M's need to go back to drawing board

The Mariners traded for Horacio Ramirez this past offseason, and guess what?

He's still Horacio Ramirez.

The Mariners gave $8 million to free agent Jeff Weaver this past offseason, and guess what?

He's still Jeff Weaver.

The Mariners gave $50 million to Richie Sexson three years ago, and guess what?

He's still Richie Sexson, only worse.

The Great Collapse of 2007 isn't some wild occurrence. It isn't some jinx that my Aug. 9 column — "This M's team is too good for a slide" — created. (Yes, I know: I was foolish and misguided.)

It is the result of a flawed system that, if not fixed, will continue to churn out overpriced teams that are little more than decent. The Mariners have become dam pluggers instead of problem solvers, the worst kind of culture in pro sports.

There's always a free-agent acquisition or a trade for a veteran that might make a team marginally better. The goal should be to finish a team with those moves. Instead, the Mariners have mostly tried to build a team in this manner, and they're in the throes of uncertainty.

With this strategy, the Mariners will always be good enough to win at times but ultimately too bad to triumph when it matters.

With this strategy, they're always at the mercy of what the free-agent market has to offer, not creating their own destiny with a focus on player development.

With this strategy, they'll always be cheaper imitations of the Yankees or Red Sox or even the Mets, teams with similar impatience but fatter wallets.

Why follow a plan that the competition implements better? Why keep paying good money for mediocrity?

Most disappointing is that the Mariners spent three years in the American League West sewer, and they still haven't established a team with a certain future.

They have improved, but we shouldn't consider them a rising franchise just yet. They have some nice pieces, but they still need so much more.

Quick-fix pitching solutions ruined this season. The freshly demoted Ramirez and his 7.16 ERA stayed in the starting rotation far too long, perhaps because the club wanted to justify trading Rafael Soriano's lively arm for him, and Ramirez got worse as the season progressed.

Weaver, who followed an awful regular season with a miracle postseason last year, was signed because the Mariners, feeling the pressure to win, didn't want to round out their rotation with a young pitcher. But how much experience does it take to go 6-12 with a 6.34 ERA?

The Mariners gave Jarrod Washburn $37 million in 2006, and guess what?

He's still Jarrod Washburn.

He's won more than 11 games only once in his career. His record as a Mariner: 17-29. It's no mystery he has failed to perform during this free fall, either.

The Mariners have a franchise record $106 million payroll and a team that will not make the playoffs. While they're not the only big spender to flop, they are the ones who declared, before this season began, they'd win the AL West.

To be fair, general manager Bill Bavasi made some acquisitions that worked this season. Jose Vidro doesn't have the ideal power for a designated hitter, but he's hitting over. 300. Right fielder Jose Guillen has given the team both skill and attitude. And Miguel Batista leads the pitching staff in victories.

But there are a lot of Vidros, Guillens and Batistas in the majors. It's fine to fill in gaps with these players. It's not OK to rely so heavily on aging veterans that you limit the growth of young talents such as Adam Jones and Brandon Morrow.

Jones should've been called up earlier this season, and if the Mariners had done so, he would've had a greater impact late in the season. Morrow, the 2006 first-round pick, needed to be developed in the minors as a starter instead of used as a major-league reliever this season.

The Mariners can't keep putting plastic over their broken windows. Bavasi is not simply making mistakes. He has created a rescue-me-now atmosphere so thick the Mariners can't even see eminently predictable mistakes, such as signing relievers with elbow problems (Chris Reitsma and Mark Lowe).

For the Mariners, their saving grace is that they don't burden themselves with too many long-term contracts. So they could shift strategies without too much financial bleeding. But they've already traveled four years down this rickety road, and assuming the team stays in the 85- to 87-win range, Bavasi has likely done enough to keep his job.

So the question becomes: Will he change?

Not only will that answer decide Bavasi's future job security, but it will also decide the franchise's stability.

After a promising start, this season's result is already in.

The Mariners spent another year feasting on mediocre free-agent acquisitions, and guess what?

They're still the Mariners.

Jerry Brewer: 206-464-2277 or jbrewer@seattletimes.com. For more columns and the Extra Points blog, visit seattletimes.com/sports