On Monday we heard that there was speculation that Seattle Mariners’ manager Don Wakamatsu could be fired based on the team’s performance and the lack of internal support of their skipper.

CBSSports.com says that GM Jack Zduriencik is sticking behind his manager despite the worst July in the franchise’s history. Zduriencik and Wakamatsu spoke before the team’s series against the Texas Rangers this week.

“Don is our manager,” Zduriencik said. “Don and I, and his son went out to dinner last night. We had a very nice evening, spent like three or four hours together and talked about a lot of things. We talked where we’re headed with the club, about Don and Don is our manager.”

When Zudriencik was asked if Wakamatsu would return in 2011 he responded:

“Everybody is evaluated at all times. As we go forward, you have to realize there is always an evaluation process going on at all times. You take a week at a time, a month at a time, a season at a time with everyone.”

Bob Nightengale of USA Today recently said the team may have already quit on Wakamatsu.

“Everything that has come out of my mouth is we want to put a product on the field the fans can respect and we haven’t done that. To point the finger or look at me, they have every right to do that,” Wakamatsu said. “I feel it every day. I don’t sleep at night, but that means a lot to me … that we give something back. We haven’t given anything back.”

The last Seattle manager to be fired in-season was John McLaren. He managed the Mariners from July 1, 2007 to June 19, 2008. After he was fired, Jim Riggleman was promoted from bench coach to interim manager, but Riggleman was not retained after the 2008 season. Rigglemen is currently the manager of the Washington Nationals, and coincidentally his former boss, McLaren, is now his bench coach.

Information from the Wikipedia was used in this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McLaren_%28baseball%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Riggleman