Aug. 27: Jack Zduriencik joins the show
Aug 27, 2010, 5:49 PM | Updated: Apr 4, 2011, 7:55 pm
Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik joined “The Kevin Calabro Show” this afternoon, and one of the first things he addressed was the team’s criteria in their search for a new manager.
“I think the one thing we are going to look for is, initially, someone with experience,” Zduriencik said, adding: “I’m not going to say that’s going to be the only criteria, because it will not be, but I think it would be important to have someone that has a good track record, someone that has managerial experience.”
When asked if this meant that Lou Piniella could be getting a call, Zduriencik gave a pretty standard, and expected, “no comment.”
But Zduriencik did open up a little when asked about the progress of a few of the team’s top prospects, including last year’s second overall pick, Dustin Ackley.
“I don’t think [Ackley’s] major league ready right now,” he said. “You’ve gotta realize that it’s just been slightly over a year that this kid signed, and then he switched positions. And he struggled early on in AA, and now he’s playing very well in AAA. … [but] to say that he’s major league ready, I think it’s awfully quick.”
Whether or not he’s ready, it’s still possible that we could see Ackley, among others, in a Mariners uniform when the team announces their September call-ups.
Finally, we had to ask Jackie Z about Felix Hernandez, and whether or not he felt that he deserved to be in the conversation for this year’s Cy Young award.
King Felix currently leads all of baseball with 192 strikeouts, and ranks third in the American League with a 2.47 ERA. But the statistic that isn’t helping his cause is his 10-10 win-loss record, which is mostly a result of the lack of support Hernandez has received this year.
According to Zduriencik, however, it won’t always be that way for Felix.
“It’s unfortunate that he hasn’t had the support,” he said, “but he’s gonna get it. As we move forward, Felix is gonna get his Cy Young, because he’s gonna have a club around him that eventually is going to support him and he’s gonna continue to do what he’s doing. He’s a very special talent.”
Click here to listen to the entire interview with Jack Zduriencik
