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Scott Servais

Mariners Place Paul Sewald On Injured List, Select Penn Murfee

By Darragh McDonald | April 20, 2022 at 4:47pm CDT

The Mariners announced that they have selected Penn Murfee from Triple-A Tacoma to join the big league club, with fellow righty Paul Sewald heading to the injured list. No designation for Sewald’s IL placement was given, but Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times relays that Sewald is going on the Covid IL. Seattle had already placed Luis Torrens and Mitch Haniger on the Covid list, who will now be joined by Sewald. Furthermore, manager Scott Servais and third base coach Manny Acta have both tested positive and will have to step away from the team, also per Divish.

Sewald pitched for the Mets from 2017 through 2020 but had a tremendous breakout campaign with the M’s last year. In 64 2/3 innings, he logged an ERA of 3.06, notching 11 saves, with an incredible 39.4% strikeout rate against a 9.1% walk rate. He’s pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings so far this year and will surely be a loss for the team’s bullpen as long as he’s out.

As for Murfee, he was a 33rd round selection of the Mariners in 2018. He split his time last year between Double-A and Triple-A, throwing 78 2/3 innings in 26 games, 14 of them starts. His 4.23 ERA and 10.2% walk rate weren’t especially impressive, but he did rack up strikeouts at an excellent 28.2% clip. He’s thrown eight scoreless innings in Triple-A so far this year. He’ll make his MLB debut as soon as he gets the call to take the hill.

On the coaching side of things, Divish relays that the plan, at least for tonight, is for first base coach Kristopher Negron to take over for Servais as acting manager. Hitting coach Tony Arnerich will take over as third base coach, with minor league coach Zach Vincej taking the first base box. Minor league coaches CJ Gillman and Dan Wilson will be in uniform in the dugout. (Twitter links)

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Seattle Mariners Transactions Kristopher Negron Manny Acta Paul Sewald Penn Murfee Scott Servais Tony Arnerich Zach Vincej

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Mariners Extend Jerry Dipoto, Scott Servais

By Steve Adams | September 1, 2021 at 10:48am CDT

The Mariners announced Wednesday that they’ve promoted general manager Jerry Dipoto to president of baseball operations and signed him to a multi-year contract extension. The club has also announced a multi-year extension for manager Scott Servais. The length of the contracts were not specified.

Jerry Dipoto | Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports

“Jerry is a creative, passionate leader with a clear vision for our franchise,” managing partner John Stanton said in today’s press release. “Following the 2018 season, Jerry came to us with a plan for how to compete for and win championships. He was transparent on the difficulty, but also clear on the goals and milestones. In the two-and-a-half years since, he has led the baseball operations group through challenges on and off the field, while executing on the timeline he laid out.”

Stanton points out that the Mariners’ 91-76 record since the midpoint of last season ranks sixth in baseball, praises the “first-class operations and analytics team” built by Dipoto, and expresses pride in a farm system that recently topped Baseball America’s midseason rankings. The Mariners are also just three and a half games back in the American League Wild Card race, outperforming broad expectations in what most expected to be another rebuilding season.

The 2021 campaign is Dipoto’s sixth full season with the Mariners, who hired him as general manager on Sept. 28, 2015. He’d previously served as interim general manager of the Diamondbacks and spent nearly five seasons as general manager of the Angels before leaving the organization after a public rift with manager Mike Scioscia. Dipoto then served as a special assistant in the Red Sox’ front office before being tabbed as Seattle’s new head of baseball operations.

Mariners ownership brought Dipoto aboard in the midst of a win-now push. At the time, Dipoto was stepping into an organization that had a bloated long-term payroll and one of the game’s worst-ranked farm systems. Seattle posted winning records in two of Dipoto’s first three seasons (2016 and 2018) but did not reach the playoffs. With several aging veterans and little help on the immediate horizon, Dipoto set out to “reimagine” the Mariners’ roster and farm system following an 89-win 2018 season.

Over the next two seasons, he traded away the likes of Robinson Cano, Edwin Diaz, James Paxton, Jean Segura, Austin Nola and many others as he sought to replenish the minor league system and bring about a youth movement. His efforts continued all the way through the current deadline, when Dipoto somewhat controversially traded closer Kendall Graveman to his chief division rival for five years of control over young infielder Abraham Toro. (Toro hit a grand slam off Graveman last night.)

