Congratulations on your new job.
Nearly nine thousand applications and/or resumes were submitted for the position of President of the Seattle Mariners.
Candidates for the job ranged from silly to serious.
In the end, however, what mattered most was having a plan – a road map that shows the highways, dirt roads and numerous detours that snake through Major League Baseball.
You are now in charge for the simple reason that you seem to have understood the concept.
Of course, it will be bumpy and slippery, but only those who have the stubbornness (maybe that’s the wrong word) or the determination to stay the course can succeed in a tank with 29 other piranhas.
So what kind of plan is it that gives you an advantage over all your smiling peers, the group that wants to see you lose 115 games – and keeps telling you how sorry they are that you fell to the bottom of the pool and banged your head.
They would have compassion for you.
Of course, without a doubt.
Right.
OK, so what is this plan that sets you apart from everyone else?
Continuity.
When you see an organization that develops, signs, trades, and spends exorbitant amounts of money on two or three powerful hitters who will set strikeout records for decades – and then fills in the gaps with some guys who defend with concrete gloves – you can rest assured that this is not the team that can take you down.
So how do you avoid such a trap?
Let’s get a feel for the current Mariners and see if there’s a way to win two out of three games – and be perfectly positioned to win in the postseason.
Throw?
Yes Yes Yes.
It’s just a group like a KILLER combination with three solid starters, a couple of guys that can last a million innings, and most importantly, an unbeatable bullpen.
You win the championship by having four or five outstanding relievers – a band of characters that decide the game when you are leading after five innings.
Get to a 3-1 lead after the fifth inning, then bring out the parade of flamethrowers – one per inning – and by the middle of the seventh inning you can pick up the phone and order Chinese food for your postgame party in the suite.
This seems like a pretty simple way to win baseball games, right?
Well, you have to make points (we’ll get to that in a minute) and the overwhelmed bullpen theory only works if you have a pool of seven or eight players — about four of them hidden in the minor leagues — to cover the injuries that actually occur.
The Mariners almost got it perfect in 2023, but when you have an absolutely untouchable reliever like Matt Brash, you can’t put him on the field 78 times without doing damage.
The big relievers now have such high speed and power on breaking pitches that you have to take care of them like the Mona Lisa.
You want to live and die in the final two innings with sturdy studs who specialize in the fastball and slider.
Throws that injure your elbows aren’t worth it.
ANYWAYThey do what it takes to build the best bullpen in the MLB.
This is a great starting point to reach the playoffs and win there.
Then what about the guys who have to hit and catch the ball?
Find athletes.
Gifted guys with magical hand-eye coordination who can play defense play after play.
You’ll find that these guys can hit hard too.
Sure, the Mariners can hit three-run home runs from time to time (even though they usually hit their home runs when no one is on base), but the key to scoring runs on a regular basis is getting the bat to the ball.
More than once.
They need comebacks, like the Mariners, who strung together six singles in one inning to overcome a 5-1 deficit against the Giants.
Believe it or not, Seattle might be better off with lightweight Leo Rivas hitting RBI singles all over the place with a choked bat.
Do you now sense the secret of success?
Baseball can’t be overcome.
It must be understood and then mastered like chess on grass.
Is it great to have a beast like Aaron Judge hitting balls into different area codes?
Sure, and how many Aaronic judges are there?
That’s exactly my point.
It’s easier to find a Leo Rivas.
Email: [email protected]
Steve Cameron’s Cheap Seats columns appear four times a week in The Press, usually Tuesday to Friday unless there is something happening.
Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”
