Mariners manager Mike Hargrove resigns

Baseball Betting Lines

07/01/2007 - Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle Mariners manager Mike Hargrove unexpectedly announced his resignation on Sunday before the club's game against Toronto.

"Over the past several weeks, I have come to the realization that to be fair to myself and the team, I can not continue to do this job if my passion has begun to fade," said Hargrove. "I want to stress how much I respect, and love, the players in the clubhouse, and the coaches and staff that we have in place here, and I can not stress enough what a tremendous place this is to work because of the people who work above me. I am very proud of the work we've done to turn this club around in three years, and I have high expectations for the team this season."

Hargrove compiled a 191-210 record in three seasons with the Mariners. Seattle is currently second in the American League West with a record of 44-33. To replace Hargrove, the Mariners promoted bench coach John McLaren and signed him to a contract for the rest of the 2007 season.

"Mike took over the team at a difficult point in time, taking over after the 2004 season," said Mariners vice president and general manager Bill Bavasi. "He has been a 'team player', and successfully developed a group of young, inexperienced players from our farm system and incorporated several veterans into a winning team. As a result, we are in much better shape today than we were when Mike came to town. I would like to thank Mike for his efforts. We're disappointed that he has decided to step down, but we respect his decision. We wish him, Sharon and his family all the best."

In 16 years as a manager with Baltimore, Cleveland and Seattle, Hargrove compiled a record of 1,187-1,173.

"I am really looking forward to the challenge of taking over this club and continuing to build on what Mike has established here," said McLaren. "When I came back here I said I wanted to be a part of taking this team back to the post-season, and back to what our fans expect and deserve. Thats still the case. My focus, and the focus of every one of my coaches is to help these players achieve what they are capable of, and thats getting this team back to the post-season."

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.