That youth movement has begun to arrive in Seattle, led by names such as Toro, Ty France, J.P. Crawford, Luis Torrens and others. Some of Dipoto’s early acquisitions, such as Mitch Haniger and Marco Gonzales, have become mainstays on the roster and played key roles in the team’s emergence. Free-agent additions such as Chris Flexen and Yusei Kikuchi have been vital to the team’s 2021 rotation.

A new multi-year extension gives Dipoto the opportunity to see a rebuild he initially pushed for all the way through to its culmination. While the Mariners have begun to see some of the fruits of those rebuilding efforts, the club hopes there’s more on the horizon not just via the young big leaguers who’ve struggled (e.g. Jarred Kelenic) but also the numerous top prospects still on the farm. Outfielder Julio Rodriguez, right-handers Emerson Hancock and George Kirby and infielder Noelvi Marte, among others, could all reach the Majors by 2023 — many of them as soon as next season.

The rebuilding effort has also left Seattle with a squeaky-clean payroll outlook. The Mariners have just $19MM committed to next year’s payroll (before arbitration raises and decisions on options for Kyle Seager and Kikuchi). They’ll take that minimal level of financial commitment to a free-agent market that is deeper in talent than any we’ve seen in recent memory and look to augment the young core with some veterans to take the team to a new level in 2022 and beyond.

The sheer volume of trades made by Dipoto, who has more than earned his “Trader Jerry” nickname since taking the reins in Seattle, opens him up to some criticism and has created his share of detractors. However, it’s tough to argue that the team’s farm system, payroll outlook and current big league roster paint anything other than a bright future that is largely because of its current baseball operations leader’s doing.

Scott Servais | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Servais, like Dipoto, is in his sixth season with the Mariners. He’d worked as an assistant general manager in the Angels front office during Dipoto’s time as GM there, setting up a strong foundation for the two to build upon in Seattle.

“Scott has done a terrific job in defining our team’s culture as one that is driven by process, hard work and heart,” Dipoto said in a press release announcing Servais’ new contract. “That has allowed us to bring young, talented players to the Majors over the past three years and see them adjust and succeed as we build towards a team that competes for championships on an annual basis. The resiliency our club has shown in overcoming challenges on, and off, the field over the past two years have been a direct result of Scott’s leadership of the team and coaching staff.”

The Mariners are the only club Servais has ever managed, and through his six seasons he holds a 419-422 record. That’s skewed largely by a 68-94 record in 2019 — the first season of the club’s rebuild. Servais has a pair of winning seasons on his record and ought to add a third to the ledger in 2021, barring a seismic September collapse.

The larger question isn’t whether the Mariners will finish the current season with a winning record but rather whether they’ll be able to close a 3.5-game Wild Card deficit, thereby snapping a two-decade playoff drought. Even if a return to the postseason doesn’t happen in 2021, it would surely be viewed as a disappointment among fans, the players, the front office and ownership if a return to the playoffs doesn’t come to fruition over the life of these new contracts for Dipoto and Servais. Their ability to push this club from a young, up-and-coming club on the rise to bona fide postseason contenders will determine whether future extensions are in order.

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Minor MLB Transactions: 9/27/20

By TC Zencka | September 27, 2020 at 2:29pm CDT

With the final day of the 2020 regular season underway, a number of teams made a final roster move before the action kicked off. We’ll use this post to track some of those moves…

