I remember some discussion about Sexson and Vidro at the beginning of the year. Also about the Bedard trade. What was your viewpoint again Geoff? Are your blogs archived so we can go back and look at how your plaver evaluation views have changed during the course of the year?

But...but...but I thought that if we only got rid of some inexperienced prospects and brought in gritty veteran starters who have been through the wars, that John McLaren and his great baseball gut would lead us to the World Series...and anyone who said otherwise was a naysaying idiot who didn't understand the importance of chemistry...how could this have happened????

As much as it would pain fans, I think they should keep Sexson because that would make him the most uncomfortable. Letting him go just gives him a vacation with the boat load of money he stole the past two seasons. It takes up a roster spot, but do they really have a first baseman of the future in the minors?

I have said for the last 4 years that Bavasi & Sexson should go. Neither one had a clue about baseball. Bavasi had a dad in the baseball realm (not a player) and Sexson hit a few home runs,couldn't field a ball and slow as a snail running. Good riddance to those two. Now get on with the re-building of the Mariners.

Sad state of affairs. I've been following the M's for 27+ seasons and it's just amazing how bad things are. The great run of 95-2001 seems so long ago and there's nothing to even show a turnaround is possible. Might the Rays get to a World Series before the M's?

What are the chances of getting rid of Erik Bedard, his treatment of the game, media, and fans is horrible and I see that as a big signture move to show me the M's are committed to putting a winning and community respecting team on the field?

Soooooooooooooooooooo........

Anyone else get the idea that Geoff is not a Bedard fan? Or is it just me?

AKMF - Hi, Eeyore, long time no see. Since you (and I'm sure others) want to go there, let's get this over with.

A quick googling of "geoff baker preseason predictions" generates at least this blog post from February 5th. Quotes from the end:

What do I think will help the M's this year? A better rotation. Bedard gives them that. At what cost? We'll see. I've mentioned before, this is not a slam-dunk deal. ... But a 70-win team? Maxing out at 81 wins and no higher than third place? A little tough to swallow. As they say, we'll see when they play the actual games.

It's easy with 20/20 hindsight for the naysayers to hop up and down on this, and say how many people knew this was going to be this bad. Also easy with the data available at the time to say that it was likely to be this bad, and Geoff (and others) erred too much on the side of caution and optimism before recognizing the train wreck.

So let's review:

- Yes, pessimists who love being right and love seeing people fail, were right.
- Yes, many statheads and SABRlovers had projections that were a lot closer to today's reality than most others.
- Yes, the pundits and bloggers and press who said the Ms had a serious shot at knocking off the Angels were tremendously surprised.
- Yes, the management, starting pitching and offense were fundamentally flawed.
- Yes, this team that Geoff thought was highly unlikely to dip to 70 - 81 wins, will likely be rampagingly lucky to escape 100 losses.
- Yes, when push came to shove starting in late April and the slide truly began, everyone, down to a man, from Ichiro to Wilkerson and everyone in between, folded like a lawn chair, proving that this team was composed largely of supporting players and no true stars (except flashes of brilliance from Felix and spurts of competence from Lopez and Ibanez).

And finally,

No, you're not likely going to get apologies, recognition or consumption of crow from people who thought the Ms would be alright. People who relish schadenfreude need to also understand that that is its own reward, and the only reward, and asking for more simply makes you even more petty than you already are.

OK, Sexson has sucked. But can't we let him leave with a little dignity? It's been painful to watch him struggle and painful to hear him booed. But I believe he's trying to find his stroke and he's just lost it. If (when) he gets his swing back and starts hitting homers for another team, I'm sure there will be plenty of posters to this blog talking about how short-sighted the Mariners were to give up on him.
I think it's time to let him go, but as fans, I think we should show some class. He did have a couple of good years here.

Johnny Cat,

It is Richie Sexson who needs to show some class. He has been stealing money for 2 years now and he should've acknowledged that fact and donated some of his salary, while apologizing to the fans.

Farfetched you say?

Google the name Lyman Bostock and you'll see what showing class is all about.

These numbers are staggering. Truly staggering.

I think most fans knew that this was Vidro and Sexson's last year on the squad for sure, but how many expected, like the Mariners, for it to be this bad?

At least we can watch the pitchers hit this weekend...I hope one at bat isn't too much for Erik...

Fred: Why all the anger? Don't think stealing is the right word. He's sucked, but he showed up and he tried. Let's move on.

It's not stealing money when someone is giving it to you with false expectations.

With what Jeff has noted above, I'm surprised McLaren and Sexon weren't moved sooner.

