Prospect Insider - Impact of the M's front office additions

Impact of the M's front office additions

By Jason A. Churchill

By 09-19-2011

The Seattle Mariners have not only extended the contract of general manager Jack Zduriencik, they have promoted senior advisor Ted Simmons to special assistant to the general manager, and added catching coordinator Roger Hanson, former New York Mets GM Joe McIlvaine and former Pittsburgh Pirates executive Pete Vuckovich as special assistants.

In short, adding these three will only help the club make sound decisions when it comes to player evaluations and market analysis, and adds decades of wisdom to the front office.

McIlvaine came over from the Twins and drew a "this is a good guy to get," text from an assistant general manager of an NL club. He's a former right-handed pitcher in the Detroit Tigers organization.

Simmons, a former big league catcher, was the GM of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1992 and 1993 and has spent time in player development with the St. Louis Cardinals. He was the bench coach for the Brewers in 2008 -- Zduriencik's final season in Milwaukee -- before serving in the role the next two years in San Diego.

He has experience managing, scouting and in player development, and certainly knows catching.

Vuckovich knows pitching and spent the past two decades with the Pirates. He may be best known by fans as Clu Haywood, the grisly slugger for the New York Yankees in the 1989 movie Major League.

Vuckovich, a big-league pitcher for 11 seasons with four different teams, is know for his classic lines in the flick such as "how's your wife and my kids?" a question he asked backstop Jake Taylor as he dug in at the plate.

All are quality additions to the "special assistant" crop.

impact-of-the-m\'s-front-office-additions

Comments
The following 6 comment(s) for this article are shown below:

1. By: nater on 09-20-2011 13:03:27
We have Clu Haywood in the organization now?? That is awesome.

2. By: Lonnie on 09-20-2011 14:55:55
Will Hansen's new duties impact his work with the catchers in the organization?

Lonnie

3. By: Jason A. Churchill on 09-20-2011 15:00:42
I think the M's simply expanded Hanson's duties. He will work with Littlewood all fall.

4. By: Shawnuel on 09-21-2011 10:05:21
I'm just glad Z didn't hire Jim McIlvane. We wouldn't want ANOTHER Seattle franchise set back several years!

5. By: Missthosepilots on 09-21-2011 12:01:56
Thanks for the updates and insight. Great to see some true forward thinking in the front offices!

6. By: maqman on 09-21-2011 13:16:48
These moves fit Z's MO as an information and opinion hound. With all of their experience this crew is not going to make a lot of bad judgments.

You are not currently logged in. If you'd like to comment on this report, please log in.
Haven't created a Prospect Insider account yet? Sign up!