On Friday, Oct. 9, acting manager Lloyd McClendon was relieved of his duties by the Seattle Mariners, making him the next member in the long list of staff released by new general manager, Jerry Dipoto.

In his two-year stay with the Mariners, McClendon led the team to a 163-161 record. In his first season, he led the Mariners into a winning streak for the first time since 2009. However, during his second year with the team, the Mariners finished with a record of 76-86. The 11-game drop was more than likely the reason that McClendon was relieved of his duties.

While this move comes as no surprise to Mariner fans, it does raise some eyebrows as to what it means for the team going forward.

Anytime a new manager is hired, there are bound to be tremendous changes and difficult learning curves. It takes time for a manager to earn the trust and respect of his/her players. Conversely, it takes time for players to earn the trust and respect of of the manager. Once these two conditions have been met and trust has been achieved, a team can succeed.

Along with McClendon, an eyebrow-raising amount of staff has been released. They include bench coach Trent Jewett, third base coach Rich Donnelly, outfield coach Andy Van Slyke, and bullpen coach Mike Rojas.

Personally, I do not feel that letting go of McClendon was the right move. He was very close with most of the team's core personnel, including third basemen Kyle Seager, second baseman Robinson Canó, and ace pitcher Felix Hernandez. By taking away McClenon, whom these core players respect, the team's potential for success in 2016 is up in the air.

The other problem that I have with this move is that Lloyd has proven that he can win. Therefore, releasing him after this bad year is unjust. In 2014, he led the team to a winning streak, which was one game short of resulting in the first playoff appearance for the Mariners since 2001.

The 11-game drop from 2014 to 2015 is a mystery to me. The team had a lack of consistency, and momentum, which led to them into slump periods that later resulted in a season dip.

The last thing I want to say about Lloyd is that he was very good at getting his players motivated. Additionally, Lloyd was a great showman when it came to getting ejected from games. Every time he was ejected, he would put on a show that fans, and even the players, would talk about for weeks. His most famous one was in 2014, when he got ejected on called out after a check-swing. He threwand kicked his hat. He then went on a rampage and unleashed a monumental tantrum at the first base umpire.

Mariner fans will remember the two years of the Lloyd McClendon era with both happiness and remorse over what could have been. The first year had so much promise, then the second year took it all away. Now, it is up to new General Manager Jerry Dipoto to replace McClendon with someone who can take the Mariners out of their 14-year playoff hiatus.