Mariners manager Eric Wedge delivers his own public performance review
Sep 26, 2013, 8:29 AM | Updated: 9:51 am
Seattle Mariners manager Eric Wedge, right, talks with general manager Jack Zduriencik before the team's baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels on Friday, Aug. 23, 2013, in Seattle. It is Wedge's first game back since a minor stroke. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)
(AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)
The Seattle Mariners – you remember them – our baseball team, have announced they’ll be bringing back General Manager Jack Zduriencik, but so far they’ve been silent about manager Eric Wedge. And that’s got reporters speculating.
“It doesn’t sound like Eric Wedge is coming back. The way Eric Wedge talked it doesn’t sound like he’s coming back,” Ryan Divish of the News Tribune told 710 ESPN Seattle on Wednesday. “I think he wants to come back. I think he believes he deserves to come back – but it sure doesn’t seem like he’s coming back.”
On Wednesday, Wedge met with the media and assessed his lame duck status. At one point it sounded like he was using the media to give management his own performance review.
“We came in here this year and it felt like we were going to do better. Things changed in a hurry […] whether it be performance or injury that’s a quick change in a some key positions. So we bring young kids up. So you take a step back and move two steps forward. That’s what we did,” said Wedge.
He even quipped that he hopes they’re not holding his mid-season stroke against him.
“I’m going to be better than I have ever have been. Evidently my brain wasn’t getting enough oxygen each and every night and I was working all day to catch up from it so I’m looking to be fueled and fired,” said Wedge. “I feel great.”
But he also seems to see the writing on the wall.
“I want to be here. I moved my family out here. I’m committed to the community. I’m all in. I haven’t done anything wrong except for (coming) out here and trying to coach up these kids and teach them how to play at the big league level. So if that’s not enough for them – then so be it.”
The Mariners have the day off Thursday and finish off their season with a series at home against Oakland. The A’s have won 94 games so far this season while spending $60,664,500 on payroll. The Mariners have lost 89 games this year while spending $72,031,143.
Needless to say, one hopes these young players, most acquired by GM Jack Zduriencik, take a large step forward next year.
KIRO Radio’s Owen Murphy contributed to this report.
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