I feel like I've accidentally clicked the wrong link. I 've come for my morning dose of hope and I'm instead getting a bit of gloom and disparagement. It is the offseason no less with Spring coming and even the bulbs are brave enough to start raising their shoots in anticipation of a season green with opportunity. It is a season of hope.
Years back I wrote a comment here entitled "Jack Z is a Liar". And, boy, everyone jumped on me like I had impugned the honor and purity of 'that lady' (except you Jeff). But that wasn't how I meant it. I EXPECT our GM to be a liar and want him to be a better liar than the GM on the other side of the table. But most of all I want him to be carefull about who lies to and who he treats with a relationship where trust is sacrosanct. My gripe with Jack Z. in that post from long ago was that I perceived him as to having lied to a young prospect. As far as I can tell, Jerry has been straight and fair with his minor league talent. He can lie as much as he wants to me and the rest of the Mariners fans as far as I'm concerned. He is just trying to sell me a ticket not a Tesla. I will try not hating him for being so darn slick and handsome, and just hope that he knows what he is doing.
So what is his possible strategy to winning beyond arrogance and delusion? He is not going to tear down and rebuild which he may now view as an overwrought competition. Does he really think he can out-trade other teams? No supercomputer, no huge highly paid think tank behind him, and he ain't no Billie Beane, a mind ahead of its time.
But, let me ask you this folks, as you know baseball and me not so much, how does this sound as a strategy:
Keep a longterm perspective, know your fundamentals, recognize changes to the environment, look for value, and be ready to seize opportunities. And if you keep yourself in the mix and team health and momentum go your way, magic can happen at the end of a season.
This strategy can work pretty well for a guy in the stock market, would it be acceptable to have a GM with the same simple philosophy?