Sports

So selling the team would be best for the team, the city, baseball and ... this after the Seattle Times editorialist beat their chest mightily several years ago, decrying a former owner who was rumored to want to sell the team because it would kill the spirit of our kids if we don't have a baseball team? Does the truth out?

Great article...could not agree more!! Anyone who disagrees w/ these opinions should get "real" and look at all the facts.

It's all about the lack of desire to win by the mariners ownership. You cannot compete w/ players who are outclassed at every level..Spend some $$$ Ownership!!


Stubborn Selfish and Unconcerned.... hmmm...sounds like Ichiro...

The Mariners Japanese owners have never been concerned about the happiness of Seattle baseball fans, why would they start now by selling the team? Their interests have been soley about profit and Ichiro.

OK, I am sick and tired of this nonsense. Look people, Lou Pinella and Pat Gillick hate young players. They despise them. When they left the team, the cupboard was baren. You know what we learned after that? Bavasi may have been the worst GM ever. BUT, and here's what I'm getting tired of no one acknowledging, Bavasi has let it be known that he felt pressure to win and rebuild at the same time. Now granted, every move the man made blew up and his ability to draft young talent was second only to Lou Pinella's ability to look good in a Speedo. My Point? The Mariners are working to build an organization the right way now. This team is not ready for high priced veterans to help out. This team needs to grow from within. This team needs to be allowed to suck at the major league level for several years. The Mariners Ownership could panic and try to win while rebuilding. They would probably have a 500 team through August each year and would have a lot better attendance. But the team would stay stuck in mediocrity. I applaud the Mariners ownership for their willingness to suck. Howard and Chuck should be commended for not panicking while the attendence collapses. The ownership might not be overpaying for talent right now but they are suffering through lowered revenue on purpose in an effort to allow the entire organization to fill up with players. As of now, there seems to be an AA club that's pretty decent. The worst thing that could happen would be if the M's would panic and trade off that AA team for some short term help in Seattle. This is a painful process and one that the M's should have committed to in full following the Gillick years. I think that Steve has this 100% wrong.

Sorry doubters but trade Ichiro and get rid of these ridiculous Japanese owners who could care less about our team. They didn't even see the Mariners play in Japan 12'

This is the BEST column Steve has ever written, as it is true and provides a blunt solution to the morass that used to be Seattle's most favored professional team (nothing will touch the Huslies).

These owners and their management group are working on more than TEN years of infamy and if they hadn't lucked out on their ONE good hire (Pat Gillick) who they foolishly let get away, their disaster of a record would extend even further.

Please, sell the team, or I along with most other used-to-be fans, will simply keep voting wth our pocket book and continue to not buy tickets.

Complaining that the Mariners don't have prospects like Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg is a ludicrous thing to pin an argument on. First, those two were both once-in-a-generation prospects. Second, the Nats had to be phenomenally bad to land those two: they had to out-suck the Mariners, Royals, Padres, and Orioles two years in a row to land those first overall picks. The fact that Harper and Strasburg were available those two years--and two years in a row--is nothing more than dumb, blind luck. Third, Strasburg has already demonstrated the volatility of young pitching prospects by torching his arm (see Pineda, Michael). That the mariners don't have to prospects of their caliber is not something to gripe about-no other team does or has.

Finally, I don't want Mark Trumbo in the outfield of any team I watch. He's really a 1B/DH--the man runs like he's wearing cement shoes while carrying a piano on his back. Also, he's hardly young-he spent 7 years in the minors. Have patience.

hawktalk have you scene the attendence latley.. Also if you look at the box score success is measured in wn's or loses and not profit in sports...

Thats the measure I hold HOWIE & CHUCK by... The win / loss colum.

Maybe you need a new job you fair weather fan.

I hear Howard Shultz is looking for a sports team..

Sorry but if Chuck or Howie ran any other company as poorly as the M's they would have been fired by the stockholders ages ago....

Really? These guys are running this team poorly? You're saying it's a bad thing if a company is able to turn a profit every year since 1999 (except for 2008) is poor management?

Ownership sucks!


Sorry but if Chuck or Howie ran any other company as poorly as the M's they would have been fired by the stockholders ages ago....


Time for the Gold Timex for Chuckie & Howie...

this all sounds very familiar. is this same article that gets re printed about horrible management of the Mariners and how the owners should sell that we see about every 4 months or so?

It's truly astounding how many of you think this is even an issue. The owners should do what they want with their team. If you like it, or don't, attend, or don't. Perhaps go play outside yourselves instead of sitting on your a$$es to watch others play a game.

This article and comments are great arguments against building yet another stadium for couch potatoes to idolize their heroes in.

Times owners should do Seattle a favor and shut Steve Kelley up!

Grass is ALWAYS greener on the other side.

Yup let's sell the team. Since it's 100% chance there will be a buyer inside the State who will keep the team right?

If the team were on the market there'd be zero chance it would move. Wouldn't make any sense for a city without a MLB team with a billionaire to wanna buy a team and move it. Nope not at all.

We're guarunteed a buyer in the state so the M's are safe to say. Yup. Never gonna leave. Isn't that what they said when they were shopping the Sonics? Never gonna leave the State. Will get a buyer in State so that the Sonics would stay right?

I mean we still have the Sonics don't we? So if they decide to sell the M's we'll be guarunteed to keep the M's too.

I commit to buy the team if I can use the taxpayers' credit to complete the purchase. Don't worry, The Ballmer says everyone is doing it this way. It won't cost you anything.

I figured out long ago that in Seattle people buy teams just to have bragging rights. They don't care nearly as much about winning. It's like when a rich person buys an insanely expensive car/boat that most of their friends can't afford. Nothing more.

Find a guy like Clay Bennett and sell the team??? Sure, the new owners are going to be out of Seattle in a minute. Is this what you want? Come on! Be real! Seattle is not a big market to invite big investors. If you care Mariners or baseball, we should be happy that Nintendo stays with us and keep our Mariners here. Once we were one of best teams in MLB.

Keep our young stars and do not gamble at the trade deadline. Remember, a young Star named Adam Jones?

Be real and support the team, if you have a time to complain.