M’s prove good farm team for MLB

The Seattle Mariners are, again this year, an extremely mediocre Major League Baseball team. If you have been a M’s fan forever, you have to be disgusted again.

My issue is with the front-office management that has let good and great players pass through the organization. It’s as if the Mariners are a farm club supplying players to other teams (especially the Cleveland Indians) to make them better. Is it not the front office that is accountable for the Mariner-go-round?

In the American League, only the Chicago White Sox lack an ex-Mariner on their 25-man roster. In the National League, 12 teams have at least one player on their 25-man roster who passed through the Mariners’ organization. There must be talent that other clubs recognize but Seattle cannot.

Examples are ex-Mariners pitchers like R.A. Dickey for the Mets, who has already won five games, and Mark Lowe, now with Texas (traded by Seattle with Cliff Lee), with less than 3.00 ERA. How do players such as J.J Putz, Eric O’Flaherty, Derek Lowe, Brandon Morrow and the two Jamies (Wright and Moyer) make other clubs? Probably only the Pittsburgh Pirates have a similar poor repertoire. 

Then there are hitters such as Bryan LaHair, Adrian Beltre, Greg Dobbs, Mike Morris, Adam Jones and Shin-Soo Choo. Something tells me that Seattle has good scouts. I say promote them to the front office.

There are guys who never even made it to the city of Seattle and have had phenomenal success, such as Asdrubel Cabrera, Jason Veritek and David Ortiz. If only we had “Big Papi” today. 

Maybe I am a cynic, but when it comes to MLB, I believe the fans deserve better. Perhaps it is just all of the Seattle coffee that makes the Mariners continue to be mediocre.

Jack Abel

Spokane