In news obscured by the thrilling conclusion to the U.S. Open and sandwiched between the hype that is the NBA Finals, Bill Bavasi got fired for his failure to produce winners as the general manager of the Seattle Mariners. Bavasi assembled a Mariners team that is falling well short of expectations, as many picked Seattle to win the AL West, and is underperforming in many facets of the game. This shouldn’t really come as a surprise; since becoming GM in 2004, Bavasi has produced one team over .500, last year’s 88-74, and no playoff berths.
At the time of his firing, Bavasi’s Mariners were 24-46 and 17½ games behind the division-leading Angels. Both their record and divisional deficit are major league worsts, besting such doormats as Kansas City (28-42, 10½ GB), Washington (29-42, 12½ GB) and Baltimore (34-34, only 7½ GB). Seattle’s awful record, combined with its whopping $116.9 million payroll, meant someone needed to take a hit. And with it being unwise to fire expensive busts such Adrian Beltre, Richie Sexson and Erik Bedard, Bavasi lost his job.
Bavasi is the second casualty this season, behind Wayne Krivsky’s ousting as GM of Cincinnati. But more management persons, both big and small, figure to be receiving pink slips this summer. Already on the hot seat is Mets manager Willie Randolph, whose slow start this year has yet to erase the bitter taste of last September’s epic collapse. Other likely candidates are Toronto manager John Gibbons, Houston GM Ed Wade and maybe even Seattle manager John McLaren.
I am tentative about including a Dodger higher-up on this list, but each passing loss makes it more difficult to do so. The frustration of losing makes me, along with other fans I’m sure, demand to see some accountability. Why is this team playing so poorly, sitting at seven games under .500, and more importantly, why are we letting them off so easy? I think we’re giving the team a free pass for four reasons:
1. The Lakers are in the NBA Finals
The main story in these parts is the Lakers playing the Celtics for the NBA title. A week after the Lakers are done, win or lose, the Dodgers will be the story of the summer again. Unless the Avengers make the playoffs, that is.
2. Joe Torre
The Dodgers fired their last manager, Grady Little, after a late-season collapse that was in part due to something beyond his control (see below). They brought in Torre, recently fired from the Yankees, to help get the team over the hump. But so far they’re stuck in neutral and drifting into reverse, with the Dodgers getting closer to San Francisco in third place than to Arizona in first. Yet Torre seems untouchable. Why? Part of it is because he appears so relaxed and collected; part of it is his reputation of being a winner; and part of it is that the Dodgers just signed him to a lucrative three-year deal. However, the bottom line is that people aren’t panicking about the Dodgers yet because they believe Torre has some magic up his sleeve that’ll fix everything. Let’s hope they’re right, even if I don’t think they are.
3. Injuries
The excuse, the big explanation and the big wild card. The numerous injuries to Andruw Jones, Yhency Brazoban, Jason Schmidt, Nomar Garciaparra, Tony Abreu and, especially, Rafael Furcal have really set the Dodgers back. However, aren’t other teams dealing with injuries too? Most of the NL West have also been nicked up; in order from most injured to least, it’s probably Rockies, Dodgers, Padres, Giants and Diamondbacks. But big contributors are out everywhere—Pujols, A-Rod, Soriano, Peavy and Big Papi, among others, have all spent time on the DL.
Furcal seems to be the key to everything: the Dodger offense, the Dodger defense, the Dodger won-loss record, the Dodger relief pitching, the Dodger uniform cleanliness, everything. He still leads the team in runs, and he’s missed more than a month. People are pointing to his return as if it were the second coming of Pete Rose. Yet Grady Little, when losing Furcal during last year’s stretch run, lost a playoff spot and then his job. Are we still to assume that everything will be hunky-dory if Furcal comes back very late, or a little hampered, or even not at all?
4. The Return of the NL Worst
The biggest reason people are giving the Dodgers a free pass. The Dodgers record of 31-38 would be last or second-to-last in every other division, but in the NL West the Dodgers are sitting pretty in second. Better yet, Arizona has struggled too, failing to run away with the division, and the Giants, Padres and Rockies are all stuck in mediocrity too. So long as the division remains for the taking, everyone will be safe, management included.
Regardless, it’s not a good feeling when the team is doing poorly and no one is claiming responsibility. The bottom line is that the team is not winning, and therefore someone needs to own up to the mistakes. In all likelihood, someone should be paying for the failures of the $118 million payroll. For all the money that fans are paying for tickets these days, accountability is the least we can expect.
NOTE: In the three days since this article was written both McLaren and Randolph were fired as managers of the Mariners and Mets, respectively. Unless this triggers a firing sale across baseball, which I don't think will happen, this is likely the last I will write about it. So this picture includes both Bavasi and McLaren losing their jobs. 
