MORE INCOMPETENCE!!!! Why am I surprised? There is no hope for the immediate future. Time to focus on the Hawks.

Fontaine must have had his hands tied. He's shown great vision in past drafts, yet today's was an absolute disaster. How much pressure was coming from Bavasi/Armstrong/Lincoln to get a reliever?

It seems like there are more pressing needs, but once again they must think they're one or two players away from being contenders. We've seen a lot of college pitchers make the transition immediately to the majors so I hope that's the case in this situation.

I just hope Bavasi is gone either after the draft or at the end of the season. If he's given another year, I'm done with the Mariners.

Isn't t hat just Special!

Nice work Fontaine. (You sound like the arrogant pr**k you work for!) Just what we needed.

Maybe we can trade him to a church league for a power hitter who can play 1st!

An asteroid could impact at Safeco Field this very day and I'm not sure that I wouldn't feel better than I do right now.

Apologies for the wonky grammar, but I feel it's more befitting the actual sentiment.

Help us, Chris Larson. Somebody, anybody in this ownership group, please rescue us from this horrific management team.

While I understand that in general, spending a first round pick on a relief pitcher is not the best use of the pick, I'm willing to give Bob Fontaine the benefit of the doubt. Something tells me that he's better at this then most of us. Don't you think?

That presupposes that Fontaine wasn't under pressure to take the quick fix guys rather than long term options.

The M's didn't choose a hitter.
The M's chose a pitcher.
There's no thought of making him a starter.

The M's are continually playing come-from-behind baseball DUE TO LOUSY STARTING PITCHING.

The M's are continually losing those come-from-behind games DUE TO LOUSY HITTING.

There's no hope. None at all.

Geoff, you're a jewel. it's doubtful many people appreciate just how much extra work you put in making this blog work so well, time that is likely not well covered in your contract. From a print journalist it's amazing, most of your peers just don't get the blogging thing at all. I tip my cap to you, sir.

That said, your take on keeping the GM for the draft certainly looks a little weak today.

Please, for the fans sake, for the sake of Seattle pride, for the Times ad revenues sake, a series focusing on the ownership group would be very welcome. Having a Japanese owner as a silent partner is fine as long as a local someone is the vocal partner. The local group has a lot of experienced leaders amongst them. They certainly have pride and egos to go along with their wealth. Perhaps if they got called out like the players have been this season we might see a change in the seven year slump we've endured. Six winning seasons in forty-one years is a poor reward for the fans that are paying for their cash machine.

As for the big issue,
if the M's are going to seriously look at the lack of a winning culture surrounding this team, then they need to look hard at the ATTITUDES of each player. (This is a separate issue from playing skills. For example, Bloomquist has a great attitude, good fielding skills, poor batting skills)

Remember last season when the M's had a few games off, perhaps for the All Star Break, and Jose Guillen orchestrated a charter plane trip from Cleveland to the Dominican Rebublic and back. Who did he take with him? Beltre, Lopez, Yuni. Did Felix go? Or Batista? In any event, it was an all Latino contingent, led by the clear Alpha Dog of the group.

Carlos Silva is new this season, conducts himself more professionally than Jose Guillen did, has a great attitude (that doesn't always translate into performance), but hasn't replaced Guillen in a leadership role among these players. Clearly, none of these players mentioned here have played up to their potential. The only exception is Lopez's bat (not his glove). Rather, this clique of Lopez, Beltre, Yuni seems very cavalier when playing, undisciplined, too nonchalant after losses, and ridiculous in how they celebrate after wins. This is where the M's miss Guillen's keenness of play and fierce leadership. Figure out how to replace it.

Unless, I be accused of ethnic bias, Jerrod Washburn comes across as ridiculously cavalier, as well. "Win or lose, so what?" he says with his body language. I see him chatting with Bedard in the dugout, and it's as though the mediocrity is infectious. Bedard has the same, "whatever" demeanor, on and off the mound. Is Washburn bringing Bedard down?? The poor attitude showed up when BOTH pitchers asked to have Burke instead of Johjima as their personal catcher. A manager on top of this blame game would not have stood for it.

