Job security not an issue for manager, GM
With the Mariners mired in a freefall, team executives have spent a good part of the past week giving votes of confidence.
Team president Chuck Armstrong told reporters over the weekend that general manager Bob Bavasi’s job is secure, while Bavasi said that manager John McLaren would not be fired anytime soon.
Asked Monday about Bavasi’s vote of confidence, McLaren gave a shrug.
“It’s something I appreciated but didn’t really need,” McLaren said before Monday’s game against Boston. “At this stage, the fans could care less about any of that, my security or anything like that. They just want a win. That’s all they care about.”
The Mariners have lost seven in a row, going winless on a recent road trip. Seattle has the worst record in baseball (18-34) and can’t seem to find a break.
“We’re very disappointed at where we are,” McLaren said, “but you can’t feel sorry for yourselves because no one else will. We’ve got to tighten our belts and play every game like it’s our last. We’ve dug ourselves a little hole, and now we have to dig out.”
Whether McLaren will be around long enough to finish the excavation is still to be determined.
“If they pull the plug, they pull the plug,” he said. “As I’ve said, I’m a fighter. I come to the ballpark every day and try to get a win. But we’re in a rough stretch here.”
All eyes on Felix: McLaren said that starter Felix Hernandez would be watched closely during his Monday start, his first outing since May 18. Hernandez was held out of his previous start because of a sore calf.
McLaren also acknowledged a report that Hernandez played golf during an off day last week. The manager wasn’t thrilled to hear the news.
“In his mind, it’s nothing,” McLaren said. “In our minds, it’s something. He’s thinking about right now; we’re looking down the road a little more.”
Return to third: The Mariners’ lineup was back to normal on Monday — in the coaching boxes, that is.
For the first time since May 7, Sam Perlozzo was back coaching third base. He had been in the dugout after undergoing a knee scope for a torn meniscus earlier this month.
“They went in, cleaned it up, and I’m good to go another 50,000 miles,” Perlozzo said.
While he was sidelined, first-base coach Eddie Rodriguez moved to third while bench coach Jim Riggelman coached first. On Monday, Rodriguez was back at first; Riggelman returned to the bench.
“It feels like we’re getting everyone back into place,” Perlozzo said. “Eddie had to jump in there, and that’s not easy. Now we’re right back where we started, and that’s probably the best thing for the ball club.”
Morrow waits: Brandon Morrow spent part of his winter pitching in Venezuela, hoping that it might earn him a spot in the Mariners’ 2008 rotation.
But when the Mariners traded for Erik Bedard while Morrow was in South America, it became apparent that he would be back in the bullpen.
That, however, may be a limited stay.
McLaren said Monday that the team has been discussing the possibility of moving Morrow into the rotation at some point this season.
“I always envisioned him as a starter,” McLaren said.
The discussion is on hold for now, based on the plethora of “more pressing issues,” McLaren added.
Said Morrow: “It’s just in the early discussion stages. They haven’t even talked to me about it.
“I would love to be a starter. … If it’s something they want to do, I’m all for it.”
Short hops: McLaren said that J.J. Putz was “fine,” despite minor bumps and bruises the reliever suffered while trying to make a play on a ground ball at the end of the New York Yankees game on Sunday afternoon. … Red Sox centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who grew up in Oregon and played baseball at Oregon State, had never played a major-league game at Safeco before Monday. He played there when the University of Washington hosted OSU once, and also took batting practice as part of a high school tryout for the Area Code Games. … The Mariners boasted a 20-8 record on Memorial Day heading into Monday’s contest.
Scott M. Johnson, Herald Writer
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