Mariners Fire Manager Scott Servais; Turn to Former Catcher Dan Wilson as a Replacement
The Seattle Mariners have announced they are firing longtime manager Scott Servais. Servais has been the manager for Seattle since the 2016 season, posting an overall record of 680-642 over that span. Servais led the Mariners to their first playoff appearance in 20 years in 2022, but they lost in the American League Division Series to the Houston Astros. Servais finished in the top 3 in AL Manager of the Year voting in both 2021 and 2022, which were both 90-win seasons for Seattle.
The reason for this firing is, without a doubt, attributed to the shocking collapse of this team in the second half of the season. The Mariners have only won three series since the All-Star Break in mid-July, and they now find themselves at 64-64 and 7.5 games back in the AL Wild Card race. Seattle was viewed by many as a potential threat to the Astros and Rangers in the AL West Division this year, and they were living up to those expectations in the first half of the season. Seattle finished the first half of the season firmly in first place over the Astros, and they had been in first place for the majority of May and June as well. They took that momentum into the Trade Deadline, where they looked to upgrade on offense by making one of the bigger trades of the deadline by acquiring Randy Arozarena from the Rays. However, since then, the Mariners have been tied for the third-worst record in baseball, and they have seen both their division lead and playoff spot vanish with little time to make up for their lost ground.
Dan Wilson is the man being tasked with trying to turn things around for Seattle with just under six weeks left in the regular season. Wilson has never managed at any level before, but he has experience with the Mariners organization. He was a catcher for the Mariners back in his playing days, and he served as a special assignment coordinator for the team back in spring training. He had a great career as the Mariners’ catcher from 1994 to 2005, where he made an All-Star team in 1996, hit 88 home runs and drove in over 500 runs. It has been proven in the past that former catchers tend to make good managers, such as Joe Torre, Joe Girardi, Mike Scioscia, and Mike Matheny, just to name a few. The Mariners are hoping that Wilson can provide a fresh approach to this team that is desperately in need of a shake-up as they have dug themselves a hole with not a lot of time to get out of it.
