Seattle ? Mike Hargrove knows just what he’s getting into as the new manager of the last-place Seattle Mariners. After all, he lost 98, 95 and 91 games in his final three years with the Baltimore Orioles.

The Mariners aren’t looking for a quick fix after going 63-99 this season, their worst finish since the 1983 Mariners lost 102 games.

“We know we have a lot of hard work ahead of us,” Hargrove said Wednesday when the Mariners introduced him as the new manager.

Hargrove, who has 13 seasons of managerial experience with the Orioles and Cleveland Indians, agreed to a three-year deal through 2007.

“We want to build this the right way,” Hargrove said. “We want to get back, obviously, to Seattle’s tradition of winning as quickly as possible. But we want this thing to last a long time.”

Hargrove replaces Bob Melvin, who was fired Oct. 10, a day after Seattle ended the season with the third-worst record in the majors.