Solid start makes it easy to believe in Jack Zduriencik

A month into his new Mariners gig, Jack Zduriencik isn't the mysterious bald guy anymore. With his refreshing, thorough, transparent management style, he has ditched the notion of being a peculiar hire. He has gained enough credibility that he hired an obscure manager without angering an anxious fan base.

Solid start, eh?

"I'm excited to be in this job," he said recently. "I'm not tired at all. We're going to build an organization and a ballclub that will make our fans proud."

It would be troubling if Zduriencik weren't still in the cocktail-sipping phase, of course. Given how completely the Mariners collapsed last season, anyone who talked about winning and refrained from saying the name Richie Sexson was bound to relish the benefits of newness. An unblemished record always inspires hope. But Zduriencik has managed to do more than hide behind his clean slate.

All judgments must be tamed until we find out whether Zduriencik's methods equate to good baseball. But in a short time, the general manager has created an undeniable sense of confidence that the Mariners will win again, perhaps even soon.

It's so easy to believe in Zduriencik. He's sincere. He's as open as he can be. His decisions come with such keen reasoning that you're lured to consider them infallible. Never has a rookie GM appeared so comfortable so soon.

Instead of lamenting the long route he took to be the big boss, the 57-year-old Zduriencik spent all those years perfecting his skills. The result is a man who is singing in key as he changes every aspect of this baseball team.

He's an old-school talent evaluator willing to use new-school methods. That's why he established a department of statistical analysis, which will help the Mariners get caught up in this brainy age of baseball. His entire baseball operations staff is a blend of diverse talents, made to support his meticulous style of gathering as much insight as possible before making a decision.

And in hiring Don Wakamatsu as his field manager, Zduriencik resisted the temptation to give the job to a reliable retread and brought in someone he had long viewed as a rising managerial star who just needed a chance. During the interview process, Zduriencik realized the two meshed well, and Wakamatsu became the clear choice from a list of seven finalists.

Equally impressive, Zduriencik never hid his desire to hire a baby-faced manager and made the majority of his process transparent.

He released his candidates to the media. He made all seven available for press interviews after he met with them. During Wakamatsu's introductory news conference, Zduriencik gave the most detailed explanation of why he hired the manager that I've ever heard.

I asked him why he was so forthright while making the first highly publicized hire of his Mariners tenure. Zduriencik looked up and declared, "There's nothing to hide."

Then he said the public should expect him to do business in this manner regularly.

"The public deserves our respect," Zduriencik said. "We're going to be accountable. There's nothing to hide. We're going to be frank with the people who follow us."

Well, that will be different from Bill Bavasi's management style, for sure. A good man, Bavasi was so condescending at times that he started to napalm his bridge to the public before his bad decisions sealed his fate.

Yes, the ultimate test will be to learn how Zduriencik reacts after he makes a big mistake. As a scout, he never had to explain his blunders to the public. In this job, however, there's so much more scrutiny.

Based on what we know already, he figures to handle the responsibility with great class. For all the talk about whether Zduriencik would be a puppet for president Chuck Armstrong and chief executive officer Howard Lincoln, it has become apparent that Zduriencik was hired because they trusted they could leave him alone to do his job. Zduriencik got the final say on the Wakamatsu hire. If he keeps making good decisions, the Armstrong-Lincoln factor won't be an issue.

"I think it's more of a media issue," Lincoln said after hiring Zduriencik. "The way we operate is no different than the way the other 29 teams do. I'm not a micromanager. Jack is the guy that's going to be making those decisions."

It's easy to believe in Zduriencik. The enthusiasm must be restrained because we have yet to see him make any moves to greatly affect the roster. Here's the thing, though: Uncovering talent is supposed to be Zduriencik's strong suit. It's the reason the Mariners hired him.

So if he's acing public relations and fearlessly restructuring the management team — formerly two areas of uncertainty about Zduriencik — it should be fun to witness what happens when he plays to his strengths.

Let's not underplay the incredible challenge ahead for Jack Z. The Mariners remain a major revitalization project, and it'll take an impressive series of good moves to fix this roster.

Then again, let's not underplay Jack Z's start, either. It only took him a month to energize the franchise. Here's hoping he has more of these good vibes in reserve.

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