Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik dealing with regime's first full-blown crisis

Published June 11, 2010 at 1:46 p.m.

Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik joins the team today in San Diego, and not a moment too soon.

Zduriencik is dealing with the first full-blown crisis of his 20 months at the helm. His team has been blown out in six of the last seven games, including three straight defeats by scores of 12-3, 12-2 and 7-1. There are questions about how much control his manager, Don Wakamatsu, has over the clubhouse in the wake of the controversial way that the final weeks of Ken Griffey Jr.'s career played out before his abrupt retirement.

And believe me, Zduriencik will be judged by how he handles this. The team he put together, while clearly lacking some championship components, is not nearly as bad as it's performed the first two-plus months of the season. But this is a results-based business and Zduriencik must act swiftly and decisively to get things under control.

There was some good discussion on this blog yesterday about how much time a GM in baseball should get as a minimum to show what he can do.

I suggested a three-year minimum, with the exception being if a team utterly collapses the first two years. I'm all for continuity, but at some point, if a plan clearly isn't working out, then continuing with it only prolongs the misery. That's not the case here. Zduriencik had one great year last season, coupled by another, this year, that's rapidly going down the tubes. So, we'll have a better idea next season where things are headed.

Zduriencik will get at least three years in Seattle and possibly more, as long as he shows he can handle situations like this one. Not every losing streak has to lead to a 100-loss season. And not every crisis in confidence with a manager has to lead to that manager's dismissal. Remember, Wakamatsu was brought here as part of a long-term plan. If he goes after two bad months, that plan takes a hit. The inmates can't constantly be allowed to run the asylum, no matter how popular Griffey was. So, this team has to show exactly who is in charge at the moment and that falls not only on Wakamatsu, but also on the guy who brought him in here.

There is an oft-pushed opinion in baseball, parroted by some media types and fans, that a GM should stay on-the-job for at least the amount of time it takes to accurately gauge the success of his first draft class. I'm all for that, in theory, but not sure I totally agree on the idea as an absolute.

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