The Mariners are making a change as they try to salvage their playoff hopes. Seattle announced Thursday evening that they’ve fired manager Scott Servais and tabbed Dan Wilson as their new skipper. The M’s also dismissed hitting coach Jarret DeHart. They did not announce an immediate replacement at hitting coach, although Adam Jude of the Seattle Times reports (on X) that franchise icon Edgar Martinez will join the coaching staff in an unspecified role. The M’s have not officially announced Martinez’s hiring.
“We believe that we need a new voice in the clubhouse,” president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said in a statement. “Dan knows our team and has been a key member of our organization working with players at every level over the past 11 years. He is well respected within and outside of our clubhouse and we are confident he will do a great job in leading our group over the final six weeks of the season and moving forward.” Dipoto subsequently thanked Servais for his passion and work over a nearly nine-year run in Seattle.
Servais, 57, has been the skipper in Seattle since he was hired after the 2015 season. The club has had its share of ups and downs in that time but the move seems to be related to the club’s recent slide in the standings. The Mariners were cruising at the beginning of the season while clubs like the Astros and Rangers were slow getting moving. As recently as June 18, the M’s had a ten-game lead over the Astros in the American League West.
But things have flipped since then, with the Mariners hitting a bad skid as the Astros have course corrected. The M’s are now exactly .500 at 64-64, putting them five games back of Houston and 7.5 games back in the Wild Card race.
Whether a club’s failings can be placed on the manager is always a matter for debate, but it’s not uncommon for them to be scapegoated when things go bad. Seattle has a strong pitching staff but the hitters have a collective batting line of .216/.301/.365 this year, which translates to a wRC+ of 96. The team-wide 27.7% strikeout rate is easily the worst in the majors, with Colorado second-worst at 26.1% and every other club below 25%.
Whether that has something to do with Servais or the club’s overall roster construction, or some combination, is something for each fan to decide for themselves. Either way, it seems the decision makers have opted to shake things up with just over a month remaining on the schedule.
The club has stuck by Servais through some other ups and downs, though some of those were clearly planned. The Mariners hovered around .500 in his first three years, including an 89-73 finish in 2018, but then the front office decided to embark on a rebuild. They traded away players like Robinson Canó, Edwin Díaz, James Paxton, Jean Segura and others going into 2019. They finished below .500 that season and in the shortened 2020 season as well.
Things have been much better lately. They won 90 games in 2021, just narrowly missing the playoffs. Another 90-win season followed in 2022, which was enough for a Wild Card spot that year, the club’s first playoff berth since 2001. Last year, they slipped slightly to 88 wins, missing the playoffs by just one game.
Despite a fairly strong three-year run, the ongoing collapse this year has prompted the M’s to pivot to Wilson. It’s a curious choice, as midseason managerial firings usually see the club pivot to another key member of the staff such as the bench coach, but that’s not the case this time.
Wilson played in the big leagues from 1992 to 2005 as a catcher, most of that with the Mariners. The M’s hired him as a minor league catching coordinator in 2013. He has never been part of a big league coaching staff, nor been a manager at any level. According to the M’s press release, Wilson has spent the past seven years as a special assistant for player development.
Notably, the team’s press release lists Wilson as the 18th full-time manager in franchise history. There is no interim tag. Dipoto confirmed that the M’s view him as the permanent manager (via Daniel Kramer of MLB.com). The team did not announce the length of Wilson’s contract.
The aforementioned run scoring issues also led the team to move on from DeHart. Seattle dismissed first-year offensive coordinator Brant Brown just two months into the season. They’ll try to jumpstart the offense with another midseason change. DeHart had been on Seattle’s major league staff since 2019. He has held the title of director of hitting strategy and hitting coach for the past two-plus seasons.
Martinez, one of the greatest hitters in MLB history, was the M’s hitting coach between 2015-18. He stepped down after the ’18 campaign to take a less demanding role with the organization. Now that he’s returning to the coaching staff, he’ll presumably have a significant say in hitting instruction regardless of his specific title. Assistant hitting coach Tommy Joseph is now the top in-house staffer on that side of the ball.
Ken Rosenthal and Marc Carig of the Athletic first reported that Servais would be fired and that the Mariners would hire Wilson in his place.
Finally some accountability!!!! Seems like a genuinely nice guy but I’m so sick of the shoulder shrugs after losses. Dude is a horrible manager. Too bad we didn’t do this last year and still had Vogt.
Yeah but now? This seems odd.
Trying to see if maybe there is a dead-cat bounce? If the decision already was made that this was going to happen after the season ends, there is no harm in doing it now.
What seems odd is that it took this long. There’s also a pink slip with clown boy Jerry’s name on it that’s apparently lost in the mail. Ahahaha!
What’s odd is why now? I mean the time to do it would have been the Deadline or maybe the ASG to give the guy a chance. With 5 weeks left seems like bad timing. It worked with Thompson so who knows? I’ve seen it work and I’ve seen it go up in flames. You want Dipoto the Man Genius who led the Angels to mediocrity all those years fired? Shame on you. LOL.
DIpoto has plenty of faults, but the Angels being a mediocre team lies squarely with Arte Moreno. His knee jerk signing has ruined that club. They had two transcendent players on their club at the same time and could even make the playoffs.
Skip schumaker would look really good in a mariners uniform
I’m surprised they didn’t have Pete woodworth as the new manager
@sad: Your screen name seems appropriate today. Maybe better times are coming for your franchise. Reasons for hope. They’ve got pitching. Might get your wish on Schumaker too.
In 2008 the Brewers fired Ned Yost with 12 games left in the season and replaced him with Dale Sveum who went 7-5 a got them into the postseason as the NL Wild Card team
Never liked that move. Nervous Ned Yost was a good manager and a better man!
it wouldn’t seem odd to me if Derek Shelton was fired today, in fact I would ask what took so long?
Did anyone expect the pirates to make the playoffs this year?
Did I suggest that, Sad, or is this your idea of ignorance?
I gave them a reasonable chance at Midseason based on their good young starting pitching!
I didn’t take that comment the same way you did. It does seem reasonable to believe the recent success Seattle had raised expectations more so there than in other cities including for the Pirates.
Reply to Et Al- The Man is a long time Pirates fan as am I and Pirate fans follow them very closely as few others do.
