Last-Place Mariners Fire Manager Don Wakamatsu

The last-place Seattle Mariners have fired manager Don Wakamatsu.

The team announced the move hours before Monday night's game against Oakland.

Seattle entered the day 42-70, the second-worst record in the American League. The Mariners began the season with expectations of their first postseason since in nine years, following a winning 2009 in Wakamatsu's first season.

But a poorly constructed roster has produced the worst offense in baseball and doomed them to 22½ games behind first-place Texas in the AL West.

The team also fired three of Wakamatsu's coaches (pitching coach Rick Adair, bench coach Ty Van Burkleo and performance coach Steve Hecht), and promoted Daren Brown from Triple-A Tacoma to serve as interim manager, reports CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler.

The relationship between Wakamatsu and general manager Jack Zduriencik has deteriorated over the course of the season, as the Mariners have become one of baseball's most disappointing teams, Knobler reports. The M's are 42-70, and have been buried in last place in the American League West since the start of May.

Wakamatsu had trouble dealing with Ken Griffey Jr. before Griffey abruptly retired, and also had run-ins with Chone Figgins, the M's high-profile free-agent signing, Knobler notes. There was a sense around the team that management didn't stand behind Wakamatsu, who won praise for the way he handled the M's last year, in his first season on the job.

Wakamatsu's firing was first reported by 710 ESPN radio in Seattle.