The Seattle Mariners have fired manager Lloyd McClendon. After nearly reaching the post-season in McClendon’s inaugural season at the helm of the Mariners last year, they took a step back this year with a 76-86 record finishing 12 games back of the Texas Rangers in the AL West.

McClendon had a year remaining on his contract. However, the Mariners recently hired Jerry DiPoto as their new General Manager. DiPoto had been the GM with the Los Angeles Angels, but had abruptly resigned last July amid tensions with longtime skipper Mike Scioscia. Needless to say, DiPoto wants his own man in there and McClendon isn’t it.

It is believed that Tim Bogar is most likely to succeed McClendon as the Mariners’ new skipper. Bogar briefly managed the Texas Rangers last season following the abrupt resignation of manager Ron Washington. Although the Rangers went 14-8 under Bogar, the team decided to hire Jeff Banister instead. Given the fact that Texas is playing in Game 2 of the ALDS against the Toronto Blue Jays as I write this, the Rangers came up smelling roses. Meanwhile, DiPoto hired Bogar to be one of his assistants in the Angels’ front office. DiPoto’s departure from the Angels makes Bogar’s future there look quite tenuous. So Seattle is an ideal landing spot for Bogar who also served on the coaching staffs for both the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox. However, DiPoto will also likely interview both former San Diego Padres manager Bud Black and former Chicago Cubs manager Rick Renteria.

With the Toronto Blue Jays in the post-season, the Mariners now have MLB’s longest playoff drought. They last reached the post-season in 2001 when the Mariners tied an MLB record with 116 wins. Established in 1977, the same year as the Blue Jays, the Mariners have never played in the World Series.