Seattle Mariners Rumors: Is Lloyd McClendon Fired Now?
Seattle Mariners rumors about manager Lloyd McClendon are anything but positive. McClendon could get fired after the Mariners just got swept by the Los Angeles Angels in three games. A 3-2 loss on Sunday, September 27 culminates what has been a very frustrating season for fans of the Mariners. The team also lost any chance at finishing with a record at.500 or better by falling to the Angels again.
In the updated MLB standings, the Mariners reside squarely in fourth place in the American League West with the fourth worst record in the league. At 74-82, the team has lost five games in a row and is now guaranteed to finish with a sub-500 record on the road and at Safeco Field this year. In a year where the Mariners had been projected to make the postseason, the team is trending in the wrong direction.
With just six games left in the regular season, the Seattle Mariners are only 1 1/2 games from having the second-worst record in the American League. It might take the team winning all six games in the final homestand for manager Lloyd McClendon to have any shot at retaining his job. A tough three-game series against the Houston Astros begins on Monday night (September 28), with the regular season coming to an end with a final series against the Oakland Athletics from October 2-4.
Former Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik has already been shown the door, and a search for the new GM is currently ongoing. This could lead to McClendon getting fired no matter how the team finishes the season, as new general managers typically want to bring in their own guy to fill the role of manager. Social media posts have been extremely unkind to McClendon through the weekend, laying the blame of the struggling franchise not just at his feet, but with the entire front office.
As a manager, the 2014 Mariners are the only team that has had a winning record under McClendon. He managed the Pittsburgh Pirates to a combined record of 336-446 and the Mariners are now 161-157 under him. In seven years as a manager, he has yet to have a team make the postseason. With an increased payroll for 2015, big free agent signings like Nelson Cruz and Robinson Cano, and a winning season in 2014, much more was expected from the team this year. As the team tries to rebuild or retool for the 2016 MLB season, Seattle Mariners rumors indicate that Lloyd McClendon may be the next man shown the door.
[Image Source: Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images]
