Zduriencik Gone

I don't have a ton of time to write at the moment, but when the Mariners fire a GM, something must be written. Jack Zduriencik is gone as of this morning after almost seven years steering the good ship Mariner. He plugged some holes early on, but the patchwork never really stuck. For one reason or another, the team under Zduriencik was always bailing water. A couple times (2009 and 2014) they did a heck of a job bailing it. Most of the time, the boat seemed on the brink of capsizing.

Obviously, the Mariners are suffering through a disappointing season. No GM looks good in a season like this, though it is also unfair to pin all the struggles on Z. With that said, Zduriencik's credibility peaked about a year into his time with the M's (when he acquired Cliff Lee) and steadily slid ever since - maybe with a few exceptions, depending on how one feels about the Robinson Cano megadeal and how Nelson Cruz will age.

There will be time later to do a thorough post-mortem of Zduriencik's time with the Mariners. For now, I offer some thoughts from the archive that show the life and times of the Mariners under Jack Zduriencik:

1. Zdurencik Era Begins - my take when the M's hired Zduriencik
2. Putz Traded in Megadeal - Zduriencik's first, and likely best, trade with the Mariners
3. Langerhans Acquired - Remember when the M's traded Mike Morse for Ryan Langerhans?
4. Jack Z Is Santa Claus - The only other contender for best deal of Z's tenure, acquiring Cliff Lee
5. Cliff Lee Traded - Back when Justin Smoak seemed like a good idea
6. Fixing Figgins - In retrospect, Figgy's problems were the beginning of a common theme
7. Fortnight Over - A reminder of some playing time issues from yesteryears
8. Four-ish Mariners Worth Trading - None of them got traded. Zduriencik's love of hapless defenders that hit dingers is now a known thing.
9. The Hot Mess at the Top - The first real time I turned on the Zduriencik regime
10. Mariners Decide They Want to Field Actual Outfield - Recap of the Austin Jackson and Chris Denorfia trades
11. No Z In Defense - A look at the Trumbo deal and what it says about the M's problems
12. Peterson's Struggles Point to Organizational Blindspot - Where I suggest that the Mariners actual harm hitters with the ways they try to develop them.

That's more than enough reading material. It's kind of fun to see the evolution of the posts. They give a feel for what it was like to live through the Jack Zduriencik era. He wasn't the worst GM the M's have ever had. He also wasn't the best. The Mariners are better now than they were before he took over but there is plenty of room for improvement.