M’s overhaul puts Looper out of loop

SEATTLE – If there was anything Benny Looper enjoyed more about his job than evaluating baseball players, it was the people he worked with.

The Seattle Mariners’ administrative assistants, scouts, player development staffers and minor league affiliates made every day a joy.

When new general manager Jack Zduriencik offered Looper a job that would take him away from those people, he said no thanks. Rather than stay with the Mariners in a lesser role, he decided to say goodbye Wednesday after 23 years with the organization.

“The sad part for me is the close friendships I’ve made,” said Looper, the vice president of player personnel. “It’s the people in the office who’ve been here 10-plus years, the scouts and people in player development, even the big league players who I’ve known since they were kids. Walking away from that is the saddest thing.”

Looper is the second top executive to leave as Zduriencik restructures the Mariners’ front office. On Monday, Zduriencik fired scouting director Bob Fontaine.

Zduriencik has hired two men who worked under him with the Milwaukee Brewers – Tony Blengino and Tom McNamara, who are expected to be named to top jobs in the scouting and player development departments. Assistant GM Lee Pelekoudas and international operations director Bob Engle will remain with the team, but the future remains unknown for two others, player development director Greg Hunter and minor league/scouting operations director Hide Sueyoshi.

Zduriencik, who said this week he hopes to have his front office completed in three weeks, offered Looper a job in the pro scouting department. Looper, saying he prefers to work in a supervisory role, turned it down.

“I had truly hoped he would stay with the organization but respect his decision,” Zduriencik said.

Like many other Mariners executives, Looper’s contract runs through Friday.

“I’m a free agent on Saturday and I’m hoping there’s some interest,” he said. “I think there will be from some other clubs. I’d like to work in a capacity where I’m working with people in a supervisory role. I think that’s one of my better assets. Being a pro scout is a great job, but I want to have something to do with working with people.”

Looper, a former catcher in the St. Louis minor league system, joined the Mariners in 1987 as a part-time scout. He held several roles in the scouting department before being named player development director in 1997, then vice president of player development in 2002. He was promoted to vice president of player personnel after the 2006 season.

Looper said his greatest memory with the Mariners is the record 116-victory season in 2001. He’s also proud to have helped the team accomplish two important signings after contentious negotiations with draft picks Alex Rodriguez in 1993 and Jason Varitek in 1994.

“We’d worked on it with Alex all summer and we fretted over it,” Looper said. “And I remember how good it felt when we got Jason signed because that took us a long time.”

Looper enjoyed watching young players develop into stars, but he also developed relationships with those from the Mariners’ minor league affiliates, including the Everett AquaSox.

“I enjoyed coming up there and working with the different ownerships, getting to know the fans and the community,” he said.

Notes

Outfielder Victor Diaz is batting .382 for Cibaenas in the Dominican Winter League and catcher Luis Oliveros .366 for Zulia in the Venezuelan Winter League. None of the other Mariners playing in fall and winter leagues has produced dazzling offensive numbers. … Carlos Truinfel, playing second base, third and shortstop for the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League, is batting .268 with one home run and seven RBIs in 13 games. Catcher Rob Johnson is batting .156 in 10 games for the Javelinas. … Third baseman Matt Tuiasosopo is batting .194 with a triple and eight RBIs in 11 games for Lara in Venezuela and second baseman Luis Valbuena is batting .214 with two homers and five RBIs for Lara. … Right-hander Stephen Kahn hadn’t allowed an earned run in four innings for the Javelinas in Arizona. Right-hander Ricky Orta had five scoreless innings for Lara and right-hander Andy Baldwin was 2-0 with a 3.48 ERA in two starts for Lara.