I don't think that Vidro or Sexson have problems with their professionalism or team attitudes. The problem with them is simple. The M's have felt compelled to play both because of their large salaries that have hamstrung the franchise. When your top paid players fail to perform, probably because of skills that have declined due to age, this, in itself, will cause the other players to subconsciously underperform, too.

Ichiro's affect on the team, in past years, has been largely neutral, I think. He stays to himself and is not a vocal presence in the clubhouse. However, this year, in similar fashion to Sexson, his repeated inability to produce in clutch situations, has also caused other players to subconsciously underperform. Drop him down to the number eight spot for a while.

From Spring Training, management has sent very poor messages of entitlement to this entire squad. R.A. Dickey and Norton had played well enough to earn roster spots, but weren't rewarded. Instead, those with salary commitments prevailed. This sent a clear message to all the extended roster, that the M's do not operate by a meritocracy, and if you're in, you're in.

So it was an odd environment when the M's tried to cure its woes by bringing up Balentien and Clement. A woefully struggling Johjima gets an extension the day before. Another loud message of entitlement is made. Balentien and Clement, unfortunately, have not been able to shut out the poisonous atmosphere around them and concentrate on this great opportunity which they have been given to play in the Big Leagues. They're both young, though. Give Clement another chance!

Conclusions:
Find a way to spark the core Latino contingent of Beltre, Yuni, Lopez. If they don't show more discipline and fire, then add a stick of dynamite and explode the infield, sending them flying.

Trade Washburn and his infectious, loser attitude. Let RA Dickey start instead.

Make Johjima earn his catcher's spot by platooning him with Clement. No entitlements.

Decide between Bloomquist and Cairo, both of whom have good attitudes, but only one of whom is needed.

Give Reed, Balentien, Clement and LaHair a long look at the big league level in '08. And let them know that it is exactly that--a try out for '09.

Use Morrow as a closer with Putz as his set up man. Then decide whether Brandon should be stretched out to be a starter in '09, or groomed to be JJ's replacement. Yes, JJ is one of the best closers in the game--if the year is 2007. No more entitlements.

DFA Richie Sexson. That will break any assumption of entitlement that the other players may have.

In sum, tryouts for the Seattle Mariner 2009 season should start NOW.

Do I think that McLaren has the leadership acumen to deal with these complex attitude issues? During the Angel's series, I carefully watched Mike Scoscia in action. He carries himself with confidence; he never looks puzzled; he doesn't look like he'll tolerate anyone pitching him sh*t or playing games; he doesn't play the entitlement game. By comparison, on all these counts, McLaren comes up short. He should go the same day Bavasi goes.

So this isn't quite blowing the thing up, but it's surely a new set of tires, a serpentine belt, complete lube, and the rest of the 60,000 mile major tune up.

And people wonder why we go nowhere because the Mariners spend all there first round picks on closers?

Please baseball gods give the Seattle Mariners new owners and new managment please!

I would have liked to see a hitter. But I think all the high-ceiling guys were probably off the board by #20.

Saying there is no hope for the starting rotation is extreme Dave. Silva, Washburn and Batista are struggling, but we knew they would. They aren't very good. But it's easier to fill those spots in the rotation than #1 and #2. And despite Bedard's struggles, I think Felix and Bedard are a nice 1-2 combination going forward.

The team sucks at hitting and it sucks at defense. Until those problems are fixed, all the starting pitching in the world won't help.

It's a blah pick. But oh well. It's a bad season. All we can do is hope to re-stack the line-up during the offseason.

As I've said time and again, this team doesn't have a 3-hole hitter or a clean-up hitter. They need one or both to have any hope of fielding a competitive offense. There may be a couple of hitters like that in our minor league system (Halman for instance), but they are years away.

This team needs hitters. And we weren't going to get them today anyway, so relax.

The M's are really building a utopian society over at Safeco, aren't they?

Does anybody in the organization understand about looking towards the future?