It is pretty obvious on Pirate threads that most of us hoped to compete for a playoff spot.It is also obvious to almost of us that Shelton leaves much to be desired as a winning manager.
I would’ve done it mid-game at some point in the first Detroit series. I agree though, timing is strange.
Not really. They gave him one last road trip that had 6 very winnable games against Detroit and Pittsburgh and they wound up 1-8 including bookend sweeps by the Tigers and Dodgers. The timing is the beginning of a 6 game homestand against the Giants and the Rays in which to try to turn things around
They were 10 games up and are now 5 games back. The correct timing would’ve been sometime way before today IMO, but I see your point as well.
My thought exactly. You don’t see too many late August firings for a reason. If he was bad enough to be fired, they should have done it well over a month ago. Unless of course there is more to the story.
Pedro Grifol was available and they picked someone else?!
After his showing with the White Sox i don’t think Grifol would be picked to manage a little league team
sounds like you’re nothing but bad and negative vibes
Literally every manager does the shrug after losses. It’s a complaint from fans of every single team, I promise you.
Vibes – The day he chose to pitch to the red-hot Devers in the bottom of the 10th with a runner on 2nd and first base open, I knew he had a screw loose. One of the dumbest moves I’ve seen this season.
Same kinds of decision he made when he let Robbie throw to Yordan in the playoffs lol. Terrible decision with an obvious outcome
Darn. If only he hit more homeruns and drove in more runs between shutout starts.
Accountability? I don’t blame the carpenter when his tools are a Tig welder and a spatula.
It’s fair to believe it was the right time, but saying he was a horrible manager?
He was given half-assed rosters, year after year. He arguably got more out of the team than he should have in most seasons.
Not a bad manager at all, even if he isn’t the right guy for the job now.
That is my exact thoughts on Kevin Cash. Take away some overachieving players like Ramirez and Arozarena and Siri the last few years and the guy has coached historically bad offenses. Yes he’s dealt that hand by management but he really does not know how to manage a team. There have been internal conflicts, selfish player behavior, awful swing mechanics, and bad decision-making all under his watch. Throw in the laughable defense this year and I’m ready for some fresh air.
Wow. Didn’t see this coming!
Not Servais’ fault the Ms can’t get a hit.
Isn’t it though? Isn’t it a coaches job to have his team prepared and make them the best they can be? If managers had zero impact on players performance then “manager of the year” wouldn’t be an award. Managers don’t get to be praised for a team’s success but not criticized for a team’s failures.
Fair point. But yes, Manager OTY SHOULDNT be an award.
Servais should put his players in their best potion to succeed. But they’re the ones flailing away at the plate. And Unless Servais has veto power over trades, he hasn’t any control over the players he gets, and can only work with the guys he has.
They had surplus pitching and should have gotten more bats, although the deadline was pretty good for them.
He does have power over pulling starters during a dominant start, running relievers into the ground, putting guys in bad matchups where failure is more likely than success, and has had full control over lineup construction which appears more or less to be throwing darts at balloons and seeing what pops. Accountability has to start somewhere.
Do you know that sounds very much like Brandon Hyde in Baltimore, Who always miss manages his bullpen pinch hits for the worst people at the worst time, and ignores sloppy defensive play by his stars.
FO – Servais certainly had control over how he used his players, and his decisions were idiotic.
ballparkbuzz.substack.com/p/was-scott-servais-thin…
Yesterday, the Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais made one of the most mind-boggling decisions I have seen in quite some time by a manager. It was the type of decision that gets a manager fired.
Let me set the scene.
The Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox entered the bottom of the 10th inning tied 2-2. The Mariners were unable to push across the “Manfred Man” in the top of the 10th and needed to keep Boston off of the scoreboard to keep playing baseball. Due up for the Red Sox was Rafael Devers, Rob Refsnyder, and Dominic Smith. The Mariners still had All-Star closer Andrés Muñoz available but Servais decided to not use him and go to Jhonathan Diaz. Servais also decided to let Diaz pitch to Devers, which resulted in Devers hitting a 2-0 pitch off of the Green Monster for a walk-off win for the Red Sox. There are so many things to dissect of Servais’ late game managing.
The first decision that you have to question is not going to Muñoz in the 10th. Andrés Muñoz may be the best closer in all of baseball. The Red Sox had the heart of their lineup up. After the game, Servais said he was hoping the Mariners could get a lead to go to Muñoz. Not being flexible with his closer and not using him in a tie game cost the Mariners the game. The odds of a team scoring at least 1 run in extra innings is high. The odds of the home team scoring when the away team does not score are even higher. Boston had their best part of the lineup due up and one of the best hitters in all of baseball leading off. Scott Servais decided to hold his best weapon with the hopes of using him if the game got to the 11th. It never did and the Mariners lost the series with their best arm still in the bullpen. And to make matters worse, the Mariners have an off-day today so it’s not like Servais was saving Muñoz for the next game.
For Scott Servais, did he realize the significance of the game? Prior to Wednesday’s game between the Sox and Mariners, the two teams had split the season series 3-3. Wednesday was the tie breaker and an important tie breaker. If the Mariners and Red Sox ended the regular season tied with the same record, the winner of Wednesday’s game would get into a playoff spot over the other team. Yes, there is still 2 months of baseball to be played but currently the Red Sox only have a 1.5 game lead ahead of the Mariners. It’s within the realm of possibilities that these 2 teams could be battling it out for the final Wild Card spot. Wouldn’t you rather have the tie breaker over the Red Sox? Scott Servais threw that possibility away by not using his best pitcher in the 10th inning.
That was only the first problem with Servais’ decision.
The second issue was how he decided to attack the Red Sox lineup. Servais brought in Jhonathan Diaz, who appeared in only 1 other big league game this season. In fact, Diaz had made 17 starts in 18 appearances in AAA this season and now Servais was using him out of the bullpen in extra innings. Diaz is a lefty and the Red Sox had 2 lefties due up in the bottom of the 10th. The problem is the lefty that was leading off was Rafael Devers. It doesn’t matter if Devers entered play on Wednesday hitting .239 off of lefties, you don’t let Devers beat you. In fact, Servais let Devers beat him all series long as Devers was 7-13 in the series. Diaz started the at-bat off with 2 consecutive balls and I thought for sure with first base open, he would have put Devers on. Servais let Diaz continue to pitch to Devers and the very next pitch was the last pitch of the game.
