Stottlemyre and Charlton Among New Mariners Coaches Named Monday

McLaren officially named his new coaching staff on Monday and I have to say I'm a fan of the moves that he has made. The headliners of the new staff are Mel Stottlemyre as the pitching coach and Norm Charlton as the bullpen coach. Jim Riggleman takes post at Bench Coach and Eddie Rodriguez is the 1st Base Coach. Larry Bowa has been offered the 3rd base coach job. Jeff Pentland is the only holdover from Hargrove's staff.

Heres a quick synopsis of each new coach:

Mel Stottlemyre:
I really like this move by the Mariners. Not only is Stottlemyre a former successful big league pitcher (three time 20 game winner) and father of two former big league pitchers but he was also the mind behind the pitching staff of the New York Yankees during their 4 World Series Championships of the Torre era. Plain and simple the guy knows what he's going when it comes to coaching pitchers. I can't wait to see what he can do with Felix, Morrow and some of the other young guys out in the pen. Hopefully Stottlemyre will be able to influence McLaren into making better decisions when it comes to handling the bullpen.

Norm Charlton:
I like this move probably as much if not more than hiring Stottlemyre. I was always a fan of Charlton even if he did sometimes about give me a heart attack when he took the mound. Charlton is not only a former Mariner but was a very good relief pitcher for many years in the big leagues. He knows what it takes to come out of the pen and perform in just about every relief situation. Hopefully he'll be able to convey this knowledge to our young guys out in the pen.

Jim Riggleman:
I've said before that I think that Bench Coach is an irrelevant position but that may just be me speaking out of ignorance. Riggleman is a former major league manager and has a lot of experience as a coach. If anything hopefully he'll be able to help McLaren make better choices in key situations because gods knows Jonny Mac could use the help.

Larry Bowa:
I really hope that Bowa accepts the offer to become 3rd base coach. He's another former big league manager that hopefully can help McLaren mature into a manager who makes the correct decision more often than not.

In general I think McLaren did a very very good job choosing his staff. He's surrounded himself with guys who have many years of experience both playing and coaching in the big leagues. Hopefully the coaching staff's experience will go a long ways towards him making better decisions in critical situations. And I really really can't wait to see what Stottlemyre can do with our young pitchers...