Hargrove isn’t packing yet
SEATTLE – With no pennant race to occupy our time – again – the only intrigue remaining in the Mariners’ season is to mull over the employment future of their architects of mediocrity.
That’s the volatile world the Mariners have created for themselves with another also-ran season, and so it should have been no surprise that the Wednesday Massacre at Safeco Field caused such a swirl of speculation.
One school of thought went that the ouster of Mike Hargrove’s close friend, bench coach Ron Hassey, didn’t bode well for the manager’s job security. But the contrasting point of view was that the simultaneous booting of Dan Rohn meant that Hargrove had won a power struggle with the man viewed by many as a possible successor.
Here’s the truth of the matter: The two firings were unrelated, yet both work, indirectly, to strengthen the growing assumption that Hargrove will be back next season.
Indeed, all signs point to the return next year – at least at the start of next year – of not only Hargrove, but general manager Bill Bavasi, headed for his third straight losing season since replacing Pat Gillick.
The Mariners are said to be pleased with the way Bavasi has rebuilt a bereft farm system, and believe that the major league team is headed in the right direction as well.
Bavasi, in turn, is said to be solidly behind Hargrove, who can point to his second straight improvement in the team’s win-loss record since inheriting a 99-loss club from Bob Melvin.
Clearly, this will not be a popular stance among the large segment of the disgruntled fan base that is frothing for a change.
But here’s an important proviso: Nothing is set in stone. There are several wild cards that could still change the story line.
One is the performance of the team down the stretch. After matching last year’s win total (69) by beating Toronto on Monday, the Mariners promptly lost three in a row, then fell behind 6-0 Friday before pulling out a win. If they collapse in the final two weeks, it could well be the final straw for Hargrove, who had a history in Baltimore of disastrous finishes:
“His 2001 Orioles team went 24-56 in the second half, including a stretch of 16 losses in 17 games in late August and early September;
“In 2002, the Orioles completely fell apart, to almost historic proportions, losing 32 of their last 36 games;
“In 2003, the Orioles lost 32 of their last 46 games to go from 57-59 on Aug. 10 to a final mark of 71-91. Hargrove was fired after the season.
The other important wild card would seem to be the mind-set of CEO Howard Lincoln. That may be tied to how much pressure Lincoln is getting from the ownership in Kyoto, Japan, where the still-influential Hiroshi Yamauchi cannot be happy with the team’s decline.
One indication of the club’s urgency to get all the wins it can is that it has not been giving much playing time to youngsters like Adam Jones, T.J. Bohn and Oswaldo Navarro, the traditional September practice of non-contenders. (Except, of course, when they had no other choice, as in a bullpen decimated by injuries, and in the starting rotation after Jamie Moyer was traded and Joel Pineiro demoted. Pineiro, having straightened himself out, is now back in the rotation.)
The Hassey firing was apparently a case in which the brass at Edgar Martinez Drive decided that Hassey, though a solid baseball man, simply wasn’t the right fit in his current job of bench coach. They told Hargrove that Hassey would have to go after the season, and, given their close friendship, the manager reportedly felt an obligation to inform Hassey.
Though he had the option of finishing the season, Hassey chose to leave now. It bodes well for Hargrove that he is being involved in the process of choosing a new bench coach for next season.
As for administrative coach Rohn, the word from inside is that he was thought to be undermining Hargrove by criticizing the manager to other players and coaches.
“It was pretty blatant,” said one source.
Word eventually reached Hargrove, and the result was obvious on Wednesday.
If Hargrove indeed returns, it will be an amazing case of survival. On two particular occasions this season, it seemed reasonable to believe Hargrove stood on the verge of being fired.
The first occurred in late May, when the Mariners lost six in a row on the road to fall 10 games less than .500 and sink deep into last place in the American League West.
The next moment of impending doom, of course, was at the conclusion of their Road Trip From Hell, the 0-11 death march through Texas, Oakland and Los Angeles in mid-August that effectively ended their playoff hopes.
But neither time did Bavasi pull the trigger, and in both instances, the Mariners rebounded in the nick of time to head off the angry mobs.
On the first occasion, they whipped the Rangers 14-5 in Texas in the final game of the trip, the prelude to a stretch of nine wins in 11 games (and 19 wins in 26 games) that cooled the heat on Hargrove considerably (but just temporarily).
After the 11-game losing streak, facing a daunting homestand, the Mariners won seven of nine against the Yankees, Red Sox and Angels, and again the axe was lifted.
Those two scenarios should be instructive to the mind-set of Bavasi, who is known for his loyalty. No matter how unpopular Hargrove may be among fans, he has the one ally needed to survive.
For now, anyway.