That headline might be a little too harsh, but yesterday the Seattle Mariners fired their manager, Don Wakamatsu.  Wakamatsu was hired back in November 2008, when current GM Jack Zduriecik hired his new manager as his first big decision after taking over the helm in Seattle. Here is the Greg Johns account of the press conference yesterday.

At the time, I praised the decision as a perfect example of strategy. Wakamatsu has worked for each team in his division in some capacity.  Today, I applaud Zduriencik for another reason.  In his conference yesterday announcing the firing, he responded to a question about why he didn’t wait until the end of the season.   From the John’s post:

“When you make your decision, I think it’s time to act,” Zduriencik said. “And to prolong what I thought would be the ultimate decision, why not make it now?

“This decision wasn’t a 24-hour decision. I had thought about this for a period of time as I watched things unfold. I made a decision. I thought it was time to end it. It was time to start fresh and prepare for the future and finish this season on a different note.”

New York fans all know the story of Willie Randolph and his rumored firing, and then finally his real firing.  What Jack Z did was be clear and decisive.  He didn’t leave any time for speculation, and he set his club up, again to find out just what they have.  If the problem is the manager, then change him and free the talent up to play to the best of their ability. If the problem isn’t with the manager, that will become clear very soon, and will allow Zduriencik to trade or release those players during the off-season.

Additionally, Zduriencik recognized that Wakamatsu couldn’t do anything that would raise his own confidence in the manager.  He acted decisively to send a clear message.  He is not a passive GM.  His trades over the last two years have shown that.  Now, its also clear he isn’t afraid of making the big decisions.

While you would have to be sitting in Seattle to really understand where Wakamatsu went wrong, the Wak era is most definitely over.