Mariners coaching staff loaded with experience
But the Mariners, by allowing manager John McLaren to choose his own coaches, have turned one of the game's least experienced staffs into one of the most credentialed.
McLaren, entering his first full season, drew on past relationships in changing five of his six coaches. While the value of coaches is impossible to measure, the Mariners' players sensed a difference from the start of camp.
"It's just their presence," closer J.J. Putz says. "When they walk into a room or go on the field to lead a drill or explain a situation, the respect is not demanded from them, it's already given. That's something that we haven't had here the last couple of years.
"It's just their overall experience and knowledge of the game up here. That's not a knock on any of the guys that we had. They just had never been players in the big leagues or coaches in the big leagues before. In certain situations, who do you lean on?"
Here are the answers:
"There's a certain calm about all of them, a quiet assurance," Mariners left fielder Raul Ibanez says. "Camp runs really smoothly. It's not their first time doing this, you can totally tell."
Such wasn't the case with former manager Mike Hargrove's staff.
Hitting coach Jeff Pentland, the only holdover besides McLaren from that group, had more than a decade of experience as a major-league coach.
But Hargrove's four other staffers — pitching coach Rafael Chaves, third-base coach Carlos Garcia, first-base coach Mike Goff and bullpen coach Jim Slaton — were first-time major-league coaches. Only Garcia and Slaton had played in the majors.
If you think such things don't matter to major leaguers, just ask McLaren, who remains mindful of his failure to reach the majors as a player, even though he spent 15 seasons as a trusted sidekick to Lou Piniella, one of the game's most successful managers.
"Lou Piniella is a huge marquee name — he has instant credibility and (commands) a lot of respect," McLaren says. "I felt like I had to earn my respect every day. I tried to do extra every day to let people know I belonged here. I carry it through to this day."
Riggleman, Rodriguez and Pentland also did not play in the majors. But Charlton, a special assignment pitching coach in the Mariners' minor-league system the past three seasons, is the only member of McLaren's staff who is coaching in the majors for the first time.
When a team is losing, players are quick to cite a coach's or manager's inexperience, particularly if the coach or manager is unprepared. The Mariners finished 88-74 last season, but their post-season chances collapsed when they went 1-13 in late August and early September.
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Again, here's Putz:
"Slaton was one of the only guys we had who had played in the big leagues for a long time. For the pitching staff, Mel had not only an outstanding career as a player, but in New York worked with arguably some of the best pitchers of all time. Then you have Norm Charlton for the bullpen. He has probably been through every situation a reliever can possibly go through. For the young guys in our 'pen to have him out there ...
"Slaton was great, don't get me wrong. But he was a starter. He hadn't been through situations in the bullpen — situations on when not to get beat with a certain pitch in a certain location. That's where Norm is going to be huge. Norm had tremendous success, but he also has had some failure, like everybody has out there. It's going to be great having him to help these kids through those rough spots out there."
Left-hander Jarrod Washburn, a starter, agrees.
"Both those guys demand your attention," Washburn says of Stottlemyre and Charlton. "And it's not hard to give your attention to guys with that kind of background. The pedigree that Mel brings to the table, the experience that he brings here, it's hard to come by. I definitely have open ears every time he speaks."
Stottlemyre is teaching Washburn a new grip on his changeup. Perlozzo, a skilled infield instructor who helped Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts improve defensively, is refining the technique of Mariners second baseman Jose Lopez. The new coaches demand more effort and they get it, Putz says.
In the end, coaches are responsible for only so much, and players must be held accountable for their performances. But by hiring new coaches as well as new players, the Mariners sought to create a more diligent, professional environment.
So far, so good.
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