Even if Servais would have walked Devers to pitch to Refsnyder, it would have been a terrible matchup. Refsnyder destroys left-handed pitching as he entered Wednesday hitting .318 off of southpaws. There is no justifying going to Diaz over Muñoz.
It’s impossible to defend Servais’ decisions. It is true that Muñoz threw 18 pitches the previous day but Servais had Muñoz warming up earlier in the game. With a day off today, Muñoz was available to pitch but Servais chose not to. There are a ton of decisions that major league managers have to make. Surely this scenario must have been thought through but the more you dissect it the more it feels like it was made on the fly.
The facts are the facts in this case. Scott Servais left his All-Star closer on the sidelines to watch a Triple-A starter pitch to one of the best hitters in extra innings in a game that could have serious playoff ramifications. Mariners fans and their front office should not ignore these truths.
Thank you, Mr. Tolstoi, for the draft of your epic novel.
Don’t call us, we’ll call you.
Many clubs don’t allow the manager to make major decisions, a group of front office data scientists dictate the relief pitchers, starting lineups, etc…
If the Mariners were letting some ex player make all of the game time decisions then it’s not particularly surprising why they can’t compete in the modern game.
Thank you @Lester, ,you made my morning with that comment lol. I started reading it , but then scrolled down an realized I can’t read this with my Keratoconus lol. It’s for a short comment, not a book.
I think I just sprained my scroll-finger.
Dude the manager has NOTHING to do with how well the team hits…. You’re living in fantasy land lol this isn’t high school
Your logic can be applied to any statement of any coach in any sport.
A following statement down that rabbit hole, would be,the manager has nothing to do with fielding or pitching.
What is the managers performance based on?
Following a good process?
Making good decisions?
It would be more instructive for people with your viewpoint, to say what they think the performance should be based on.
Instead of, carte blanche, saying a manager is not responsible.
Just what are they responsible for?
You want me to explain the role of a manager? You knew to baseball or something? Or just a mega casual? Managers are responsible for in game strategy, bullpen management, lineup construction, and most importantly clubhouse morale. Didn’t realize people still didn’t know what the manager does…. My comment can absolutely not be applied to any sport. Head football coaches are in charge of game strategy anc creating their entire game plan and sometimes even call plays. Baseball managers don’t have NEARLY the same impact or importance in terms of on field results. No manager can make someone hit a baseball
“Not criticized for a team’s failures”…Baseball is not linear nor easily quantifiable so I won’t bash Servais, when it’s not 100% clear that he’s the problem. The Mariners have had below average offense going back multiple DECADES(back to Felix Hernandez days) so I’m inclined to believe the main problem is the front office, not field manager. Dipoto’s been there going on a decade and has not once built an above average offense, so I’m inclined to believe that if the field manager is fired, he should be too.
mlb fan;
I agree with just about all your posts.
Servais has been a placeholder. If he wasn’t he’d have been gone years ago.
The problem is Dipoto. He constantly tears it down, builds it up, hits on some players, uses up all his payroll (even in out years) and has weak areas on his ML team. He’s done that in both LA and Seattle.
You make some good points!
No, the problem is the ownership group. Dipoto has turned this organization into a draft and development factory. Stanton and the owners refuse to supplement the home grown talent.
Dipoto sucks at trading though, he should stop that.
mlb – Sorry but blaming the offense every year without taking into consideration Park Factor is ludicrous.
Guess which venue is statistically the hardest to hit in …. and by a wide margin too.
In 2022 the M’s scored the 4th-most road runs in the league, and in 2023 the 5th-most.
The offense cratered this year.
Dipoto’s developmental group has developed exactly 2 hitters since 2016: Cal and Julio, and Julio is arguably a generational talent that any organization would’ve likely had success with.
The point is, the problem isn’t necessarily just the ownership group.
Might not be his fault, but when it ain’t working, it’s time to do something different.
Timing in life is important. Could have waited until the end of the season!
Enough with this dumb comment. He’s not a good manager get over it!
“Not a good manager get over it”…Is it any surprise that the best managers also have the best players? I’m not saying Servais has been great, but it’s awfully hard to win each year with a well below average offense.
mlb fan;
Disagree a little on this one…..
Managers can go a long way to work with the coaching staff to get the best out of players on the ML roster.
It all gets down to the Baseball Ops head. FO personnel including analytics, scouting, research, etc; plus the team managers at all levels as well as ML coaches and roving minor league coaches – have to be to the same wave length.
Dipoto can’t put together anything like that. Never has. Never will.
To build a winning team today in MLB it takes an ORGANIZATION. Dombrowski has put one together in Philadelphia, Elias in Baltimore, Arnold in Milwaukee….I could go on and on.
The Mariners have a crummy organization. Dipoto is incapable of building a strong one. HE’S in charge GD it! Like Shapiro in Toronto, Mozeliak in St. Louis and a dozen other Baseball Ops heads – Just not fit for the job.
Cool down a little bit! Trust me, this is Baseball.
That’s the crux of it FOme. -0- offense and outstanding pitching.
Used to be an old bud light commercial, went “great taste, less filling”. M’s offense is great pitching, no offense and not a thing Scott could have done to improve that. F/office job to acquire talent, like any at all after all the talented guys left via FA, got old, age.. Guys like Gino, Teoscar hernandez, Hanniger.
When allowing 1/3 of a team’s offense to just..Go.. not replacing them with another offensive replacement? it drops, how the game works. Shortsightedness, plain and simple and as always? manager, rather than GM (Dipito) taking the blame.
Blame Stanton!
That was a Miller Lite commercial.
Exactly dude. This is such a stupid move. Obviously the mariners chances to make the playoffs are looking worse and worse, but they still have 3 games head to head vs houston and anything could happen in the next month. This is not the time to do this.
Have they considered replacing their hitting coach?
They actually fired their “offensive coordinator” in May (Brant Brown), but didn’t replace him.
…..or their offense.
Forgot that! Thank You!
They did fire Jarrett DeHart today as well…
Zoinks – didn’t see that, thank you!
Have they considered replacing the ownership group? This is squarely on them. Hard to win games when you don’t spend even a little on talent.
