Tagged: Winter Meetings
Baseball Winter Meetings – Day 3
WELCOME TO SEATTLE ADAM LIND
Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto completed his ninth trade of the off-season, acquiring Adam Lind from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for a trio of teenage minor league right-handed pitchers. Lind brings power (32 doubles, 20 home runs) and on-base percentage (.360). You can see full details below in the blog, but Jerry’s thoughts on why he fits for our club were clear. “Adam lengthens our line-up as a first baseman who gives us on-base percentage and power. First base was a spot we came here looking to fill, and we feel that Adam is a good fit for us.”
MAKING THE ROUNDS
Mariners Manager Scott Servais made media rounds at the Winter Meetings today, including interviews with MLB Network, MLB Network Radio and ESPN. He also met with our local beat writers, national and international writers for a 30 minute session.
Here is part of his transcript from his media session (read the whole thing here):
Q. You’ve had a lot of turnover here in short order. What’s the biggest challenge with that many new faces and a new face of your own?
SCOTT SERVAIS: Well, they’re all new to me, that’s the first thing. Obviously, there’s been a ton of turnover in our roster. Change was coming. We talked about it early on, wanted to get a different look to our team. That’s what we focused on. Obviously, Jerry has done an awesome job trying to go out and acquire players that fit the mold he’s looking for. On the tough side, we’ve given up some very good players, guys that are going to go on and have very successful careers, and it may come back and hurt us at times. To get good players, you’ve got to give up good players. We’ve been aggressive. I don’t think people understand how hard it is to make trades. But we’re getting after it, and I don’t think Jerry is going to slow down any time soon.
Q. Scott, you mentioned the new guys. But how much contact have you had with the guys that are coming back, especially that core group of guys, Felix and Cano and Seager?
SCOTT SERVAIS: Quite a bit of contact. I’ve talked to 10 to 12 players face to face, many more on the phone, trying to get a feel — let them get a feel for me, first of all, and kind of what I’m like. More importantly, listening to them and where they’re at. Everybody is at a different point in their career, and I feel it’s important where I’m at to listen to them. That includes Mike Zunino, as well, who we consider a high end prospect who’s going to have a very successful major league career. I’ve spent a lot of time. I’ve been in Dominican talking to Nelly, I’ve talked to Robbie, Ketel Marte down there. I met with Felix and Walker. I talked to a lot of guys. I learned a lot about where they’re at, and I think they’ve learned a lot on where they’re going to go.
Q. Scott, it seems like the way managers are hired these days, it’s different from in the past. It used to be you spend a lot of time in the minors as a manager or maybe several years as a bench coach. We’ve seen more managers without previous experience get hired. As somebody who has spent time in the front office as well, why do you think this has changed?
SCOTT SERVAIS: I spent plenty of time in the minors. I don’t know if you’re aware, but that’s where I’ve been the last ten years. I have not managed in the minor leagues. I have not been a bench coach in the big leagues. And I’m not the first. Lucky for me, there’s been many guys, and I could go through the list, talking to them earlier today. Mike Matheny and Brad Ausmus, guys with different paths. Mine may be more what A.J. Hinch has gone through, just coming from the front office. I think there’s tremendous value in understanding of how to put teams together and how front offices look at that. I will use that to my benefit. The one thing I’ve not done is I have not managed a major league team, but I’ve managed people. I think, when you look at the game and how the game’s evolved, it is about managing people and creating an environment that they feel good about coming to work every day and a certain culture along with that. That’s what I think I can bring to the Mariners. Again, it’s about the players and putting them in a position to win. So, again, it’s been a different path, I’ve said it all along, that I’ve taken to get here. I feel fortunate, and I’m really excited about getting started.
MLB STAND UP TO CANCER AUCTION
For the fourth consecutive year, Major League Baseball, MLB Advanced Media, MLB Network and the 30 Clubs have organized a Winter Meetings charity auction that includes once-in-a-lifetime baseball experiences and unique items to raise awareness and funds for cancer research. This initiative, which has raised nearly $500,000 since its inception, was inspired by the numerous employees, friends and fans of the game who have been affected by cancer. A significant portion of the proceeds will go to Stand Up To Cancer, a longtime partner of Major League Baseball, its founding donor in 2008. In addition, this year’s auction will benefit Do It For Durrett, in honor of the late Texas Rangers ESPN.com beatwriter Richard Durrett, who passed away suddenly last year, and the YouCaring page established for Miami Marlins Sun Sentinel beatwriter Juan C. Rodriguez, who is currently battling a brain tumor. The auction is live on MLB.com until Thursday, December 10th at 9:00 p.m. (ET).
