Older guy outshines the young hotshots

Jack Zduriencik made his entrance wearing a tan, double-breasted suit. It was about as exciting as a meatloaf dinner but fitting for a man who became the Mariners new general manager via the most understated, classic route possible.

He earned it.

Crazy, but it still happens.

In this era of fast-rising professional sports executives, of self-promotion besting self-deprecation, Zduriencik reached the pinnacle by running with his head down. For 25 years, he kept doing a good job until he received the ultimate job. It took him a lot longer than some. He has radar guns older than Theo Epstein. He has suitcases with more experience than Jon Daniels.

Nevertheless, he is one of them now. He's an adolescent GM at age 57, with a fresh perspective hiding inside his bald head.

Don't consider him a dinosaur. Mariners president Chuck Armstrong learned that much during the interview process.

In the beginning, Armstrong thought like we did. He figured the new GM was likely to be a young hotshot, another one to continue the trend. Pro sports love to play copycat, and boyish types with expertise in statistical analysis are in style.

But the more the franchise looked at Zduriencik, the more they liked him. Then the Mariners realized many of the best, young aspiring general managers — such as Chris Antonetti (Cleveland), Rick Hahn (Chicago White Sox) and Jed Hoyer (Boston) — were unavailable.

Still, they put together a strong list of four finalists, and during the process of narrowing their options, Zduriencik pulled off the surprise that made him the best candidate.

The older guy out-hotshot his younger competition.

"He came in the most prepared," Armstrong said. "He actually came in with the most young-hotshot stuff."

Zduriencik brought a binder into the interview of his life. In it, he had all kinds of data to show he judges draft prospects based on statistics. He showed Armstrong and chief executive officer Howard Lincoln what college statistics translated to pro success based on which conference the athlete played. In addition, he possessed pages and pages of charts, diagrams and spreadsheets that proved his scouting prowess was about more than hunches.

While the other candidates talked in more general terms about how they evaluate talent and what they'd do to fix the Mariners, Zduriencik provided answers with the most substance. He excited them with his thoroughness. He stunned them with how open he was to new ideas.

"I had expected to see a scout's scout," Armstrong said. "I had expected to hear, 'We believe our eyes,' and all that stuff. But he's so much more than just a great scout. He can do the new stuff, and he's got a great eye for finding the best pure talent."

Now, before we go declaring him Billy Beane meets John Schuerholz, let it be known that Zduriencik referred to sabermetrics as "cybermetrics" in his first news conference. And when asked how you win, he said simply, "Talent, in a nutshell."

Those aren't the words of a statistical-analysis guru. But he's humble enough to know the game has changed, and he seems willing to supplement his talent-evaluating skills with data. The true test of this will be whether he hires anyone with expertise in that area. It would be a great move to complement his abilities.

On Day 1, Zduriencik made an impression with his down-to-earth charm. He's not a slick talker. He's not flamboyant. He's the kind of guy you'd like to sit at a bar and talk baseball with until the wee hours.

In his lifetime, Zduriencik has gone from unmemorable minor-leaguer to high-school coach to college coach to scout to director of scouting to vice president. At every one of his major-league stops, he's contributed to building winning teams. And yet he talks as if he's still coaching football and baseball at Clairton High School near Pittsburgh.

He won't lie and tell you he can rebuild the Mariners in record time. He doesn't know how long it will take. He's still feeling out this organization. But he will tell you he won't be satisfied with being decent or better than the previous regime or just good enough to stay employed.

"My thoughts on rebuilding are this: If you haven't made the playoffs, you're rebuilding," he said.

And so he starts with this mission: Get as many good players in here as possible. Find leaders who can govern the clubhouse. Create an institutional standard of both success and synergy.

The Mariners are a fractured franchise, and Zduriencik just might be the one to heal it. After 25 years, he's a new boss, but the same old Zduriencik.

"The title general manager, it doesn't say I'm a specific manager," he said when asked if he'd approach the job more as a scout. "I'm a general manager."

Yes, he is, at last. He's proof the old-school route to the top is still navigable.

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