Exactly! (I keep getting reviewd…..) Stanton needs to sell the team! He’s a cheap greedy fool! I’m surprised we’re at .500 when as a team, we’re hitting .216!
You hit the nail right on the head! M’s owners seem to have the mindset of acquiring one or two stars to just keep ticket sales up.
Am tired of waiting for a World Series game in Seattle since 1984.
.
Oh, Jeezzz…..
They outspend Minnesota, Cleveland, KC, Milwaukee, Baltimore, and others that can contend with a lot lower payroll.
I hate this argument. We still need to reserve some of our future salary to our homegrown players. Big dumper, Walter, and kirby should be the first three but we have a lot of home grown talent we need to either think about singing or packaging for offense
Bring in the backup catcher
Goodbye, and good riddance.
Long overdue.
Wow, how will I go on in life without you…
Because he’s the reason their offense is dreadful
He’s the head of the coaching staff. Decent to good players coming here and consistently failing is NOT normal. Players coming here and seeing a 3+% rise in their K rate, not normal. Bad bullpen management, piss poor and irrational trust/mistrust in his rotation… 9 years, 6 winning records, 1 playoff appearance? At what point does accountability come in if not now?
Accountability implies he’s the cause of the problem. Managers rarely are. This is more a desperation move.
There is definitely an issue with the offensive approach of this team
It’s called a cheap @ss owner!!! Sell the team Stanton!
@dshires54: Is it possible that the rise in K rates may be due to a park that’s often panned as having a tough environment to hit in? Asking because I don’t know, not making the claim that it’s so.
All hitters struggle in Seattle though. Like even opposing teams are hitting dreadfully in Seattle, the Mariners’ players just have the unfortunate circumstance of playing half their games there.
Now the Mariners hitting bad everywhere is an organizational issue. Its highly unlikely that firing Servais magically fixes that unless he has just full control over the batting approaches and analytics. That’s usually a problem that starts at the top with the guys running the analytics departments. Only fix to that is to fire Jerry really. Firing the analytics department doesn’t do anything if the guy running the analytics department stays the same (see Yankees and Brian Cashman).
Do they hit poorly because it plays like a cave or basement when the roof is closed. Milwaukee is like that early in the season!
Dshires you are such a casual man, the manager has nothing to do with any of that lol
The manager has nothing to do with bullpen usage and lineup construction and you call me the casual? Hopefully there’s still time for you to delete your stupid comment.
The manager has nothing to do with players having worse stats in Seattle, you casual
God forbid him keeping his starters healthy while other rotations drop like flies.
They’ve pitched more than enough quality starts that even with mediocre offense they’d be well in the wild card picture at the very least. Unfortunately they can’t even get that so he takes the fall. Sad day for the M’s.
Who built this roster? If it is filled with crap, then fire the guy who got the groceries, not the cook.
I would also fire the chef who cooks a well done ribeye. I don’t think Dipoto’s job should be safe, but to say Servais isn’t equally at fault doesn’t make sense to me. It doesn’t matter what groceries you buy if the chef sucks.
Wow after a sweep by the team with the best record in baseball, seems like odd timing.
After a 1-8 Road Trip and a free fall from being 10 games up in the West to 5 games back.
Servais got a lot more rope than most managers would. This really should have happened in July, but at least the season can still be salvaged if Wilson can turn things around.
A lot of the players faces look dejected yesterday
Are you in the clubhouse?
All you had to do was watch the post-game show, which puts you in the clubhouse to see it, and Butter Biscuits is absolutely right. Morale looked very low.
54%
The Astros have a 54% winning percentage, and 1st place! (all 11 MLB teams at 54% or higher are currently in playoff position)
Lol they’d be in the playoff with that win percentage you clown. Soooo many casuals in these comments it’s nauseating
I’m not saying Servais is a good manager but I don’t think it’s his fault that the Mariners have a complete lack of big league caliber hitters
He’s a scapegoat and anyone thinking the offensive struggles have anything to do with the manager is simply a casual who does not understand how baseball works
Travis – He’s a moron.
si.com/mlb/mariners/news/the-decision-wednesday-by…
The Seattle Mariners lost to the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday afternoon and while it wasn’t the only thing that hurt them, the decision by Scott Servais in the 10th inning was indefensible.
Devers came to the plate in the bottom of the 10th inning of a 2-2 game with a runner on second and nobody out. Servais elected to pitch to Devers, who hit a walk-off double to win the game. Why did he not intentionally walk him? Your guess is as good as mine.
Again, it’s not the only thing that lost the game for Seattle, but it was an indefensible decision
You forgot to mention that he went up 2-0. I was there in Fenway that night and stood up and literally yelled “PUT HIM ON” at he top of my lungs. Next pitch bangs off the monster, game over
@Ronk & Travis “Complete lack of big league caliber hitters..He’s a scapegoat..does not understand how baseball works”…I lean both your directions but I cannot in good conscience completely absolve the head of the coaching staff(Mgr) from blame. I do believe it’s more about the talent accumulated by the GM and if you’re going to fire Servais, then Dipoto should be fired as well since his team “re-imagine” plan has clearly faltered.
Next White Sox manager
Next White Sox Mgr. will be the cheapest coach on the KC Royals.
Actually, this is true
Getz is infatuated with the Royals in general so it really wouldn’t surprise me if he hires another coach from them to be manager next year. Should just keep Grady Sizemore, see what he does with the rookies…
Not bad!
Bring on the era of Wilson’s Warning Track Bangers.
Julio’s got to get going – most pressing issue for Seattle.
Weird timing…
How exactly? We went from 10 games up in 1st to 5 games back, lost 5 of 6 to Detroit, just got swept by LA, and are suddenly back to .500. Dipoto knows he’ll be on the hot seat entering next season so it was time to do something.
The off-season isn’t too far. While I agree this wasn’t a ‘knee-jerk’ decision, it doesn’t usually happen in August when the possibility of the playoffs, no matter how remote, still exists.
On the contrary, look at Philly. They fired Girardi and Thompson took them to the World Series in the same season. I dount that happens here, but I don’t think Dipoto can afford to sit and let another season go by wasted without trying to create a spark.
I get your take. I think DiPoto is out the door regardless..
He very well could be. I wouldn’t be shocked. I’m of the opinion that he gets one more offseason, however, and if we start painfully slow in 2025 or are competitve but miss the playoffs, he’s gone.