Following are the Mariners items supporters can bid on at http://www.mlb.com/SU2Cauction:
- Seattle Mariners – Meet & Greet with Nelson Cruz
Seattle Mariners – Kings Court Experience
Seattle Mariners – Watch an Inning from the Booth with Rizzs and Goldsmith
DAILY SESSION
As he does each day at the Winter Meetings, Jerry Dipoto met with our travelling beat media this afternoon. In addition to laying out his thoughts on the Lind acquisition, Jerry talked about the position player group, mentioned his thoughts on bullpen construction, and walked through the improvements we’ve made in our line-up, specifically in our ability to get on base. Jerry also talked through the strategy of trying to get ahead of the market here by making moves early in the, rather than waiting until players we were interested had been bid up in the Winter Meetings frenzy.
Jerry’s daily session with travelling media.
TOMORROW’S RULE 5 PRIMER
Every year, Major League Baseball holds two player drafts. Most fans are familiar with and have a basic understanding of the First-Year Player Draft, which occurs each June and deals with amateur players in the United States and Puerto Rico. But the Rule 5 Draft, which takes place in December and concerns professional players, is often confusing. This factsheet aspires to clear up how the Rule 5 Draft works.
A team that selects a player in the Rule 5 Draft pays $50,000 to the team from which he was selected. The receiving team must then keep the player on the Major League 25-man roster for the entirety of the next season, and the selected player must remain active (not on the disabled list) for a minimum of 90 days. If the player does not remain on the Major League roster, he is offered back to the team he was selected from for $25,000. If his original team declines, the receiving team may waive the player.
Once a player is selected, he is automatically assigned to his new organization’s 40-man roster.
Players who were signed when they were 19 or older and have played in professional baseball for four years are eligible, as are players who were signed at 18 and have played in pro ball for five years. All players on a Major League Baseball team’s 40-man roster, regardless of other eligibility factors, are “protected” and ineligible for the Rule 5 Draft.
Teams draft in reverse-order of the regular season standings. Any team that does not have any vacancies on its 40-man roster may not make a selection.
There are also Triple-A and Double-A phases to the Rule 5 Draft. Players put on the Triple-A reserve list cost the selecting team $12,000, and players put on the Double-A reserve list cost the selecting team $4,000.
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Winter Meetings Media Session – Scott Servais
New Mariners Manager Scott Servais had a busy day in Nashville Wednesday at the Winter Meetings.
He met with his fellow managers, did interviews with MLB Network and MLB Radio, and had a 30 minute Q&A with the media. It was a wide-ranging session that included questions about Scott’s approach as a rookie manager, how the lineup is shaping up and the flurry of Mariners moves this offseason. Here’s a transcript of that session.
Q. You’ve had a lot of turnover here in short order. What’s the biggest challenge with that many new faces and a new face of your own?
SCOTT SERVAIS: Well, they’re all new to me, that’s the first thing. Obviously, there’s been a ton of turnover in our roster. Change was coming. Obviously, new general manager, new field manager.
We talked about it early on, wanted to get a different look to our team. That’s what we focused on. Obviously, Jerry (Dipoto) has done an awesome job trying to go out and acquire players that fit the mold he’s looking for.
On the tough side, we’ve given up some very good players, guys that are going to go on and have very successful careers, and it may come back and hurt us at times. To get good players, you’ve got to give up good players. We’ve been aggressive. I don’t think people understand how hard it is to make trades. But we’re getting after it, and I don’t think Jerry is going to slow down any time soon.
Q. Is your lineup starting to come into place?
SS: For me, yes.
Q. A bit more on what it might look like?
SS: We’ve talked a lot upstairs, and I’ve got ideas. We’ve shared things. I had the coaching staff together in Seattle last week. We have different bodies than we had last week, as crazy as that sounds.