Personally, I'm getting tired of the "told ya so" mentality of a certain faction of fans. Part of the glory of following sports is the unpredictability, the intrigue of the unknown, and the excitement of the unexpected becoming reality. Honestly, I really don't care if people knew for certain that the M's were going to tank this year. I loved the possibility of the rotation this year, but I was very skeptical about the cohesiveness and the viability of the rest of the team. If this team was going to contend, a lot was going to have to go right. Though, quite personally, if they weren't going to contend, I would prefer a season in the tank....somewhere in between would have given Bavasi & Co. straws to hold onto and allowed them to claim continued progress, however marginal.

I believe this year has been a big domino effect...bad hitting breeds more bad hitting, which puts pressure on the defense, which causes mental errors, which leads to large deficits, which puts the pitchers on a razor edge. That suggests this team is mentally puny.

HOWEVER, instead of dancing on their grave, I look forward to seeing what will happen next. Much as I would love to enjoy on-field excitement, I'll settle for the excitement of who will be the next GM and manager, and what will they bring to the team. The Bavasi era has been ridiculous, as illustrated by the plethora of horrendous acquisitions and head-shaking losses. Look everyone: come February next year, this team will hopefully have a new look and a clean start. Remember Detroit lost over 100 games one year (wasn't there a pitcher who lost close to 30 of those games), and in only a few years had won a World Series. Can't anyone be positive around here?

You state, "Teams can't afford to carry a singles hitter at first base. Not at DH. Nor in right field."

Yet the Mariners just put a pure singles hitter back PERMANENTLY in right field.

Nice move.

Yeah what a bad season so far. To see players like Sexson not able to perform and to see him work hard to get his MOJO back, very sad it hasn't happened. I myself i think it is time to leave him alone. Bid him good-bye when it happens but he isn't a crook! he was purchased at a market price it is sad he didn't perform to previous years, Just like all of us that bought a house two years ago, What's it worth now?

To Ritchie when this happens go take a big breath and where-ever you land have fun and do well.

For the Mariner's this is just one season, a very sad one!!

Where's bucky? Bring back BUCKY.

see a big difference between running Vidro and Sexson out there and running Balantien out there. With Balantien we're investing in the future. With Vidro and Sexson, we're beating a dead horse.

Balantien and Clement are not going to learn to hit Major League pitching in Tacoma. Sure, run him back down there to regain his stroke, maybe, but not because he's hurting the team. This season is long past fork time, we can't do any better than invest in developing our future.

There is a proven, reasonably priced power solution the M's have not been willing to implement: Barry Bonds. All the talk about negative clubhouse impact might have made sense in March or even in April. Nothing could be worse than the team chemistry/clubhouse spirit for the past month or two.

Bonds had a good year last year even with his legal distractions. His power in the lineup would mean more wins through both his own production and the pitches Ibanez or Beltre would see. Unlike the idea of trading for Junior, who I would love to watch but would not improve the team, signing Bonds would mean more wins and would not require trading a single prospect.

Do it today.

Here's a thought, instead of giving these professional players obsence salaries, how about their pay be determined by incentives? It will never happen but think about it...Base hit = $1,000. Home Run = $5,000. Strike outs = $500 fine. For Pitchers, $1,000 per stike out, field palyers get $500.00 for every fly or ground out. These numbers may not be correct, but you get the idea. Make them EARN their pay! Then maybe it won't cost us regualr Joe's $6 bucks for a lousy hotdog....

Fred-good idea on sexson showing some class about paying back his paycheck, or better yet, donate most of it back --at least he could get some dignity in the process. i looked up lyman bostock --and wow, a bunch of our guys could learn from him. vidro, washburn, silva, etc. where is that class now a days. these baseball players just want their money; nevermind that the rest of society is struggling in a recession and so many worthwhile organizations would very much sincerely appreciate an infusion of financial boost.

For the record, I have never been against Richie. I wanted him to succeed, and never figured his failings were his fault. He just aged and his body is not able to keep up. The mistake was on the part of Bavasi who gave him too long of a contract. Booing Richie is bad manners and booing in the wrong direction.

As for Bavasi's firing, he was in over his head, Lincoln should be fired for keeping him. It is past time for a new direction. Let us hope Lee does not make any big mistakes which will further cripple the new GM with the fire sale coming up.

Well, to the Campillo story line add the Moyer story line and the Soriano/Ramirez story line and the Ryan Franklin story line and the Cha Seung Baek story line and the Greg Dobbs story line, and the Carlos Guillen story line, and the Shin Soo Choo story line, and the....well, you get the point.

To Bellevue Mike --
Ichiro is a singles hitter, all right. Like, 200 of them every year! He's a shoe-in hall-of-famer, he's leading the majors in steals, and he's done everything this loser franchise has asked of him. He's the one guy we should leave alone. Peace.