Jeff's note: being that I'm flying out tonight, don't expect much in the way of new content for a little while.
Spots are filling up fast, faster than I thought they would. We're down to 75 or so spots left, so I wouldn't dally any further if you are planning on coming but haven't signed up yet.
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The library will be providing coupons at the event for $5 parking if you park in the garage. So, if you’re driving to the event and don’t know where to park, you can park there for $5. The garage is on Spring St between 4th and 5th.
Also, while there’s going to be an open Q&A where you guys get to fire questions at our guests, Derek and the LL boys are going to be asking some questions as well that they feel will be of interest to everyone. If you leave a question in the comments, they will pick what they feel are the best ones, and those will get asked tomorrow.
And, for those who don’t know, here’s a short bio of each of our guests for tomorrow:
Tony Blengino: Asst. GM, head of Department of Baseball Research. Jack’s right-hand guy, member of SABR, heavily involved with pushing the organization forward in the use of statistical analysis and technology, the guy who hired Tango. Came with Zduriencik from Milwaukee.
Tom McNamara: Director of Amateur Scouting. The guy in charge of the amateur draft and all the scouting related to draft-eligible prospects for the organization. Came with Zduriencik from Milwaukee.
Carmen Fusco: Director of Pro Scouting. The guy in charge of the team’s scouting of professional players, from the minor leagues all the way up through the majors. Ran his own academy in Pennsylvania after leaving the Mets in 2002, where he’d worked as scouting director and Asst. GM. Played college ball with Zduriencik at Austin Peay.
0 recs | 115 comments
Will anyone be taking video of the event?
If I were in Seattle, I would love to go, but getting there would require a flight.
abender20 - January 6, 2009
No
Jeff Sullivan - January 6, 2009
Because you can't or because you aren't?
Corco - January 6, 2009
Probably because you get better answers from people if those answers are off the record.
Faux - January 6, 2009
then they can't
and that’s fine
Corco - January 6, 2009
That seems like it would be a silly idea on many levels.
Kirsten Schlewitz - January 6, 2009
But...I would love to watch a grainy video of someone asking if we're going to keep "funk blast."
Omerta - January 6, 2009
This isn't FanFest
Jeff Sullivan - January 6, 2009
Blegino and McNamara probably wouldn't be the right guys to ask about that anyway.
I’ll save that one for the Mariner Moose.
Omerta - January 6, 2009
*Blengino
Omerta - January 6, 2009
Let's just make sure that if anybody asks dumb questions they introduce themselves as from USSM
Robert - January 6, 2009
I'll just introduce myself as Mr. X from the PI blog when I raise my hand.
Omerta - January 6, 2009
I can't believe the questions aren't pre-screened.
JI - January 6, 2009
They were at the ones hosted elusively by USSM
Robert - January 6, 2009
I'm trying to figure out if this word means what you think it means.
Kirsten Schlewitz - January 6, 2009
I don't even notice things anymore
JI - January 6, 2009
It's funnier his way.
Kirsten Schlewitz - January 6, 2009
I had to sell one of my kidneys to attend that one
Robert - January 6, 2009
You got a bad price
If you hook me up with other kidney, I think I can get you about 5 grand.
johnbai - January 6, 2009
You would be a idiot to pay 5 grand for one of my kidneys
Robert - January 6, 2009
I'm just going to sell it to a Russian
trust me, your kidney is in better shape than his.
johnbai - January 6, 2009
Fuck you
we don’t need kidneys we are stronger than nature
Bearskin Rugburn - January 8, 2009
Sign up for some face time with the sexy people
Jeff Sullivan - January 6, 2009
Been there, done that.
JI - January 6, 2009
It was more like elbow height time in your case
Robert - January 6, 2009
We were sitting down most of the time
JI - January 6, 2009
I think I did already.
Kirsten Schlewitz - January 6, 2009
Of course Jeff wasn't there, but then again we were plotting to overthrow him.
JI - January 6, 2009
Will you speak this time?
Mariner John - January 8, 2009
I heard he was planning on
staging a recreation of the 1995 one-game playoff with paper bag puppets, actually. Should be epic.
pdb - January 9, 2009
So...
Is your airplane fare covered yet Jefe?
johnbai - January 6, 2009
Yes
Jeff Sullivan - January 6, 2009
You can get two tickets for 17 grand now, right?
JI - January 6, 2009
1.7
JI - January 6, 2009
Fun looking at the list of names when you sign up
I just saw one of the organizers of my JCC softball league.
johnbai - January 6, 2009
Ok I signed up.
