Mariners Enter the Aughts
by admin on Saturday, January 29th, 2005 at 03:07pm
Seems that the Mariners finally have a “numbers guy” (read: Bill James devotee SABRrat) to kick around stats and think about players value relative to the tides and rotation of the planets. His name is Mat Olkin and The Seattle Times talks all about him.
“He is baseball-obsessive enough to have gotten a law degree from Pace University in White Plains, N.Y., for the sole purpose of furthering his goal of becoming a baseball GM. That hasn’t worked out, but now he’s in a position to influence the Mariners’ GM.
“He thinks outside the box, and that’s what you’re looking for,” Bavasi said. “Group think is good, and I believe in that, but when you all have similar backgrounds, at some point it’s like me banging my head against the wall. It’s like, ‘I need some other thought here.’ That’s where this comes up.”
Dear sweet Lord. Banging your head against a wall? That’s been the feeling in the Mariners front office for awhile? Hmmm it does explain trading Freddy Garcia last season for magic beans.