M's go for stability in retaining Bavasi, McLaren

Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi is the son and brother of former major-league executives. He has been around baseball long enough to know that, in his words, "I work daily at the pleasure of the ownership. Period."

It had been unclear whether the Mariners' brass was still pleased with Bavasi's work after the club dropped out of playoff contention in August and September.

But Thursday, the Mariners' CEO, Howard Lincoln, announced that both Bavasi and Seattle manager John McLaren will be back for the 2008 season, ending rampant speculation about the job security of both men.

Almost one year to the day that Lincoln declared that Bavasi and then-manager Mike Hargrove were "on my hot seat," he gave a strong vote of confidence to the team's current manager and GM.

The Mariners, at 84-74 when the announcement was made, are assured of their first winning season since Bavasi was hired before the 2004 season. But a late-season collapse that saw them lose 15 of 17 games knocked them out of contention for the team's first playoff berth since 2001.

McLaren, hired last winter to be bench coach, was promoted on July 2 after Hargrove unexpectedly quit. The Mariners' 10-inning win over Cleveland on Wednesday gave him a 39-41 record, and Thursday afternoon Lincoln and team president Chuck Armstrong called McLaren up to the executive offices to give him the good news.

"John McLaren stepped in, and he led the team to a winning season," Lincoln said. "He certainly has the confidence and trust and respect of our players. That's extremely important. So I think he deserves another season.

"In Bill's case, Bill has produced a winning season. That was the first challenge. He didn't get us to the playoffs, but I think he deserves to continue on as the general manager. It's so disruptive to an organization to change general managers. ...

"I think the decision I made last season to stick with Bill and Mike proved to be the right decision. I think the decision to remain with Bill and John will turn out to be the right decision."

Lincoln is aware the decision will not sit well with some fans.

"Certainly, in baseball you cannot please everybody," he said. "I fully expect some people will support this decision, some people will not. But somebody has to make the decision. And somebody has to figure out what's in the best interest of the franchise. And that's my job."

Bavasi said no agreement has been reached on a new contract for McLaren, "but there's going to be a deal. We have agreement in the most basic terms."

Bavasi said his own contract, which apparently has an automatic rollover clause that had already been triggered into 2008, was not an issue.

"My situation is just not such that anybody needs to come to me and say, guess what, you're still alive," he said.

Bavasi seemed to recognize that he is on a perpetual "hot seat," even though Lincoln said Thursday with a laugh, "I have decided I'm not going to use the word 'hot seat' again, no matter how hard you try to tempt me."

Said Bavasi: "You can't point to a contract that's ever kept a guy employed. That's not an issue. The greater issue is, does this person still fit."

Lincoln said that the Mariners' 2008 payroll will approximate this year's, which he placed at just more than $113 million.

"It's going to be in that range," he said. "There's not going to be a drastic cut, or an incredible jump."

McLaren, who turns 56 Saturday, said he was "overjoyed" to be retained and added, "I think I'm the right man for the job.

"I'm not saying I wasn't anxious [about his future], but I had confidence and I knew it would work out. If it didn't, I was ready for anything."

When McLaren called a meeting to tell the team he was coming back, they responded with applause.

"The thing I'm proudest most is, we still have the fire," he said. "We still have the passion. We need to do some things better next year. When I talked to the team, I expressed my views on that."

The fate of McLaren's coaching staff remains unclear. Most new managers have a chance to build their own staff, but McLaren inherited Hargrove's coaches. He said he will meet with Bavasi soon to decide their future.

"I know they're anxious," McLaren said. "I'm not sure what direction we're going to go. I think it's only fair when we make a decision one way or the other they should know immediately. I think that's the first task at hand."

Said Armstrong: "No matter how you slice it and dice it — and we are disappointed with falling back — we're still over .500. We've made great improvement. We are appreciative and greatly impressed at the job McLaren did coming in at a very difficult time, right before the All-Star break, and keeping this team together. They never quit. They're not quitting now."

In an e-mail from his Ohio home, Hargrove called the retentions "great news! The Mariners have gotten better every year since 2005 under Bill's leadership. I think that consistency in leadership is essential in an organization's ability to get to the top. Bill and Mac will continue to take the Mariners back into contention. I think it is absolutely tremendous and bodes well for the future of the organization."

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com