I promise not to ask any questions below the standard of our illustrious crowd. In all likelihood I will sit silently and bask in the stat-soaked goodness.
Omerta - January 6, 2009
+ another
Bringing my dad along.
Omerta - January 6, 2009
My eCheck cleared.
I’ll be there.
JY - January 6, 2009
Anyway we can pay in person?
Or would anyone be willing to e-pay for me and have them pay them back in cash at the event?
I’ve still got just over a month until my 18th birthday and I don’t think I can sign up for paypal while underage.
edddgar - January 6, 2009
Yes.
“- If you don’t want to pay through Paypal for whatever reason email us and we’ll work something out.”
Send an e-mail to ussmariner AT gmail DOT com
Matthew - January 6, 2009
I'm assuming that was in the original post
Thanks, e-mail sent.
edddgar - January 6, 2009
Alright, you convinced me
I’m in. Money well spent, I’d say
tootthekazoo - January 6, 2009
So, for those of us with work/family/geographical issues
would it be possible for someone to bring a digi-recorder and either post the audio or a transcript of highlights? That would be much appreciated.
Bearskin Rugburn - January 8, 2009
I'm obviously in no way an official spokesperson, but I would imagine that the answer is no.
Getting organizational higher-ups to agree to speak candidly about the team would almost certainly require everything discussed at an event like this to be off the record.
Aaron Campeau - January 8, 2009
What AC said.
There will not be any recording of the event. It’s completely off the record.
Matthew - January 8, 2009
Fair enough
what I deserve for following an out of market team. Can I at least hope for a paraphrased ‘best of’ type post? Failing that, some subtle innuendo (such as “TB said they’re thinking of bringing in a DH, pending jury deliberation”)?
Bearskin Rugburn - January 8, 2009
We'll do a recap like after last June's event.
Matthew - January 8, 2009
Paint!
Kirsten Schlewitz - January 8, 2009
This would be better than an actual recap
seattlebruin - January 8, 2009
If Robert remembers everything, of course.
Kirsten Schlewitz - January 8, 2009
Have some faith
seattlebruin - January 8, 2009
So since the total is no longer an even number, does that mean someone is bringing a torso?
Aaron Campeau - January 8, 2009
siamese
Bearskin Rugburn - January 8, 2009
Still photos allowed?
If this is off the record, I have no intention of spilling anything, but might like to photo bits of the event…don’t mean to sound uninformed, I’ve never been to something like this before….
section331 - January 8, 2009
E-mail USSM to be sure.
Matthew - January 8, 2009
Thanks!
Will do!
section331 - January 8, 2009
Photos are fine
The guests aren’t a secret. Well, I guess the one we haven’t announced yet is (no, it’s not Z – he has a scheduling conflict and can’t attend), but pictures are fine. But, like Matthew said, we tell the guests that the conversations are off the record, and we won’t be recording them.
davidcameron - January 8, 2009
Thanks again.
I was unaware that there was a surprise guest – this gets better every day.
section331 - January 8, 2009
He's saying there -isn't- a surprise guest. It's Blengino and McNamara.
Hence, there’s no reason to bar people from taking photos. But what they say is another matter.
Teej - January 8, 2009
No, I am saying there is
Zduriencik apologized for not being able to make it, so he volunteered someone else we hadn’t even invited.
davidcameron - January 8, 2009
I'm bad at reading.
And sad that I can’t make it. Have fun, guys.
Teej - January 8, 2009
I can't go either
And I organized the thing.
davidcameron - January 8, 2009
Hah, I bet you will get an extensive recap though
Edgar for Pres - January 10, 2009
What a nice thing for him to do.
royalcurve - January 9, 2009
Indeed.
And whether the Bavasi regime or the Zduriencik regime, I’m impressed by Dave’s (and the rest of our beloved USSM and LL masters’) ability to get these types of guests every year. It makes me believe we all might escape our mothers’ basements someday.
Teej - January 10, 2009
Have fun y'all!
I’ll be attending my own session with Prospect Insider (Jason & I scheduled dinner together at my place several weeks before this was announced).
PositivePaul - January 8, 2009
Why not take Jason to this event?
And then go out for a nice steak dinner afterward?
Wilder. - January 8, 2009
It would be sunnier for all involved if you guys held one of these in San Diego =(
seattlebruin - January 8, 2009
And tickets would be 10x as expensive.
Graham MacAree - January 8, 2009
How about Oakland?
Those riots probably drove down all the prices if we go to the “right” parts
Edgar for Pres - January 10, 2009
We can see if Adam Jones is home in S.D. for the winter, and just go talk to him.