Looking at different options, if you look at the makeup of our lineup, we have guys who get on base. For the most part, that’s something we said we wanted to address, controlling the strike zone, being a tougher out, and trying to create more opportunities to score runs, and we’ve gone out and gotten a few of those guys.
Hopefully, there’s a few more guys on base when Nelson (Cruz) and Robbie (Cano) come up to bat and create more scoring opportunities.
Q. Scott, you mentioned the new guys. But how much contact have you had with the guys that are coming back, especially that core group of guys, Felix and Cano and Seager?
SS: Quite a bit of contact. I’ve talked to 10 to 12 players face to face, many more on the phone, trying to get a feel — let them get a feel for me, first of all, and kind of what I’m like. More importantly, listening to them and where they’re at. Everybody is at a different point in their career, and I feel it’s important where I’m at to listen to them.
That includes Mike Zunino, as well, who we consider a high end prospect who’s going to have a very successful major league career. I’ve spent a lot of time. I’ve been in Dominican talking to Nelly (Cruz), I’ve talked to Robbie (Cano), Ketel Marte down there. I met with Felix (Hernandez) and (Taijuan) Walker. I talked to a lot of guys. I learned a lot about where they’re at, and I think they’ve learned a lot on where they’re going to go.
Q. Can you talk a little bit about Marte and what you see, or what you know?
SS: I’m really excited about him. I think he fits exactly what we’re looking for as far as a guy to create havoc on the bases offensively. We want to be aggressive. I think he brings some attitude or some swag to his game, which I don’t think is a bad thing. I think it’s a good thing. He’s very confident.
Fortunately for me, I’ve got veteran players around him and veteran leaders that can help control that at times, but I’m excited about it, and I think he’s going to be a key piece to our club. Getting in the middle of the field every day, I would like to say we know exactly what we’re going to get. We don’t. It’s young players. But I do believe he’s ready to contribute every day, and I’ve got my fingers crossed it works out.
Q. Would you like to see him do well enough to have him up at the top of the order?
SS: No doubt. I think that’s where he eventually settles in. I think he’ll let us know when he’s ready to do that every day. It may start out opening day, and it may be later in the season. We’ll see how the lineup kind of comes together as we get through Spring Training.
Q. Scott, what’s your view on platoons? I know you have one with Franklin Gutierrez and Seth Smith. Is Adam Lind a candidate for a platoon, obviously, or some type of lefty?
SS: Obviously, Adam Lind is dominant against right-handed pitching. We knew that when we acquired him. In a perfect world, you’re giving him a day off here or there against a tough lefty.
But you want to put players in positions to succeed. That’s my job. That’s the coaching staff’s job. If that means you’re going to use your entire roster, I would think somewhere else on our roster there would be a right-handed hitting first baseman to match up with him.
If not, he’ll get plenty of opportunities to play. Adam Lind is a good player, and that’s why we acquired him, and we gave up good players to get him.
Q. How much have you and Jerry talked about third time through the order effectiveness and how you might approach that?
SS: With our pitching staff?
Q. Yes.
SS: It is something to look at. I think all managers are looking at it, especially with the model the Kansas City Royals have thrown out there with their bullpen. I think it’s great if the guy you’re going to get is better than the guy who’s out there. You kind of have to look at your pitching staff and your roster and where you’re at. It’s definitely something we’ve talked about.
Q. Scott, it seems like the way managers are hired these days, it’s different from in the past. It used to be you spend a lot of time in the minors as a manager or maybe several years as a bench coach. We’ve seen more managers without previous experience get hired. As somebody who has spent time in the front office as well, why do you think this has changed?
SS: I spent plenty of time in the minors. I don’t know if you’re aware, but that’s where I’ve been the last ten years. I have not managed in the minor leagues. I have not been a bench coach in the big leagues. And I’m not the first. Lucky for me, there’s been many guys, and I could go through the list, talking to them earlier today. Mike Matheny and Brad Ausmus, guys with different paths.
Mine may be more what A.J. Hinch has gone through, just coming from the front office. I think there’s tremendous value in understanding of how to put teams together and how front offices look at that. I will use that to my benefit.
The one thing I’ve not done is I have not managed a Major League team, but I’ve managed people. I think, when you look at the game and how the game’s evolved, it is about managing people and creating an environment that they feel good about coming to work every day and a certain culture along with that. That’s what I think I can bring to the Mariners.
