Expect an announcement by tomorrow morning, but Don Wakamatsu is the new manager of the Mariners.
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There were people within the Mariners organization who favored Joey Cora for the job. But in the end, Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik got total say over the decision and Wakamatsu was his man. In the end, the team's ownership, Hiroshi Yamauchi, Chris Larson and others, did have to approve the choice. But it's now done.
Wikipedia's already on the ball, so you know it's true.
Wakamatsu's an analytical mind who spent five years with the Rangers before joining Oakland as a bench coach last season. The fact that we're hiring a guy so recently with the A's might say enough on its own about this team's new direction, although I dunno, maybe he's bad. We already know he sucks at expressions.
Dave says he's known to be calm and mild-mannered, which raises two points:
1) people who miss Lou Piniella will hate him and want him fired, since good managers yell and scream and endanger the lives of others
2) we can break him
Here's to a new era in Seattle. We thought hiring Bob Melvin might've been a signal of change, and that one certainly didn't work out, but this time change has already been happening, and it's been dramatic. Wakamatsu was Zduriencik's personal choice. He is a part of the change, and as far as I'm concerned, that can only be good.
Go Don. Go Mariners.