The Seattle Mariners were looking for a new face to guide their young, rebuilding team. In a MLB offseason that has already four franchises hire new managers, the Mariners chose to hire a man with over 780 games under his belt as the skipper of teams in the midst of a “rebuilding” mode. The Washington Nationals replaced the retiring Davey Johnson with former All-Star third baseman Matt Williams, the Cincinnati Reds went with an in-house option by promoting pitching coach Bryan Price, and the Detroit Tigers hired former longtime MLB catcher Brad Ausmus. On Tuesday, the Mariners hired former Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon to take over the job abandoned by former manager Eric Wedge.
Pirates fans will remember McClendon as the fire-breathing skipper who had a tendency to challenge umpire calls with his own unique brand of swagger. In June 2001, McClendon was part of one of the most replayed Manager vs. Umpire confrontations in recent memory. After disagreeing on a call involving catcher Jason Kendall at first base, McClendon went after first base umpire Rick Reed. The Pirates skipper went as far as ripping the first base bag out of the ground and taking it with him as left the field. That base was still on display in the Pirates PNC Park clubhouse as recently as 2011. The former eight-year major league veteran served as hitting coach for the Pirates under Gene Lamont from 1997-2000 before being promoted to manager prior to the 2001 season. McClendon went 336-446 in his five seasons at the helm of the Buccos, never finishing higher than fourth in the division. He was fired on September 6, 2005 as the team closed in on a 95-loss season.
Since that time, McClendon has spent seven years as a coach for the Detroit Tigers under Jim Leyland. The Tigers have been one of the premier teams in the American League since 2006 under a staff loaded with ties to the Pirates organization. Sid Bream, Andy Van Slyke, Rafael Belliard, Gene Lamont, Dave Clark, and Don Slaught have all been part of the Tigers staff at times since Leyland took over at the helm. McClendon will become the 16th full-time manager in Mariners history, and he will have a complicated job ahead of him in the Pacific Northwest. The Mariners are in the middle of a full-blown rebuild that includes a core of players all under 26-years old. Most of the veterans from 2013 are free agents and will not be returning in 2014, a list that includes RBI-leader 1B/DH Kendrys Morales, homerun leader OF Raul Ibanez, RF Michael Morse, and SP Joe Saunders.
Seattle will be looking to build around a talented group of young starters. Catcher Mike Zunino, 2B Nick Franklin, 3B Kyle Seager, 1B Justin Smoak, SS Brad Miller, and former top prospect INF Dustin Ackley will all be expected to serve as major contributors. The Mariners are blessed with some top-flight starting pitching, all beginning with perennial All-Star and 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner RHP Felix Hernandez. “King Felix” was signed to a huge contract extension that will pay him $175 million through the 2020 season. Hernandez is flanked by Japanese hurler RHP Hisashi Iwakuma, who blossomed in 2013 by going 14-6 with a 2.66 ERA and 185 strikeouts in 216 IP. Iwakuma is signed through 2018, giving the Mariners a great 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation for at least the next four seasons.
Seattle has a talented group of young starting pitchers who are expected to be in the majors for 2014. That group includes RHP Taijuan Walker, LHP James Paxton, RHP Blake Beavan, RHP Brandon Maurer, and RHP Erasmo Ramirez. McClendon will be blessed with the best group of starting pitchers he has ever encountered as a manager.
McClendon was the first African-American hired as the head coach or manager of any professional Pittsburgh sports team when he took over in 2001. He preceded the hiring of Mike Tomlin with the Steelers six years later. As he heads into his thirteenth season on a major league coaching staff, McClendon will face a unique challenge in a city with a brief but star-studded baseball history. Fans in Pittsburgh will be curious to see how the former Pirates manager fares in his return to the top spot in Seattle