Again, it’s about the players and putting them in a position to win. So, again, it’s been a different path, I’ve said it all along, that I’ve taken to get here. I feel fortunate, and I’m really excited about getting started.
Q. You know that relationship between the general manager and manager has always been important. Is it a bigger key even now that there’s a synergy between them maybe now because of the advent of advanced metrics?
SS: It’s important, no doubt. It’s been important as long as baseball has been going on, that relationship, because there’s going to be some rough times. There’s going to be losing streaks, disagreements, things like that. I think having a relationship, knowing how the other person really ticks and having worked with that person for a long time, it certainly helps.
My relationship with Jerry, I understand how he thinks, and I know he understands how I think. So it speeds up the learning curve a little bit when you’re looking at roster and how players are going to be put into play. The analytical part of it and what goes on in the front office, it’s important everybody is on the same page. There’s no doubt. The way the game has gone on, they’re looking for a competitive advantage, the greatest players in the world. You’re managing against the most competitive people in the world. You have to use all the resources to try to win today’s game.
Q. Jerry said that the bullpen is still a work in progress. When you look at what you have right now, do you have a closer?
SS: We’ve got guys that can close. That’s how I look at it. Quite frankly, I have been away from my room for about four hours, so I’m not sure what’s happened in the last four hours as far as speaking to specific names and roles.
I think roles will be defined by the time we open up on opening day. I think players need to know kind of where they’re at. They also have to know that that role can change based on their performance and where the team’s at and how the matchups line up.
The one thing that I’m looking forward to doing is communicating with our players, being transparent on where we’re headed and why we’re headed there. I do believe, if you are honest and open with players, they’ll adjust.
But as far as the roles are in, right now, is it clearly defined? No, it’s not. Do I feel good that we have a closer? We’ll have somebody to take the ball at the end, whether it’s Joaquin Benoit, or somebody else.
Q. Who else could it be?
SS: I’m not going there. Good try, though.
Q. You mentioned being transparent. What’s your message to (Mike) Zunino know when you approach him?
SS: My biggest thing with Mike is I was a young catcher that really struggled to get in the big leagues. I’ve been in those shoes. I wasn’t a first round pick, but I was a high pick. Understanding what goes into catching and being a winning catcher, obviously, the defense and calling the game and things you would take a lot of pride in doing in helping your team win. But ultimately, what’s on the back of your baseball card is your batting statistics, and that plays into the game.
I know how hard it is to deal with failure. I think in my conversation with Mike, it was just to try to get a feel for where he’s at at this point in his career. I’m sure a lot of people want to try to help Mike, give him ideas on his hitting or approach to hitting or where he needs to go.
Ultimately, it is his career, and he has to make the decision who he wants to listen to, why he wants to listen to them, and then go forward from there. So you need to narrow that focus a little bit. That was kind of the message I gave to him. Who is in your circle? Who is your guy that you’re going to trust? Hopefully, over time we build a relationship, and it’s people in Mariners uniforms that are on our staff that he can trust and work with and feel good about.
Mike Zunino is going to be a very good major league player. There’s no doubt in my mind, Jerry’s mind, or anyone else. It’s just when. He will let us know.
Q. Scott, you’ve been with Jerry for a good while now. You know how he operates. Does he appear even more driven by the circumstances where he left Los Angeles? Does it seem like he’s really out to prove something?
SS: No, not any more than normal. Jerry has always been driven. He’s a workaholic. He loves his job. Putting teams together and putting people together and creating a culture for everyone can learn. So not any more driven than I’ve ever seen him.
Q. Going back to Zunino a little bit, he had done some stuff at the end of the season based on stuff Edgar wanted him to do. Did he feel he was making progress on those changes?
SS: Yeah, and I’ve talked to Edgar (Martinez) a lot too about where he’s at. I think, as far as organizationally, the hitting program, the pitching program, what we’re doing at the big league level and transferring down to the minor league level is going to be huge to get all those things in place. That’s what the good organizations have. They have that synergy. That’s what the St. Louis Cardinals have. That’s what the Kansas City Royals have. I was a part of that when I was at Texas for a while.
