The Seattle Mariners, who were expected to be contenders this year, have an abysmal 22-41 record.

In response to this record...does second year coach John McClaren get fired?

No!

Hitting coach Jeff Pentland, presumably responsible for the woes of Richie Sexson (who has stunk it up at the plate for the last two years) is fired.

Ichiro likes McClaren, which is presumably why his job is safe, but frankly McClaren isn't a very coach. Many times last season he actually cost the Mariners games, by his poor relief-pitching decisions.

The Mariners' bats have indeed been quiet. Ichiro had an abysmal start to the year, although as usual he is starting to catch fire now.

But Adrian Beltre is only batting .230, Kenji Johjima is even worse at .218, and outfielder Wladimir Balentien is hitting a scorching .190.

As for Sexson...at least he's doing better than Balentien, at .206.

Sexson gets booed every time he steps to the plate. You can understand fans' reaction in one sense -- the man signed a huge contract and has underperformed ever since, but in another sense...if he's legitimately trying his best, the scorn of fans puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on the man.

But frankly, it's time for the Mariners' to clean house, and I'm not talking about the coaches.