Brett Christopherson column: Mariners may lose out if Rattlers keep losing
There are plenty of ways to say, "I'm sorry." But perhaps none is as effective as what the Seattle Mariners pulled late last week when they sent pitchers Sean White and Cha Seung Baek to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers for a pair of rehab assignments.
"I'm not making amends for anything," Mariners special assistant to the general manager/player personnel John Boles said on Friday during a visit to Fox Cities Stadium. "I'm just here as a representative of the Seattle Mariners."
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"It's a new regime," Boles said when asked why Seattle sent White and Baek to Wisconsin. "We're very appreciative of being here and being affiliated with the Timber Rattlers. We'd certainly love it to continue. This is the crown jewel of our minor league system."
Said Rattlers president Rob Zerjav: "It's flattering to hear they think so highly of us. We do our best to do anything and everything to make them feel comfortable here. … They didn't have to send those pitchers here. It was a very nice gesture on their part."
The Rattlers have acted as Seattle's low Class A Midwest League affiliate since 1993 and are on tap to do so again in 2008. But beyond that, it's anyone's guess as to the direction the Wisconsin front office and its board of directors intend to take.
Do they sign another player development contract with the Mariners, an organization that hasn't brought a whole lot of winning to [Time Warner Field at] Fox Cities Stadium lately? Or do they cut ties and look elsewhere?
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"When you're talking about a minor league team, there are three factors that come into play on how you do from a business standpoint," Zerjav said. "One of those is the players on the field, one is weather and the other is the promotions and the fun we put into it. The only one we can control is the promotions. Obviously, not every team can win, and you have years where the team isn't as good. But yeah, it would be nice to see us win again and be in the playoffs."
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"Change for the sake of change isn't always good," Zerjav said. "We're familiar with the Mariners. But we have a business to run here, too. If the product is causing fans to say, 'We don't want to come out here,' then we have to look at that, too. I think the Mariners realize that.""I do know that we've had some disappointing seasons as far as the fans are concerned from a won-loss standpoint, and I can tell you that's going to get better," Boles said. "Without selling my soul, I'm going to do everything that I personally can as one representative of the Seattle organization to assure the front office here, assure the board of directors and anyone else, that I am cognizant of the disappointments, and I'm going to do what can be done to rectify it."
Read it all at the link.
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