New Mariners Manager

According to the MLB.com, Don Wakamatsu is the new manager of the Mariners. The announcement might possibly be made today at Safeco Field, but the club’s spokesman neither confirmed nor denied these rumors first made by the KING-TV and the Seattle Times. Wakamatsu was the bench coach for the Oakland A’s last year and is the Mariner’s choice for manager, as per the new general manager. Other candidates included Boston Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills and third base coach DeMarlo Hale, Arizona Diamondbacks third base coach Chip Hale, St. Louis Cardinals third base coach Jose Oquendo, Chicago White Sox bench coach and former Mariners infielder Joey Cora,  and Randy Ready, the manager of Portland, the San Diego Padres’ affiliate in Tripe-A. The 45 year old, Jack Zduriencik pick (Mariner’s general manager) was a former catcher who played 18 games for the Chicago White Sox in 1991 and would become the first Asian-American to manager in the Majors. “This is a heck of an opportunity and something I’ve looked forward to for a long time,” Wakamatsu said on Monday. “I feel like I went in and represented myself as a strong candidate. It seems like this is a perfect fit for me. Almost like it’s something I’ve been groomed for.” And groomed indeed, though he doesn’t have any big league managing experience, he coached in the Angels system before joining the Texas Rangers and so on. If you’re all about supporting the minority in this league, then check out Mariners tickets for next seasons game, where Wakamatsu will show off his talents on the manager’s bench!