  • The Pirates placed catcher Jacob Stallings into the 7-day concussion protocol, the team announced. Andrew Susac was added to the active roster for today’s action. To make room on the 40-man roster, Keone Kela was moved to the 45-day injured list. Susac had been on the taxi squad. The 30-year-old backstop made appearances in the bigs for five consecutive seasons from 2014 to 2018 with the Giants, Brewers, and Orioles. He spent 2019 with the Royals Triple-A affiliate. Stallings, 30, misses the final day of the season after slashing .248/.326/.376 across 42 games and 143 plate appearances. Stallings was the Pirates’ primary catcher for the first time in his career this season, starting 40 of the team’s 60 games.
  • Joe Hudson has been recalled from the Mariners’ alternate training site for the final game of the season, per the Mariners’ PR department. Luis Torrens was placed on the 10-day injured list with back spasms. Hudson is making his third trip to the Mariners this season having one 3 for 17 in 9 games thus far. The 24-year-old catcher has started 16 games behind the plate for Seattle since coming over from the Padres at the deadline. Between both clubs, he slashed .257/.325/.371 across 78 plate appearances. It’s notable that Mariners’ manager Scott Servais noted that the offseason plan for Torrens will be to get strong enough to handle a full 162-game season, per MLB.com’s Greg Johns. The Mariners would like Torrens to add 8-10 pounds before next season.
  • The Cardinals activated outfielder Austin Dean before Sunday’s game, optioning Nabil Crismatt to the team’s alternate site, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com (via Twitter). The 25-year-old Crismatt made 6 appearances out of the bullpen for the Cardinals this season with a 3.24 ERA over 8 1/3 innings. This was the first taste of big-league action for the right-hander. Dean was acquired in the offseason from the Marlins, but he’s appeared in just 3 games for the Cardinals this season. The 26-year-old has been out since mid-September with a right elbow strain.
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Pittsburgh Pirates Seattle Mariners St. Louis Cardinals Transactions Andrew Susac Austin Dean Jacob Stallings Joe Hudson Keone Kela Luis Torrens Nabil Crismatt Scott Servais

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Injury Notes: Judge, LeMahieu, Yankees, White, Puk, Bowden

By Mark Polishuk | August 27, 2020 at 7:52pm CDT

The latest on multiple injury situations throughout the game…

  • Aaron Judge’s most recent calf injury “seems like a recurrence of what he had before,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said during an interview with WFAN (hat tip to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch).  Judge re-injured his calf in his first game back from a minimum 10-day stint on the injured list, and Boone suggested that this latest issue “does seem minor in nature again, but certainly something that could turn into an IL stint again.”
  • While Judge is a question mark, the Yankees could potentially have DJ LeMahieu back for this weekend’s series against the Mets.  Boone said that LeMahieu took batting practice today at Yankee Stadium and will now report to the club’s alternate training site.  Assuming the second baseman is indeed able to return against the Mets, it would represent a slightly early return from the initial 2-to-3 week timeline projected after LeMahieu was initially placed on the injured list with a thumb sprain on August 16.  In other Yankees injury news, Boone said Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring) also took on-field batting practice today, and that Gleyber Torres (quad/hamstring) is making good progress.
  • Evan White left during the third inning of the Mariners’ 10-7 loss to the Padres due to what the M’s termed as right shoulder discomfort.  After the game, Seattle manager Scott Servais told the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish and other reporters that White initially suffered the injury while diving for a ball in Tuesday’s game and was trying to play through the pain.  The rookie first baseman entered today’s game with only a .168/.238/.379 slash line through his first 105 plate appearances in the big leagues, though White had begun to heat up over the last week.
  • The next step in A.J. Puk’s rehab will take place Friday, as Athletics manager Bob Melvin told the San Francisco Chroncile’s Susan Slusser and other reporters that Puk will throw 30 pitches over two simulated innings against live batters.  This will be the second time that Puk has faced actual hitters during his recovery from shoulder woes that have plagued him since Spring Training.  There is still no clear timetable on when Puk could make his return to the A’s, though the club has already said that he will be deployed as a reliever in 2020.
  • Rockies pitching prospect Ben Bowden isn’t likely to make his MLB debut this season, manager Bud Black told The Athletic’s Nick Groke and other reporters.  Bowden suffered another injury he was already recovering from a back problem that sidelined him during Spring Training.  A second-round pick out of Vanderbilt in the 2016 draft, Bowden didn’t have a great performance in the hitter-friendly environment of Triple-A Colorado Springs in 2019, though the southpaw has a 3.60 ERA, 13.1 K/9, and 3.15 K/BB over 127 1/3 total minor league innings, all as a reliever.
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Colorado Rockies New York Yankees Notes Oakland Athletics Seattle Mariners A.J. Puk Aaron Judge Ben Bowden DJ LeMahieu Evan White Giancarlo Stanton Gleyber Torres Scott Servais

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Mariners’ Leadership Accused By Former Director Of High Performance Lorena Martin Of Derogatory Remarks

By Jeff Todd | November 13, 2018 at 11:57am CDT

TODAY: MLB is aware of and investigating the matter, per a statement (via Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, on Twitter).

