A few words about John McLaren

Some thoughts that have come to mind about John McLaren, who was fired a short time ago as the Mariners’ manager:

— McLaren is a great guy, a nice guy. Maybe that worked against him in this clubhouse, which also is filled (with a few exceptions) with good guys. Problem was, those guys were underperforming horribly and somebody needed to give them a swift kick where it should hurt most (preferably their pride). With no player apparently capable or willing to do that, it wasn’t getting done.

— Say what you will about the way McLaren manages or mismanages a game, I think he could have drawn straws to set his lineup and it wouldn’t have produced better or worse results than what he got. Despite the supposed raw talen this team has, it doesn’t function well as a unit from an offensive standpoint. There was no better example of than than Wednesday night’s loss to the Marlins, when the Mariners out-hit them 13-11 but lost 8-3. The Marlins drew 10 walks and had five extra-base hits (two of them two-run homers). The Mariners drew three walks and had one extra-base hit. McLaren never got a chance to manage the style he loves best, putting runners in motion with steals and hit-and-runs, dropping bunts and generally harassing opposing defenses into mistakes. This Mariners team doesn’t have the speed or ability to handle the bats to make that happen.

—McLaren is a good man. He’s a baseball man. He breathes this game (along with a good round of golf). He loves to tell stories about this game (along with a good round of golf). Did he get a fair chance here? I’d say so, since the team waited until after his 156th game as manager (nearly a full season’s worth).

As they say in this business, it just didn’t work out.

Maybe Jim Riggleman, the bench coach who replaces McLaren, will instill some passion into this team and they’ll play better. Sometimes that works for a while. Until some fundamental flaws with the roster are ironed out, I’m not holding my breath.