Clean house, from Armstrong on down.

First round choice for a 2 pitch relief pitcher when this team is in dire need of position players that might have a future.

Trying to be justify that this kid will come and be a relief presences at the 20th pick right.

Fontaine, just look at the minors were is the future stars maybe 1 potential future great player, you sure have stocked this club with a future average role players.

A reliever, to me, seems like a kicker. You don't waste a first round pick on a reliever, especially when you are so bereft of talent as the Mariners clearly are.
I understand we need relief pitching. Unfortunately, we need basically every position. We aren't the last place team in the majors simply because of relief pitching. We don't have a 1B, our 2B can't field, our 3B takes weeks off before deciding to dominate again, our LF and CF are older and not producing as they should, our C is disgraceful, the starters don't look to be worth the millions that Bavasi has overpaid, and our DH is Vidro. And none of our hitters know how to get a hitter's count. Unfortunately, there's nothing in the minors that will eventually aid the team.
Fontaine always seems to be praised, and yet the players in our system never seem to produce for our team.
Bavasi brings in overpaid guys with no passion for winning and zero leadership, and Armstrong says it's the players' fault? Sadly, the leadership problem is not just in the clubhouse.

scottM, You are Off Topic.....

Take it over to Immun, we are talking draft here...

Thanks for the great blog Geoff.

The utube video of this Field's guy is pretty impressive. Link available from Detectovision.com. Fontaine probably got the best guy available, lkely to have some good impact shortly, unlike most late first rounders.

This is killing me, they really suck, I read everything there was to read all winter, got fired up, and now I see they suck. I'd suggest they get rid of the deadwood, Sexton, Vidro, Cairo. Bring Clement back up. Go back in time and get Norton back.
The manager of this disaster has to go. Mac is a nice guy, but this wasn't his time. Bavasi has the background and genetics, but it ain't working.
Big changes need to happen, this has got to happen now, please.
Go m's.

Freidrich, Melville and Cole were and are much better than Fields in terms of BPA. Signability on the other hand knocks Melville and Cole. But what does that matter, Fields is a Boras agent anyway so why waste a 1st round pick on someone with very limited projectability and when there were other college relievers in the later rounds still available.

Doesn't make sense, do the M's think they have all the pieces to be competitive soon, cause take a college reliever on the basis of how close he is to the majors and is an obvious short term choice makes no sense if they think they can patch this team up again.

Seriously, this organization makes no sense, they pass on Lincecum due to his small stature, yet take Fields who is just as small and is obviously not even on the same level in terms of stuff and ceiling.

Fontaine must have had his hands tied. He's shown great vision in past drafts, yet today's was an absolute disaster. How much pressure was coming from Bavasi/Armstrong/Lincoln to get a reliever?

This was Fontaines's pick. No conspiracy exists, otherwise Fontaine would have bolted a long time ago. Fontaine passed up Tulowitski for Clement. Lincecum for Morrow, and had Aumont fall in his lap after targeting another college reliever in Weathers last year.

Fontaine is an above average scouting director but he certainly isn't among the best in the majors. We can afford to lose Fontaine with the superb International Scouting we have in place.

Trying to post here is getting ridiculous.The captcha component is constantly screwed up.

Mcclaren stated that the reason they kept Cairo and not Norton is becuase we didn't have any infield depth in the minors, and granted it's the 20th pick so your probably not gonna get a 5-tool guy, but why don't they draft a HS kid with some pop in his bat?? I mean another RP...with Morrow, Lowe, and now Fields..I mean this is ridiculious!!!!

I would like to file a formal complaint against ScottM
his longwinded post was totally off topic and I sprained my pinky when I constantly had to use the scroll feature. He totally disregarded the feelings of all the bloggers in here. Very selfish.

that being said, I think drafting a reliever in the 1st round sucks.