YESTERDAY, 11:18pm: Martin shares more detailed accusations in an interview with T.J. Cotterill of the Tacoma News Tribune. According to her account, the derogatory comments were made during meetings in the run-up to Spring Training. She claims to have reported them to the human resources department at that relatively early stage of her tenure.

The team has yet again responded with a denial, as Divish tweets, calling the allegations “absolutely false and ludicrous.”

7:00pm: Mariners director of high performance Dr. Lorena Martin, who was hired into her role just over one year ago, has leveled serious charges against key figures in the Seattle baseball operations department in an Instagram post. The team responded by denying her allegations in a statement.

Generally, Martin says the Seattle organization has “major issues” that “have left [her] shocked.” More particularly, she says that she “witnessed and heard first hand” degrading remarks regarding players from GM Jerry Dipoto, manager Scott Servais, and director of player development Andy McKay.

As she characterizes it, those men engaged in “calling latinos lazy, dumb, and stupid, especially the Dominicans.” Martin also suggests that the Mariners were responsible for “firing innocent trainers for trying to do the right thing and because of their color/race.”

In their statement, the Mariners say that they previously fired Martin on October 10th. The organization denies that “any member of our management or coaching staff made racist remarks regarding any of our players or staff” and says it has “not terminated (or threatened to terminate) any trainers during the off-season.”

Additionally, the club claims that “Martin did not make any of these false allegations until after she was relieved of her duties.” Martin specifically disputed that in a subsequent tweet.

Martin’s role was by all appearances a significant one. Per the team’s original hiring announcement, she was responsible for “coordinating all aspects of the Mariners physical and mental training approach of players and staff, including oversight of the entire organization’s medical, strength and conditioning, nutrition and mental skills departments.” Martin  had previously worked in a variety of other professional sports environments, including most recently as director of sports performance analytics for the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers.

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Mariners Extend Scott Servais

By Connor Byrne | July 20, 2018 at 11:40am CDT

The Mariners announced that they’ve agreed to a multiyear contract extension with manager Scott Servais. The length of the deal isn’t yet known.

“Scott has created a culture here in Seattle that allows players to be successful,” general manager Jerry Dipoto said of Servais. “They are encouraged to be themselves, which has resulted in a loose environment, while still maintaining the focus on team above self. His leadership has also been evident through the ongoing growth and impact of one of the best coaching staffs in Major League Baseball. He has been the right leader at the right time for the right team and I look forward to many more years together.”

The extension for Servais comes two weeks after the Mariners locked up Dipoto, who, like Seattle’s manager, had been in the final year of his contract. The Dipoto-Servais duo has been together since 2015, and the Mariners have posted a solid 222-199 record with them at the helm.

While the Mariners have also extended their major league-worst playoff drought to 16 years under their current leadership, the team may finally break that ignominious streak this season. The M’s will begin the second half of the campaign on Friday with a 58-39 record, which gives them a three-game edge over the American League West rival Athletics for the AL’s last wild-card spot.

Given how difficult it is to quantify the performance of a manager, it’s debatable whether Servais – an ex-major league catcher – has had a significant impact on the Mariners. Thanks in some part to Servais, though, the Mariners have exceeded preseason expectations in 2018 and have done so without one of their best players, second baseman Robinson Cano, who’s simultaneously recovering from a fractured right hand and serving an 80-game suspension. Cano has appeared in just 39 games this year, making Seattle’s success all the more impressive.

With Cano slated to return in mid-August, Servais & Co. will work in the meantime to stay in playoff position. The club entered the All-Star break in an awful skid, as it followed an eight-game winning streak by losing eight of 11. But regardless of whether Seattle recovers and finally returns to the postseason this year, it appears Servais will be atop its dugout for the foreseeable future.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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AL West Notes: Correa, McCullers, Servais, Profar

By Steve Adams | August 23, 2017 at 9:07pm CDT

Both Carlos Correa and Lance McCullers are headed out on minor league rehab assignments this week. Correa told reporters that he’s going to Triple-A Fresno tomorrow to begin his rehab assignment (Twitter link, with video, from FOX 26’s Mark Berman). Yesterday, Correa said he expected that he’d need 20 to 30 at-bats to get back up to speed, which would suggest that he could return to the Astros in about a week’s time. As for McCullers, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle tweets that he’s slated to make a rehab start with Fresno on Friday. Berman also tweets that in addition to that pair of key players, righty Will Harris, lefty Tony Sipp and righty Michael Feliz are all headed to Triple-A Fresno for rehab work. Beyond that, Brian McCann is ready to be activated tomorrow.

