Yes, it's late

A few days ago -- give me a break, I've been busy -- there was a major change at the top of the old parent club with the hiring of a front office member of the new parent club.

M's hire Brewers' Jack Zduriencik as GM

Jack Zduriencik, credited with turning the Milwaukee Brewers from also-rans to a playoff team, was named the Mariners' new general manager Wednesday.

Zduriencik, 57, has been in the Brewers' organization for nine years, serving as their vice president and special assistant to the general manager for player personnel since January 2008.

He had headed the Brewers' scouting department since being hired on Oct. 25, 1999, and is responsible for drafting the core of the NL's wild-card team, including Prince Fielder, J.J. Hardy, Ryan Braun, Corey Hart and Rickie Weeks. Another of his draftees, outfielder Matt LaPorta, was used as a trade chip to acquire Cleveland's C.C. Sabathia, who led their playoff run.

Zduriencik (pronounced zur-EN-sik) will be introduced at a news conference on Friday, an off-day in the World Series. Teams need special permission from the commissioner to make major announcements during the World Series.

That press conference will be at the Mariner website at noon CDT.

What does this mean to the Timber Rattlers? Well, if you look at this list, Zduriencik had a hand in drafting all of these players. Some or most of those players like:

Name	Pos	B/T	Ht	Wt	DOB	Round	Pick #	Signed
Brett R Lawrie	C	R / R	5'11"	200	1990-01-18	1	16	8/05/08
Jacob Odorizzi	RHP	R / R	6'02"	175	1990-03-27	Comp A	32	6/20/08
Evan S Frederickson	LHP	L / L	6'06"	238	1986-09-23	Comp A	35	6/8/08
Seth T Lintz	RHP	R / R	6'01"	170	1990-02-07	2	53	7/08/08
Cutter K Dykstra	CF	R / R	5'11"	180	1989-06-29	2	54	6/7/08
Thomas C Adams	RHP	R / R	6'02"	180	1986-11-26	2	62	6/13/08
Logan E Schafer	CF	L / L	6'01"	170	1986-09-08	3	94	6/14/08
Joshua M Romanski	LHP	L / L	5'11"	180	1986-10-18	4	128	6/8/08
Maverick A Lasker	RHP	R / R	6'02"	190	1990-02-17	5	158	6/5/08
Jose O Duran	SS	R / R	5'11"	190	1986-11-27	6	188	6/11/08

...will be Timber Rattlers at some point in their career. Thank you, Jack Z.

Regarding the future: This will make the Timber Rattler-Clinton LumberKing games even more interesting than they were already stacking up to be.

To the reaction!

Jeff at Lookout Landing has the type of response that is going to keep me going back to that site. Just look at the title: And The New GM Of The Seattle Mariners Is None Other Than Dr. Zoinks

Dave at USS Mariner has this post: Welcome To The Zduriencik Era

The M’s have chosen Jack Zduriencik as their new GM. Despite the fact that he’s the oldest of the candidates interviewed and comes with a scouting background, do not assume that this is just more of the same. Zduriencik has been the best regarded scouting director in baseball for the last few years, and the work he did in building the Brewers through the draft was legendary. If you want to know why the Brewers were in the playoffs this year, it’s because Zduriencik hit home run after home run in the draft. This is a good hire.

Now, Jack Z isn’t exactly the new school analytical type we were all hoping for. His strengths are all scouting based, and he won’t be the kind of guy to come in and turn the Mariners into the next Oakland/Cleveland/Boston/Tampa Bay. With Engle, Fontaine, and now Zduriencik, the Mariners are clearly going to try to win with the Atlanta/Minnesota/Anaheim method of just outscouting everyone else on earth and developing so much good talent from within that they can’t help but be competitive.

Also at USS Mariner, check out this post, titled Thoughts from Milwaukee. Dave published -- with permission -- an e-mail he received from Patrick Ebert at Brewerfan.net. I'll just share the end of the letter:

I hate to see him go, but no one in baseball deserves this appointment more than Jack Zduriencik, a true baseball man and one, if given the proper support, should do wonders in turning your organization around.

And don’t expect him to draft a college reliever in the first round.

Jay of Mariner Minors has a few views on Zduriencik in a post titled, um, A Few Views on Zduriencik

Many out there have looked at the superficial qualities of the most recent Mariner hiring and seen too many similarities to inspire confidence. The front office has hired another aging, balding, white guy with an old school methodology, a rolodex of similar contacts, and a scouting background, and much as someone suffering from post traumatic stress may cringe or dive for cover at a car backfiring as though it were a gunshot.

As usual, Jay goes a bit deeper than the superficial and has this conclusion:

The best organizations acknowledge that they have to utilize all the tools at their disposal. Zduriencik may be one who recognizes this as well, despite having a background in the same school that has brought the organization mixed results in the past. Condemning him immediately on guilt by association would be foolish, particularly when he hasn't even had his press conference yet.

That will be in a few hours.

I may dig around the reaction from the Brewer blogs later today. But, I'm off today and I think I'm either going to take a nap or watch Ironside.