ShareThisDANA POINT, Calif. -- Although representatives from all 30 major league teams are huddled in a posh resort here, the most startling rumor of the day -- and yes, it involved the Seattle Mariners -- came from Japan. It involved the Mariners' managerial search, which has not begun in earnest, and suggested that Japanese owner Hiroshi Yamauchi might push the team to hire Bobby Valentine, who has spent much of this decade managing in Japan.Coming on the heels of Valentine expressing his desire to return to the big leagues, the story smacked of self-promotion -- and the Mariners quietly shrugged and discounted the rumor.Still, at least in Japan, the rumor appeared to have legs.For one thing, Yamauchi has at times made his feelings known, and had a hand in the signing of pitcher Kazuhiro Sasaki and players Ichiro Suzuki and Kenji Johjima.And, the theory went, should new general manager Jack Zduriencik not have a clear-cut top choice, Valentine might well be a viable candidate.Or not.Valentine, now 58, is making $1.5 million a year in Japan, where he has managed the Chiba Lotte Marines. The last time he managed in the majors was 2002. Managing the Rangers, then the Mets, Valentine's career record was 1,117-1,072 for a .510 winning percentage.Zduriencik said he won't begin interviewing candidates until next week, and said Tuesday he hadn't yet asked any team for permission to talk to an employee.In his 15 years managing the Texas Rangers (1985-92) and New York Mets (1996-2002), Valentine never finished in first place, but did finish second four times including guiding the Mets to the 2000 National League pennant as a wild card, then falling to the Yankees in five games in the World Series. The Mets also made the playoffs as a wild card in 1999, losing to the Braves in the NLCS.With 94 and 97 wins in those two seasons, they are the only two years that Valentine's MLB teams managed to win 90 games.(Contact Larry LaRue at larry.larue@thenewstribune.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Could Valentine be Mariners' next manager?
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