With Mariners’ disappointing season winding down, focus turns to Jack Zduriencik’s fate

The Mariners are approaching the end of their seventh season without a playoff berth under Jack Zduriencik. (AP)

Most of a Seattle fan’s focus tonight will be on the Seahawks’ game in Kansas City, not the Mariners’ game against the White Sox at Safeco Field. That’s not news to anyone. It’s late August, the Seahawks are gearing up for another Super Bowl run while the Mariners are playing out another disappointing season.

But in March, when the Mariners were picked by several national baseball writers to go to the World Series, you would have thought that an August matchup between Chris Sale and Felix Hernandez would have Safeco Field buzzing. As it is, if you’re buzzed tonight, you’re probably in “The Pen” and not even paying attention to the game like most everyone else.

Drayer: Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik keeps focus forward, not on rumors

Friday’s Seattle Times poll asked, “What is the best reason to keep watching the Mariners?” Thirty-one percent said: “I like baseball,” 13 percent said to watch Nelson Cruz hit home runs, 8 percent said to watch young prospects like Ketel Marte and 4 percent said to watch Felix. But the runaway winner? Forty-three percent said “I’ve quit watching.”

It’s understandable. The Mariners have been mostly bad all season long, and if not bad, then discouraging and frustrating at the very least. In a weird way, I’m proud of my kids. Mikey and Stevie continue to hang in there, watching every game. As recently as last night, they both asked me what time the Mariners play tonight, and I’m sure we’ll be in the Cougar room watching them once the Seahawks’ game ends around 8 o’clock.

You’ve seen what happened this year, and general manager Jack Zduriencik touched on many of the reasons Thursday when he spoke to reporters. Bad early offense, bad relief pitching, underperforming players overall.

If you had been told that the top free-agent acquisition of the offseason, Nelson Cruz, was hitting .320 with 36 home runs and 75 RBIs on Aug. 21, you would have guessed the Mariners would be leading the American League West based on preseason projections.

But you know where they are, 56-65 with the third-worst record in the league, on a pace to flip-flop last year’s record of 87-75 and finish 75-87.

In so many words Thursday, Zduriencik made the case that it’s not really all his fault. He also supported manager Lloyd McClendon, saying, “I think what’s happened with Lloyd is we’ve had underperforming players. In a nutshell, that ties your hands. You’re a genius when you’ve got five starters throwing real well and your bullpen’s a locked-up bullpen. When that doesn’t happen, then it’s easy to point a finger and say, ‘Well, he didn’t do this or he didn’t do that.’ “

In hindsight, from this untrained baseball fan’s perspective, the Mariners should have focused on acquiring players that were better fits for their spacious ballpark. They’ve done a good job with pitchers, but they need faster position players and gap-hitters who can get on base and play better defense to give more support to the solid pitching.

I confess to wanting more power and now admit to being wrong. But as I’ve mentioned before, I’m just a guy who says stuff on the radio and writes stuff for this website. I’m not responsible for the Mariners’ mess.

Zduriencik and McClendon are. I’m not a McClendon fan. I don’t like the constant lineup changes, and I feel like he’s a stronger supporter of some players than others, and frequently the reasons are unclear. I still don’t get how he handled Justin Ruggiano, though it’s not as if a more productive Ruggiano would have made that much of a difference this season anyway.

You can say that McClendon is the same guy who coaxed 87 wins out of this team last year so maybe he deserves to keep his job. I could be swayed to your side on that one, albeit reluctantly.

But with Zduriencik, what are you supposed to do with him? He’s been the GM for seven years and is 0 for 7 in playoff appearances, and the team seems no closer to ending that drought than it was when he got here. Many wonder why he still has his job if he’s not going to be the GM next year, which prompts speculation that maybe the Mariners will keep him.

On a personal level, I love him, he’s always been great to me, and I feel bad for him. Can you imagine pouring your heart and soul into something and not having it work out? But it doesn’t matter what your line of work is, if you fall short of expectations, you’ll be replaced by someone else.

Even if the Mariners think they’re close enough to turn it around in year eight with Zduriencik, that would be a tough sell. What could you possibly have as your slogan next year? We all want to stay “True to the Blue,” but that would push even the most loyal fans’ limits.

If I had responded to The Times poll, I would have split my vote between wanting to watch Jesus Montero and wanting to see how it all unfolds with the fate of Jack Zduriencik.