6:41pm: Crawford is beginning his rehab assignment earlier than expected, as Tacoma Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto relayed this evening that the shortstop will be in the Rainier’s lineup this evening batting second and playing shortstop.
6:00pm: The Mariners parted ways with longtime manager Scott Servais earlier this week, and the now ex-manager spoke with reporters on the club’s beat (including MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer) yesterday regarding his time in Seattle and the club’s decision to part ways with him.
Servais indicated during his remarks that he had previously thought that if the club missed the playoffs this year, that could lead to the end of his nine-year tenure as the Mariners’ manager. Even, so Servais expressed surprise at the club’s decision to part ways with him midseason, noting (as relayed by Kramer) that his “expectation was that [he’d] get to finish out the year” while also adding that he first heard of his dismissal via news alert on his phone prior to his in-person meeting with Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto, an experience that Servais described as “alarming.”
The 57-year-old was first hired to lead the Mariners back in 2016. Servais had a 681-642 record during his time at the helm of the Mariners, good for a .515 winning percentage despite the fact that his teams made the postseason just once back in 2021 and never won the AL West under his guidance. Despite that relative lack of on-field success, Servais received votes for the AL Manager of the Year award three times during his tenure with the Mariners, including a third-place finish in 2022 and a second-place finish behind two-time winner Kevin Cash back in 2021.
Per Kramer, Servais indicated to reporters that he hopes his split with Seattle won’t mark the end of his managerial career. At least one job opportunity is set to be available this winter after the White Sox fired manager Pedro Grifol earlier this month. Grady Sizemore is currently acting as the club’s interim manager, although White Sox brass have already indicated that the club expects to look for a long-term solution outside of the organization. There’s also some level of uncertainty in the Rockies dugout as the club waits until after the season to discuss the future of manager Bud Black amid what officially became the club’s sixth consecutive losing season yesterday with their 0-3 loss to the Yankees.
More from around Seattle…
- The club was dealt a bit of an injury scare earlier today when outfielder Victor Robles was struck by a pitch on his right hand during today’s game against the Giants. He exited the game after the incident, but the club fortunately announced shortly thereafter that x-rays had come back negative on the former top prospect’s hand and that he had been diagnosed with a right index finger contusion. The 27-year-old has impressed with a .280/.340/.413 slash line and a 14-0 record on the basepaths in 50 games with the Mariners since signing with them back in June, and while losing their leadoff hitter for any amount of time will surely be a blow, Seattle is a bit better equipped to handle an absence from Robles after young phenom Julio Rodriguez returned to center field yesterday. The 23-year-old has been back from a recent high ankle sprain for two weeks now but had been relegated to DH-only duties until yesterday, when he was finally cleared to return to the field. That kicked Robles over to right field, which now figures to be covered by some combination of Mitch Haniger, Dominic Canzone, and Luke Raley as he nurses his injured finger.
- While it’s possible that today’s finger contusion could keep Robles out of the lineup for the time being, the Mariners did receive some refreshing injury news yesterday when reporters spoke to shortstop J.P. Crawford as relayed by MLB.com’s Injury Tracker. Crawford took batting practice on the field yesterday and, in conversation with reporters afterwards, indicated that he could begin a rehab assignment early in this next coming week. Crawford has been out for just over a month now while nursing a fractured pinkie finger. The 29-year-old was in the midst of a down season when bitten by the injury bug, with a .204/.299/.347 slash line in 77 games this year, and switch-hitting rookie Leo Rivas has impressed in 26 games while covering for the club’s regular shortstop. Still, Crawford’s return should improve the club’s overall infield mix by allowing Rivas to help carry the load at second and third base alongside Jorge Polanco and Josh Rojas.
The reality of Servais learning of his dismissal via media report indicates there’s deeper problems with the team being left unaddressed.
Couldn’t agree more. Always thought Servais was a class act…very disappointed in DiPoto on how this was handled.. Signed Polanco –lost Teoscar and this is the manager’s fault?
Last time I checked, his name is spelled ‘Dipoto’.
I’m guessing you also disliked the Turner and Robles signings.
Maybe Servais would have gotten the job done in year 10. I am in agreement that it’s disappointing he heard about his ouster through an outside source, but this more than not proves Dipoto wants to win and is not willing to play the loyalty card and enjoy another 9 years of mediocrity.
P.S. you read as biased against Jerry Dipoto with your purposeful misspelling of his name.
You have it completely wrong pal. I have always liked Dipoto. But this move was pathetic. The misspelling was purely accidental and lazy. Try again Nostradamus.
It’s fascinating to think about. The Mariners have been really good at keeping trades quiet, so that suggests the leak to Rosenthal probably didn’t come from the people who normally work on those. Wilson was working on broadcasts, so maybe it was someone on the ROOT sports side that overheard something? On his podcast, Divish (beat writer) has talked about the existence of an angry anti-Dipoto faction inside the organization. Did the leak come from someone there? Many people have suggested ownership meddling in the Wilson hire. Did one of the owners leak it to become buddies with Rosenthal? Fascinating.
Well said.
Joe Girardi would be a good replacement.
“despite the fact that his teams made the postseason just once back in 2021”
I swore I remember they broke the drought in 2022. Was it actually ‘21?
