THAT BAD CANO DEAL GOT ZDURIENCIK FIRED

This is pure speculation, but at the time, when the Mariners wow'ed Jay-Z and Robinson Cano with alot of money, the idea that Cano would come to Seattle, make the city love him and bring Seattle to a championship was in the air.  In New York, we couldn't believe it, and Cano became the selfish enemy to many in the Bronx.  That deal however, orchestrated by former Mariners General Manager Jack Zduriencik, now looks like the worst free agent signing in Seattle history right now.  Why? Because big boy Cano is batting .278 with 14 home runs and 87 strikeouts and it's only August.  He's lost. This is a player that used to be a .300 hitter and leader.  Now he's just one of the regular players.

News broke today that the Mariners have fired Zduriencik and there is no official reason why. Well, let me rephrase. Obviously he didn't do a good job, but more importantly, that Cano contract is worth $24 million a year until 2023.  Anyway, many have the story, but we'll go with Hardball Talk on this one:

"...the team simply never had any sustained success and many of Zduriencik’s moves were very questionable. He thrived at neither scouting nor analytics. Overall the Mariners went 505-595 (.459) with Zduriencik as GM, including just two winning seasons and zero playoff appearances."

Bottom line, he was horrible at his job, but one can speculate, that if Cano ends up going down in flames in Seattle, it will be that move that will determine Zduriencik's legacy.

Cashman's laughing his balls off right now.

You like this? Read these:
HEY ROBINSON CANO... 'NO EXCUSES'  
IS ROBINSON CANO LOST IN SEATTLE?

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WHY MICHAEL PINEDA JUST MISSED HIS SHOT

91 on the radar gun doesn't cut it. Michael Pineda had a huge opportunity to make a rotation spot tonight, but there is one thing wrong in my opinion with Michael Pineda's velocity... his mechanics...and now his confidence. There will be talk about this performance over the weekend when it's announced that he will start the season in AAA. Look, Pineda doesn't look good tonight, but it's something that the Yankees will fix, don't worry. One thing is clear though... pitching for the New York Yankees will be much different than pitching for the Seattle Mariners...that is evident.

There is groaning and anger right now on Twitter and I get it. Much like I suggested once the Montero for Pineda trade was complete, Yankee fans think about what could have been in Jesus Montero, not so much about what could be with Pineda.

Listen, don't worry... don't panic. It's not the end of the world right now and over time you will understand the meaning to the Yankees madness. They're not interested in Michael Pineda striking out 18 batters in April as much as they are in June, August, October and beyond, although if he were, that would be a bonus. This is a long term investment. This is a guy the Yankees see a future in, let's just hope Pineda can handle the pressures of New York, becomes confident and does well for himself. Otherwise we traded away AJ Burnett for well, an AJ Burnett...a good pitcher who may not be able to handle the New York scene.

We here at BYB believe that if a 23 year old Michael Pineda needed to go down to the minors to start the season, it wouldn’t exactly be the worst thing in the world, but Lord knows it would deflate his confidence a bit, considering he had a pretty damn good rookie season with the Mariners and showed up to Yankees camp early, ready to impress. I say some extra time for tweaking is never a bad thing. Look at Ivan Nova last year. Hell, look at all these professionals, they are always trying to fix something and get better.

Bottom line, Pineda will succeed... just not now. No, right now he needs to forget this outing, take his lumps and go improve. Otherwise, we won't see this kid in the Yankees rotation for a while.

You know who's laughing right now? Jack Zduriencik... the GM for the Seattle Mariners. You know who's not? Brian Cashman... but he will be soon... I promise.

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