Mariners Fire Lloyd McClendon

The Seattle Mariners fired manager Lloyd McClendon on Friday.

“I have a great deal of respect for Lloyd, as a person and as a manager,” Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto noted in a statement. “It is a credit to his professionalism that the team continued to play hard through the final day of the season. However, after extensive conversations it became clear to me that our baseball philosophies were not closely aligned. On behalf of the Mariners I want to thank Lloyd and his staff for their hard work the past two seasons, and I wish him the best moving forward.” 

The Mariners won two of their last ten games, making Dipoto’s observation that “the team continued to play hard through the final day of the season” a strange takeaway.

McClendon managed the Mariners to a winning record of 163-161 in two seasons in Seattle. But the team finished 12 games behind the Texas Rangers in the AL West this season at 76-86.