Horner back as manager
The Seattle Mariners officially announced on Monday that [Jim] Horner will be returning to the Rattlers dugout for the 2007 season.
He made his professional managerial debut last year with Wisconsin, guiding it to a 54-84 Midwest League finish.
"In my mind, I still have to learn things as a manager before you go higher up," said Horner, who celebrated his 33rd birthday on Saturday."Do I think I know everything? Not even close. Were there a lot of things I got caught up on? Heck yeah. Could we have won more games with an experienced manager with that team? I'd say so.
"I need to learn and grow as a manager, but I just want to get the players to get better, to move up. I care more about promoting the players than I do myself. I'm definitely looking forward to coming back."
Although Wisconsin struggled to win games last year, Horner and his staff were responsible for the development of a handful of players who earned promotions within Seattle's upper minor league levels.
According to Mariners director of player development Frank Mattox, that was a key factor in deciding to place Horner back in Wisconsin, which has served as Seattle's low Class A affiliate since 1993.
"You have to do the fundamentals and the things that are required to move on to the next level, and he's getting a lot of young men who are in on-the-job training and getting them to do their jobs on a daily basis," Mattox said. "We're talking about development here, and he did very well in terms of getting players better in the program we have in place. I think it's a nice spot for him to continue his development as a manager as well."
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