New Mariners GM could have pick for manager

A longtime supporter of new Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik has a personal interest in seeing history repeat itself.

It was six years ago that the Milwaukee Brewers hired Ned Yost to manage a team that had lost 106 games. The guy in charge of drafting and player development for Milwaukee was none other than Zduriencik, and the fruits of his picks were about to be reaped by Yost at the major-league level.

Within three seasons, the Brewers were playing .500 ball. Yost then had them contending for the playoffs last year and again this season before being fired in mid-September with his team in a dreadful slump. The dismissal, an act of apparent desperation by team owner Mark Attanasio, came against the wishes of GM Doug Melvin and his staff.

And now, on the lookout for his next job, Yost would like nothing more than to team up again with old pal Zduriencik in Seattle.

"Definitely, most definitely," Yost said in an interview on Thursday. "The opportunity to work with Jack again is really, really appealing."

There will be dozens, even hundreds, of former Zduriencik acquaintances looking to maintain or renew ties with the new Mariners boss, who will be introduced to the local media at a news conference this morning. Zduriencik spent many of his formative years in professional baseball scouting in far-flung areas, getting to know obscure coaches, scouts and players who have since made names for themselves.

"I do not know of any person that hasn't gotten along with Jack," said Yost, who left the new GM a congratulatory message on his cellphone Wednesday. "He's a no-nonsense guy. He's a people person. His work ethic is tremendous."

Yost said the situation in Seattle reminds him a lot of what the Brewers were like when he was hired after the 2002 season.

"You had a team that had lost 100 games and that was the challenge for all of us, just like it is for the Mariners now," he said. "We all knew we had to get an organization turned around."

Yost figures to jump to the top of most lists when it comes to managerial favorites for Seattle. But that does not mean he is the automatic choice, especially given Zduriencik's vast array of baseball contacts.

Those include Lloyd McClendon, Zduriencik's close friend, who managed the Pirates from 2001 to 2005 and is now the hitting coach on Jim Leyland's Detroit staff. There is also Ted Simmons, his former GM and boss in Pittsburgh, who left the executive ranks for the dugout last season and became a Brewers bench coach at Zduriencik's recommendation.

Simmons is rumored to be the next San Diego Padres bench coach — unless he is tabbed for a Mariners managerial position.

Others who could get a call include Bobby Valentine, who is now in Japan but once managed the New York Mets at a time Zduriencik was part of that team's front office. The Mariners, interestingly enough, are also now competing with Zduriencik's former Brewers, as both teams seek to fill their managerial vacancy. Seattle theoretically could wind up with one of the three finalists — Bob Brenly, Ken Macha or Willie Randolph — now vying for the Brewers position.

And then there are the rumors that Seattle's executives are highly interested in bringing back onetime Mariners infielder Joey Cora, now a White Sox bench coach. Not to mention the possibility that Jim Riggleman, respected throughout the game and the kind of traditionalist Zduriencik could relate to, could see his interim status upgraded.

Members of the Mariners coaching staff were told at season's end that they were free to pursue jobs elsewhere and would only be told of their status in Seattle once a new GM came on board. In an interesting twist, one of the first people third-base coach Sam Perlozzo called a few weeks back in search of a job was then-Brewers assistant GM Zduriencik.

"Jack and I go way back," Perlozzo said. "I'd actually put in an inquiry with him about a job in Milwaukee."

Little did Perlozzo know that Zduriencik, an assistant GM with the Brewers, was on the verge of becoming a finalist to replace Bill Bavasi in Seattle. Zduriencik never phoned back — understandable, given the circumstances — but Perlozzo hopes to speak with him at some point because his contract with Seattle runs out at month's end.

Perlozzo's example is typical of many of the relationships Zduriencik has formed since the early 1970s working for the Brewers, Pirates, Mets and Dodgers. Several years back, ex-major-leaguer Perlozzo was in his hometown of Cumberland, Md., helping out Allegany College and legendary coach Steve Bazarnic when he got to know Zduriencik.

"He was scouting for the Pirates and used to come around all the time," Perlozzo said. "The three of us used to hang out and talk together. It's not like we still talk on the phone or anything, but we all got to know each other back then."

And in baseball, it's often all about the contacts.

Perlozzo would like to manage again, and now that Zduriencik is running things in Seattle, Perlozzo said: "I was kind of hoping he'd consider me for the manager's job."

As will a whole lot of people.

A former major-league GM, now working for a National League front office, said Zduriencik knows so many people that his managerial choice could get very interesting if he got really creative and went for a first-timer. One name he tossed out was Rick Sweet, a former Mariners catcher from the early 1980s, who managed the Reds' Class AAA affiliate in Louisville to a first-place tie this past season.

"There are so many people out there who most people have never heard of who might have what it takes to be the next big thing in baseball," he said. "But you can bet that if they're any good, Jack knows who they are."

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

Read his daily blog at www.seattletimes.com/Mariners