Firing Hargrove won't be enough

The Seattle Mariners have had three seasons in their history that might be considered successful, and even those fell short. They've had three of the greatest players in baseball history and driven them away. They take young pitchers with huge potential and transform them quickly into has-beens — or in the case of Freddie Garcia, trade him away in time for him to have enough left to win a World Series. Maybe Joel Pinero will be as lucky; his terrific future has almost disappeared.

And the next step, of course, is to fire Mike Hargrove who has done absolutely nothing to fix the Mariners. He shows absolutely no indication of having the ability to do so, either. The sooner he goes, the better. But that won't suffice. There is something seriously wrong with the Mariners organization, almost as if they are as dedicated to failure as the Yankees and Dodgers are to success.

It's not about money, either. They can spend more than enough money to build a championship team. They can afford a winning team. They've made those purchases, and they've made good trades, and the farm system seems to produce quality players as well. But put the Mariners uniform on these players and watch the slow decline begin. Excellence degrades, steadily, until a Bret Boone is out of baseball, or management can't believe Randy Johnson has even half-a-season left him in — after which he wins several Cy Youngs, a World Series and pitches a perfect game.

What is it about this team that transforms possibility into failure? Is it as simple as being unable to hire the right manager? Lou Pinella was the right manager, and he left at the right time. With him and his staff, the team did great, and players excelled; but even his excellence faded into a lassitude that felt like Tennyson's "Lotos Eaters." Bob Melvin was not a bad choice, except that Dusty Miller, a great choice, was also available. Mike Hargrove was a terrible choice; nothing in his resume indicated he could guide a team in transition. The Dodgers picked the man this year the Mariners probably should have taken last year: Grady Little, who is mixing vets with rookies into a championship contender.

Playing major league baseball may be the hardest job in sports. It's a team sport that depends on individual achievement; every play is full of pressure. Each pitch, each at-bat, every single defensive play. As the saying goes, fail 70% of the time in baseball, and you'll be a star. Managing players has little to do with helping them with their release point or how much weight to put on the back foot; managing is about putting players in a position to succeed enough times that they play to their potential instead of being crushed under the weight of that potential.

If the Mariners, like the Dodgers or Yankees, can find that right manager, they have the players to win championships. Hargrove isn't that manager. I hope they find the right manager; I can't stand watching great players like Pinero turn into yet another Dave Fleming.