I think getting on the Zunino thing, making sure he understands exactly what the expectations are and the changes he needs to make, but ultimately, Mike has to believe it, and it’s Mike’s career. We’re here to help him, and we’ll do everything we can, give him all the tools to be successful, and he’s going to be.
Q. Scott, a veteran manager once told me that it’s often easier for him to manage against other veteran managers, even the great ones, because he knows their tendencies.
SS: Nobody knows mine.
Q. Right. But flipping that around, how important will it be to you at all to understand other managers’ tendencies going into series?
SS: I think it’s important, knowing kind of how other teams — how the other manager is wired. You don’t know everything they’re going to do. You have a feel. You have an advanced scouting report, stuff like that.
Fortunately for me, I’m very well versed in the American League West. I’ve spent a lot of time there the last ten years. Know the clubs, know the personnel on the field. It can be important. I’m not going to downplay it, but I kind of look at it as I’m the guy they don’t know. That’s my advantage right now.
Q. Scott, you acquired (Nori) Aoki recently. Any chances of Kenta Maeda also joining?
SS: I’ll let Jerry answer that one. I’m really excited to have Aoki. I think he’s going to be a great fit in our club. He’s a guy gets on base, can play a lot of different positions in the outfield. Great fit for our team. I’ll let Jerry talk about the other stuff.
Q. Scott, I’m from Baltimore. So I got to see Nelson Cruz for a year there under Buck Showalter. Do you see him as predominantly an everyday outfielder, or do you think he should DH a good portion of the time?
SS: I think it’s a combination. I do know that Nelson’s numbers were much better when he played in the field, his offensive numbers from last year. He wants to play in the field. I also want him to play every day. Knowing that the travel in Seattle is rough, there may have to be a few more DH days, and we’ll have to see how that plays out.
Nelson is a big part of our time. I have a relationship with him from our days in Texas. I talk to him a lot. I’m looking forward to him helping me lead and take care of some things in the clubhouse.
Q. With the types of things you guys have been doing, it looks like a team that wants to win now. Is that an added pressure on you as a first time manager?
SS: I think those guys that I had lunch with today, those other 29 managers, we all have pressure to win. So these jobs, like somebody told me right after I got a chance to manage, was there’s only one thing guaranteed, and that’s your compensation. The opportunity and the chance to lead an organization is never really guaranteed. It’s always tied to winning and the progress moving forward.
Seattle has not won in a long time. And the expectations there, they’re high, from ownership and team president and the fans. They should be. It’s time. It’s time to win. Jerry knows that we’re going to have to do something a little bit different with our roster and how we play to get a different result. That’s why he’s doing it.
Q. So Chris Iannetta is a guy you’re familiar with. What makes you believe he can have kind of a bounce back year after a tough year?
SS: Chris does some things that I really appreciate in the fact that what he does — calling the game, working with the pitching staff, really, really important. He did not have a typical Chris Iannetta season last year. He had a rough start to the season is what happened, and he got buried early. It happens to players. It certainly happened to me in my career.
I think you look at a major league career, not a lot of guys play ten years in the big leagues. Chris has played a long time. You’re going to have two or three bad years and two or three good years. Kind of what happens in the middle is who you are. Chris had a rough year. That’s why we were able to get him at the price point we’re at. We have an opportunity.
I talk to Chris a lot. I talked to him yesterday. I look at Chris. Leonys Martín, similar type player. We’re hoping for a bounce back year. That’s how you’re able to get those guys.
Q. Steve Clevenger, you know a little bit about him. Your thoughts and Jerry’s thoughts. You gave up a good package for him.
SS: I have some thoughts on Steve. I have not seen him a lot. I do know it’s probably more offense than defense. We like the left-handed bat and how that fits the matchup with Chris going forward there. Get a chance to know him better in Spring Training, but our scouts liked him, liked the bat.
Obviously, I’m a catching guy. I have a background there. He’s got some things to tighten up defensively, but he should be a good fit for our bullpen.
Q. More like an ex-catcher, (Jesus) Montero, I know time is ticking on his opportunities. Do you think he can bounce back?
SS: He will not catch. He’ll be first base, bat. There’s a spot for him on our club. He needs to perform well during Spring Training and going forward into the season. We’d really like him to be able to mash those left-handed pitchers. That would be great. I think he knows what’s ahead of him.
