Must read for every Mariners fan

[TraderGary]

This columnist lays it out perfectly

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/ca ... f442&ei=22


Cal Raleigh volunteered to be the human shield for a Mariners front office out of answers

Cal Raleigh chose to step forward and do exactly what we expect a leader to do when their team is completely falling apart. He took the heat and called his own performance “awful.” He demanded more from himself before asking anything of his teammates. That deserves respect. At the same time, he went a little too far.

He defended manager Dan Wilson, president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and general manager Justin Hollander. He declared that Seattle’s decision-makers weren’t responsible for this mess because the players are the ones on the field.

“It’s not their fault. It’s our fault,” Raleigh said, according to Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times.

Hey man. That’s totally fair. It’s admirable loyalty, and even somewhat true. It’s also equal parts nonsense.

The players deserve plenty of blame. They take the at-bats, throw the pitches and make the plays. Raleigh went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in the M’s latest loss. He has struggled to rediscover his offensive identity this season. The rest of the lineup also looks overwhelmed, impatient and completely disconnected. Nobody is asking Raleigh to pretend otherwise.

But responsibility doesn’t disappear once we glance above the clubhouse. The Mariners’ front office selected these players. Wilson and his staff prepare them, deploy them and establish the standard. When an entire roster looks lost and offensively helpless, that cannot be dismissed as 26 separate cases of underperformance. It's an organizational failure.


Cal Raleigh Can’t Own the Mariners’ Broken Offense

The most revealing numbers in Divish’s piece weren’t solely attached to Raleigh’s personal stat line. Seattle is 48-29 when it hits at least one home run and 8-34 when it doesn’t.

Eight wins in 42 homerless games isn’t a balanced offense going through a rough stretch. It’s a lineup with a single point of failure. If the Mariners don’t clear the fence, they can’t find their way out of the building.

Raleigh understands the problem. He talked about using the entire field, accepting singles and resisting the temptation to turn every swing into a home-run cut. He identified the predictable result of Seattle’s current approach: hitters get caught between pitches, miss hittable fastballs and chase breaking balls when they’re behind. It’s a sharp assessment. But it raises another obvious concern.

Why is Raleigh the one explaining how the Mariners need to reinvent their offensive identity in August?

No way this team just accidentally stumbled into being dependent on home runs. Dipoto and Hollander put this roster together. The organization developed or acquired these hitters. The coaching staff helped shape the approach that now appears so easy for the opposition to exploit.

Raleigh can tweak his plate approach and try to shoot a single through the opposite side. None of that changes the broader reality that Seattle built an offense with almost no margin for error when there’s a power outage.


Jerry Dipoto and Dan Wilson Shouldn't Get a Free Pass

Raleigh is right about one thing. Wilson cannot grab a bat and deliver the hit that his lineup keeps failing to produce. But that doesn’t mean the manager is powerless.

Wilson and company are the guys penciling in the lineup. He helps set expectations. He oversees preparation and decides how long struggling players remain in prominent roles. If the Mariners lack energy, urgency and attention to detail, as Raleigh himself suggested, then the manager belongs in that conversation.

And guess who else? Dipoto. Front-office accountability doesn’t require us to blame Dipoto for every slump. It requires us to recognize the obvious connection between roster construction and roster performance. If a team keeps losing in the same familiar way, the architect doesn’t get to stand across the street and critique the plumbing.

It’s dangerous to have this kind of public confession. Seattle’s most respected player just gave everyone above the field a ready-made defense. A captain who takes responsibility and says it’s his fault…how convenient.

Bryan Woo offered the clearest description of Raleigh’s burden. He said his former roommate sometimes needs to be reminded that he doesn’t have to carry the entire ship himself.

Yet that is exactly what Raleigh did in this situation. He is attempting to fix his swing, guide the pitching staff, revive the clubhouse, supply the urgency, represent the players and protect the people running the organization. How much weight is too much?

Raleigh should be accountable for his performance and his leadership. He should not have to answer for the entire franchise.

His willingness to stand in front of the collapse confirms everything we already knew about his leadership. It’s admirable, and every team should want a guy like him. But it also creates cover for people who should be standing beside him and accepting their share of the responsibility. If they leave Raleigh out there alone, their silence will say more about Mariners leadership than anything he said.

[Michael K.]

I don't think anyone gets a free pass. But believe that a guy that hit like Johnny Bench turns into Johnny Utah in one season has no effect on the team is also stupid. They paid J Rod, Naylor and Cal and went out and got Donovan. They all suck. If they didn't suck, would we be having this discussion? Please remember back to when they went and got Donovan, to when they signed Naylor, to when they extended Cal and J-Rod. I don't remember too many people in here saying it was the wrong move.

They needed to do more than just keep Naylor and add Donovan, no questions asked. But if those four weren't fucking horrible this year? We are in first place and talking about how they can take the next step, not blowing the entire thing up.

[TraderGary]

The hitting philosophy is the root of the problem and that starts from the top. This has been an issue for many years under Dipoto. 8-34 when they don't hit a HR. Under the current system and leadership, the Mariners are not a team that has been good, or even adequate at manufacturing runs. They're abysmal, and fundamentally inept. They're the most boring team in the league.

Yes, the players have underperformed almost to a man. But the real problem runs much deeper. Dipoto, Hollander, and Dan must go, and Stanton needs to bring someone in who preaches fundamentals of the game, and not just a swing-from-your-heels approach we currently see and have seen for years under this leadership.

This year is lost. Too late to fix it now. But in the offseason, there needs to be a house cleaning, a whole new philosophy established, and a far more balanced roster.

[mostonmike]

Fair play to Cal, but he’s just being told by his agent to protect his brand.

