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January 4, 2009

Prospectus Q&A

Tony Blengino

by David Laurila

A new era of Mariners baseball began when Seattle hired Jack Zduriencik as their general manager following the 2008 season, an era that will include an increased emphasis on statistical analysis. Helping to lead that charge will be Tony Blengino, who previously served as Milwaukee's assistant director of amateur scouting under Zduriencik, and now holds the title of special assistant to the general manager, baseball operations. A chief financial officer and author of the book Future Stars, before joining organized baseball in 2003, Blengino will head Seattle's newly created Department of Statistical Research. Blengino talked about his new role, and how the Mariners hope to build a championship-caliber team through a perfect marriage between traditional scouting and statistical analysis.

David Laurila: How would you describe your role within the Mariners' organization?

Tony Blengino: My role is basically to be Jack's right hand in player evaluation of all types, be it at the major league level, putting the big-league club together, or working hand-in-hand with our pro scouting director, Carmen Fusco, our amateur scouting director, Tom McNamara, and our Director of Player Development, Pedro Grifol. Basically, any type of player evaluation that goes on, I'll be right there, next to Jack and helping him to make decisions.

DL: How does that differ from what you did in Milwaukee?

TB: Well, in Milwaukee it was obviously limited to amateur scouting, in terms of a formal arrangement. Now, Doug Melvin also heard lots of voices from people on the staff, so I had my input there as well. Here it's a little more direct, because I'm one step removed from the chair making all the decisions, while in Milwaukee I was a little bit farther away.