McLaren, Bavasi to return

SEATTLE – A while ago, John McLaren’s wife gave him a hinged, ceramic baseball. She told him to open it once he got a job as a major league manager.

Even though the Mariners bench coach took over on July 2 after Mike Hargrove abruptly resigned, McLaren didn’t feel secure enough to open the gift.

Thursday, before his team’s 4-2 win over Cleveland, he finally did.

McLaren and general manager Bill Bavasi are keeping their jobs for next season, Mariners chief executive Howard Lincoln announced.

So now McLaren can put the long-hidden inscription inside the gift baseball to use in 2008: “Lead & Inspire.”

“Did we get everything we expected for $113 million? No,” Lincoln said Thursday, mindful his team is missing the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. “But we did get a lot. We got a winning season.”

Bavasi’s current contract will remain in effect. McLaren’s deal to manage was set to end after Sunday’s season finale. Bavasi and McLaren will soon begin negotiating a new deal for the manager, though neither man nor Lincoln would reveal if McLaren’s new contract will reach past 2008.

Mariners players erupted in applause when McLaren announced he was coming back during a clubhouse meeting before Thursday’s game.

In that game, Jose Guillen and Jose Lopez each hit two-run homers to back Cha Seung Baek, and the Mariners beat Cleveland (94-65) to prevent the Indians from taking sole possession of the best record in the American League.