Wakamatsu Canned

The Mariners won tonight, but does that really matter more than the story off the field? I won't even leave that as a hypothetical. The answer is no. Don Wakamatsu, and anyone associated with him still around (Ty Van Burkleo, Rick Adair, and Steve Hecht), were "relieved of their duties" before the game today.

Jack Zduriencik will be on the post-game show, and I will write this as I listen to that. However, I have some initial thoughts. I had a feeling that today was inevitable when I wrote this post about Griffey last week. I am definitely a believer in the Griffey conspiracy, and that he has something to do with today's big decisions. I will not belabor that point, because it is all arguing truth and rumors. Refer to the post I linked to above if you want to argue about the Griffey conspiracy, and I will be happy to take up that argument.

For now, go with me, and assume that Wak had to go for Griffey to have a relationship with the Mariners. This post, then, is really an extension of my thoughts on the 2010 Griffey fiasco.

Sweeney To Philly

Not much to analyze, but still worth talking about. Mike Sweeney, about to be activated from the DL, was acquired today by the Philadelphia Phillies for cash or a player to be named later.

The analysis takes a sentence, but I'll break it into a couple shorter ones. Mike Sweeney is old, and liable to retire in a few months. It was tough to see a roster spot for him in Seattle at this point too, so it isn't surprising that the Phillies more or less just took him.

Sweeney single-handedly makes me a Phillies fan for the next few months at least. He is universally regarded as a class act, the type of guy that deserves to win. On top of that, he was a darn good player in his prime, but those years happened in Kansas City. Sweeney has never made the playoffs in his lengthy, quality career. Add how good of a guy he is, and it would be a shame if he never got a taste of the postseason. I know the world isn't fair sometimes, and the ironic twist is that Sweeney is the type of guy that can handle that, but still...come on, baseball gods! Sweeney deserves his chance.

That's about all I have to say. I'm amazed that Sweeney fought his way onto the M's roster twice as a non-roster invitee, and it was somewhere between inspiring as a human interest story, and maddening when looking at the roster construction. However, frankly, he might have been the M's best hitter with a more healthy 2010...which again, is somewhere between inspiring and maddening.

In the end, Mike Sweeney gets a legitimate shot at the playoffs, and the Mariners don't have to figure out how to wiggle him back on the roster in a meaningful role. This is a win-win, no doubt about it.

Griffey Still A Presence

Sleepgate, or whatever you want to call it, isn't over yet. In fact, it may have never left this team. As I was driving into work this morning (and as you can tell, I'm being so productive right now), Geoff Baker was on KJR. He said that he was surprised that Don Wakamatsu did not get fired yesterday. More interestingly, he said that he has heard the M's have to either can Wak, or sever ties with Griffey.

Interesting, to say the least.

First of all, nobody within the Mariners is on the record confirming anything close to this report. They probably will come out and deny it at some point today too. That's just how these kind of things work.

However, as ridiculous as the Baker report is, it adds up more than anything else people have theorized. Just last night, I was at the Rainiers game (and I thought this blog post would be about Michael Pineda), and one of my friends brought up how odd it is that Jack Zduriencik hasn't backed up Wakamatsu as he has come under fire. It seems like an obvious sign that the two aren't on the same page, and almost as if Z wants to fire him.

I hadn't bought into that theory though. Z had just hired Wak last year, and they were always on the same page then. Wak is Z's guy, and they built this team together. Furthermore, Z doesn't seem to be the kind of guy to turn and burn so fast. However, I couldn't deny that Z was acting a bit like an aloof GM positioning himself to fire a guy. It wasn't all adding up.