5:48 p.m.: Wilson officially announced his departure during his post-match press conference (Divish posted a video of part of the ex-manager’s statement). Wilson did not specify the nature of his removal as manager and said the Mariners had discussed another job with the organization. In a statement from the Mariners, team president John Stanton confirmed that the M”we are working to identify a role in which we can continue to benefit from his experience and commitment to Sailors and our community.”
Dipoto was also quoted in the team’s press release, saying: “collectively, we have failed to live up to 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 would be 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’s progression to Game 7 of the ALCS in 2025..”
4:13 p.m.: Mariners manager Dan Wilson told the team before today’s season finale that he won’t return to the job next season, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports. The news is not surprising given the Mariners’ disappointing year, and reports began surfacing last week that Wilson would not be retained.
Wilson has been Seattle’s manager since August 2024, when he was elevated to the position full-time (without an interim tag) following the firing of Scott Servais. It was Wilson’s first time managing or even coaching a big league team, but the former longtime catcher was a familiar name in Mariners history, and he had spent the previous 11 seasons in various roles as a roving catching coordinator and special assistant in the player development department.
The 64-64 Mariners went 21-13 over the remainder of the 2024 campaign after Wilson’s hiring, and the skipper went on to lead 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 painfully missing their first pennant AL. Still, expectations were high for the Mariners heading into 2026, making their lack of success even harder to swallow for the organization and its fans.
Nearly every player on Seattle’s roster has taken a step back from 2025, with Cal Raleigh And Josh Naylor having the most pronounced drops within a lackluster overall lineup. The rotation that has so often propped up the Mariners’ offensive shortcomings in the past has struggled uncharacteristically, 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 have been enough for another trip to the postseason given that the AL West champion is guaranteed to finish with a .500 record at best.
As always, a manager is not the only one responsible for his team’s play. One can certainly point fingers at how President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto constructed the roster, or didn’t do enough to add the finishing touches to what Dipoto certainly thought was already a team capable of contending for a title. Commercial acquisition Brendan Donovan was the biggest news, but Donovan spent most of the year on the injured list.
MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer writes that “several members of the club’s staff — including players, coaches and front office officials — told MLB.com at various stages of the season that the Mariners were notably lacking in accountability, and that much of those problems came from the top down. That was especially true as the year reached its most perilous times, these sources said.” In this situation, the manager obviously plays a key role in setting the tone within a clubhouse or within the staff as a whole.
The status of Wilson’s contract was never clarified after his hiring, so it is unclear whether he is fired or whether his current contract was perhaps simply up after the 2026 season. Perhaps tellingly, the Mariners never announced any extension for Wilson following the club’s success in 2025, although Seattle is a team that rarely publicly announces the terms of employee contracts. For example, an announcement was made regarding a multi-year extension for Dipoto in September 2021, but it is unclear if Dipoto is still under that contract or if he has since signed another new deal.
It appears Dipoto and general manager 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 in the rest of the coaching staff are inevitable, as a new skipper will surely want to be involved in building the team.
Despite the Mariners’ struggles, the position remains very attractive to any new manager, given all the talent on the roster. The M’s might opt for a more experienced manager this time around, since Servais and Wilson (both rookies from Dipoto’s tenure) were both first-time skippers in the majors. Hiring the new bench boss is Seattle’s first order of business in the offseason, which creates an added complication for Dipoto and little time for the new skipper to get acquainted with his team, given that the expected lockout will freeze all baseball business on Dec. 1.
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