SEATTLE — John McLaren is the latest member of the Mariners to get cut loose. He probably won't be the last.

On the day McLaren was fired as manager, Seattle executives said they agree with franchise cornerstone Ichiro Suzuki that players should also be jettisoned from the team with the worst record in the majors.

After beginning the year with playoff expectations, the Mariners are now in the midst of what appears to be a lost season. They fired general manager Bill Bavasi this week and followed by dismissing McLaren on Thursday.

Bench coach Jim Riggleman was promoted to run the team, starting Friday night in Atlanta. He became Seattle's fifth manager in six seasons.

"We hadn't shown any improvement for the last couple of months. In fact, we were probably regressing," interim GM Lee Pelekoudas said.

The Mariners are 25-47, 17Z\x games behind the first-place Los Angeles Angels in the AL West. The team seems likely to miss the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season and could become the first team with a $100 million player payroll to lose 100 games.