Here’s more from the division…

  • Details surrounding the contract of Mariners skipper Scott Servais weren’t reported or announced when he was initially hired, but MLB.com’s Jon Morosi reports today that Servais is signed through the 2018 season (Twitter link). That would indicate that the first-time manager inked a three-year deal in his first term at the helm in Seattle. While Servais’ Mariners aren’t guaranteed a postseason spot, they’re right in the thick of the Wild Card hunt, sitting just two games back. That’s an impressive feat for a Mariners team that has seen Felix Hernandez, James Paxton and Hisashi Iwakuma all spend significant time on the DL while projected rotation member Drew Smyly was lost for the year due to injuries without ever throwing a regular-season pitch.
  • It’s looking more and more like Jurickson Profar’s future will be with a team other than the Rangers, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Profar was again passed over for a call-up when Texas placed Joey Gallo on the disabled list with a concussion, and he’s blocked all over the infield by the likes of Elvis Andrus, Rougned Odor and Adrian Beltre. Grant notes that Profar has only played shortstop on consecutive days in the Majors twice in his career, and he often sits against lefties in the bigs. One knock on him has been his lack of production as a right-handed hitter, Grant notes, but he’s hitting .404/.457/.649 against lefties in 109 plate appearances this season. Profar will be out of options entering next year, meaning the Rangers will either have to find a role for him or find a trade partner for him.
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Houston Astros Seattle Mariners Texas Rangers Carlos Correa Jurickson Profar Lance McCullers Jr. Michael Feliz Scott Servais Tony Sipp Will Harris

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Latest On Padres’ Managerial Search

By Steve Adams | October 27, 2015 at 2:34pm CDT

Pat Murphy won’t return as the Padres’ manager next season, meaning that San Diego is one of four possible destinations for managerial hopefuls (along with Los Angeles, D.C. and Miami). GM A.J. Preller has promised a wide-ranging search. While we haven’t heard much yet about possible candidates, information is starting to trickle out. Here’s the latest:

  • Preller says that the club is moving into the second round of its search, as MLB.com’s Corey Brock reports. “I feel good about the number of guys we had in the initial stage, and now we’ll be able to get that down to a smaller group,” Preller said. “We’re looking to push things forward.” As Brock writes, there could be some new names under consideration, as Preller indicated that the Pads have spoken with some candidates who “were involved in the postseason.”
  • Pirates third base coach Rick Sofield has had a second interview and “appears to be a finalist,” Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports on Twitter.
  • Ron Gardenhire recently had a second interview with the team, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reports.  It isn’t known which (if any) other candidates have also been interviewed a second time, though this return meeting would seem to hint that Gardenhire is a strong contender.

Earlier Updates

  • San Diego bench coach Dave Roberts has not interviewed for the Padres’ managerial gig, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports, though he was a finalist for the Mariners’ job. The club has interviewed hitting coach Mark Kotsay, though he’s viewed as a “long shot.”
  • The Friars will interview long-time big leaguers Alex Cora and Phil Nevin, according to reports. That pair has been tied in at least some manner to every other team with a current opening, though it is worth noting that Nevin spent the most productive portion of his playing career in San Diego.
  • Also set for an interview with San Diego is former Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Gardenhire obviously comes into the offseason managerial search with plenty of experience, having piloted Minnesota for 13 years. It appears that the Padres are, as expected, looking at candidates with a variety of resumes.
  • Pirates third base coach Rick Sofield is also interviewing for the Padres’ opening, reports Peter Gammons (via Twitter). Sofield has more than a decade of head coaching experience at the college level and also has served as a minor league manager in the Pirates and Expos systems in addition to his time as a third base coach and first base coach in the Majors. A first-round pick of the Twins in 1975, Sofield saw big league action in parts of three seasons and also had a 10-year minor league career.
  • It has previously been reported that San Diego has interest in Diamondbacks third base coach Andy Green. The 38-year-old, a four-year MLB veteran infielder in his playing days, managed in the minors for several seasons before joining Arizona’s big league staff.
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Managerial Notes: Gordon, Mattingly, Servais

