A closer look at the Michael Saunders situation

Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik says he was not singling out outfielder Michael Saunders during his end-of-the-season press conference.

BY SHANNON DRAYER

Oct 9, 2014, 6:52 PM Updated: Oct 10, 2014, 10:28 am

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Michael Saunders appears to have been blindsided by remarks from Jack Zduriencik and Lloyd McClendon. (AP)

(AP)

At the Mariners’ end-of-the-year press conference, general manager Jack Zduriencik and skipper Lloyd McClendon said they believed there was more that outfielder Michael Saunders could do to prepare for the physical demands of a 162-game season.

“Like any other player it is up to Michael,” Zduriencik said. “The thing with Michael is trying to keep him on the field for the amount of time you would like to have him. I think what Michael has to do and has to answer to himself is: How do I prepare myself to play as many games through 162 as I can possibly play without being set back with injuries? Some are freak injuries, some just happen, but some of these things need to be handled from a maintenance standpoint where he puts himself in a position to be able compete through the course of a season.”

This and similar comments made by McClendon raised some eyebrows in the room. Just over a week later, a bit of a stir has been caused with Saunders’ agent reaching out to a number of media members, addressing the topic and questioning the amount of playing time his client got in 2014.

At the time I found the comments by Zduriencik and McClendon to be a little surprising as this was the first I had heard of this concern. My thought was that I have no question Saunders works hard, and I doubt the Mariners do, either. He’s driven to do so, in fact.

But was there the possibility that his focus was not in the right area, on the right work in the offseason? Sure.
They want him in the weight room more? Okay. Not the first time we have heard that. The same was said of Justin Smoak and Dustin Ackley a couple of years ago. Heck, that was said of Austin Jackson in the same press conference.

To me, it was an interesting comment and really not a huge deal.

I don’t believe it was intended to be. For those who think there is motivation behind the comments to give the Mariners a leg up in arbitration, that’s highly unlikely. Arbitration is never won or lost in the media. Motivation for the player or a calling out? I doubt it. Zduriencik and McClendon were asked the question. They answered it.

“Every single player has issues and things they need to work on,” Zduriencik said in a phone interview Thursday. “If I had been asked about other players I would have given forward answers about them.”

Zduriencik and McClendon have been very forward in their answers about numerous players this year. Zduriencik didn’t hold back when expressing his disappointment in Jesus Montero this spring. McClendon has had sharp comments to the media about a number of players this season, including Erasmo Ramirez, Taijuan Walker, Logan Morrison and to a lesser extent Kyle Seager. While this may be a bit of a departure from what we heard from previous managers, I saw no harm in what I have always called the “push” from McClendon as long as the conversation was had with the player first.

This was a little more difficult in Saunders’ case as end-of-the-year meetings or exit interviews had not yet occurred. In previous years, those happened in the last few days of the season. This year, the Mariners were busy right up until the end.

“One thing we really wanted to do is sit down together for several players, but then you are in it and you can’t worry about 2015,” Zduriencik said. “You have to worry about the next pitcher. Unfortunately – or fortunately, actually – we were in it and we couldn’t do it then.”

The Mariners have had very thorough end-of-the-year meetings with players in recent years and McClendon mentioned at the press conference that he would be meeting with players or talking to them on the phone in the coming weeks. Both he and Zduriencik addressed the team on the final day with the message that there was a lot to be done in the offseason.

“Every single one of them needs to figure out how to stay on the field longer, how to do more,” he said. “Ask the question: What do I need to do? Is it my strength? Is it my conditioning? My eyes? The mental side of the game? Who can I talk to? That’s what every player should do. The message is for everyone.”

“They hear it all year long,” he continued. “They are with coaches, trainers, different people. Each player goes home with information from (strength coach) James Clifford, who also will go meet with players. There is discussion, there will be meetings, phone calls, this is what you need to do. We follow up.

“Everyone has to build on what they have done because no one is perfect.”

Whatever the intent of the comments, what is important now is what the player is thinking. Saunders is a hard worker and a fierce competitor. If he took the comments to mean that he knowingly was not doing enough, there is no doubt he would be highly offended. If there was a misunderstanding, that should be communicated if it hasn’t been already. Whatever the intent, why Saunders appears to have felt blindsided by this needs to be examined.

As for the playing-time issue, it’s not one that I addressed with Zdruiencik because the writing on the wall has been there from day one. It is a question that many fans have had and I think it is worth going back and taking a look at the specifics.

Personally, I would have liked to have seen more of Saunders in the lineup, especially in September. I wrote about this and talked about it on the air. While it seemed that McClendon was staying away from him at the end, on closer examination, he was sticking with what had done all season. Again, I personally didn’t like that call, but it was consistent.

When I arrived in Peoria, Ariz. last February, it became apparent very early that a change was in store for Saunders. He was working out with the corner outfielders and we never saw him take reps in center during drills. This wasn’t terribly surprising as the Mariners had to improve their outfield defense, and one way to do that was to move Saunders from center to a corner spot. I talked to several people within the organization about this during the spring and without explicitly saying so, they appeared to be the thinking that.

Two statements by McClendon made the picture a little more interesting.

On Feb. 19, he said that in a “perfect world, best-case scenario” Corey Hart would play 145 games in the outfield. An outrageous yet qualified statement, no doubt, but that accompanied by the fact that Hart was working out daily with the outfielders left the impression that he would get a decent amount of time in the field, for better or worse.

Two days later, another big statement from McClendon: Ackley would play left field and only left field. If Saunders was not in center, Ackley was in left and Hart at that point was hopefully going to get a good amount of time in right, where was Saunders going to play?

My point is this: It was clear from the get-go that Saunders would not be an everyday player. It became even more clear as Abraham Almonte was inked into the starting lineup in center during Cactus-League play. He would become a part of a platoon in right with Stefen Romero, whom the club wanted to see more of.

The Mariners played 25 games in March/April, 14 of which were against right-handed starters. Saunders got nine of the starts in right field against righties and one start against a left-hander. Of the five starts against righties Saunders did not get, one game he was an injury replacement in the first inning. Another game was in a National League park and Hart – who at the time was the full-time designated hitter – got the start. Another one was on a day where Robinson Cano was the DH and again Hart got the start. Another one was when Nick Franklin was given a look in right and one start went to Logan Morrison. Saunders, who in most cases was an immediate replacement once a righty reliever was brought in, was very much in the mix, but there was a mix. A large mix.

The Mariners had an opportunity to go with more of Saunders when the Almonte experiment fizzled, but they instead chose to take a look at James Jones, who took over center field May 5. Jones survived/put up decent numbers for the better part of two months before the wheels came off in July, ironically enough right around the same time Saunders strained his oblique. When Saunders returned on Sept. 8, he was put right back in the platoon role and started all games against righties with the exception of two, when Endy Chavez and Jones each got a start.

There were plenty of questions on the blog, Twitter and other avenues about why Saunders was not playing, many coming to the conclusion that McClendon just didn’t like him. I don’t think that was the case. Would you say the same for Chavez, who started just four games after Sept. 6?

I was assured he was completely healthy yet he all but disappeared. It was all about getting right-handed bats into the lineup and unfortunately that did not pay off.

I have yet to run the numbers but it would appear the Mariners did better against left-handed pitching with left-handed bats than they did with their second-half right-handed lineup. You can fault the manager for strategy on that one, but to say he didn’t like certain players is a stretch. One has to wonder what would have happened if the deadline additions (and pre-deadline additions – yes, we are looking at you, Kendrys Morales) had come through, or had simply not been made.

We would have seen more Saunders, once healthy, and that probably would have been a good thing.