Seattle Mariners: Clubhouse in Turmoil

It is no surprise that the Seattle Mariners have underperformed this year.  Consequently, it would be assumed that many of the players are feeling a lot of stress and disappointment from this year's results.

Recently many of these frustrations have been coming to a head, and players have begun throwing each other under the bus publicly.

This all started about a week ago when Carlos Silva mouthed off to the media about how the pitchers have all been showing up focused, and ready to go, while the batters are playing lackadaisically.

Really?  The batters are to blame for you being possibly the worst starting pitcher in the major leagues.  You lead the AL in losses, and have a dispicable ERA of 5.93.  I would say you should look in the mirror before blaming others for your shortcomings.

Silva was brought in to be a veteran leader in the clubhouse, and to solidify the pitching staff.  Leaders typically do not blame other players on the team publicly.  Generally, they lead by example, take due blame, or if needed to, call out players behind closed doors.

Manager Jim Riggleman is faced with the difficult situation of trying to control the situation.  After internally reprimanding his disgruntled pitcher, he thought all things were resolved.

However, several games later, Jose Lopez committed yet another mental error defensively.  Riggleman decided to set an example and pull him out of the game.  Again, some players questioned him publicly on his decision.

This is a team that obviously lacks discipline, comradery, and leadership (oh and talent too).  They need somebody to whip them into shape, and take away this disgusting feeling of superiority they all feel on a personal level.

Unfortunately, these stories of clubhouse turmoil are not coincidences.  All year there have been murmurs from players about problems in the clubhouse.  Most of these rumors have come from players and coaches let go during the season, but our friend Carlos Silva has also fed fuel to the fire.

Most of these stem around special treatment for Ichiro and Kenji Johjima, as players believe they are held on a different level due to their shared heritage with the team owner.

All of this is ridiculous.  Baseball is a team game, and chemistry is important.  You play 162 games a year, which is way too long to go with a bunch of teammates that can not stand each other.  If Seattle wants (hopes) to turn things around in 2009, they need to make some big changes. STAT.