The Seattle Mariners fired manager Lloyd McClendon on Friday after a disappointing 2015 season that saw the team once again fail to reach the postseason.
Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times first reported the news, and Greg Johns of MLB.com passed along confirmation from the team.
“After extensive conversations it became clear to me that our baseball philosophies were not closely aligned,” general manager Jerry Dipoto said, per Johns.
Johns noted bench coach Trent Jewett, third-base coach Rich Donnelly, outfield coach Andy Van Slyke and bullpen coach Mike Rojas were fired as well.
McClendon had a positive start to his tenure with Seattle in the 2014 season, following gigs as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ manager and hitting coach of the Detroit Tigers. He led Seattle to an 87-75 record last season, and the team finished third in the AL West. There was optimism heading into this season after the team added slugger Nelson Cruz to complement Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager and Mike Zunino, among others.
But Zunino continued to struggle at the dish, Cano’s output was significantly lower than it was during his days with the New York Yankees and, outside of Felix Hernandez, a pitching staff that finished second in team ERA in 2014 (3.17) struggled mightily throughout this season.
The writing appeared to be on the wall for McClendon in late August, when the Mariners fired the man who hired him, general manager Jack Zduriencik. An argument could be made that the GM and the manager were as much doomed by the regressions of several players as they were by any decisions they made, but regardless, the Mariners will have a much different look in the front office and in the dugout next season.
After a fifth losing season in the past six years, a changing of the guard might be exactly what the organization needs.
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