Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik finds himself on hot seat

Seattle Mariners General Manager Jack Zduriencik appears to be in hot water — and for reasons that have little to with a promising season gone horribly wrong.

Zduriencik is in trouble over apparent misstatements he made to team President Chuck Armstrong regarding minor league pitcher Josh Lueke, the key player the Mariners received in the July trade that sent Cliff Lee to Texas.

Earlier this month the Seattle Times quoted ousted Mariners pitching coach Rick Adair, a former minor league instructor with the Rangers, as saying that he had made Zduriencik aware before the trade that Lueke had off-field problems, including a 2008 sexual assault case in which Lueke, according to court documents, repeatedly lied to police. The pitcher eventually pleaded no contest to a lesser charge in that case.

Adair’s account contradicts statements Zduriencik made after Lueke’s background became an issue in Seattle.

Armstrong, however, learned of Lueke’s past only through media reports after the trade and told Zduriencik to phone Rangers GM Jon Daniels and ask Texas to take Lueke back. Zduriencik said the Rangers refused. Daniels disputed that, however, telling the Seattle Times he offered several times to take Lueke back in a separate transaction — an offer he said is still on the table.

First to fall in the wake of the fiasco was Carmen Fusco, a longtime friend of Zduriencik and the Mariners’ pro scouting director, who was fired last week for reasons the team would not discuss.

Last month the Mariners fired Manager Don Wakamatsu and three members of his coaching staff — including Adair — and Zduriencik could be next. In his first stint as a major league general manager Zduriencik spent heavily to rebuild the Mariners around pitching and defense only to see the team, a preseason favorite to win the American League West, fall to last in the division standings and last in the majors in hitting and scoring.

The Mariners have been plagued by other character issues this season. Eric Byrnes bolted from the clubhouse on a bicycle after blowing a suicide squeeze in May, earning his release; Milton Bradley had a meltdown days later and shortly after that Ken Griffey Jr. took early retirement after it was reported he had fallen asleep in the clubhouse during a series against the Angels.

The Buck starts here

Baltimore’s Buck Showalter probably won’t get many votes for manager of the year, but no one has done a better job than he has in his short time with the Orioles.

Under Dave Trembley and Juan Samuel, the Orioles lost 73 of their first 105 games, most in the majors. But since Showalter took over in Baltimore in early August, the Orioles are 26-15, the second-best record in the AL over that span.

That’s why he’s the captain

A gaze at the box scores — or at a close-up on TV — may make it appear as if age has caught up with Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who entered Friday hitting .262, 52 points below his career average.

But a closer look reveals a different story. The next score for Jeter, 36, will give him 100 runs for the sixth time in seven seasons. He will finish with at least 10 home runs for the 15th consecutive season, he has stolen more than 15 bases for just the second time in four years and he has made fewer errors — six — than in any previous full season.

— Kevin Baxter