JJ Putz - 6th round pick
Mark Lowe - 5th round pick
Sean Green - Acquired for Aaron Taylor
Eric O'Flaherty - 6th round pick
George Sherrill - Signed from Independent leagues
RRS - SIgned as amateur FA
RA Dickey - Acquired in Rule 5 draft

It really isn't that hard to put together a good bullpen. Why you would see the need to add a reliever in the first round when your team has so many other pressing needs and has virtually no chance of winning the division this year makes very, very little sense.

If the attitude is that you can't have enough good relievers, well, you seem to have plenty right now. Is that worth ignoring the other needs of this organization? Such as corner IF bats, college starters, OFs, etc.?

If this pick was predicated upon the desire to make Morrow a starter, then I'm still lost. Roy Corcoran and John Huber are down in Tacoma and can fill in for Morrow - especially with Lowe starting to pitch better.

If Bavasi has been able to do one thing reasonably well, it is put together a good bullpen on the cheap. It's not THAT hard to put together a good bullpen. Why any team would want to waste its first-round pick on a player who can only impact 50 or 60 innings a year is beyond me.

Just when you think this organization can't be any more puzzling, it goes and makes a pick like this. Very, very baffling, but at the same time, it is par for the course.

Finally, the only way that I might be ok with this is if it is a predicate to dealing Putz. If we can pry good prospects from Tampa or Milwaukee for Putz, plug them into this team, and Fields is ready to take names come 2009, I'll sleep ok.

But in the meantime, I'll continue to slam my head against this concrete wall...

The Mariners are the worst run organization in professional sports. This pick is incredibly incompetent. Why in the world would you burn a 1st round pick on a reliever?

The only thing worse than this pick will be how this kid's talent will be mismanaged by our inept coaching staff.

Geoff,

Serious question here, now that the draft appears to be a bit butchered, and after tomorrow's final round, how much longer until Bavasi starts packing?

Bavasi now is going to move Lowe for Horacio Ramirez part 2.

Seriously can't you just feel it.

The Rays might be one pitcher away from winning it all. Any chance we could trade Bedard straight up for David Price and a middle reliever?

The biggest benefit is that it gets that bum off the roster. It also gets us a Top Tier starting pitching talent, as well as giving us a reliever who can take over for Morrow.

Doing this deal this year means we could have a starting staff of Felix and Morrow in 2009, and possibly Price in 2010.

OK, taking Fields was listed as the worst move on ESPN.com However, if we trade Putz, this would make sense. Many folks in Atlanta, where he was picked 2nd round last year, thought he would be the closer over Soriano if signed in 08. So, I will say if we move Morrow to SP and TRADE JJ, good pick. Look, trading JJ would bring a ton. He is signed cheap for next couple years and is far better than Gagne. And Gagne brought a fortune to Texas.

Our 2nd pick, what the hell? Baseball America rates him as a bench player at best. We could have had some great stud 3B, SS. Witchita St. 3B stud was available and he projects into possible middle of order hitter. Why? I know we need OF help overall, but Raben? Sounds like a cheap way to go and save 1-2 million in signing bonus.

This is the crap that pisses me off......Take a shot at Melville with 2 round pick? Pay him. My Lord, what is this club thinking?

I must admit, I'm very disappointed by the responses of others on this blog. I wonder if the M's were able to draft the same guy Tampa did if you all would be blasting the front office for not getting pitching. I don't believe the Mariners can make any player transactions that would please this crowd. If we DFA'd Richie Sexson right now you all will probably bitch about not trading him and getting something back.

There is no longer any reasoning, logic or rationale to be found here. No player will get a fair opportunity. Everything is a disaster before the first pitch or swing of the bat.

I like this draft pick if it means shopping JJ while he still has some trade value. JJ looks to have grown old quickly as he is down in both velocity and control within the strike zone - not a good recipe for success as a closer. With things going the way they are, the M's can draft Strasburg of SD State with the #1 pick in 2009 and will have the makings of a true (& young) rotation in 2010 with Felix, Aumont, Strasburg, Morrow, and possibly Bedard (or Silva) as your 5 starters.

