He became a major league coach with the Blue Jays in 1986 and has since held major league coaching positions with the Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and Washington Nationals.

He held various positions on Piniella's coaching staffs with the Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 1993 through 2005.

[3] McLaren served as the third-base coach for the United States during the 2006 World Baseball Classic, but worked as a scout for the Devil Rays during the 2006 season.

[5] McLaren was fired as manager on June 19, 2008, largely because the Mariners had a payroll in excess of $100 million, yet possessed the worst record in baseball (25–47) at the time.

[6] McLaren spent the 2009 season as a scout in the Rays organization and in November 2009 was hired as the Washington Nationals' bench coach under manager Riggleman.