@hiredgun I find it weird that people are upset with DiPoto, yet he at least got them into contention for the first time in years.
Servais was dipotos best friend, I think dipotos gonna get fired in the off-season since a lot of his trades have performed horrible for the team
As we know, it’s a “What have you done for me lately” mentality…
That was reasonably early in the season!
myaccount2
Girardi was fired on June 2, with 111 games left in the season.
The Mariners have 34 games left in the season.
This is either a Hail Mary, or more realistically – a powerful someone somewhere is mad and either wants to “Do Some-
thing!!!!!” or is playing PYA at this point in the season. Either way, it shows the Mariners are hardly a well run operation.
The Mariners are also much closer to a playoff spot than Philly was at the time. But as I mentioned in the same post, that wasn’t the point I was making since I doubt the M’s make the playoffs. My rebuttal to the comment that it was odd timing since the M’s aren’t out of it is that the M’s are floundering to the point that Dipoto had to do something to try to create a spark because they’re down but not completely out. They had a large enough lead built up that they’re still within spitting distance of 1st. They can’t just wave the white flag.
Dan Wilson? Ichiro was right there if you wanted a former Mariner!
Unfortunately, speaking English is part of the job
I made my comment in jest but you do realize Ichiro speaks English, correct?
There’s hardly any evidence proving that from the interviews, speeches, commercials that he’s done, where he hardly ever speaks or reads from a pre-written script. He’s a legend, but communication is a key part of any job.
Ichiro chooses not to speak English. He was also the ONLY player who chose not to sign any of my gear at Spring Training one year. Can’t stand the guy. Definitely not at the top of my all time Mariner list.
Ichiro speaks perfect English he always has… But he didn’t want The media to know that during his playing days
And you know this from being in the clubhouse and talking to him?
It’s pretty well known.
Ichiro is well known to speak English well, but I don’t think he’s 100% comfortable talking to the media.
He did give his speech in English for his Mariners Hall of Fame ceremony
Thank you, I learned something about him!
Not sure if Wilson is equipped to turn this team around in short order, but at least the needed change was made.
I wonder how Ichiro would do as a manager? His skill set was so unique.
Remember how poorly Ted Williams did as manager. He was one of the better hitters of all time. He could not teach what he did and accept the normal failure in Baseball. I think the Iman could be similar!
Catchers, and former catchers, are incontrovertibly the smartest and best-looking players in the game. Can’t go wrong with hiring a former catcher…
Replacing a former catcher with a former catcher… for the good mariners teams
One that started for more than a decade compared to one that had trouble sticking around as a back up.
Hey Sad: One of your best comments!
Spicy!
It was time. Team has looked lifeless since the all-star break.
How do you fire Servais but ownership does not fire Dipoto at the same time? Hollander as well… Where is their accountability? They have not brought in players that have performed. Last year- La Stella, AJ Pollock, and Kolten Wong. This year Polanco, Haniger, and Garver. Come on, how is it fair that you hand Servais those players? They are as much or more ACCOUNTABLE to what the product on the field is. I get it, the team is not doing well, Servais is the coach of the team. When this season is over and before more of the last two years level of player is brought in. Fire those two Dipoto and Hollander, they need to held accountable.
Stanton is responsible for all this and no one wants to hold him accountable for his failing ownership????
If you ran a failing business, would you fire yourself?
He needs to sell the team because he simply doesn’t care about the fans, the players, winning or anything else….. this comment coming from a 15 year season ticket holder…..
8 year here. Couldn’t agree more. Stanton is a terrible owner and nothing will change until he sells the team.
He is the front man but not even the majority owner. Stanton selling his shares achieves nothing. The M’s ownership group, all of the minority owners and the ownership board, none of that has changed in decades and is unlikely to materially change in the future.
John Stanton actually is the majority owner.
I agree but how do you hold an owner accountable other than refusing to attend games?
An unfortunate truth!
My perspective as a Mariners fan is that Dipoto gets extra leash because he has drafted and developed pitching at a strong enough rate. Unfortunately, the way Servais handled that pitching has not been up to par. It definitely hurts that Brash has been out all season and Santos all but a few games, but sometimes it just didn’t make sense how he handled the bullpen even when considering the need to not overwork guys early in the course of a 162 game season. It’s cost the team a handful of games for sure.
If the M’s offensive development with this next wave of 1st round picks is as good as all the outlets say, then we should have no problem competing for the next few years. That remains to be seen. I think Dipoto gets one more offseason to supplement the roster and bring up some prospects (Young, Ford, Emerson) to see if they can contribute. If we don’t make the playoffs or get off to a horrible start, I suspect he’s gone.
My guess is thats coming, if not this offseason, then Dipoto and crew will be on the hot seat going into the season. That said the ownership is obviously as much to blame for the state of the team as anyone.
The Ms core with a 180-200 millon dollar payroll could be actually good.
But we won’t get back to those numbers because Stanton wants to run like a smaller payroll team probably because of inflation
Our last big free agent deal was Robbie ray
“Ownership is obviously as much to blame”…Exactly. Owners set the business operating plan and tone of the team. Seattle has done a borderline amazing job of accumulating pitching but a below average job accumulating position players. I believe the main issue is the front office is just too cautious(not cheap necessarily but overly cautious). Seattle’s excellent pitching has given them a contention window the last several years, but the front office seems mostly clueless how to supplement and accent such a pitching heavy team with offense.
mlb fanl;
Come on…..
Ownership gives their Baseball Ops heads a budget to work with. They don’t tell them how to allocate it.
I wrote posts here months ago that when Dipoto finds something that works, he throws all resources at it. The fact that they have so much allocated to the pitching is on him. Period.
How about developing and trading for position players?
Teams that win have a balance. This guy doesn’t understand that and never will.
mlb fan;
When the Luis Castillo trade was made I wrote here something to the effect of: “There Dipoto goes again”.
The Mariners had terrific pitching. Castillo was overkill.
They needed their position players shored up. They traded
4 players (2 position players, 2 pitchers) for Castillo. If
they wanted to trade them – fine. Trade them for position players…or keep them and develop them and look to trade someone(s) else for better position players.
