Former Mariners manager John McLaren is glad to be back in the dugout

A year away from baseball dugouts gave former Mariners manager John McLaren the time he needed to heal.

McLaren said Wednesday he's thrilled to be embarking on his 23rd season in a major-league dugout, this time as bench coach to newly confirmed Washington Nationals manager Jim Riggleman. But the 58-year-old admitted he needed some time away from the game after a tumultuous 2008 campaign in which the Mariners fired him in June.

"I'd interviewed for a couple of coaching jobs last winter, but it's probably good that I did take the time off," said McLaren, who did scouting work instead for the Tampa Bay Rays, based mostly out of his Arizona home. "Just to step back a little bit was a good thing. I still had mixed emotions about everything that had gone on."

McLaren says he harbors no ill feelings toward the Mariners and appreciates that they gave him a shot at managing. But the year and a half since his firing has been tough nonetheless.

Last December, McLaren was still coming to terms with what had happened to his long-sought managerial dream when his brother passed away unexpectedly in Houston. Within weeks, his elderly father also died, leaving a reeling McLaren to go through one of the more difficult emotional tests of his life.

The scouting work kept him busy, taking him back to Latin America and then, last August, to Italy for a three-week stint as a coach at a Major League Baseball academy for teenage European prospects. McLaren says the experience, which enabled him to do some touring as well as coaching with other former MLB players, left him revitalized.

One of the prospects he got to work with was the 14-year-old son of former major-league closer Ugueth Urbina, now imprisoned in Venezuela for attempted murder. McLaren said the younger Urbina, a resident of Spain, could make it to the professional ranks as both a pitcher and a hitter.

Another prospect was from the Congo and had a documentary film crew following him around, detailing life in his war-ravaged African homeland.

"He was very shy when he first joined the group," McLaren said. "But by the end of it all, it was just fascinating to see how he'd changed in just three weeks."

Riggleman had initially been hired by McLaren as bench coach with the Mariners, then replaced him as Seattle's interim manager before moving on to the Nationals as a coach last season.

"It was time to get back," McLaren said. "Sometimes, when you spend too much time away from the game, it's tough to get back down on the field. There are a lot of former coaches I've spent time talking to and many of them want to get back but they can't. So, I feel very fortunate to have gotten this opportunity."

Wakamatsu praises Scioscia

Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu tied for fourth place in AL Manager of the Year balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. The award was won by Angels manager Mike Scioscia, who finished ahead of Twins manager Ron Gardenhire and Joe Girardi of the New York Yankees.

Wakamatsu received two of a possible 28 first-place ballots, tying for fourth in overall points with Rangers manager Ron Washington. Wakamatsu said Scioscia, who he played alongside as a minor leaguer and also worked with in the Angels organization, deserved the award for how he held his club together in the wake of the sudden death of pitcher Nick Adenhart.

"What I respect about him most was the way he handled the tragedy," Wakamatsu said. "He did a great job of respecting the family, in his comments to the media, and using the whole thing in a positive way, if that's even possible to do. That club could have gone either way. He made sure they stayed on track long enough until all of those injured guys came back."

Notes

No elbow surgery for Johnson

Mariners catcher Rob Johnson was told Wednesday he won't need surgery on a sore right elbow.

"I'm really excited about that," said Johnson, who has undergone three surgeries on his hips and wrist in just more than a month.

His latest operation, to repair some minor ligament damage in his wrist, took place in Seattle on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he met with team medical director Edward Khalfayan, who told him a minor bone spur problem and inflammation in his elbow can be treated without another surgical procedure.

Notes

• The Mariners will open their 33-game Cactus League schedule on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 3 against the San Francisco Giants in Peoria, Ariz. That game is one of 17 home contests the Mariners will play in spring training.

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

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