Originally published Monday, October 19, 2009 at 3:29 PM

Mariners fire third-base coach Bruce Hines

Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu brings back rest of coaching staff for 2010.

Seattle Times staff reporter

The Mariners announced Monday that third-base coach Bruce Hines will not be retained for the 2010 season.

All other coaches on manager Don Wakamatsu's staff will be brought back — bench coach Ty Van Burkleo, pitching coach Rick Adair, hitting coach Alan Cockrell, first-base coach Lee Tinsley, bullpen coach John Wetteland and performance coach Steve Hecht.

Hines' firing after just one season is a surprising development. At the end of the season, it appeared that all of Wakamatsu's coaches would be brought back, but general manager Jack Zduriencik said the club "decided to go in a different direction."

Wakamatsu, reached in Texas, used the same phrase.

"It's a long, longtime friend, and there's nothing I can say that's going to ease that," Wakamatsu said. "It's the toughest decision I had to make."

Wakamatsu said the phone conversation to inform Hines, who will be 52 in November, was especially difficult.

"It wasn't fun," the Mariners' first-year manager said. "I think he wanted to be part of where we were headed. All our conversations along the way, he was going to be part of that. It was a tough decision. I took a little while to make it, because it was not clear cut."

Wakamatsu and Zduriencik declined to get into specific reasons.

Wakamatsu said that one option being discussed is to move Tinsley to third. They will also look at outside candidates.

"We have several in mind," Wakamatsu said. "I think we're going to look at everyone out there."

Said Zduriencik, "When we're all finished, we hope we can bring in someone that has a dynamic Don and I are both happy with."

Hines previously served as the Angels' minor-league field coordinator from 2006 to 2008. His father, Ben Hines, was a Mariners coach in 1984.

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

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