Now people are blaming the manager, the owner, and who knows who. No. This is all on Dipoto. He doesn’t know how to use the resources allocated to him to build an organization, acquire and develop players that in turn form a balanced roster for the manager to work with.
So much allocated to pitching?? Lol. Let’s see, they have $21M allocated to Castillo and then… no notable salaries. If you think they’re spending more to develop pitching than hitting, well you know what they say about having a bridge to sell.
P.S. he’s both developing and trading for position players. The latter at an alarmingly high rate while 9 of our top 10 prospects are position players.
Dipoto also gave Castillo a 5 year-$108m extension.
Castillo is 31 and not the best physical specimen.
Quality MLB teams that compete have to develop young / cheap players constantly to stay within their payroll limits. The Mariners had developed good young pitching. They needed to develop position players the same way.
As another post noted: As the other young Mariners starters approach their FA years their salaries are going to go up substantially. Along with Castillo’s and Julio Rodriguez’s contracts, there won’t be enough in the budget to attract a veteran FA or trade for a quality veteran to “get over the top”. Then we have the issue of players getting hurt or suddenly losing it (which happens with pitchers more than position players).
The point is that FO’s need to leave some wiggle-room in their payroll. Dipoto doesn’t do that. He goes all-in too early in the cycle, which subsequently results in his ‘tearing it down and building it back up’ rebuilds that always hit dead ends.
This Mariners team isn’t on the verge of getting far better. There isn’t a lot of upside left on their roster.
Mornin’ Samuel
“Quality MLB teams that compete have to develop young / cheap players…”
Hunter Brown & Arrighetti look like TOR fire for my Astros, Far as I can tell, the latter never made the top 100 prospect lists. I watched some pitches from yesterday’s start that were absolutely unhittable. If he were Mike Scott, and those were the Mets, they’d be asking the ump to check the balls.
blogs.fangraphs.com/astros-pitching-prospect-spenc…
“There isn’t a lot of upside left on their roster.”
But there’s a ton in the minors.
This whole analytical data stuff is messing with the hitter’s head. Doesn’t allow them to go up there and use their natural instincts. Certain situations they’re looking for a certain pitch and they don’t get it, Strike out. Dan’s, The man
hh
“This whole analytical data stuff is messing with the hitter’s head. Doesn’t allow them to go up there and use their natural instincts. Certain situations they’re looking for a certain pitch and they don’t get it, Strike out. Dan’s, The man”
Right
Explains why the there are no good hitting teams or players in baseball, since every team uses”analytical data stuff”
Hitting is down across the board this year in MLB.
Samuel
‘Hitting is down across the board this year in MLB.”
That would be en excellent point if “analyicial data stuff” started this year.
I don’t know whether Servais is a good manager or not, but how about giving the guy a roster where his best hitter isn’t Victor Robles?
They have ZERO hitters with an OPS above .740. Yet people still blame the manager. Insane
29 year old part time college player hitting coach has to go too!
Yikes! I honestly don’t know what they see in Jarret DeHart or how he came to get that job. Tommy Joseph has got to go too.
Check out his baseball history for a good laugh
He deserved to go, too, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with his baseball history–whatever that means.
He doesn’t have enough experience/knowledge to be a coach of a mlb team. He won’t get hired by anyone else
Fascinating.
Scott is a good Manager. This is pretty disappointing, but not surprising. This whole team is a dumpster fire. I would expect a lot of major changes to continue in the near future. Back to another rebuild!
Yeah I wonder what the next rebuild will look like
Do we trade Raleigh because he has boras and hates ownership? Do we trade Gilbert because he is going to FA soon and is also angry? What about Castillo?
Gilbert is under team control through 2027.
You have a bad division. Total retooling of team not needed Bring in the right talent.
This is a win/win. Gets Servais out of the dugout and Wilson out of the broadcast booth.
Ouch!
What do you want from him in this situation?
He was a really good Manager in terms of mitigating our pitching staff. Found a way to get the most out of a depleted bullpen riddled with injuries. Which he definitely deserves credit for.
I know the saber metrics a d analytics department has too much influence on his in game offensive moves, and he was always one to pull a hot bat for some numbers too often rather than keeping the hot bat in. It was very frustrating to watch, but I don’t think the numbers account for the human factor and instinct for the game. He was too rigid to understand that being locked in is sometimes the more important thing than splits. Jerry and Hollander DID NOT help when it came to personnel on the offensive side but I don’t think any REAL talent on the free agent market wanted to come here so B tier and C tier it was. Bounce back players are good to gamble with: but NOT more than one or two. We have a whole team of maybe’s
So will it just be Servais that gets the axe or the whole coaching staff so that Dan Wilson can bring in his own guys?
It doesnt help that every offseason they bring in some ok to decent bats and they promptly can’t hit. I think they target the wrong type of hitters for the park tbh that and having some really bad luck.
I wonder if there’s more to this firing than just the team performance. It’s easy to see him get fired but I wonder if there is moee going on here. Servais didnt seem found of the state of the roster going into spring despite being polite about the way he said it.
He should have bit××ed and moaned about not getting any decent signings in the off-season. I’m not sure how you even get to .500 when your team is hitting .216!
Toronto should be doing this, But, Top to bottom !
You will be remembered here Scott, you got us that playoff appearance but it was time to go
Thank you for the 9 years you spent here, Jerry is doing this to save his job
Scott Servais isn’t the issue. The issue with the team is the ineffectiveness of getting hits and driving in runs when they have runner in scoring position that has zero to do with the manager and everything to do with the players.
But I understand you have to make some kind of change, but it doesn’t matter what manager comes in if the players can’t get hits in key situations they’re still going to struggle mightily
Larry Bowa told Cano not to go to Seattle because of the long travel rigors would hinder the teams performance. Could play a part possibly.
Jerry! Go get Scioscia! He and You got along so great. He would be perfect working with you again! Hey! You could even get Mickey Hatcher back as the Hitting Coach! He could revive your failing offense!
This is funny
Nobody can revive the offense of the Mariners. They’re like the Flying Dutchman, dead, water logged.
Are you serious, or pulling my Leg?
Whatever, the difference between this team making the playoffs (much less making a deep run) is not the manager, or the Front Office for that matter. As long as ownership prioritizes profit over winning (Ms have been the MOST profitable team in MLB for years) they will never get to the World Series. Where would this team be had ownership been willing to make $5m versus $80m per season and put that $75m into improving this roster?!? The owners who truly want to win actually work in the RED (that gasp you heard was the Ms ownership). Sell the team!
