Stone: M’s should be inspired by “Cleveland approach”

I was inspired once by the “Palmer Fallgren approach”...three straight washouts later, I reverted back.

And it is a royal mess, deeper and far more complicated than just the 100 losses, give or take a few, that the Mariners will get for their $118 million payroll this year.

I know some of you are saying — screaming — that the Mariners don’t need to stop investing; they just need to invest more wisely.

Very true. That is why the single-most important decision looming this winter — more vital than any single trade or signing, even the naming of a new manager — is the general managership.

It is more crucial than ever to find a visionary, someone with guts, imagination, sabermetric knowledge and a scouting foundation, to blaze the Mariners’ trail out of the darkness. And to let that person do their job without undue interference from ownership or upper brass, who know how to put together a profitable, well-run business plan but should leave the baseball decisions to baseball people.