It was 2022
Robles is back to sporting a .541 OPS in August, can’t imagine that kind of production is hard to replace
And 6 hits over his last 4 games before today’s game and early exit.
He also had a BABIP of .167 through 16 August.
The changes to his approach and swing are consistent. Seattle knows that and it’s probably why they extended him while he was arguably ‘cold’.
Are you including his time in Washington in his BABIP through Aug 16? If so, seems a disingenuous valuation. I assume that’s the case though since his BABIP in Washington was .176 & in Seattle it’s been .339
The commenter I responded to was talking about August, so I noted the BABIP from 1 August to 16 August.
It was even worse from the 7th till the 16th.
Have a nice day.
“I thought I’d get to finish out the year”. No, when you have a team that is a league leader in quality starts and era while you lead the lead in strikeouts and are bottom of the barrel in most hitting stats, you don’t get to finish out the year. You need to go away.
It’s a great place to pitch and a tough place to hit. That’s not all of it but it’s a huge factor
How does that explain the poor hitting? It doesn’t make their bats heavier so they strikeout more. Does that excuse other teams beating them when their pitchers throw QS? Why does that excuse their poor performance while the opposing team outperforms?
Goofy take
“It’s a huge factor”….Using the stadium at some point becomes just another excuse and a cop out. It’s not like guys leave the M’s and immediately start lighting it up elsewhere. For the most part, every year guys leave the M’s and go onto the same production they’ve always had. Always citing the stadium just gives guys another psychological reason to continue being ok with below average production. And baseball is probably the easiest sport to buy into failure since confidence is everything.
There really haven’t been many hitters leave the Mariners the last decade or so. Yeah players don’t need to make excuses but I am a fan and I can see what’s going on. I was looking up Bryce Miller’s stats last night and his home road splits are incredible. He’s an ace at home on the road he’s barely good enough for a rotation spot. I think they should try to shorten the fences like San Diego has done. Try to even it out.
Bingo, Blackpink. The pitching stats are inflated by the park. Batters end up swinging for the fences because line drives seem to float. No carry through the cold damp air, and ground balls slow down considerably after the first bounce off the heavy wet turf. Seen it since the joint opened.
Bauer: why does he need to go away? Sounds like the Mariners problem(s) is /are above Servais pay grade.
And so in your weird book he deserves to find out on social media instead of face-to-face?
In my weird book he should have known he was due walking papers pre allstar break. And it matters little how he found out after.
“Matters little how he found out”….I’m actually a little surprised a baseball manager has time for social media during the season. It’s not like he’s going to find the answer to his team’s hitting woes on “Facebook”…err. “Meta”.
We see where you’re coming from.
So:
Your comments are hereby fired. They matter little.
Mariners did not make the playoffs in 2021….
“… the club fortunately announced shortly thereafter that x-rays had come back negative …”
So glad they were fortunate enough to make an announcement.
Victor Robles found out his x-rays were negative via social media?
Classless Diputo!
The strangest part about Servais’ dismissal, in my opinion, is that they named Wilson the permanent manager…with almost no experience.
This screams of ownership influence in an attempt to appease a fan-base that’s still pointing the finger at ownership. Reintroducing fan-favorites like Dan and Edgar makes for a nice nostalgic diversion.
That said, I hope they succeed.
Bingo. No search. Cronyism at its worst.
He wasn’t named permanent manager. He’s an interim manager with a fancier title.
What do you mean he wasn’t named the permanent manager? Yes he is, look it up. He’s not the interim.
I’m hearing from sources that jrod is gonna go through the same thing as tatis jr. Inflated stats with the juice
Shut up.
It was wrong for Dipoto not to tell Servais first to his face, and of course there are deeper problems organizationally, especially in the front office. Servais still deserved to get fired. The only problem is it should have happened sooner. I’ve seen a dumb, blind, deaf, three legged dog go a day in a barn filled with horses and make less mistakes than Servais did in a game.
” …the shortstop will be in the Rainier’s lineup …”
Rainiers’, Nick. Possessive plural.
There are so many elementary grammar and writing mistakes in your work, Nick.
I know it’s hard to write both fast and accurately, but please check your work before posting it.
Or hire me to edit for MLBTR. I’m qualified and cheap.
Deeds is terrible. He also messed this one up badly: Even, so Servais expressed surprise at the club’s decision to part ways with him midseason.
We’re not the only ones who’ve noticed this either, see below.
Crawford should be released and Luis Rivas should take over at SS until Cole Young or Colt Emerson or Felnin Celesten is ready. Crawford is hitting .204 compared to Rivas who is hitting .280. Crawford is horrible. We should also just release Julio. Really bad contract. Julio is absolutely the worst player on our team. Just pathetic. It seems the best he’s done all season is hit into a bases loaded double play. Reality is, he’s only had 22 extra base hits. 11 homers and 11 doubles. Wow, Julio is totally a superstar! He’s so amazing and talented. lol give me a break. He had two fluke seasons where he was decent at best. He’s not tough at all-now Robles, there’s a tough guy!
What is this garbage?
“Even, so Servais expressed surprise at the club’s decision to part ways with him midseason.…“
How do you not know where to put a comma in this sentence?