Is Melvin the problem?

Lots of talk about Melvin right now, but how much can we pin the horrific start to the manager? How much better would the M's be if Lou were the manager?

It's hard to see how a more experienced manager could get Ichiro to play like he did two years ago, or Olerud to stop the aging process, or Pinero to pitch better, or....

The slow start is clearly pinned on the players. While I fault Melvin for his use of the bullpen, where roles don't seem to be clearly defined, this is not causing this team to play at a .300 clip. The primary blame clearly lies on the players, who are simply not producing at their expected level.

So in order of importance I put the fault on the slow start clearly on the players. I secondly blame the front-office for not adjusting to an aging team with obvious holes that were not filled. And a distant third I blame an inexperienced manager who should have never been given the go ahead to learn on-the-job while managing this team.

If Melvin is a big-league caliber manager, he should be considering changes if the M's keep losing. If I don't see these changes, then Melvin becomes a bigger problem then he is today.