Seattle Mariners seeking outside hire for next manager
Seattle Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto speaks with reporters at T-Mobile Park about the decision to part ways with manager Dan Wilson, and the disappointing 2026 season. (Scott Hopson / FOX 13 Seattle)
SEATTLE - The Seattle Mariners will be looking outside the organization for fresh ideas and perspective – and preferably a candidate with prior experience in the role – as they look for their next manager.
"We will go outside to hire our manager," president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said on Monday. "We need fresh thought. We need something new. It could be a shift in programming. It could be a shift in messaging. It could be a shift in language."
Manager Dan Wilson and a group of four assistant coaches will not return to the staff in 2027. Wilson's departure was announced after Sunday's season finale against the Los Angeles Angels, and bench coach Manny Acta, infield coach Perry Hill, hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, and first base coach Eric Young Jr. were let go on Monday.
"Our culture needs a reset," Dipoto said. "We showed up from 2022 to 2025, and we had shortcomings, we had flaws, but we played. We were relentless in our strike throwing. We were grinders in the batter's box. We played buttoned-up, efficient defense, with or without rangy players, and we didn't beat ourselves. That was Mariners baseball for five years, and that wasn't what we did this year. We showed up and all of those things were well below our standards."
Dig deeper:
The Mariners fell from being a World Series contender in 2025, to a pitiful 76-86 team that finished in third place in one of the worst divisions in MLB history, won by the Houston Astros at 81-81. The Mariners will have a third manager in four seasons when play gets underway in 2027. Wilson took over in August 2024 after Scott Servais was fired midseason after during his ninth year in the job.
"I think at that time, Dan was the appropriate person for that job," Dipoto said of Wilson's hiring. "We just didn't grow forward as a group, and you know, I think that's what leads us here today.
Dipoto said he has full autonomy to make the next hire for the franchise.
"Full autonomy. That I can assure you," Dipoto said.. "I always have had full autonomy. I work for great people. They give us the resources that we need to do the thing we need to do. They trust our programs, and I feel like we failed them this year because this should have been the year that we did amazing things, and we just didn’t."
What's next:
Both Servais and Wilson were first-time managers when hired by the Mariners. Dipoto had a lengthy history with Servais through their time together in the Angels' organization, and Wilson has been a Seattle stalwart for over three decades as a player, broadcaster, and coach. Dipoto admitted that they would like their next hire to have some experience in the manager's seat, though it's not a pure pre-requisite for the job.
"There are a lot of good people out there, and most of what we’ve done in recent years, especially, has been insular," Dipoto said. "And this year’s failure requires that we look outside to find someone who might be able to poke holes in what we’re doing and help us see something that perhaps we’re blind to. Because, you know, obviously, this is this has not been what we intended, nor what we expected from our team."
The Seattle job has been a far less desirable job in the past as the Mariners floundered through a 22-year playoff drought. But just a year removed from a trip to the ALCS – and with a strong core built around pitching, Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez still in place – Dipoto believes the talent pool for the hire this around with be substantive.
"We just had a 76-win season, which is usually associated with a team that’s not particularly exciting to be with," Dipoto said. "There’s not a single candidate in baseball that wouldn’t be excited to take over this job, this ballpark, this city, the talent on that roster.
"Our process starts now. Justin (Hollander) and I are both making phone calls around the league, starting to dig into who the best candidates are out there. … We will get the best candidate available."
The Source: Information in this story comes from FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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