The Seattle Mariners, firmly entrenched in last place in the American League West with a 42-70 record, have fired Manager Don Wakamatsu and replaced him with Daren Brown, the manager of Triple-A Tacoma.
Wakamatsu was in his second season as Seattle's manager. In 2009, he took over a team that had lost 101 games in 2008 and guided them to an 85-77 record in 2009. However, losing key players Adrian Beltre and Russell Branyan(Who has since been reaquired in a trade) to free agency before the season, sub-par offensive production, so-so defense and a public spat with outfielder Chone Figgins have doomed the Mariners to the bottom on the A.L. West, after being predicted to contend for the division title.
Along with Wakamatsu, bench coach Ty Van Burkleo, pitching coach Rick Adair and Steve Hecht, the team's performance coach, were also let go. Hitting coach Alan Cockrell was dismissed earlier in the season.
Along with Brown, who has managed at Triple-A Tacoma the past four seasons, Roger Hansen was promoted from minor league catching coordinator to bench coach and Carl Willis, the minor league pitching coordinator, was promoted to pitching coach, all moves that are right now, on a temporary basis, likely through the end of this season. Brown will take over as manager starting with tonight's game against Oakland.
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