The Mariners have landed on Jason Kanzler as their next skipper, reports Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. Kanzler will replace Dan Wilson.
This will be the first managerial position for Kanzler. He was a minor league hitting coach in the Astros system from 2019 through 2021. He was on the major league staff in 2022 and 2023. Kanzler has been the Cubs’ director of player development since 2024.
As Kramer notes, the 36-year-old Kanzler will be the second-youngest manager in the league. Blake Butera of the Nationals is the youngest at 34 years old.
President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto is now 3-for-3 on hiring first-time managers in his 11-year tenure in Seattle. Kanzler is certainly a bit different than the two previous hires, though. Scott Servais had an 11-year playing career and spent several years in the front office before taking over the Mariners. Wilson was a franchise icon as a player and had been around the team for years as a broadcaster and studio analyst.
More to come…