Teej - January 8, 2009
Well as it stands I might be there, that is if I can get out of town.
Big mudslides on most major roads/highways heading out of Aberdeen have made getting out of here difficult. I wasn’t even able to get to work tonight because the roads are closed off.
Goose - January 8, 2009
Re: Last minute details...
1) Were you to be in the M’s drafting position in 2006, and you had the 5th overall pick for the Mariners, and the draft order ahead of you were the same, and you were presented with Morrow, Lincecum, and Miller – knowing what was known at the time about these players (and, perhaps, the Mariners’ needs back then) who would you have chosen with that pick?
PositivePaul - January 9, 2009
They almost certainly won't answer that
MLB has pretty strict rules about tampering. You’re just not allowed to talk about players under contract to another club.
davidcameron - January 9, 2009
and it's not like they haven't already been asked that particular question
msb - January 9, 2009
Dave, if you're interested
I’d love to hear them discuss the market for defense – I’m trying to summarize my scattered musings on this from e-mail and from a comment at USSM, but it’s tough.
My sense is that the way the market values defense has changed radically in the past year – do you agree/disagree, Mr. Blengino? If so, why? Something like that.
marc w - January 9, 2009
I won't be attending
But I’ll make sure a defense question (or six) gets asked.
davidcameron - January 9, 2009
Well, there are defense questions
and there are market questions.
I need the two to overlap. Of course, neither of us will be there, but hey, maybe Matthew or Graham can ask something about this…
marc w - January 9, 2009
My question about defense would be re: positional adjustments
How many third basemen in the majors could play second base on an everyday basis?
JI - January 9, 2009
a question
How does the Mariner organization evaluate statistical metrics, e.g., how does the organization determine how much weight to give established statistics like on base percentage (OBP), and how does the organization decide whether or not to adopt newer statistics like ultimate zone rating (UZR)?
Thanks LL and USSM for soliciting questions.
two_hands - January 9, 2009
Questions regarding player development and draft.
Without trying to box them into a corner with my opinion of the current state of our minor league system, I’d like to hear what their vision of a healthy minor league system looks like, what they may change. How they feel about drafting high school players. How long before any changes they may make will impact the team at the professional level. Their general philosophy of player development.
Kermit. - January 9, 2009
Questions
1) Seeing how defense is now an important consideration, with the idea to move Lopez to first base, wouldn’t it be in the team’s best interest to trade him for some value and move Yuni to 2B? In simple terms, Lopez loses his value being moved to 1B. Why not trade him and see if Yuni can handle 2B?
2) When can we expect Yuni to be traded? (This one isn’t going to be asked and/or answered, but if one of you can work it in on the side in a personal conversation…)
3) Is Bedard healthy?
I’ve got a lot of specific questions regarding players, both at the major league and minor league levels. I think we all do. Try to get as much information possible about any and all players. I am sure they won’t be willing to answer many of the questions and I doubt they know enough about certain players anyway. However, outside of general philosophy, I would like to know more about specific details regarding the players and their feelings toward them. You’ll have to gauge their willingness, obviously. But whatever you can find out, that would be awesome.
Thanks and I look forward to the review of the event.
Wilder. - January 9, 2009
Minor league player development
A question I wanted asked:
Will the Mariners’ minor league player development philosophy change? If so how (e.g., away from contact and more emphasis on obp)?
BeltredNOT - January 9, 2009
Not sure how I would phrase this but
What is the organizations view towards pitching sabermetrics? Which SABR method is most likely to be implemented in player evaluation?
Have you heard of tRA? Can we interest you in checking it out?
mariners124m - January 10, 2009
I was refering to pitcher evaluation
with the second part of that question.
mariners124m - January 10, 2009
My questions - copied over from USSM
It’s probably too late to get these in, but …
1. Not to put you on the spot (!), but could you comment on the Mariners blogosphere and how the team views it? Are blogs like USS Mariner and Lookout Landing frequently read and respected, do they sometimes generate ideas, confirm ideas, or are members of the team too busy to read them?
2. When planning personnel moves, to what extent do you need to factor expected fan and media reaction into the move?
3. If you look at today’s team and farm system as a foundation upon which you can build a championship-caliber team, what do you think are the changes that still need to take place to make that happen?
4. Team chemistry is a controversial subject in the blogosphere. How do you view it? Is it important? Is it measurable? Do you need to consider chemistry when making personnel moves?
5. How do you expect Wakamatsu to differ from the last few Mariners managers?
6. What organizations in MLB do you most respect? Are you patterning your organization after any of them?
7. Can you describe how running a baseball team in 2009 is different from running a baseball team in 1999? Or 1989?
8. Is it important that a player be media- and fan-friendly? Is that part of the job description, and if so, how important is it?
