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In surprising news, the Seattle Mariners have fired longtime manager Scott Servais. Servais was fired Thursday afternoon, and the team will replace him with Dan Wilson. While Wilson has never managed at any level, he was a catcher for the Mariners and served as a special assignment coordinator for the club in spring training.
Servais, who was in his ninth season as the Mariners' manager, has been let go. Since his hiring in 2016, Servais had a record of 680-642, suitable for a .514 win percentage. The highlight of his tenure was a playoff appearance in 2022, which ended a 21-year postseason drought – the longest in North American professional sports at the time. The Mariners won the Wild Card series against the Toronto Blue Jays, but the Houston Astros swept them in the ALDS. Despite the milestone, the team missed the playoffs in 2023, and it looks like more of the same in 2024, currently at 64-64 and five games out of a Wild Card spot.
Mariners look to move forward
Taking over the reins will be Dan Wilson, who played with the M's from 1994 to 2005, notably as Randy Johnson's personal catcher. Although Wilson, 55, has no prior managerial experience, he's familiar with the club. As special assignment coordinator over the spring, he built strong relationships with starting catcher Cal Raleigh.
Seattle fans on social media were OK with the move, but still think there are major problems with the team.
“I’m not opposed to firing Scott Servais,” said @Harris_Mark7 via X, formerly Twitter, “but it won’t fundamentally change anything with the Mariners.”
“This belief that it’s Scott Servais’s fault OR Jerry Dipoto’s fault OR ownership’s fault is what allows this loser mentality to continue to permeate,” @alexSSN on X says. “It’s everyone’s fault, they’ve all gotta go to really change the culture.”
Wilson steps into a challenging situation with the Mariners on a three-game losing streak and facing pressure from fans to turn things around. At one point this season, the team had a ten-game lead in the AL West and turned that into a five-game deficit, which now jeopardizes what was looking like a march to October. The Mariners have an elite pitching staff that continues to be wasted by a struggling and inconsistent offense that ranks at or near the bottom of the league by multiple measures.
It's unclear if Wilson will be the permanent choice or just an interim move. The attention will surely be on GM Jerry DiPoto, who has held the role since September of 2025, as the Mariners get ready to welcome in the San Francisco Giants for a 3-game series in Seattle on Friday.