Q. Have you had a chance to talk much with (Robinson) Cano? How’s he doing health-wise?
SS: Health-wise, Robbie is great. He’s working out off-season. Talked to him a number of times. Manny Acta, the third base coach, has a good relationship with Robbie. Manny is in the Dominican and will be touching base with him frequently.
Robbie is a good spot. He does know he got off to a slow start last year. He had a great second half, playing injured, but great player. Lucky to have him. Going to be a big part of our team going forward.
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Mariners Acquire 1B Adam Lind From Milwaukee
Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto today announced from the Baseball Winter Meetings that the Mariners acquired first baseman Adam Lind from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for minor league right-handed pitchers Carlos Herrera, Daniel Missaki and Freddy Peralta.
“Adam lengthens our line-up as a first baseman who gives us on-base percentage and power,” Dipoto said. “First base was a spot we came here looking to fill, and we feel that Adam is a good fit for us.”
Lind, 32, had a .360 on-base percentage to go along with a .460 slugging average (.820 OPS) last season, collecting 32 doubles, 20 home runs and 87 RBI in 149 games. He played 138 games (including 134 starts) at first base. Adam’s 66 walks were 7 more than any Mariners player in 2015 (N. Cruz, 59), while his on-base percentage would have ranked second on the team behind Cruz (.369).
Lind led the Brewers in games, doubles, RBI and walks, and produced his fifth career season of 20 or more homers. All 20 of his homers came off right-handed pitching. Adam hit .336 (44-for-131) with runners in scoring position last season.
Lind, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound left-handed hitter, has an .880 OPS against right-handers since 2009, and his .912 OPS against right-handers since 2013 is 12th-best in the Majors over the past three years.
Since making his Major League debut in 2006, Lind is a career .274 hitter with 228 doubles, 12 triples, 166 home runs and 606 RBI in 1,102 games with the Blue Jays (2006-2014) and Milwaukee (2015). His career on-base percentage is .332 to go along with a .466 slugging mark (.797 career OPS).
Herrera, 19, began professional career with the DSL Mariners-1 in 2015, going 4-2 with a 3.26 ERA (29 ER, 80.0 IP) in 14 starts. He limited opponents to a .228 (68×298) average, while walking 13 and striking out 73. He was originally signed as a non-drafted free agent on July 21, 2014.
Missaki, 19, was limited to only 6 starts due to an injury with Single-A Clinton in 2015. He was placed on the 7-day disabled list on May 7 and underwent surgery to repair UCL in right elbow (Tommy John). Missaki was originally signed by Seattle as a non-drafted free agent on May 6, 2013. Over three seasons in the minor leagues he is 7-6 with a 3.41 ERA (40 ER, 106.0 IP) in 24 games, 20 starts.
Peralta, 19, went 2-3 with a 4.11 ERA (26 ER, 57.0 IP) in 11 games, 9 starts with the Mariners in the Arizona League. He limited opponents to a .242 (52×215) average, while walking 8 and striking out 67 in 57.0 innings. Peralta was originally signed as a non-drafted free agent on April 18, 2013. Over parts of 3 minor leagues season he is 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA (65 ER, 163.1 IP) in 36 games, 31 starts.
To make room on the Major League, 40-man roster, the Mariners have designated infielder Andy Wilkins for assignment. Seattle has 10 days to trade, release or outright Wilkens to the minors.
With today’s transactions the Mariners 40-man roster remains at 40 players.
Baseball Winter Meetings – Day 2
GM Jerry Dipoto checks in with the Seattle Times, Tacoma News Tribune and Mariners.com.
Nashville might be a center of the music industry, earning the name “Music City,” but this week it has turned into “Baseball City.”
The baseball world descended on Nashville this past weekend and will remain there until after the conclusion of the Rule 5 Draft on Thursday morning.
The Mariners contingent, which includes General Manager Jerry Dipoto and his crew, is working diligently in trying to elevate the floor of the roster and fill in the gaps where needed.
As I’m sure you’ve read, the Mariners acquired left-hander Wade Miley and right-hander Jonathan Aro from the Red Sox yesterday.
