Seattle, WA (Sports Network) - The Seattle Mariners fired manager John McLaren Thursday, after less than a year at the helm.
McLaren was shown the door with the Mariners last in the AL West at 25-47. Seattle, which has an off day before heading east to begin a three-game interleague set with the Atlanta Braves, is also 17 1/2 games behind the first-place Angels and holds the worst record in the majors.
Bench coach Jim Riggleman has been named manager for the remainder of the season.
The move comes three days after upper management fired vice president and general manager of baseball operations Bill Bavasi and replaced him with Lee Pelekoudas on an interim basis.
"John worked extremely hard, but our team continued to underperform compared to our expectations of them," said Pelekoudas. "With 90 games left on our schedule, we owe it to ourselves and our fans to do everything we can to win as many games as possible."
The 56-year-old McLaren was named manager on July 2, 2007 after Mike Hargrove stepped down. He led the M's to a 43-41 mark over the remainder of the schedule and a second-place finish in the AL West with an 88-74 record.
"We want to thank John for his service to the Mariners," Pelekoudas added, noting McLaren's 11 years as a coach with the club. "He has dedicated many years of his baseball career to help build baseball in Seattle."
Riggleman takes over a club that was expected to contend for the AL West crown. He last managed in the big leagues with the Cubs in 1999, posting a 67-95 record. Over eight seasons as manager with San Diego (1992-94) and Chicago (1995-99), he racked up a 486-598 mark with one playoff appearance -- in 1998 as Chicago won a wild card berth.
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