The Associated Press
SEATTLE - Mike Hargrove knows just what he's getting into as the new manager of the last-place Seattle Mariners.
After all, he lost 98, 95 and 91 games in his final three years with the Baltimore Orioles.
The Mariners aren't looking for a quick fix after going 63-99 this season, their worst finish since the 1983 Mariners lost 102 games.
"We know we have a lot of hard work ahead of us," Hargrove said Wednesday when the Mariners introduced him as manager.
Hargrove, who has 13 seasons of managerial experience with the Orioles and Cleveland Indians, agreed to a three-year deal through 2007.
"We want to build this the right way," Hargrove said. "We want to get back, obviously, to Seattle's tradition of winning as quickly as possible. But we want this thing to last a long time."
Hargrove replaces Bob Melvin, who was fired Oct. 10, a day after Seattle ended the season with the third-worst record in the majors.
"He has a tremendous resume and is battle-tested in every facet of leading a major-league club," Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi said.
Under Lou Piniella, who managed the Mariners for 10 seasons before leaving for Tampa Bay two years ago, Seattle tied the major-league record for victories with 116 in 2001. The Mariners made it to the AL Championship Series under Piniella in 1995, 2000 and 2001.
Bavasi said Hargrove, who will celebrate his 56th birthday Tuesday, was chosen from four finalists who all have major-league managing experience - Grady Little, Terry Collins and Jerry Manuel.
Hargrove had been an assistant to Indians GM Mark Shapiro. He has a career managerial record of 996-963, including 721-591 with the Indians from 1991-99. He managed Baltimore from 2000-03.
RADIO DEAL: XM Satellite Radio will carry Major League Baseball games under a $650 million, 11-year deal announced Wednesday.
XM has 2.5 million subscribers who pay $9.95 a month for 130 channels of music and talk radio via satellite receivers.
Starting with 2005 preseason play, XM will broadcast every major-league game live, and its new Major League Baseball Channel will broadcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The channel will feature new content and rebroadcasts of classic baseball games.
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