Dan Wilson, Jerry Dipoto reflect on Seattle Mariners bullpen decision from Game 7

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TORONTO, ONTARIO - OCTOBER 19: Manager Dan Wilson #6 of the Seattle Mariners is interviewed before game six of the American League Championship Series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on October 19, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario.  (Vaughn Ridley / Getty Images)

SEATTLE - The strategic decisions made by Seattle Mariners manager Dan Wilson in Game 7 of the ALCS came under fire almost instantly after the team's 4-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night.

With George Springer's three-run home run off Eduard Bazardo in the seventh inning serving as the deathblow to the Mariners' season, the choice made by Wilson to have Bazardo pitching in that spot, at that moment, in that game, with everything on the line has been lambasted by many around baseball.

"I think as a manager, you have to make decisions, and you know, in terms of whether it’s the Bazardo one, we have a good process in place," Wilson said Thursday morning, three days removed from the decision in Toronto. "But managers have to wear decisions one way or the other."

Bryan Woo walked lead-off hitter Addison Barger, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled to put two runners on in the seventh inning with Seattle holding a 3-1 lead. After a sacrifice bunt from Andrés Giménez advanced the runners, Wilson turned to Bazardo over closer Andrés Muñoz in the biggest spot of the Mariners' season.

"Bazardo has been the guy that's gotten us through those situations, those tight ones, especially in the pivot role, and that's where we were going at that point," Wilson said Monday night after Game 7.

"Bazardo's been doing it all season long and has been so consistent at it and he's done such a good job all year. We felt really comfortable with him out there, the way he's been throwing the ball, especially in this series, and it was a good spot for him."

Bazardo has been fantastic for Seattle all season long and in the playoffs. He's undoubtedly one of the reasons why the Mariners were playing in a Game 7 with a chance at the World Series on the line.

But he's also not Muñoz.

Springer homered off Bazardo on a 1-0 sinker over the inside half of the plate with Muñoz sitting in the bullpen. With Springer up and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. lurking in the No. 3 spot in the order, it was the highest leverage moment of Seattle's season. If the Mariners were going to go down, you would have liked it to be with their best relief arm against Toronto's best hitters.

"It’s hard to be a manager, and it’s hard to make those decisions in real time, and we do the best we can to collaborate with Dan and (the coaching) staff and give them a menu of different thoughts and options," Dipoto said, via Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times. "And I’ll never begrudge him for making a move he believed in and trusted.

"We ran through our bullpen management process the same way we do before every game," Dipoto continued. "We went through every manageable scenario, and I will say this: It’s easy in hindsight to look back and say, ‘Why?’ And trust me when I tell you, every single one of us has spent some time reviewing the sequence of events as they went.

"Bazardo had an unbelievable year. He was going better than any reliever that we’ve had. He had been roughly a machine for three months of (throwing) strike one. The moment never overtook him. To go to ‘Zardo in that situation, I thought was justifiable."

Bazardo had just come off of throwing two innings for Seattle in a Game 6 that had already gotten away from them on Sunday night. He also faced Springer that night, which gave him the chance to face Bazardo in back-to-back games on top of Bazardo already having heavy usage throughout the season.

Meanwhile, Muñoz has only faced Springer three times in his career and hadn't seen him in over a year. Springer is 0-for-3 against Muñoz with two strikeouts and a fly out. Muñoz had also allowed just two home runs all season, one to Michael A. Taylor of the Chicago White Sox in August, and one to Carlos Correa of the Minnesota Twins in May.

That's not the only what-if from Game 7. What if you could have gotten one more inning out of George Kirby? What if Bryce Miller had started the seventh inning instead of sending Woo back out for a third inning? What if Bazardo hadn't thrown two innings in Game 6?

Those are all questions the Mariners will have to grapple with until they're able to finally reach a World Series and win a championship.

"I'm not sure how long the sting is going to last," Wilson said. "I think for a lot of us, you know, it's a tough way to go out, and it's a tough way to end a pretty outstanding season, and in some ways overshadows a lot of the positives that have happened. 

"It just doesn't seem fitting that the way these guys played, how hard they played, how well they played, you know, the fight that they had the entire season. And I think that's the toughest part, and that's the part that stings."

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