McLaren picks a veteran staff

The Mariners officially unveiled four of their five new coaches Monday, and manager John McLaren expressed confidence that Larry Bowa will soon be added as third-base coach.

If and when that happens -- Bowa has a personal matter to resolve -- McLaren's first hand-picked staff will be long on experience.

It also will include coaches with whom McLaren has long personal associations, something lacking with the staff he inherited from Mike Hargrove.

"They're all winners," McLaren said in a conference call. "I've known them all a long time, some better than others. As we went through the process, these guys stuck out. I think we have one of the best coaching staffs in baseball."

Bowa, 61, and Jim Riggleman, 54, the new bench coach, each have managed two different major-league teams.

New pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, 65, had a long and decorated tenure on Joe Torre's Yankees staff (1996-2005) and also served as pitching coach for the Mets and Astros.

Eddie Rodriguez, 48, the first-base coach, has had nine seasons on major-league staffs, including Toronto, Arizona and Washington. He managed the Mariners' Class AA West Tennessee team last year.

This will be the first major-league coaching job for bullpen coach Norm Charlton, 44, who became close with McLaren during three stints in the Mariners bullpen. Charlton spent the past four years as a special-assignment coach for Seattle, and had scouting duties.

The lone holdover from Hargrove's staff is hitting coach Jeff Pentland, another veteran.

McLaren said experience wasn't the sole criterion upon which he based his decisions.

"I wanted coaches who would put the Mariners in the best position to win next year," he said. "I passed up good names. I passed up some good friends, too."

McLaren said he hopes to get a final decision by the end of the week from Bowa, who was Torre's third-base coach the past two years.

Asked if he had a backup plan if Bowa pulled out, McLaren said, "We have some thoughts, but I feel very positive Larry's situation will work itself out."

Bowa, however, said Monday he has yet to decide whether to accept the offer and doesn't know when he will.

"I've got other things I'm dealing with right now," Bowa said, not going into specifics.

Riggleman, most recently St. Louis' minor-league field coordinator, already had a dry run at the bench-coach job. He and McLaren spent many mornings in recent years at Riggleman's condominium in the Tampa, Fla., area talking baseball over breakfast. The conversations took place mostly when McLaren was working for the Devil Rays as a bench coach under Lou Piniella.

"We used to get together quite a bit," Riggleman said in a phone interview. "We'd sit around talking baseball for hours. So, we have a pretty good relationship with each other already."

Riggleman said he's looking forward to reuniting with Pentland -- who worked on his Chicago Cubs staff in 1999 when Riggleman managed that team.

"He was a great coach then and he still is," he said. "Obviously, I'm looking forward to coaching with him again."

Stottlemyre battled cancer during his time with the Yankees, but McLaren said he has a clean bill of health. Stottlemyre stepped down as the Yankees' coach after the 2005 season, and this year worked as a spring-training instructor for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

"I'm very excited about the opportunity," said Stottlemyre, who grew up in Mabton and lives in Issaquah. "Players and coaches that have been in the game a long period of time understand, the opportunity to live at home and work in baseball doesn't happen often. When it does, it's something very special."

Asked about the staff he inherits, Stottlemyre said, "I'm going to talk to McLaren in the morning. I'm anxious to see what changes they have in mind."

He said he feels great.

"That maybe was a question mark for some people, but I feel I can do a job every day. I'm been told by my doctor here there are no limitations, nothing I have to be careful of, any more than a normal 65-year-old."

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

Geoff Baker: 206-464-8286 or gbaker@seattletimes.com