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Mariners fire GM Jack Zduriencik amid disappointing season

Jack Zduriencik (AP Photo)
Jack Zduriencik (AP Photo)

As their disappointing season begins to wind down, the Seattle Mariners announced Friday morning that they have fired general manager Jack Zduriencik.

Assistant GM Jeff Kingston will take over the role for the rest of the 2015 season, but team president Kevin Mather said in a statement that the search for a new GM will begin immediately. Zduriencik was hired as Seattle's GM in October 2008 after a decade with the Milwaukee Brewers, where he was regarded as a top talent evaluator. Over his seven seasons in charge of baseball operations in Seattle, the M's finished with a winning record just twice and never qualified for the postseason.

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Expected to be a World Series contender this season, the Mariners struggled out of the gate and never recovered. They have the third-worst record in the American League at 59-69.

This was the year Seattle was supposed to take that next step. The addition of Nelson Cruz to a lineup that features Robinson Cano and Kyle Seager and with a rotation led by ace Felix Hernandez and supported by veteran Hisashi Iwakuma and promising young pitchers James Paxton and Taijuan Walker, it seemed like the Mariners were poised to make the playoffs after missing the wild-card game in the AL by just one game in 2014. The improvement earned Zduriencik a multi-year extension last August, but he ultimately only lasted another year.

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Even though Cruz has had a monster year, it hasn't been enough to cover up the team's other deficiencies, and it wasn't enough for Zduriencik to keep his job. Cano and Seager haven't hit like they did last season, Iwakuma was sidelined for over two months, the young arms didn't have the kind of impact the team was hoping for, and the bullpen – a massive strength in 2014 – has failed to repeat that success this season.

According to Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal, the Mariners have started reaching out to potential GM candidates, including former Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd. Kenny Williams of the White Sox and Kevin Towers, who has been a GM with San Diego and Arizona, have also been linked to the position.

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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter.