A Valentine for the M’s?
Baseball insiders says M’s job attractive
SEATTLE – The Mariners have become a team that chews up managers and spits them out. Daren Brown is No. 6 – and counting – since Lou Piniella walked out the door in 2002 and took stability with him.
They have become an organization of dysfunction, of turmoil, of chaos. And of losing: The M’s are headed to their fifth last-place finish, and second 100-loss season, in the last seven years.
Yet as Jack Zduriencik begins the process of vetting Don Wakamatsu’s replacement, there will be no shortage of interested – indeed, eager, if not ardent – candidates. And that includes candidates of stature.
Bobby Valentine is among them, a candidate of stature who is intrigued by the prospect of managing the Mariners, the last team he played for before retiring in 1979.
Valentine, 60, declined to comment out of deference to Brown, but friends of his have told me that the Mariners job is of great interest to him. Someone familiar with Valentine’s thinking said the former Rangers, Mets and Chiba Lotte Marines (in Japan) manager believes the Mariners vacancy “is among the most appealing jobs in baseball” despite the recent turmoil.
The lesson is that any job of which there are only 30 in the world is a coveted one. And the message I have gotten in talking to a cross section of baseball people since the Wakamatsu firing is that this one, despite the baggage, is more coveted than most.
“If I were a managerial candidate, I wouldn’t be hesitant,” said one current general manager via e-mail.
“Yes, there are red flags, but there are also many appealing aspects,” said another current GM. “I don’t think many people are going to be scared off.”
Kevin Towers, now a special assistant to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman after 14 years as the Padres’ GM, rattled off the selling points in a phone conversation.
“Stable and supportive ownership; good people at the top; a desire to win on an annual basis; not afraid to increase the payroll; great city; beautiful ballpark; great division. And there’s some good players there, despite the record,” Towers said.
“The only negative I’ve ever thought of Seattle is just the travel. Other than that, you can ask any manager in the game – I remember Dusty Baker telling me years ago his dream job was Seattle.”
Of course, jaded Mariners fans might argue with some of Towers’ points. But I heard those same things from enough people to come to the conclusion that the Mariners’ issues, including a quick trigger-finger in firing managers, will not scare off top-notch candidates.