“Wade provides stability to our rotation,” Dipoto said. “He takes his starts. We’re raising the floor. One way of the other, you’re going to have to throw 1,450 innings in a season and, hey, they have to come from somewhere.”
Dipoto continues to work to improve the club and checked in with MLB Network, MLB Network Radio and of course our local beat crew from the Seattle Times, Tacoma News Tribune and Mariners.com.
Each day, Dipoto meets with Greg Johns, Ryan Divish and Bob Dutton to give them an idea of what the club is looking to accomplish. Here are a few of the nuggets that came out of those talks.
One thing we’ve learned about Jerry in the short time he’s been the Mariners GM, you never know when the next roster move is coming. Keep watching MLB Network, reading reports from your favorite media members and checking back on this blog for the latest news about the Mariners roster.
Winter Meetings – Day Three
As usual, GM Jack Zduriencik worked the phones to try and improve the club. As he told MLB.com’s Greg Johns, The News Tribune’s Bob Dutton and the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish, there are a lot of variables that come into play when trying to find the right fit.
Manager Lloyd McClendon had a busy day on the media circuit today, touching base with MLB Network Radio, ESPN and was also available to media during the Manager Luncheon.
Before the Manager Luncheon began, all 30 skippers got the chance to mingle and talk to their counterparts.
Club Managers and media mingle before the Luncheon.
After lunch, the American League Managers got together for a group photo.
American League Managers
The night is still young…you never know what can happen with just one phone call.
Winter Meetings – Day Two
Conversations continue as GM Jack Zduriencik looks for ways to improve the club. He’s examining at all of the team’s options and is of course receiving lots of interest in the Mariners players.
Like yesterday, be sure to check out the respective blogs/websites for the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish, The Tacoma News Tribune’s Bob Dutton and MLB.com’s Greg Johns to catch up on what Zduriencik told them during their media availability.
Baseball America High School Player of the Year
Mariners 2014 top draft pick Alex Jackson is in town (his hometown) here in San Diego to collect Baseball America‘s High School Player of the Year Award. While here, he took some time to talk to Greg Johns, Ryan Divish and Bob Dutton before the awards ceremony. Be sure to look for their features later tonight or tomorrow to read about what Jackson has been up to this offseason.
Mariners Affiliates Dinner
The Mariners affiliates dinner will start shortly and the club is excited to see everybody here in San Diego and are looking forward to meeting the folks from the Bakersfield Blaze, the Mariners new High-A affiliate in the California League. We’ll post pictures of the event later tonight.
Winter Meetings – Day One
The Major League Baseball world has converged in San Diego for the Winter Meetings, which means there are people everywhere. General Managers, Managers, scouts, agents, media, job seekers, front office members and others have taken over the Manchester Grand Hyatt as they ponder what lies ahead for this offseason.
General Manager Jack Zduriencik has already been busy talking to other teams and player agents as he looks for ways to improve the ball club and his days will last long into the evening.
Between their usual responsibilities, Jack and Manager Lloyd McClendon have taken time out of their schedules to meet with media outlets. Both Jack and Lloyd met with the MLB Network this morning/afternoon and will continue to make the rounds the rest of this week.
If you didn’t see the previous post on this blog, click here to check out Lloyd’s segment with Brian Kenny, Ron Darling and Joel Sherman on MLB Now.
And here is Jack’s segment with Chris Rose, Harold Reynolds and Kevin Millar:
LUNGevity
Before the start of last season, the baseball family lost Baltimore Orioles Public Relations Director Monica Barlow to lung cancer. To keep her legacy alive, Major League Baseball has teamed up with Lungevity, the largest national lung cancer-focused nonprofit, to raise funds and awareness to fight this disease.
Club public relations members joined Orioles Manager Buck Showalter and Monica’s husband, Ben at a news conference to announce a charity auction that will benefit the Lungevity organization. To check out about the unique experiences that you can bid on, head over to MLB.com/Lungevity
You can read more about the auction on Greg Johns’ blog: Mariners offer unique auction items for Stand Up to Cancer fundraiser at Winter Meetings
Jack Zduriencik Meets With Seattle Media
Each day, Jack Zduriencik meets with members of the Seattle media to give them an update on what’s going on for him during the day.
