I can’t imagine why the Mariners would want Lou Piniella to come back and manage. I mean, sure, nice associations with the past and a great personality and all of that, but when you’re trying to build with young players and your competitive horizon is still measured in terms of multiple years, I don’t feel like hiring a 70 year-old manager who has been out of the game for a few years makes a ton of sense.

But the Mariners do a lot of things I don’t quite understand, and this was just the latest. From Rosenthal:

The Seattle Mariners recently contacted Piniella about the possibility, asking him to come out of retirement to manage their team again. One source with knowledge of the discussions described the Mariners’ pursuit of Piniella as “a full-court press.” Piniella, however, declined the Mariners’ overtures.

Can’t blame him. He’s got a nice part-time job with YES Network, can fish or do crossword puzzles or scrimshaw or build ships in bottles or whatever the heck else he wants to do with very little pressure but while still having at least some contact with the game. The guy spent 23 years blowing his top as a manager. He’s entitled to a little relaxation now and sounds like he wants it.

But back to Seattle: if the idea is to just bring back a face the fans would like to see, I have to question their plan overall because “manager-as-p.r.-initiative” is a pretty dumb idea. If the idea, however, is to hire an experienced manager with a notable media profile and some color and fire, why not go with someone who is less obviously retired? I’ve joked about it before, but heck, go get Ozzie Guillen. He’d fill most of the Lou Piniella qualifications. And it’d be a lot of fun too.