" I wish they would have found me another F.N. Cairo or Bloomquist type that we could F.N. be a contender next F.N. season instead I will just have to find a way to get both F.N. Cairo and F.N. Willie in the line up for the rest of the season and hope F.N. Cairo does die of old age on me or that his F.N. arthritis doesn't come back. An F.N. reliever honestly I'm dumb, but I can F.N figure that one out

Scottm - Nice analysis. I think "entitlement" does sum up a lot of the issues nicely.

It was dumb even if you're shopping Putz, because you could trade Putz and still pick a high reward player in the first round.

The bullpen is the only strong or at least not sucky part of team. There are so many glaring needs and we waste a pick .

Just don't buy any tickets. The organization won't listen until the bottom line is affected.

I don't see how this is a bad pick. If you watched the draft you'd have seen that by #20 the "best available" was all relievers. Look at the position players taken after Fields:

Reese Havens, ss, NYM. Average range, projected to hit 10-15 homers. I don't know that he'd be a great upgrade over Yuni.

Allan Dykstra, 1b, SD. Left handed power at first base is interesting, although a straight pull hitter now. The issue is his defense, which is rated to be below average. I think I'd be leery of someone that can't man the position defensively, or you're looking at drafting a DH.

Anthony Hewitt, ss, PHI. He is a legitimate 5-tool player, but is straight out of high school, so he might be 5 years away.

So Hewitt would have been a better long term pick, but FIelds gives you the ability to get a player you can put on the roster as soon as next season and allows you to move Morrow to the starting rotation. So I'm not as down on this pick as the rest of you here, considering what was available I think Fields can fill a more pressing need now.

please wake me when football season starts...

thanks and bye.

The ESPN insider analysis singles out Fields as one of the worst 2 picks:

"Worst pick

The first round had a few head-scratchers, but two of them really stand out. One is Josh Fields. He actually has good value for when he was picked, but it makes absolutely no sense for the worst team in baseball to take a college reliever whose value is tied up in "now."

Relievers are a dime-a-dozen. Franklyn German just got released.

Has anyone done research on what high draft pick relievers have done as a group in the majors? A bat or a starting pitcher would've been a better move. And weren't we hearing "we can't fire Bavasi before the draft"? This is more evidence that we should have.

maybe the M;s think Fields is the next Huston Street? I think even Street was drafted 40th overall.

I still feel that trading Putz could bring in a solid return, maybe to Tampa for Carl Crawford?

Morrow looks to have the makeup of a good closer, we all know he has the heat, but he also seems to possess the mental toughness. Maybe all Morrow needs to be a successful lights out closer is a funky soul patch. Who knows maybe this time next year we will be having Bradon Morrow soul patch night....

During the 2008 MLB Draft, the selection of a garden-variety relief pitcher in Josh Fields isn't as bad as the botched Brandon Morrow pick two years ago -- for in that case the Seattle Mariners passed on a sure thing in Andrew Miller, a guy with tremendous upside in Clayton Kershaw, and a proven local product in Tim Lincecum -- nonetheless, the baseball operations department within this drowning organization has proven itself to be an abject failure.

It's time to clean house.

By reading these comments its assumed that the draft is over. There are still 44 rounds left with plenty of players left on the board who either overpriced themselves out of the 1st day or have reconsidered. The Baseball draft is not at all like the Pro Football or Baseketball ball draft because the wealth of players that can play are found in rounds 5-12. Remember that

back to the McLaren "tirade" for a moment..

I finally saw the video today. How embarrassing McLaren looked and sounded. And when you actually read the gripe with the cuss words in there (see for example

Not only does our team and organization stink, so does our manager's so-called tirade. Just another butt for others jokes. Are we supposed to be "proud" of what McLaren did? Are we supposed to think, Yeah! that's what we need to turn this thing around. What a dismal season.

Ok I suck at basic html when I'm being pressured by the captcha.