Do you have link to those financial figures?
Well, ain’t that just the way it goes? You can lead a team to water, but you can’t make ’em hit. This young whippersnapper Wilson better be ready to swim in the deep end!
Is Dan Wilson just in for the rest of the season or is he going to be made new manager. I know as An Astro fan we were not crazy with Espada as manager after Dusty. Or even out GM right now. We were well behind and did not think we would be where we are. But we still wonder on things this season done. I feel for Seattle fans. I thought this might be there year. But how far they have fallen. Never thought would have lost to Detroit. Or be swept by Dodgers. Their offense was bad when Seattle was last playing us. Then thought got some players to perhaps help turn things around at deadline. But seems have crashed. Rangers too. Players and pitchers in the west. I never thought we would pick things up but our winning and Rangers and Seattle giving it to us. But I hope things can be turned around for Seattle.
he’s permanent
Thank you. Those are kind words coming from an Astros fan.
How many times in recent years has Seattle seemingly had a good grip on a post season spot, even leading their division, only to fall apart..
gonna mute somebody over just simply asking a question? That really just makes you look kind of insecure. That’s just my opinion though.
Hey Buck Showalter is available pick up the phone.
A fitting apex to an incredibly disappointing season. I genuinely like Scott and think he’s capable of being a good manager on a winning ballclub. That said, when you’re as bad as we are offensively, you need a massive culture change to get the ick out of the building. I’m not surprised by this and I look forward to seeing what our incredibly talented young core and pitching can do with some new energy in there.
How do you feel about Dan Wilson being a permanent manager rather than interim?
I don’t know that bringing in Wilson is a massive culture change, but I hope so.
Oh I don’t view this as a long term thing at all. I don’t think they’ve been building up to this replacement, they’re backing into it. Let’s be honest; putting Dan Wilson in charge is a fan friendly and they’re hoping to save some face as well as the season.
*fan friendly move
After Servais said “it happens” is when his job ended
Now there are jerseys with the nameplate as it happens and the number as 54%
54% should be enough to fire dipoto
You might as well mark Skip off your want list. We have dibs on him in St Louis next year . He’s a former Cards player and loved here
Hope you’re right that Skip Shumaker manages the Cards next year.
WRONG
Servais was awful manager, ever since his legendary Robbie Ray / Alvarez playoff game bullpen fiasco.
Good Riddance
MTM is MUTED
Escape goat for trader Jerry not being able to build a team. Yes he built a good young starting staff. Jerry will quit before he gets fired, just like he did with the Angels. Convince another team, he knows what he is doing. Then repeat it again, once that team figures out that he is just a, snake oil salesman.
So is Servais riding the goat out of Seattle? Or did he just let the goat get away? I’m just not clear on what’s happening with this goat. There must be someone who’s at fault for letting it get away. Maybe there’s someone on whom they can pin the blame. What’s the term for that again?
For 2025 how about Ross, Matheny or Girardi?
Girardi would be excellent hire for SEA, bring some experience and discipline to the club.
Ross, a maybe, meh, but might work
Matheny, a No, avoid MM
Girardi and Ross would both be an improvement, but I’ve never been impressed with Matheny who is a great example of beginner’s luck followed by mixed results at best. Nothing against Wilson, but I think the situation calls for an experienced manager with a track record of success. There really is no time for Wilson to figure things out unless the FO has genuinely punted the season.
All would be Good!
Ross sucks. Matheny really sucks. I think they are with Wilson permanently, unfortunately. Smart baseball guy but the same disposition as Servais. Nobody will tell the difference between the two of them.
I’m going to miss Dan Wilson in the broadcast booth, but LFG! Time’s been a-wasting!! GO MS!!!
I irrationally blame the Houston Astros for his firing. Without the league-wide nefarious cheating sandal MLB perpetuated over the previous decade, Servais would have AT LEAST an additional 2 or 3 wins over the past 9 seasons.
Irrationality is not the best justification for any argument.
Griffey? Talk out your ass much?
Oh no! How horrible.
MT: This is why I give you the nickname of Mr. Moot!
Shoot. That World Series drought looks really bad at 947 years
Are they bringing back Lou Piniella??
My flip phone is always on!
If the Mariners miss the playoffs it was completely pointless to do it now.
If the Mariners win the World Series it was a necessary decision.
Then it was pointless…they aren’t making the playoffs…
Considering the lack of hitting talent Servais had to work with, the Mariners should be thankful they’re even at .500
Seems Like He would deserve to be let go at the end of the season. He is a manager, of my opinion, in the middle of the league. Not HOF, but good. On a personal note, he is from the Lacrosse area about 70 miles from me. I root for locals I also believe He played in my college conference at UWL of the glorious Wisconsin Intercollegiate Conference.
Like many commenters have said the reasons the Mariners haven’t done better than a .500 record is more than the Managers fault but they want to make a chance and hopefully it will create a different dynamic with the team the rest of the way.
Sometimes a small change can create a new mental approach/strategy that can lead to better results. Players still have to execute/the physical part on the field. Lack of runs scored is wasting some excellent pitching.
DiPoto’s stated goal was building a team good enough to win 54 percent of its games over a 10-year period, not a single season. Only four teams have done that over the past decade: Dodgers, Astros, Yankees and Guardians (Rays are close at .539).
I’ve thought a little about this. I wonder if Dipoto’s emphasis on 0.540 might be misguided.
Good teams get a 0.540 winning percentage. But, a 0.540 winning percentage does not guarantee that you have a good team. It would be like pouring water on the sidewalk to make it rain, because the sidewalk is wet whenever it rains..
Helped create a fantastic clubhouse atmosphere. Just couldn’t get the offense going, but then how much influence can a manager truly have on that?
M’s were flying only a few months ago so shows the fickle nature of sport. Certainly don’t think he becomes a bad manager overnight and any other MLB side will be lucky to have him.
Maybe the team needed someone to push them more and maybe it will help inject a spark, but doesn’t detract a sad thing has happened to a good person.
Well said! Goodbye guys and Gals!
He could manage the Jays next year.
