The dominoes continue to fall in Seattle, as John McLaren was handed his walking papers yesterday, three days after GM Bavasi tried on his own pink slip. In some ways, this was handled better than the Mets’ embarrassing and insulting firing of Willie Randolph. At least McLaren wasn’t dangled for weeks before a midnight assassination, and there were suitably kind words for McLaren upon his dismissal, with new GM Lee Pelekoudas obviously distressed about having to fire his longtime friend and colleague.
McLaren isn’t the problem in Seattle, of course, although his light touch with players probably wasn’t helping things any. Pelekoudas promoted bench coach Jim Riggleman to McLaren’s position, relying on his tougher style to whip the Mariners into a facsimile of a team that cares whether they win or lose. Owners often start at the top with firings, and so do GMs, so McLaren should have known his job security was ebbing.
But Mariners owner Chuck Armstrong had given him a vote of confidence less than a month ago—an eternity in a six-month season—and it does seem odd that the Mariners would wait all of three days after firing Bavasi to do the same to McLaren. While this wasn’t the very first thing that Pelekoudas did, this probably fell right after putting pictures of his family on Bavasi’s old desk and painting his name on the door. Waiting three days sounds like a courtesy at best, and a shallow one at that, the equivalent of kicking a guy in the nuts, helping him to his feet and apologizing, only to kick him squarely in the cojones again.
Now, the Mariners are hoping that Riggleman can light a fire under their players, while the housecleaning is likely to continue. An upside to the McLaren firing is the message that nobody is sacred, not the best buddy of the GM, certainly not lackluster goldbricks Sexson and Vidro—not even the newly acquired Erik Bedard.
It’s early to analyze the Bedard trade (though that hasn’t stopped me and others from doing so) but he’s certainly not the savior we all expected him to be. By some accounts, he lacks passion and a strong work ethic, and McLaren said only days ago that he’s simply “a 100-pitch pitcher.” Bavasi sold the farm to bring in Bedard, who obviously isn’t ready to be a #1 for a team that desperately needs him, and so he becomes another hot prospect on the trade market.
The Yankees would certainly love to get their mitts on him, after going so low as to sign reprobate Sidney Ponson and expressing frequent interest in C.C. Sabathia. Bedard would combine with Pettitte to make a formidable 1-2 lefty combo atop the Yanks rotation, if the Yankees could put together a package tantalizing enough for Pelekoudas to pull the trigger.
Whether or not he should do so, of course, depends on what he gets for Bedard. With Bavasi’s generous five-player deal to bring Bedard on, it’s hard to see the Mariners getting anything like that in return, meaning that trading him now is buying high and selling low. If Pelekoudas can get a deal, he should take it, but I don’t think the trade should be made just because Bedard has disappointed in his first two months in Seattle.
The deal to bring him here was intended to bolster the rotation for just some time, so moving him just to move him would be a mistake. Give Riggleman and Mel Stottlemyre—unless he gets the ax, too—a chance to turn the guy’s head around. You run the risk of him continuing to pitch poorly and lowering his value even more, but it’s hard to imagine what him doing much worse would look like. He struggled early last season, too, before rebounding, so Seattle needs to give him a chance to prove himself before just dumping him in the name of “cleaning house.”
That said, I think the message that Nobody’s Untouchable (Not Even Bedard) is a good one, and it might wake a few moribund Mariners up. Then again, who wouldn’t want to hop off the sinking ship that is the league-worst Mariners? With Riggleman at the helm of this leaky vessel, let’s hope that he rids himself of all the dead ballast in the hold and quickly, lest the Mariners sink any further.
With Bedard or without him, Seattle needs to move forward—that they’re doing so without Bavasi is a blessing, and without McLaren, a bit of a shame. They need a new first baseman and designated hitter more than they need a new manager, but change starts at the top, so let’s hope that Sexson and Vidro (and not Bedard, at least for now) follow the conga line out the door.
