5:48PM: Wilson officially announced his departure in his post-game press conference (Divish posted video of part of the ex-manager’s statement). Wilson didn’t specify the nature of his removal as manager, and said that the Mariners had discussed another job with the organization. In a statement from the Mariners, team chairman John Stanton confirmed that the M’s will “we work to identify a role in which we can continue to benefit from his experience and commitment to the Mariners and our community.”
Dipoto was also quoted in the team’s press release, saying “collectively we failed to meet our own expectations this season. Dan and I both care deeply about this organization, these players, and the future of the Mariners. After much discussion it was concluded that a new direction is best for 2027 and beyond. I want to thank Dan for his efforts over the past two years and specifically recognize his role in our club advancing to Game 7 of the ALCS in 2025.”
4:13PM: Mariners manager Dan Wilson told the team before today’s season finale that he wouldn’t be returning to the job for next season, the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish reports. The news comes as little surprise given the Mariners’ disappointing year, and reports began to surface last week that Wilson wouldn’t be retained.
Wilson has been Seattle’s manager since August 2024, when he was elevated to the full-time job (without an interim tag) after Scott Servais was fired. It was the first time Wilson had ever managed or even coached on a big league staff, but the longtime former catcher was a familiar name in Mariners history, and he had spent the previous 11 seasons in a variety of roles as a roving catching coordinator and special assistant within the player development department.
The 64-64 Mariners went 21-13 over the rest of the 2024 campaign after Wilson’s hiring, and the skipper then led the club to 90 wins and the AL West crown in 2025. The M’s also made the deepest playoff run in franchise history, falling to the Blue Jays in seven games in the ALCS and coming painfully short of their first AL pennant. Still, expectations were high for the Mariners heading into 2026, making their lack of success even harder to swallow for the organization and its fanbase.
Just about every player on Seattle’s roster took a step backwards from 2025, with Cal Raleigh and Josh Naylor having the most pronounced dropoffs within an overall lackluster lineup. The rotation that so often buoyed the Mariners’ offensive shortcomings in the past uncharacteristically struggled, with the bullpen also failing to pick up the slack. The result was a 75-86 record entering today’s action, and even a modest 82-win campaign would’ve been enough for another playoff trip given that the AL West champion is guaranteed to finish with a .500 record at best.
As always, a manager isn’t solely to blame for his team’s play. Fingers can certainly be pointed at how president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto constructed the roster, or didn’t do enough to add the final touches to what Dipoto certainly thought was already a team capable of contending for a title. Trade acquisition Brendan Donovan was the biggest new addition, yet Donovan spent most of the year on the injured list.
MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer writes that “multiple club personnel — including players, coaches and front-office officials — indicated to MLB.com on background at different stages of the season the Mariners notably lacked accountability, and that much of these issues stemmed from the top down. That was especially true as the year reached its most perilous points, those sources said.” While Wilson is again not the only one at fault for this situation, the manager obviously plays a key role in setting the tone within a clubhouse or within the staff as a whole.
Wilson’s contract status was never specified after his hiring, so it isn’t known if he is being fired or if his current deal was perhaps simply up after the 2026 season. It is perhaps telling that the Mariners never announced any kind of extension for Wilson in the aftermath of the club’s 2025 success, though Seattle is a team that rarely publicly announces the terms of employee contracts. For instance, an announcement was made about a multi-year extension for Dipoto in September 2021, but it isn’t known if Dipoto is still on that contract, or if he has since signed another new deal.
It appears as though Dipoto and GM Justin Hollander will both return, and Kramer reports that pitching coach Pete Woodworth and director of pitching strategy Trent Blank will also each be retained. Some changes to the rest of the coaching staff are inevitable, as a new skipper will surely want some input in assembling the staff.
Despite the Mariners’ struggles, the job still has plenty of appeal for any incoming manager, given all the talent on the roster. The M’s could opt for a more experienced manager this time around, as Servais and Wilson (the two managerial hires of Dipoto’s tenure) were both first-time skippers in the majors. Hiring the new bench boss is the first order of business for Seattle’s offseason, which creates an added complication for Dipoto and little time for the new skipper to gel with his team, given how the expected lockout will freeze all baseball business on December 1.