New Mariners GM mum on Lloyd McClendon's status as manager

Marc Lancaster

New Mariners GM mum on Lloyd McClendon's status as manager image

There are few guarantees when a new boss arrives on the scene, but you can bet compatibility with his manager will be near the top of Jerry Dipoto's list in Seattle.

Dipoto probably wouldn't have been introduced as Mariners general manager on Tuesday if he'd cultivated a better relationship with Mike Scioscia in Anaheim, the lack of which led to Dipoto's resignation this summer.

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Of course, Dipoto didn't hire Scioscia; he inherited the longtime skipper. So Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon might not feel too comfortable in his own job security at the moment.

Dipoto was noncommittal on McClendon's status during his introductory news conference Tuesday at Safeco Field. The two met Monday and Dipoto said he looked forward to spending a good deal of time with the manager during the Mariners' final week of the season.

Based on McClendon's comments to reporters after Monday's sit-down, he didn't get any assurances about his own status from Dipoto.

"I'm under contract to manage next year, and hopefully I'll manage the club," McClendon said, via MLB.com. "So beyond that … if you're looking for security in this game, you're in the wrong business. That's me and every other manager."

McClendon is 161-158 as Seattle's manager with five games to play this season. Last year's 87-win campaign, which produced only a third-place finish in the AL West, was his lone winning season in seven years as an MLB manager.

That kind of track record doesn't sound quite like what Dipoto is striving for. Without delving too deeply into specifics, he set a rather high bar for whoever is making the calls in the Mariners' dugout next season: "I want to hire the best manager that's ever managed."

 

Marc Lancaster

Marc Lancaster Photo

Marc Lancaster joined The Sporting News in 2022 after working closely with TSN for five years as an editor for the company now known as Stats Perform. He previously worked as an editor at The Washington Times, AOL’s FanHouse.com and the old CNNSportsIllustrated.com, and as a beat writer covering the Tampa Bay Rays, Cincinnati Reds, and University of Georgia football and women’s basketball. A Georgia graduate, he has been a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2013.