By charliewilmoth | October 24, 2015 at 2:08pm CDT

The Padres have interviewed former big-league reliever Tom Gordon for their open managerial position, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports. As Heyman notes, Gordon certainly would be an unusual candidate, since he has no managerial experience anywhere. He did, however, pitch 21 seasons in the big leagues. He is the father of Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon and top Twins shortstop prospect Nick Gordon. Here’s the rest of the latest on the Padres’ managerial search. And here are more notes on managers, all on the West divisions:

  • Don Mattingly’s separation from the Dodgers was amicable, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. The pressures of managing an expensive team with championship expectations weighted on Mattingly, as did whispers about whether he would be fired. When the two sides spoke on Monday, the Dodgers told him they were not interested in offering a long-term extension, which told him their commitment to him wasn’t strong. The new Dodgers front office would, evidently, prefer to hire its own manager, even though Mattingly was willing to work with the front office with its use of advanced metrics.
  • The Mariners are gambling that Scott Servais is the right hire for them despite his lack of managerial experience, John McGrath of the Tacoma News Tribune writes. As McGrath points out, gambles like this one are common nowadays: Mike Matheny of the Cardinals, Robin Ventura of the White Sox, Brad Ausmus of the Tigers, Walt Weiss of the Rockies, Craig Counsell of the Brewers and Kevin Cash of the Rays are, like Servais, all former players who lacked significant managerial experience before taking their current jobs.
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Mariners Name Scott Servais Manager

By Steve Adams | October 23, 2015 at 2:03pm CDT

The Mariners announced on Friday that Angels assistant GM Scott Servais has been hired as the team’s next manager. While there’s been no official announcement in regards to the coaching staff, Angels special assistant Tim Bogar is expected to be named bench coach. Both men worked closely with new Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto in his time as Angels general manager.

Scott Servais

Dipoto is quoted in the press release announcing the move: “Through the course of the 20-plus years I’ve known Scott, I’ve come to see him as one of the most complete, well balanced and inclusive baseball people in the industry. … He is a communicator with strong baseball acumen and leadership skills. I truly believe his strong character and career experiences as a player, coach and executive have prepared him for this opportunity.”

Servais himself expressed excitement for the opportunity as well: “It has long been my goal to manage a big league team and while I took a slightly different path than many, I am confident in my ability to lead. We have a terrific core of players and I’m looking forward to bringing in a coaching staff that will help me establish a winning culture here as we work toward putting a championship-caliber team on the field for the fans of the Northwest.”

Servais, 48, is a former Major League catcher that enjoyed an 11-year playing career. He began his career as an executive working in the Rangers’ front office before being hired away by the Angels to serve as assistant GM and oversee the team’s scouting and player development operations. This offseason, Servais has interviewed for the Padres’ managerial role and the Angels’ GM vacancy, though the latter of the two positions went to former Yankees AGM Billy Eppler.

The Servais decision will continue the increasingly popular trend of hiring rookie managers, as we’ve seen names such as Mike Matheny, Walt Weiss, Robin Ventura, Brad Ausmus, Craig Counsell, Matt Williams and Paul Molitor hired without prior managerial experience in recent years. Some of those names (Williams and Molitor) did come with coaching experience, and others (Ausmus and Counsell) were similar to Servais in that each had experience working in a front office.

Bogar formerly served as the Rangers’ bench coach and was Texas’ interim manager when Ron Washington abruptly resigned late in the 2014 season. However, upon being passed over for the permanent opening, which went to Jeff Banister — Bogar did interview and was a consideration — he joined the Angels’ front office as a special assistant to Dipoto. He’ll now be with his third AL West club in a three-year span.

Adding Servais and Bogar to the Mariners’ dugout will give Dipoto a rapport with his field staff that he very obviously lacked in Anaheim. Dipoto’s summer resignation from his post as Angels GM was said to be fueled largely by feuds with manager Mike Scioscia over his distaste for being provided with analytical input from the Halos’ front office, and reports have since indicated that pitching coach Mike Butcher was also resistant to receiving that type of input from Dipoto and the rest of the front office. Servais and Bogar figure to be much more open to that style of input, which should be a significant departure from former Mariners skipper Lloyd McClendon, who employed a more traditional approach to his on-field duties.

Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times reported that Servais had been hired (via Twitter) and added in a second tweet that Bogar would be the bench coach. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported last night that Servais had emerged as the front-runner for the position.

Photo courtesy of Seattle Mariners media relations.

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