SEATTLE — Just more than a month after finishing their fourth consecutive losing season under general manager Jack Zduriencik, the Mariners hired Lloyd McClendon to be their next manager.
McClendon is the organization’s 16th manager and the third full-time manager since Zduriencik took over in 2009.
He will succeed Eric Wedge, who ran the club from 2011-13 before deciding to leave at the end of the 2013 season because he felt he was no longer on the same page with the organization.
McClendon, 54, was manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates for five seasons (2001-05) and has spent the past eight seasons as a coach for the Detroit Tigers, the last seven as hitting coach.
During his time as the Pirates manager, McClendon was known for a fiery personality. During one notable in-game argument with umpires, he lifted first base out of the ground and walked off the field with it.
McClendon was 336-446 (.430) from 2001 through the first 136 games of the 2005 season as the Pirates’ manager. He had zero winning seasons in Pittsburgh.
BBWAA announces
finalist for awards
NEW YORK — Miguel Cabrera has a chance to repeat as AL MVP after being named one of three finalists for the award in voting by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Detroit’s star third baseman is joined by Baltimore first baseman Chris Davis and Angels outfielder Mike Trout, who has been a finalist in each of his first two major league seasons.
Arizona first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, Pittsburgh center fielder Andrew McCutchen and St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina are up for top player in the National League.
Finalists for the BBWAA awards are being announced Tuesday. The winners will be revealed next week live on the MLB Network, beginning Monday with the two rookies of the year and concluding Thursday with the MVPs.
Miami’s Jose Fernandez is one of three finalists for the NL’s Cy Young Award and is also up for Rookie of the Year. In Cy Young balloting, he is up against 2011 winner Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers and the Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright.
In the AL Cy Young competition, Detroit’s Max Scherzer is pitted against two Japanese pitchers, Texas’ Yu Darvish and Seattle’s Hisashi Iwakuma. The Cy Young winners will be announced Wednesday.
Rangers make
$14.1M offer to Cruz
ARLINGTON, Texas — All-Star slugger Nelson Cruz got a $14.1 million qualifying contract offer Monday from the Texas Rangers.
Cruz served a 50-game suspension this year as a result of MLB’s investigation in the Biogenesis case. He was able to play in the AL wild-card tiebreaker after serving his penalty.
Texas declined to make qualifying offers to six other eligible free agents, including catchers A.J. Pierzynski and Geovany Soto.
If Cruz declines the offer and signs with another team, the Rangers would get a compensatory pick at the end of the first round of the 2014 draft. Cruz has until next Monday to make his decision.
A-Rod spokesman denies positive test result
NEW YORK — Alex Rodriguez has “never” tested positive for a banned substance, his attorney Lanny Davis said Monday in refuting a published report that said the Yankees’ third baseman had tested positive for a stimulant in 2006.
Davis also called for law enforcement to investigate what he called Major League Baseball’s “possibly illegal misconduct” in its probe of Biogenesis, the former anti-aging clinic in Florida that allegedly provided performance-enhancing drugs to Rodriguez and other players. A-Rod is appealing a 211-game suspension MLB handed down Aug. 5.
The New York Times, citing two unnamed people involved with baseball’s drug-testing program, reported the positive test of an unspecified stimulant. Under the joint drug agreement, two positives are required before disciplinary action would be imposed, a source said.
