Opposite Directions

Two teams going in two different directions lost their managers on Sunday. One was asked to leave, while another simply and rather abruptly resigned. The Reds fired Jerry Narron, while the Mariners Mike Hargrove essentially walked off the job.

While Narron’s is sadly to be expected, Hargrove’s was a bit of a shock to Seattle fans, media and certainly the players. The Reds have the lowest record in baseball this year under Narron and have never made a playoff appearance during his tenure with the club. The Reds loss Sunday left them at a dismal 31-51 with right around half the season to go yet, and well on their way to a 100 loss season. The expectations were much higher for the Reds this year than they had been in previous years due to a notable increase in payroll, yet the team had long since disappeared from the playoff radar.

The Mariners meanwhile are a completely different story. While the Reds were on their way to the 1st overall draft pick in next years draft, the Mariners are gunning hard for the Angels, who are leading their division. After sweeping Toronto over the weekend and winning 8 straight, Seattle is now only 4 games back in the AL West.

Both teams have promise but only one of them has put it together so far this year. While both clubs search for new managers, they will each have interims, John McLaren in Seattle and Pete Mackanin for the Reds. Good luck to both men.