Here's the link:

http://www.salon.com/sports/daily/feature/2008/06/05/mariners/index.html

Hey Geoff, I really like your blog. You bring something new to the table on nearly every post. I've been reading through the blogs for quite some time and even though you're new to the scene you've caught on very quickly. Don't worry about sites like LL & USSM Dr.D pointed out long ago that they are the equivalent of a ping pong table. The ping pongers cheat for their own selfish agendas, by deleting and censoring or running over the top of what they don't want to hear. Because god forbid they could never be wrong. From what I can see the hundreds of comments are just a mix of gibberish within a silly little inner circle that is smaller than a quarter and greater than a dime. Keep up the good work and thanks for owning up.

Signing a player that is projected as the "closest to making the big leagues" has some redeeming qualities.

It is obvious that we cannot develop talent in the organization so picking players that will get limited exposure to "development coaches" in the minors (i.e. Morrow and hopefully Fields) may give us the best shot at winning.

I would say blow this thing up and start over - where is the next Gillick? - but it is obvious that the organization is too ignorant or incompetent to even get that right. It is hard to resist the pull of MLB but the only thing that this organization responds to is $$$ so stop buying apparel and re-allocate your funds to a quality organization in the Hawks.

First pick in the 2009 draft! First pick in the 2009 draft! First pick in the 2009 draft! First pick in the 2009 draft! First pick in the 2009 draft! First pick in the 2009 draft! First pick in the 2009 draft! First pick in the 2009 draft! First pick in the 2009 draft! First pick in the 2009 draft! First pick in the 2009 draft! First pick in the 2009 draft! First pick in the 2009 draft! First pick in the 2009 draft! First pick in the 2009 draft! First pick in the 2009 draft! First pick in the 2009 draft! YEA!

GO RICHIE!

byebye

Why didn't you ask about wisdom of picking a reliever with the first round pick?

The reasons for picking Fields are somewhat obvious if you look at Fields' responses - he mentions the situation as being a blessing from the Lord at least 3 times.

Given the club's preference for squeaky-clean character, it's not surprising they'd blow a top draft pick on a Jesus freak. There's precedent for highly religious, highly successful players in the Ms clubhouse (e.g. Dan Wilson, Raul Ibanez).

You know what, in the early rounds you should pretty much use your picks on position players. Why? Because pretty much the only way they can fail is by performance. Pitchers can fail by performance OR break down. So the Mariners not only select a pitcher, but a RELIEF pitcher. This franchise would actually have to be smarter to be stupid.

Fontaine you freakin genius baseball guru, hows that Linceum pick working out, lucky you passed on that train wreck.
This guy was a second round pick, there was real good first baseman and infielder taken after this 2 pitch wonder.

I agree Chris from Bothell, I don't care what your faith is, Jesus doesn't play baseball, at least not in that robe.

Is that what this team judges as good character only if you are a evangelical Christian, leave the faith at home and playball.

Maybe thats why nobody want to play in Seattle, I know the Rockies are extremely Christian faith driven by the Coors family, they are very determined to build and maintain that as a mainstay in Rockie management.

Nothing wrong with that!, just very unusual and limits your ability to appeal to a large multi-cultural fans base.

That's an AWESOME response, Chris from Bothell. At least you aren't shy about your bigotry.

Relievers are not a dime a dozen. Look at any great team in recent history, and they had a great set-up guy and closer.

They were picking 20th. The 2 or 3 best 1B prospects were already off the board.

I don't mind this pick at all.

That said - it blows my mind that a kid whose goal is to be a closer in the big leagues doesn't know who J.J. Putz is!! Putz had the lowest ERA of any pitcher in baseball last year.

That's a little off-putting.

"Relievers are not a dime a dozen. Look at any great team in recent history, and they had a great set-up guy and closer."

That isn't really an argument that relievers aren't a dime a dozen though, is it? If relievers were super rare you'd expect some of those teams to have to get buy with less than stellar options.

It may be an argument that closers and set-up guys are important to good teams, but I submit to you that relative to other players, they aren't. They just don't pitch that many innings a year. I mean, clearly it's nice to have a good closer, but if God gave you the choice of having JJ Putz's year last year, Randy Johnson's best year, or Ken Griffey Junior's best year, you'd have to be crazy to choose Putz.