Jack Zduriencik

John A. Zduriencik (; born January 11, 1951) is an American radio broadcaster and former professional baseball executive, scout, and player. He currently works as a radio host for KDKA-FM, which is affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He also served as the general manager of the Seattle Mariners from 2008 until 2015.

Career

Zduriencik began his career in professional baseball as a second baseman in the Chicago White Sox farm system. From 1973 to 1974, he spent time playing for both the Gulf Coast League White Sox and the Appleton Foxes.

Following his playing career, Zduriencik spent several years as a coach for both baseball and football. His coaching tour included stops at Austin Peay State University (1975–77), Clairton High School (Pennsylvania, 1977–80), and Tarpon Springs High School (Florida, 1980–82).

Zduriencik returned to professional baseball in 1983. Successive roles involving scouting and player development comprised most of the next two-plus decades of his experience, as he spent time in the positions of:

Area scout, 1983–1989, New York Mets National crosschecker, 1990 and 1994–1995, New York Mets Director of scouting, 1991–1993, Pittsburgh Pirates Director of minor league operations, 1995–1998, New York Mets Special assistant to the general manager, 1998, New York Mets Director of international operations, 1998–1999, Los Angeles Dodgers Director of scouting, 1999–2006, Milwaukee Brewers Special assistant to the general manager, 2006–2008, Milwaukee Brewers Director of amateur scouting, 2006–2008. Milwaukee Brewers Special assistant to the GM for player personnel, 2008, Milwaukee Brewers.

In recognition of his success with the Brewers, Baseball America made Zduriencik the first non-GM to receive their Major League Executive of the Year Award in 2007.

At an October 2008 press conference following his hiring, Zduriencik got right to the point in introducing his philosophy going forward in Seattle: “I'd love to have guys with good makeup and good character, committed to the city and the ballclub. But, when all is said and done, talent wins.”

One of Zduriencik's first moves was hiring Don Wakamatsu, the first Asian-American manager in MLB history. Next, during the MLB Winter Meetings in Las Vegas, Zduriencik made a remarkable three-team, 12-player trade that sent star closer J. J. Putz to the Mets as well as prospect second baseman Luis Valbuena to the Cleveland Indians. In return, the Mariners received outfielders Franklin Gutiérrez, Endy Chávez, and prospects Mike Carp and Jason Vargas. During spring training, Zduriencik signed Mariners fan favorite Ken Griffey Jr. to a one-year deal.

After an 85–77 finish in 2009, Zduriencik's teams slumped to 61–101 in 2010, 67–95 in 2011, 75–87 in 2012, and 71–91 in 2013.

On December 7, 2013, Seattle Times columnist Geoff Baker wrote a scathing article about Zduriencik, quoting past employees to show that he is difficult to work with. He was accused of lying about knowledge of Josh Lueke's criminal past before a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays. He is also accused of lying on his original job application that he has an advanced knowledge of and fondness for contemporary baseball sabermetrics of the Billy Beane mold, knowing that it would be beneficial in getting him hired. An employee whom Zduriencik fired, Tony Blengino, made the claim that he, not Zduriencik, falsified Jack's resume, according to Baker's article in the Seattle Times: "Blengino, who was working for the Milwaukee Brewers with Zduriencik at the time, said he authored virtually the entire job application package Zduriencik gave the Mariners in 2008, depicting a dual-threat candidate melding traditional scouting with advanced statistical analysis."

Asked to respond to accusations by former manager Eric Wedge and Blengino, Zduriencik said: “I am aware of some of the comments of former members of our baseball operations group, and I find them unjust, misleading and one-sided. I don’t believe the airing of ‘dirty laundry’ should take place in the public arena, so I am not going to talk about internal meetings, daily conversations and personnel decisions.”

Zduriencik's assertion that advanced metrics have always been part of his office's player evaluation process seems to have been borne out by his 2009 hire of Jeff Kingston as his assistant general manager. Kingston had conducted "research involves Sabermetrics, a scientific statistical analysis of players and teams designed to project future performance." In addition, Mariners baseball operations analyst Wesley Battle and quantitative analyst Jesse Smith brought a sabermetric perspective to their work with the club's front office. In 2014, the Mariners enjoyed an 87-win season, an improvement of 16 wins over the previous year's total, and missed the playoffs by a single game.

On August 26, 2014, the Mariners extended Zduriencik's contract to a multi-year deal, based on the positive performance of the team in the 2014 season. Club President Kevin Mather expressed confidence that the Mariners were "in position to be a contender for many years to come" and thought Zduriencik was making a "valiant effort".

The Mariners fired Zduriencik on August 28, 2015. During his tenure in Seattle, the Mariners posted a 505–595 record, the fifth-worst record in baseball.

Education

Zduriencik earned a bachelor's degree in education at California University of Pennsylvania, followed by a master's degree in physical education at Austin Peay State University.