The Mariners have agreed to a multi-year contract extension with general manager Jack Zduriencik, the club announced via press release. Precise contract terms were not made available.
Zduriencik has been in charge of Seattle’s baseball ops since 2009, and now seems likely to continue in that capacity for the foreseeable future. Last August, we learned that a seemingly vulnerable (and oft-criticized) Zduriencik had previously been given a one-year extension, covering the present season.
Perhaps down to his last chance to build a winner, the GM made the league’s boldest free agent signing last offseason when he landed Robinson Cano for ten years and $240MM. The risky, win-now move will take years to evaluate fully, but it certainly has played a big role in turning Seattle into a legitimate post-season contender this year.
While several of Zduriencik’s other recent MLB-level acquisitions (Corey Hart and Logan Morrison, for example) have proved less impactful, others (e.g., Fernando Rodney and Chris Young) have made important contributions this year. Most recently, of course, Zduriencik managed to turn a valuable, but blocked, prospect (Nick Franklin) into quality center fielder Austin Jackson, addressing one of the club’s major holes heading into the fall.
Even with his new deal, and in spite of the team’s recent performance, “Jack Z” figures to continue to enjoy his fair share of detractors. Ultimately, his legacy seems destined to depend on whether he is able to maintain and enhance the quality of the supporting cast surrounding Cano and ace Felix Hernandez during the earlier years of their sizeable contracts.
On purpose?
waaahhh?
Beat me to it! Hahahhahahahaha!
Only reason mariners are wining is because they sign cano! Once he wears down the mariners are done
The way Cano plays, I can see him producing into his early 40’s.
Very easy to say that now. I say he breaks down at around 36-37. But he’s still arguably the best and that’s all that matters now.
This I highly doubt. Middle infielders really have trouble when they get into their mid 30’s. And let’s be honest. Once his bat slows down, his free swinging ways will really become more apparent.
Cano will probably have more WAR in 10 years in Seattle than both Hamilton and Pujols combined in Angel uniforms.
That and the Astros and Rangers are really bad.
well having good pitching isn’t hurting them.
The only reason the M’s are where they are, is because they have the best pitching in the league, and Bull Pen too- even a slight increase in offensive production makes them a contender-
Watch RAJ be next.
Thanks for ruining my night.
Kevin Towers and Rube both need 25 year extensions.
Thats a crazy short sight move right? They are barely hanging on to the second WC Spot. It’s not like they are running away with the division. He didn’t make one great move this year. Chris Young was pure luck, Cano can’t be measure on one year, and all the first base DH types are ridiculous. I guess the Jackson deal was smart. Meh what do I know, good for Jack.
” He didn’t make one great move this year.”
Wrong.
He fired Wedge and got a competent manager.
didnt fire wedge. wedge didnt accept the extension
He didn’t have to make great moves, just good ones. I doubt that they counted on Chris Young being so good, but that was still a good move. Turning a minor-leaguer who was blocked (Franklin) into a CF who is better than average (Jackson) was a good move. Getting Denorfia without giving up much was a good move. Signing Rodney was a good move. Not trading Zunino, Ackley or Seager would seem to qualify as good non-moves. Getting Morrison was a good move because LoMo is a better hitter than Smoak. Signing Hart wasn’t so great, but Hart was probably worth a flyer. Zduriencik has had a good year, he’s been learning on the fly and it looks like he’s finally figuring some things out. The M’s are having a good year. Extend him, see what he can do over the winter.
he signed Cano.
Yeah, but like the OP says, you can’t judge that move based on one year. It has nine more years and $216MM left on the deal.
sure you can
Excellent. It took a little longer than expected, but the org has barren when he came in. The only really bad move was the Fister trade (and maybe Morrow, although he hasn’t done much ultimately). He finally found a good onfield staff this year too. So things are only looking up.
I have to think being able to spend money on Cano and Felix helped his case.
well fister wasn’t the only bad move. figgins wasn’t that long ago, and montero and smoak are absolute busts. plus he took ackley over trout. but of course to his defense, a lot teams passed on trout.
I’m still ok with the Figgins signing. He was coming of a great year and the deal wasn’t terrible, compared to some contracts lately. I just wish we could’ve cut him sooner. That did feel like a season where we needed one more acquisition and it never happened (seemingly due to ownership cutting off the funds). Smoak has been a bust, but we did get Lee for nothing and ended up with Jaso eventually. Montero/Pineda is a push. Neither have contributed and Montero is still pretty young. I do like looking back at Rosenthal suggesting Montero as the centerpiece in a Felix trade. That would’ve been horrifically bad. So I do give him some points for not trading Felix.
right, my point being still all the same. regardless of how it is justified, those moves didn’t pan out. they were bad.
