On Friday, the Seattle Mariners will begin their biggest series of the season: A four-game set in Arlington, Texas, against the Texas Rangers.

The Mariners enter the series at 51-52 and 0.5 games back of the Rangers in the American League West. They also are just 2-4 against the Rangers this season, meaning they are one bad weekend away from falling further back in the division, and losing the critical tiebreaker against their division rivals. 

But on Thursday's off-day, the Mariners made a big move in advance of the series: They fired assistant hitting coach Bobby Magallanes amid the team's pronounced offensive struggles.

Seattle is last in the majors in batting average, and entered play on Thursday at 29th in OPS. They are also near the bottom of the league in on-base percentage, and the offensive output has cratered in June.

Of course, Cal Raleigh's regression and several injuries are a huge part of the issues, so why did the Mariners do this? And what are they hoping to gain from it?

We discussed that on the most recent edition of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast.

"It's not all of a sudden going to make somebody hit the ball further. It's not all of a sudden going to make somebody hit the ball in the gap versus on the ground. Like, it's not going to matter in any of those regards.

The only thing at this point I think it can do is lead to increased focus among guys, and then that increased focus can lead to better increased ability. That, to me, is what you are hoping for: that you have shaken the heads of these guys. They then therefore lock in for fear of their own jobs, for fear of their own standing, for recognition that their performance cost somebody his job, and then that that kind of inner turmoil locks you in, focuses you up, and then you do the job better.

That, to me, here is the goal. That, to me, here is the hope. And that, to me, here is really the only way that this actually matters, because this firing alone doesn't turn a bad offense into a good offense."

Furthermore, there's always a chance that too many voices leads to increased clutter of information for players. By reducing those voices, perhaps you are able to simplify and streamline a message. Of course, the Mariners elevated Ed Paparella from the minor league ranks, so there are still three hitting voices, but maybe he has a way of delivering the message differently than Magallanes.

Again, that's the hope. This move feels like more like message-sending rather than a move of impact, but for M's fans who wanted to see accountability for the team's poor offense this season, this move shows that.

The Mariners and Rangers will battle at 5:05 p.m. PT on Friday. Bryce Miller will pitch against left-hander MacKenzie Gore.

The newest edition of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast is out, and it features M's Insider Shannon Drayer of Seattle Sports 710. You can listen to the episode HERE, or you can watch in the YouTube player below.

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