M’s new manager ex-Indians skipper
When the Cleveland Indians introduced Eric Wedge as their new manager in October 2002, he was 34 years old – younger not only than every other skipper in baseball, and any Indians manager since Lou Boudreau in 1942, but also three of his players.
In his second managerial stint eight years later, the Seattle Mariners hope to reap the benefits of a wiser and more seasoned version of Wedge, who will turn 43 in January.
The Mariners settled on Wedge to be their new manager Friday in a whirlwind day that began with the news that perceived front-runner Bobby Valentine had been told he was out of the running. Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik called Valentine in the morning to tell the former Mets and Rangers manager they were going in a different direction.
That was one of several such calls by Zduriencik. Sources confirmed that Wedge, the American League Manager of the Year in 2007, is the Mariners’ choice to be the full-time replacement for the fired Don Wakamatsu.
Daren Brown finished the season as interim manger after Wakamatsu was fired Aug. 9. The Mariners ended up buried in last place in the American League West with a 61-101 record, 34 games behind first-place Texas.
The Mariners are withholding official announcement on its new manager because MLB doesn’t allow major news revealed during the postseason without the permission of commissioner Bud Selig.
In a brief phone call with the Seattle Times on Friday afternoon, Zduriencik declined any comment on the managerial search.
“We’re looking forward to the playoff game tonight,” Zduriencik said. “We’ll have an announcement early next week.”
The news conference introducing Wedge is expected to take place Monday. Fox’s Ken Rosenthal reported Wedge will get a three-year deal.
Neither Wedge nor his agent returned phone calls from the Times.
Besides Valentine, other finalists were former Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon, former Blue Jays manager John Gibbons, former Astros manager Cecil Cooper and Brown.
Interviews were completed Wednesday, and the Mariners acted quickly to reach out to Wedge, who also was under consideration for openings with the Blue Jays, Cubs, Pirates and Brewers.
Wedge inherited a young, rebuilding Cleveland team in 2003 and led it to 93 victories in 2005, his third season. The Indians finished in second place in the A.L. Central, six games behind the White Sox and two games behind Boston in the wild-card race. However, they lost six of their final seven games to squander a 1 1/2 game wild-card lead.
Two years later, the Indians won the division with 96 wins, tied for the most in the majors. They then ousted the Yankees in four games in the American League Division Series, beating Joe Torre in his Yankees finale in the clincher. The Indians went up three games to one on Boston in the ALCS, one victory away from the World Series, but lost the next three games by scores of 7-1, 12-2 and 11-2.
Cleveland was 81-81 in 2008, and nose-dived to a 65-97 record in 2009, having traded away Cliff Lee, CC Sabathia, Victor Martinez and others. Wedge was fired with six games to play and the Indians mired in a streak of 20 losses in their last 25 games.