Another manager found his way to the employment line on Monday when the Seattle Mariners ended the tenure of Don Wakamatsu midway through a season that started with hope before taking a wrong turn.
Those who look at MLB match betting predictions note how Wakamatsu had improved the Mariners by 24 games last season, but was set to oversee one of their worst years in recent memory in 2010 with them sitting bottom of the American League West on a 42-70 record.
Daren Brown, who had been managing Triple-A Tacoma with mixed results for the last four seasons, took over for Monday’s game with the Oakland Athletics, a game which the Mariners won 3-1 on the back of a strong effort from starter Doug Fister, one of the year’s success stories despite a 4-8 record.
Sadly for the Mariners, MLB betting pundits recognise 2010 as a year of in-fighting, and it appears that Wakamatsu has been blamed for them, along with bench coach Ty Van Burkleo and pitching coach Rick Adair, who were also allowed to leave.
The year started brightly for the team, with the additions of Cliff Lee and Chone Figgins, but by the time the middle of summer arrived, Lee had been traded to the Texas Rangers and Figgins had been one of a number of players to fall out with Wakamatsu.
Figgins and Wakamatsu were at loggerheads for much of the season, ending up with an unseemly spat in the dugout last month which saw the speedy third baseman benched, and he was also slammed for his dealings with Ken Griffey Jr, who retired earlier in the year after being benched and left without even saying goodbye to a number of his disgruntled colleagues.
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