Players don’t tend to understand why big league GMs make the moves they make.  When Jarrod Washburn was shipped off to Detroit the players thought Jack Zduriencik was throwing in the towel, even though Ryan Rowland-Smith and Luke French figured to step in without missing a beat.  When Jack Wilson and Ian Snell were brought in the players thought he had changed his mind and had decided to become buyers instead of sellers, even though the move was made for 2010 just as much as for 2009 if not more.  During Spring Training, Adrian Beltre expressed his frustration with the youth of the ballclub, implying that they would be worse than the 2008 squad that had proven veterans and “professional hitters.”

Point is, most players aren’t going to see things the same way as the men pulling the strings.  How much did the ballclub lose in Jarrod Washburn?  His knee had been barking at him all year, and since he’s landed in Detroit it’s gotten progressively worse to the point that his performance suffered and he landed on the DL.  Were Jack Wilson and Ian Snell the pieces to propel the Mariners into the playoffs?  They improved the team, but not dramatically.  And it’s pretty obvious that the 2009 team is much better than the 2008 version.

If I remember correctly, Zduriencik has said that he wanted to establish Seattle as a winner and a place players wanted to be before approaching any players, namely Felix Hernandez, with contract extensions.  In a post about David Aardsma’s improving command, Dave Cameron of USS Mariner makes the point that while Aardsma is an obvious sell high option, moving him could give the wrong impression to Felix or other players, which obviously complicates things.  Thinking back, this may have been the reason guys like Aardsma, Mark Lowe and others were retained at the trading deadline despite drawing a lot of interest.  Rumor has it that the Mariners could have gotten a similar if not better deal from the Dodgers or another team for Aardsma or Lowe than the Baltimore Orioles got for George Sherrill.

So how does a GM go about making big changes without annoying the star players?  In Beltre’s case, the team became obviously better, but he was annoyed at the massive amount of turnover.

Zduriencik won’t stop the turnover, but who else does he have to move without breaking apart the identity of the team?  Aardsma, Lowe, Sean White and Jose Lopez could all bring back more than they’re worth, but those three relievers make up the most effective part of the ‘09 bullpen and Lopez has the title of the team’s top run producer, whether he deserves that or not.  Normally, you wouldn’t worry about annoying your players.  If you’re making a smart move they’ll see the results in the end, even if they didn’t understand it in the beginning.  But, again, Felix Hernandez makes this difficult.  He’s the best pitcher Seattle’s had since Randy Johnson and at present there are no other top of the rotation arms in the system.  He’s a Cy Young contender at age 23 and a free agent after the 2011 season.  Bill Bavasi blew his chance to lock him up to an affordable extension and it’s no secret that Zduriencik would like to right that wrong.  But if it’s not possible this late in the game he’s going to have to consider dealing him.  This is one case where schmoozing may be required, even at the expense of making other small improvements.

Yet another story floating around in the background that will be worth monitoring this offseason.  If Zduriencik feels pressured into keeping the core intact, he may have to get more involved in the free agent market or decide to move some prospects in order to make the required improvements.