Seattle Mariners News: Is Jack Zduriencik Killing Potential Deals?

Can the Seattle Mariners get a deal down under Jack Zduriencik’s watch this season? Not according to this story.

According to the story, Zduriencik has been a frustrating general manager to work with in terms of trades. Based on the testimony of anonymous executives, Zduriencik will discuss a deal and then essentially get sidetracked without finishing the swap.

There have been whispers about Zduriencik in the past, as former staff members have suggested that he doens’t really have the ability to understand the intricacies of player evaluation. In addition, it has also been suggested that Zduriencik will suggest deals that are extremely unbalanced.

The challenge with these types of stories is that we may never know the truth. Zduriencik did respond to the Fox Sports story, suggesting that this is just how business gets done. Granted, one would assume that he is not going to come out and say, “Yeah, I’m probably unreasonable in my negotiating tactics.”

Obviously it is easy for fans to sit back and tell the GM how to do their job. After all, it isn’t our reputation on the line. This is not an easy position and making trades takes some guts.

If you don’t make trades, you get criticized for standing pat. If you do make trades and they turn out to be a bust down the road, you get slammed for not having the proper foresight.

In Zduriencik’s defense, the crop of reportedly available bats is not exactly enticing. If a deal does not get done by the deadline, it may be because the team truthfully wouldn’t be much better with an over-the-hill hitter who is making too much money.

Then again, there is the possibility that decent deals have been proposed and Mr. Zduriencik is just unable to make a decision. Fans have to hope that Zduriencik is being wise, and not a difficult trading partner.