Well said. There are many who think Servais is too mellow. Too much of a nice guy who won’t call players out or lose his temper. Yes Servais was great in the clubhouse and for being everyone’s best friend; but I think there needs to be some more fire at the managerial position. Some people miss Lou Piniella and his fiery nature. Dan Wilson is definitely not that. Dan Wilson could be more of the same, unfortunately, although he is very smart baseball-wise. I always considered Dipoto/Servais as a partnership, best friends who came in together. Thought they would go out together too, so it’s weird to me that Dipoto is staying. (AND fire Hollander right now please.)
isoab
Venn Diagram: people who want firey managers for themselves and people who want firey managers for other people
Thank God! Now let’s fire Dipoto, our hitting coach and Hollander, among many others!!! Dan Wilson is gonna be decent, and having Edgar back on our coaching staff will be great-he actually knows hitting! Servais just makes horrible decisions game in and game out and has single handedly decimated our bullpen through egregious mismanagement. Our hitting philosophy is horrendously nonsensical and we’re one of the dumbest organizations, if not the dumbest in baseball. It’s definitely time for some change, and time for some common sense to be brought to our organization for once. The Mariners are a horrible team and organization. This move, while long overdue, wont get us to the playoffs-there’s a lot of work that needs to be done to get this team in a place of competency, but this is a good start.
What an idiotic comment. What makes the Mariners organization the “dumbest in baseball?” (Is that even a thing?) Servais wasn’t perfect in his bullpen management, but who is? And so how did he decimate the bullpen? At any rate, you call yourself a fan but I highly doubt it. I don’t even know why I bothered to respond to you.
If the mariners can fire their manager, when will the pirates fire their pathetic MORON manager, Shelton. The worst fundamentally manager in the last 50 years. Blunder after blunder. No fundamentally sound moves. A ANALytics induced MORON.
Any other team would have fired this MORON after 2 years, but not the fundamentally enept pirate ownership.
Sheltie is probably the worst manager in the league. Even worse than that goon that helms the Jays. So much talent, such poor results.
The team, not Shelton. He has no talent. No personality either.
GM who assembled a team of hackers is upset that the team is hacking too much.
And who’s fault is it? Everyone but the guy who assembled the team and those who do the hacking. I mean, let’s fire the parking lot security while you’re at it.
About time. Sure, he’s a scapegoat. Whatever. The way this team plays offensively is just pathetic this year. And Servais has looked burned out/complacent. Bag the hitting staff too, while they’re at it. DiPoto next.
I am an anti-Mariners fan and I mostly hope they lose every game they play against the Angels, but I can still clearly see the problems with the Mariners and the cause of those problems. Few of them lay on Servais shoulders.
I think that they need a new voice in the front office. DiPoto put together that flawed team, and its coaching staff, and what is happening is his responsibility.
Are you an anti-Mariners fan merely because you are an Angels fan? Or do you hate the Mariners regardless and want them to fail no matter what? If it’s the latter, then you have a problem. I am a huge Mariners fan, and want to beat the Angels whenever we play them. But otherwise I have nothing against the Angels and like Ron Washington and don’t mind at all when they beat other teams and actually am happy for their fans when they win because I know it’s been rough for them the last decade. Just wondering.
Because I am an Angel’s fan. i would root for the Mariners in the playoffs because it means that an AL West team is there.
“Director of hitting strategy.” I mean, c’mon. Seriously?
Dipoto needs to fire himself now. He did well rebuilding the farm system, and he seems to understand pitching, but he wouldn’t recognize offensive talent if it came up and bit him!
2025 prediction: Mariners named Wilson as manager, then they bring in Buhner as bench coach, Sojo as third base coach, Doug Strange as first base coach, Bobby Ayala as pitching coach, Tim Belcher as Bullpen coach, Joey Cora as strength and conditioning coach, and do 73 Griffey bobblehead nights and 11 Edgar Martinez bat nights, and depend on that coaching staff to bring in fans for the 30th Anniversary of the 95 Mariners after a fire-sale and rebuild announcement. We will get a pack of Rainier tall boys and a cracked fungo in return for Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh.
Well, they just brought back Edgar. Next year will be a 95 love fest with little substance.
Thank you for your Servais.
Scott is now out of Servais.
Ah yes. Back to the old days. The Mariners (a team I have been a fan of since day one.) will continue to drag the memories of the 1995 team to distract us from their corporate failings.
Odd times. Not the firing of Servais, but the permanent hiring of Dan Wilson. Dipoto sounded totally ball-free at his press conference on that question. They haven’t had a great offense since the Kingdome. Maybe move the fences in to attract a decent hitter? Or do artificially inflated pitching stats justify the worst hitting ballpark in baseball?
The numbers to bear out that T-mobile park is that bad offensively. Ballpark factor ranks it right there with Fenway as far as hitter-friendliness with both being slightly below average. Not dramatically below average. They’ve already moved the fences in once and it pretty much killed triples. Weirdest issue is singles. I’ve never seen dimensions affect singles, yet the Mariners can’t get those either.
Maybe get some guys who can hit?! Nelson Cruz didn’t have any problem in Seattle.
Did you hear the Alex Rodriguez interview by any chance? He was talking about how the change in emphasis from contact to exit velocity/launch angle is killing hitting and used Seattle as an implied example.
The 116 win 2001 team had a great offense.
For 2025, DiPoto is bringing back Abraham Toro, signing Brandon Crawford, luring Joey Votto out of retirement, and inquiring of the availability of Chone Figgins. There’s your new bats. Now shut up, fill the stadium, and buy lots of concessions including $12.00 beers you rubes.
Darn! Down to just six ex Giants who are managing now.
It would be amazing if they went on a run like when the Phillies fired Joe Girardi. Pretty sure there was more the 35-36 games left but it would be cool to see Seattle finally win a pennant.
In hindsight, firing Servais before the nose-dive (more than a slide) had occurred would have been preferred, but I like Dipoto’s idea of trying to salvage the season.
You knew when Detroit mopped the floor with them, he was probably going bye bye.
Scott Servais
For some reason every time I think of that name, I hear Harry Carey‘s voice.
How much longer did Servais have on his contract?
Servais jumps to the top of the list for the first manager who will reject an interview for the open White Sox position.
Sounds like they’re trying to spark the team with the new additions to finish with a WC spot.