The general manager has been fired, and the manager has been fired, and the Mariners are virtually assured of being one of the season's great disappointments. Seattle is facing a major rebuilding job and must soon address the question of whether it's going to trade Erik Bedard, who just a few months ago was acquired in the hope that he would be the last piece needed to overtake the Angels in the AL West. (So far, the Mariners are informing some other teams that they aren't quite prepared to discuss possible deals.)
So the changes that interim manager
Jim Riggleman is making are seemingly small-bore at this point, but his aim is high. "We're really just trying to get these guys back to where their history says they can play," Riggleman said. "We're all taken aback by this. Nobody could've seen this coming. We felt what we had was a good spring training, and then it just started getting away from us and started spiraling down."
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Buster Olney