True. They absolutely didn’t. I just wonder what the success rate for trades and signees is. Trades has to be <50% ( especially with prospects involved). There must be a baseline to judge him against. He's not the best, but he's far from Ruben Amaro.
i’d be interested in seeing those stats as well. yeah he’s not the worst, but i gotta admit i was very surprised to see him extended.
For whatever it’s worth, the Pineda trade is, imo, leaning in the Yankees favor as of right now. Pineda has been excellent in limited duty this season and they still have Campos as well. Things could change if Montero starts playing well but as of now, I’d give the slight edge to the Yankees.
Everyone was really high on Ackley
I think they should have waited until after the season to see how this season pans out. They’re still at least one hitter and one starting pitcher short of being a legit contender, and the free agent market is pretty barren at the positions we need (1B, RF, DH.) I also think that Jack Z has rushed too many of our prospects to the majors; so far, Seager has panned out and Ackley is just now rounding into shape. But Miller, Franklin, Taylor, Zunino, and James Jones (among others) would all have greatly benefited from more seasoning in the minors. So I’m not 100% sold on the “plan”.
Im happy with this move! The Chris young, Cano and Kuma signings have been awesome to say the least and the bullpen is the best its ever been and the offense with Seager, Jackson, Ackley coming around is coming together. The Farm system is very very deep at many positions and that is all thanks to Z! Long wait but its starting to come together
I really hope he is at least sending Randy Wolf a fruit basket. If not for Wolf balking at the contract Jack offered with the release waiver he would never had lucked into signing Chris Young.
You fail upwards in Corporate America.Haven’t any of you read Dilbert? Jack Z is the pointy-haired boss.
Hooray for….nobody. This stinks! I live near Seattle and have been trying so hard to be a Mariners fan but they remind me so much of the Cubs I can’t jump on the bandwagon. Front office keeps the status quo because it is profitable for the owners, regardless of whether the team is winning or losing. The offense has been horrible the entire time Jack Z has been here, and the ownership is saying that’s just fine. Will Felix be one of those all-time-great pitchers who never win a championship because he plays for a team that sees no shame in non-playoff, non-championship seasons?
You’re complaining about “keeping the status quo” some nine months after giving Robinson Cano the third-biggest contract in MLB history and questioning if Felix will ever win a championship in a season where the Mariners are on pace for a playoff berth?
Correct. To me Cano = Ichiro as far as the status quo goes. One elite offensive player does not make a championship team even if the pitching is awesome. If you believe the 2014 Mariners are a championship caliber team with this offense, we just disagree (though i’ll gladly eat my words if they can win that wild card and advance!!). I think there should be more urgency by the Mariners to field a good offense during these prime years of Felix’s career.
No offense to your support of the team, but I just don’t give Jack Z or the M’s kudos for the Cano deal. Signing Cano to the 3rd biggest contract in history, then immediately saying there is no room in the payroll to sign hitters to protect him sounds like bad financial planning, not championship strategy.
The extension probably has as much to do with the future as it does with Seattle’s relative success this season.
In Felix Hernandez and Robinson Cano, the Mariners have two elite players under team control into the next decade. The well-regarded farm system is beginning to yield results (on top of the disappointments). The young heart of the team should return next year with only Chris Young, Kendrys Morales, Corey Hart, Joe Beimel and Chris Denorfia entering free agency at the end of this season.
With a Pythagorean record of 78-52 and a dismal 14-23 record in one-run games, one could argue that the 71-59 Mariners have been unlucky this season. A tad of regression could make Seattle a solid contender.
I’d hardly call Felix and Cano under “team control”
Eric Wedge is on TV as an expert commentator.
The Mariners, like the Indians before them, suddenly have a good bullpen that doesn’t blow leads.
The Mariners are winning.
The GM is extended.
Sounds about right.
I don’t like his trade history. Even if the trade looked ok, the results have been terrible. Holding onto Paxton, Walker & Peterson will only make it more interesting as the seasons roll on. Hopefully Jack-Z will produce so we love that little bald head.
LoMo has certainly had a bigger impact than Smoak at first base. For Carter Capps, with the way the M’s bullpen has performed, it’s been a decent move really.
Ok… Let not forget that when Jack came into this whole thing that the Mariners did not have any top prospects and very heavy contracts that held the franchise back. Yes, his rebuilding process took longer than it should have. Yes, there were bumps in the road. Name one GM that doesn’t make a mistake! That said, how can you argue results? For those of you that would like to focus on the bad moves… How about you name some of the good ones? Like the acquisition of talent in our Farm system? or how our Farm System ranks in top of the league? Or how we did give up the Farm for Price? Or about the ability that we landed Cano? You guys walk around with blinders on but can see the forest through the trees. This was a good move.