Chris Hafner - January 10, 2009
All of these are great questions
I’d love to hear the answers to 1, 2, 4, and 6 the most, but all of these are great
mariners124m - January 10, 2009
These are awesome.
I hope one of the guys took a last look at this thread at the library.
Wilder. - January 10, 2009
More copied over from USSM - again, probably too late
How do you balance risk and reward when acquiring players in:
- the draft
- free agency
- trades
Does each path differ in that way?
—-
The book Moneyball painted a picture of stark disagreement between proponents of scouting and stats-based evaluation. Was that true then, and if so, is it still true now?
Chris Hafner - January 10, 2009
I can't wait for the recap.
I hope to God there is one.
brayden04 - January 10, 2009
Derek said he is working on one in the comments thread at USSM.
Recap subject to what could be said of course. Apparently someone stole or “accidentally” walked off with his notes.
appleshampoo - January 10, 2009
It could also have been the SPL folks cleaning
Or Graham.
DMZ - January 10, 2009
I blame those library bastards
they’re shifty.
pdb - January 10, 2009
Matthew seems like much more of a coattail rider
JI - January 11, 2009
That. Was. Awesome!
Goose - January 10, 2009
Agreed!
Stellar. I emailed thanks, too, but it deserves to be said again. I actually had a good time, and not everything discussed was over my head, which was nice. Excellently done.
section331 - January 10, 2009
Totally awesome
I love Tony Blengino, what a cool guy.
okdan - January 10, 2009
Yeah, seems like the kind of guy that would fit right in here and USSM.
Tom McNamara was pretty cool too. And hey did you know Carmen Fusco used to work for the Mets? You’d think he would of mentioned that little detail at some point during the whole thing.
Goose - January 10, 2009
we were all very civilized on the subject of Steve Phillips.
I hadn’t heard Grifol before, other than one time on the radio— also impressive.
msb - January 10, 2009
Maybe he is already here...
Edgar for Pres - January 10, 2009
Great event,
I especially enjoyed seeing Derek scolding/threatening the M’s intern and calling on Jeff hoping he would speak up only to see him shake his head and wave his hands in the air.
aws - January 10, 2009
Yeah, that was the Felix pitch-mix thing
Pedro was talking about Felix’s progress this year and… yeah. Jeff = wuss.
DMZ - January 10, 2009
Like I have stones that big
Jeff Sullivan - January 12, 2009
That was an M's tech guy, btw
“Baseball Systems Coordinator”
DMZ - January 10, 2009
Thanks
I was in the back and didn’t quite catch who he was at the event. Just that he worked for the M’s and was taking notes.
You definitely had that “don’t mess it up for us” look in your eyes.
aws - January 10, 2009
The recap's up at USSM
DMZ - January 10, 2009
I'm never moving to Wyoming shortly before a feed again
That sounded awesome
Corco - January 10, 2009
So sad I missed this.
But DMZ’s recap is enough to send me through the roof with excitement. I’m still struggling to deal with all the optimism running through me.
GO MARINERS!
Teej - January 11, 2009
I don't want to fill myself with false hope...
but I’m very cautiously extremely excited about the future of this organization. God knows watching the 2001 team was fun; I eagerly look forward to summers watching my favorite nine be competitors again rather than sitting back and praying for Strasburg
seattlebruin - January 11, 2009
The panel was understandably diplomatic .
I thought it was fantastic the way they made an attempt to field every question in an intelligent manner, whether or not it was out of bounds.
Kermit. - January 11, 2009
"That’s Zach Tracy, he works for the Mariners."
Tom McNamara was pretty funny.
aws - January 11, 2009
dpseadvr?
You were there? Bummer, wish I would have known, could have put a face to name. (snowlion23 on mariners.com)
section331 - January 11, 2009
oops
Meant to reply to Kermit, my mistake – it’s late….
section331 - January 11, 2009
Argh! E-mail me please!
I really enjoyed your journal and pics, hopefully I can find a link through there? I’d say more but I’m already deep into LLLJ territory
Kermit. - January 11, 2009
Soooooooo great.
Thoroughly enjoyed the entire discussion. It was really neat seeing the blend of scout/stat on the panel and you could really begin to see how it would function together effectively. Was particularly impressed with Grifol and how he held forth on our player development.
All in all, a rare treat and I thank the USSM and LL crew for putting it together.
I am officially excited for the ’09 season.
Omerta - January 11, 2009
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