SEATTLE – Bryan Price didn’t want to be remembered as the man who stayed too long.
So, after 18 years as a player and coach with the Seattle Mariners, he’s leaving the organization.
The team announced Monday that Price, the pitching coach the past six seasons, had decided not to return. Sunday evening, after the Mariners’ final game of the season, he told the players, coaches and front-office staff of his decision.
“This is the way I make my living and I want to do it until I retire,” Price said. “But I was starting to wonder what I could bring to the table here. I didn’t want to start sounding monotonous. I didn’t want to be remembered as the guy who’d stayed too long.”
Hitting coach Don Baylor, who would like to manage again, also told the Mariners he wouldn’t return. Third-base coach Jeff Newman, who left the team in August after suffering an Achilles injury, will not be retained.
Carlos Garcia, who moved from first to third-base coach after Newman’s departure, will return in that job next year. Mike Goff, who finished this season as the first-base coach, also will return.
Ron Hassey will return as bench coach under manager Mike Hargrove. Bullpen coach Jim Slaton also will remain on the staff, although his assignment hasn’t been determined.
Slaton, a longtime pitching coach in the organization, could be among the candidates to replace Price. The most often-mentioned name in early speculation for that job is Mark Wiley, who was the Florida Marlins’ pitching coach this year.
Hargrove said Monday he already had a list of about a dozen candidates for the hitting coach vacancy and about a half-dozen for pitching coach. He hoped to begin interviews as soon as this week.
Hargrove said he tried at least twice to convince Price to stay, but Price felt strongly that it was time for him to leave. Price was the only holdover from last year’s coaching staff who Hargrove retained for his first season as the Mariners’ manager.
“Mike said he’d like me to return, and that meant a lot to me,” Price said. “Mike allowed me to do my job. Our relationship got better as we got to know each other.”
Price would like to continue working as a pitching coach, and the most obvious connection is with the Arizona Diamondbacks, whose manager, Bob Melvin, is close friends with Price after their two years together in Seattle.
The Mariners’ pitching staff ranked among the best in the major leagues in four of Price’s six seasons as pitching coach, but this season had three of its five starters – Joel Pineiro, Gil Meche and Ryan Franklin – post earned run averages higher than 5.00.
That wore on Price.
“I’m a self-inflictor,” he said. “If they’re not doing well, it’s my fault.”
Price had been with the organization since the 1988 season, when he was a left-handed pitcher in the minor leagues. An arm injury shortened his playing career, but he became a successful coach who spent several years as the Mariners’ minor league pitching coordinator, then their pitching coach in 2000.
Saying good-bye Sunday, especially to many pitchers he helped develop, was brutal. Price struggled to complete his thoughts several times when he addressed the team, and general manager Bill Bavasi stepped in to finish his words.
“I said my peace, I said goodbye,” Price said. “This isn’t spur of the moment. I rode this out completely and was sure before I talked to them. I’m not looking for a greener side of the hill. I’m looking for something else that will help me get better. I didn’t want to stagnate. I care about these guys, and it sounds selfish, but I didn’t want to give them less.
“After last season, knowing the changes made in the front office and staff, it was time to start thinking about this. This is not the ‘95 Mariners, not the ‘01 Mariners that were one of the great teams in baseball history. Top to bottom, it’s a new group. Times were changing, and it was reasonable to consider moving on.
“It was a necessary step in my life.”
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