Be sure to check the respective blogs to get a recap of their conversation with Jack.
Longtime Mariners Scout Bill Kearns Honored as Scout of the Year
Scout of the Year Bill Kearns is surrounded by members of the Mariners Baseball Operations Staff.
Bill Kearns has seen it all in Mariners history, literally. Kearns, who is 92, has been with the Mariners organization since it joined the American League in 1977. In fact, he signed his contract to join the Mariners before they were even the Mariners (see his original contract below).
Tonight at the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Florida, Kearns was honored as one of the Scouts of the Year. Kearns joins Bill Bryk of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Doug Mapson of the San Francisco Giants, and Howard McCullough with the Arizona Diamondbacks as the 2013 Baseball Scouts of the Year winners. The award, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, was created to acknowledge baseball scouts that have devoted at least a quarter of a century to the profession, recognizing these ambassadors for their achievements to our National Pastime. All recipients’ are also honored by the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in the Diamond Mines exhibit.
Bill Kearns was named a Scout of the Year.
Kearns also scouted for White Sox and KC Royals. In his youth, this Master Scout was a standout SS for the Brooklyn Dodgers and was signed by the legendary Branch Rickey. After service during WWII, Bill continued an academic / athletic career that got him noticed for his instructional abilities, enabling him to serve as a player/ manger in the minors.
The following is a true gem, Bill’s original offer letter and contract from 1976, surely something that will make its way to Cooperstown.
Bill Kerns and Doug Mapson were interviewed today on Sirius/XM Radio.
You can listen to Bill tell stories about his scouting career in the following interview today on MLB Network Radio.
Winter Meetings About To Kick Off
The Baseball Winter Meetings are being held in Orlando, FL.
The annual Major League Baseball Winter Meetings are about to kick off at the Swan & Dolphin Resort at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. A large Mariners contingent from the baseball operations and player development staff will be in Orlando (along with your blog contributors from the media relations crew).
What exactly are the Winter Meetings you ask?
The Baseball Winter Meetings is the annual gathering of members of The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, including Major League Baseball, and their affiliated parties. Baseball front office personnel, trade show exhibitors and job seekers will fill the property during these four days in December making it the largest gathering of baseball executives in the world. The meetings consist of seminars, league and organizational meetings, the Baseball Trade Show and special events, such as the annual Awards Luncheon, Banquet, Gala and the PBEO Job Fair.
You’ll hear a lot about the Winter Meetings on the MLB Network, ESPN, MLB Network Radio and across various forms of social media. For twitter followers, be sure to follow the hashtag #WinterMeetings and the @WinterMeetings account.
On the blog, we’ll try to give you a behind-the-scenes look at what is going on, what interviews are taking place with manager Lloyd McClendon and GM Jack Zduriencik, and hopefully some fun photos of recognizable baseball names.
Be sure to follow on Twitter (@Mariners), Facebook and Instagram (@SeattleMariners).
The Winter Meetings
The Major League Baseball Winter Meetings unofficially kicked off tonight in Nashville as a large contingent from each Major League team (and minor league team) arrived at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel.
Over the next four days, Nashville will be the center of the baseball world, with lots of rumors on prospective trades, and each team meeting to discuss the upcoming season. The Mariners contingent includes several members of the Baseball Operations staff, led by General Manager Jack Zduriencik. Over the next few days Jack and his group will meet to talk about prospective players they can add to the roster through free agency, trades and the Rule 5 Draft. There are no guarantees that any deals will get done, but there is a ton of work being put in behind the scenes that will leave no rock unturned.
We will try to update you as best as possible in regards to news coming out of Nashville, but we highly recommend you follow the Seattle beat writers that made the trek to Nashville:
- Greg Johns – Mariners.com | Blog | Twitter
- Ryan Divish – Tacoma News Tribune | Blog | Twitter
- Geoff Baker – Seattle Times | Blog | Twitter
You can also follow Mariners-related news through Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
To start the meetings off, Zduriencik will be on the MLB Network at 9:30 am CT (7:30 am Seattle time) and XM Radio at 9:45 Monday morning. We’ll try to post archived video and audio from both interviews.
Here is picture tonight of the Mariners Baseball Operations staff meeting in their “War Room”.
From the Corner of Edgar & Dave 