What the fans are saying about the M's at seattletimes.com

Good. Who's next?

— Shawn Good, Seattle

I'm bummed. Seemed like he was willing to try anything, but the players failed him.

— Mike P., Woodinville

The firing of John McLaren was a forgone conclusion to what has been a dreadful season. While I don't think that this will cause the team to turn things around or ultimately make much of a difference, it is symbolic of the teams failures. If your team is terrible, you get fired. Will it make a difference in the end? No. Was it necessary? Eh. Was it inevitable? Yes.

— Daniel, Seattle

It amazes me how long these idiots wait to fire people. This should have happened WEEKS ago. They need to blow the WHOLE thing up and start over. Hire Brian Cashman at the end of the season and start winning.

— kalaloch03, Kirkland

The whole mess was not of his doing, but the Mariners needed to show the fans some definitive action. Bavasi and now McLaren. Now the question is will they spend any money to acquire some real ballplayers? Sexson needs to go along with some others.

Dan Day, Bellevue

Good. We ought to package this team with the Sonics and send them off to OK. Keep the Seahawks, though — they have cheerleaders.

— Gene, Renton

Mac simply wasn't given the tools to work with to build a winner. I'm sad to see him go. He's a Mariners guy, and a great baseball guy. But the ship is sinking, and the captain must go down with it.

— Tim, Renton

By no means do I think Mac is the second coming of Casey Stengel, but it's not his fault his first baseman, third baseman, catcher and DH are hitting a collective .224, that his "ace" is a fragile, six-inning baby or that no one outside Felix seems to give a damn whether they win or lose. In the end his "good guy" persona was probably led to his downfall as much as anything. Guess the adage is true, they really do finish last.

— Cranky J., Seattle

Some body call Merry Maids, because upper management is CLEANING HOUSE! I say bring on Willie Randolph!

— The Truth

After embarrassing the team, fans and most important the young fans by using the F-bomb in more than one news conference, I say "don't let the screen door hit you on the way out."

— Debra, Seattle

The nice-guy, assistant-coach promotion never works. Think about McLaren, Bob Weiss, Jim Lambright, Keith Gilbertson. The role change from friend to boss is difficult in the office, impossible in pro sports.

— Gary, Tacoma

It's about time. There was a reason the man was in his mid-50s and was never hired as a manager. Everybody else came to the conclusion that he was not a qualified manager. Everyone except the Mariners.

— Mike B., Yakima

I agree with all those that feel the house cleaning needs to go higher. There's an old Lincoln with Armstrong tires on it. Both have outlived their reign here. No real change will come as long as these two are still here.

— Just a fan, King County

It is unfair. The Mariners are a terrible team with a roster that is totally devoid of talent and full of players with no pride in their performance. John McLaren is not to blame for this.

— Wilbur Watson, Seattle

Firing McLaren is a cop-out. If Howard Lincoln truly cared about this team he would ask Mr. Nintendo to sell the team to someone who really cares about baseball. The only reason the firings are going on is to try and bring back butts in the seats.

— Kevin, Richland

With an interim manager, general manager, a number of players whose contracts won't be renewed, this is now an interim team. What a shipwreck. Might be time to get Gilligan off the island to hit.

— Padfoot, Portland

The entire Tacoma Rainiers team should be brought to Seattle to replace the Mariners for a couple of weeks and see what happens.

— Dick98260, Langley

Between this debacle and the Sonics trial, it's a wonder anyone outside of King County would care about Seattle professional sports at all. When does the new soccer team start?

— Watchthecollegeworldseries

There had better be a couple of players right on his heels or it's all window dressing.

— Jim DeVaney

You can't improve the quality of your dinner by changing cooks when you have that same rotten, stinkin' meat, that brown limp vegetables, and that rancid cheese in the fridge to work with.

— The obvious, MLT