During today's press conference at Safeco Field, new Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said that Jim Riggleman, who managed the Mariners for the last half of the season after John McLaren was fired, would be a candidate for the job.

And Riggleman told MLB.com that he wanted to come back and manage the Mariners again.

But it looks like he hedged his bets a little by accepting a job as bench coach with the Washington Nationals. Here's the story from the Washington Post.

I'm not sure where that leaves Riggleman as a candidate. I guess he could have made some caveat with the Nationals that would allow him out of the contract if another Major League team offered him a job. He and Zduriencik have already talked about the Mariners, so perhaps he got the feeling that he wouldn't be back.

If not, Zduriencik talked about former Brewers manager Ned Yost, who he worked with in Milwaukee. But look for there to be several other names to pop up over the next few weeks as viable candidates, ranging from Joey Cora to Bobby Valentine.

If you missed the introductory press conference for new Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik, you can listen to it by clicking HERE

Here's the video stream of it, if you would prefer to watch it.

I'll offer some thoughts a little later.