This organization is blindly following hidden directives, and Dan Wilson has sleepwalked right back into the same rigid, predictable mistakes that got Servais fired, completely eroding the momentum we saw after Scott left. If Dan can't see it, he's just as blind as those at the top.

Platoons are absolute bollocks. Pulling Raley in the 6th (.178 vs. lefties) for Refsnyder (.147) stinks of pure stupidity. You can't expect an offense to build any rhythm when players look at an upcoming road trip and know they'll barely get ten at-bats. This is just one example of the poor decision-making that is now rotting the entire team.

Offense needs stability and everyday consistency, not endless micromanagement.

The teams with the fewest platoons in MLB are the Dodgers, Yankees, Braves, and Phillies.

Want to go check the standings, anyone?

[TraderGary]

Fair play to Cal, but he’s just being told by his agent to protect his brand.

This organization is blindly following hidden directives, and Dan Wilson has sleepwalked right back into the same rigid, predictable mistakes that got Servais fired, completely eroding the momentum we saw after Scott left. If Dan can't see it, he's just as blind as those at the top.

Platoons are absolute bollocks. Pulling Raley in the 6th (.178 vs. lefties) for Refsnyder (.147) stinks of pure stupidity. You can't expect an offense to build any rhythm when players look at an upcoming road trip and know they'll barely get ten at-bats. This is just one example of the poor decision-making that is now rotting the entire team.

Offense needs stability and everyday consistency, not endless micromanagement.

The teams with the fewest platoons in MLB are the Dodgers, Yankees, Braves, and Phillies.

Want to go check the standings, anyone?

Well said, and could not agree more with everything you said.

And again, the platoon system is something Dipoto firmly believes in. He's also very big on positional flexibility, and will favor that over someone who excels at a particular position, but is not necessarily as flexible at other positions. Utterly ridiculous philosophies.

Replacing Wilson absolutely needs to happen as this team is consistently unprepared, listless, and simply going through the motions. There's no accountability anywhere. But it's not going to fix the more important underlying issues that's plagued this team for years.

[Sports Hernia]

Where’s Stanton and the rest of the ownership’s accountability? Everyone should’ve held accountable but that shit needs to start at the very top. Johnny boy is too busy counting his cash Scrooge McDuck style from the sing along fireworks and bobblehead nights, come for the fireworks show ignore the shit product on the field.

[mostonmike]

Where’s Stanton and the rest of the ownership’s accountability? Everyone should’ve held accountable but that shit needs to start at the very top. Johnny boy is too busy counting his cash Scrooge McDuck style from the sing along fireworks and bobblehead nights, come for the fireworks show ignore the shit product on the field.

Spot on, mate.

Although there is a place for good baseball AND bobbleheads. The two are not mutually exclusive.

[D-train]

I don't think anyone gets a free pass. But believe that a guy that hit like Johnny Bench turns into Johnny Utah in one season has no effect on the team is also stupid. They paid J Rod, Naylor and Cal and went out and got Donovan. They all suck. If they didn't suck, would we be having this discussion? Please remember back to when they went and got Donovan, to when they signed Naylor, to when they extended Cal and J-Rod. I don't remember too many people in here saying it was the wrong move.

They needed to do more than just keep Naylor and add Donovan, no questions asked. But if those four weren't fucking horrible this year? We are in first place and talking about how they can take the next step, not blowing the entire thing up.

How do you read this line from the piece:

Raleigh should be accountable for his performance and his leadership. He should not have to answer for the entire franchise.

and come up with this based on it?

But believe that a guy that hit like Johnny Bench turns into Johnny Utah in one season has no effect on the team is also stupid.

[D-train]

The hitting philosophy is the root of the problem and that starts from the top. This has been an issue for many years under Dipoto. 8-34 when they don't hit a HR. Under the current system and leadership, the Mariners are not a team that has been good, or even adequate at manufacturing runs. They're abysmal, and fundamentally inept. They're the most boring team in the league.

Yes, the players have underperformed almost to a man. But the real problem runs much deeper. Dipoto, Hollander, and Dan must go, and Stanton needs to bring someone in who preaches fundamentals of the game, and not just a swing-from-your-heels approach we currently see and have seen for years under this leadership.

This year is lost. Too late to fix it now. But in the offseason, there needs to be a house cleaning, a whole new philosophy established, and a far more balanced roster.

They drew 116k fans to T Mobile this past weekend so I can assure you Stanton disagrees regarding a house cleaning. Everything is going just according to plan....

[Michael K.]

I don't think anyone gets a free pass. But believe that a guy that hit like Johnny Bench turns into Johnny Utah in one season has no effect on the team is also stupid. They paid J Rod, Naylor and Cal and went out and got Donovan. They all suck. If they didn't suck, would we be having this discussion? Please remember back to when they went and got Donovan, to when they signed Naylor, to when they extended Cal and J-Rod. I don't remember too many people in here saying it was the wrong move.

They needed to do more than just keep Naylor and add Donovan, no questions asked. But if those four weren't fucking horrible this year? We are in first place and talking about how they can take the next step, not blowing the entire thing up.

How do you read this line from the piece:

Raleigh should be accountable for his performance and his leadership. He should not have to answer for the entire franchise.

and come up with this based on it?

But believe that a guy that hit like Johnny Bench turns into Johnny Utah in one season has no effect on the team is also stupid.

Maybe it was the part that Cal Raleigh can't be held accountable for broken offense and being a human shield part?

Spends paragraphs blaming the guys adding the players and a sentence blaming the players. These guys are absolutely terrible at their job, and many many MANY people basically blame them third, behind the guy that chose to sign them and the guy that writes their name in the lineup. It's ridiculous.