their best. They failed to make the playoffs in either ‘02 or '03 despite winning 93 games both seasons. In 2003, Pinella bolted for Tampa Bay, saying Mariners management was more concerned with making money than bringing in quality players. Under 2nd year skipper Bob Melvin and new GM Bill Bavasi, brought in from the Angels' organization, the 2004 M's imploded. They had a team full of old players who over-performed the previous three years, and a minor league system depleted from Gillick. With the exception of Ichiro who would go on to break the MLB all-time hits record of 257 with a mind-blowing 262. '05 and '06 were just as hopeless with Bavasi making trades and signings that rarely worked, most notably the signings of Richie Sexson, Carlos Silva, the trade for Jose Vidro and quite possibly the 5 for 1 trade that brought Erik Bedard to the M's in 2008, which ultimately saw him go on the DL permanently half way through the year.

Ultimately, fans will argue that although Bavasi made these horrendous moves, the tandem of Lincoln and Armstrong signed off on them. But can we really blame these two for the struggles of this franchise? Didn’t sports analysts, sports writers, and fans around the country seem to think the Mariners had a legitimate shot at winning the AL West or at least the wild card? I have yet to see significant evidence that suggests that Lincoln and Armstrong interfered too much, if anything they weren’t involved enough. Now that they say they are going to be more involved with the new GM and perhaps limit the payroll a bit more (which was at a franchise record $117, 666, 482) people are calling for their heads again. It seems like a no-win situation for these two. I will reserve my condemnation for these two until I see who they hire for their GM and where this team goes for 2009.