The Mariners will not bring back manager Dan Wilson in 2027, and they announced today that they are also cleaning up the coaching staff. Bench coach Manny Acta, infield coach Perry Hill, hitting coach Kevin Seitzer and first base coach Eric Young Jr. will all be replaced during the offseason, according to the Mariners.
“I will always have the greatest respect and appreciation for these men, each of whom made significant contributions to our team,” President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto said in today’s press release. “After careful consideration, we have determined that significant changes are necessary for 2027 and beyond. »
It’s not too shocking that the club is making things happen. It’s always difficult to attribute a club’s performance to specific coaches, but the Mariners have undoubtedly disappointed this year. After coming within a whisker of a World Series appearance in 2025, they became one of the favorites in the American League in 2026. However, they finished with a miserable 76-86 record.
This would have been frustrating under any circumstances, but it was all the more heartbreaking because the rest of the division was so weak. The Astros won the West with an 81-81 record. There was an easy path for the Mariners even though they didn’t live up to expectations, but they couldn’t even reach that lowered bar. Following this, changes were inevitable.
Acta has been a coach or manager for most of this century. He was third base coach for the Expos from 2002 to 2004, then for the Mets from 2005 and 2006. He was captain in Washington from 2007 to 2009 and in Cleveland from 2010 to 2012. The Mariners hired him as third base coach for the 2016 season, under then-manager Scott Servais. In August 2024, Servais was fired and replaced by Wilson. At the start of the 2025 season, Acta was named bench coach and served in that role for two seasons.
Seitzer has nearly two decades of experience as a hitting coach, having worked for Arizona, Kansas City, Toronto and Atlanta. He was hired by Seattle through 2025. The team had a collective line of .244/.320/.420 and 113 wRC+ last year, behind only the Yankees, but this year’s club fell to a line of .233/.314/.379 and 102 wRC+ that was barely in the top half of the league.
Young served as the Nationals’ first base coach in 2022 and 2023. The Mariners hired him for the same position through 2025. Hill’s major league coaching career dates back to 1992. He spent time on the staffs of the Rangers, Tigers, Expos, Marlins, Pirates, Marlins again and the Mariners. Seattle hired him as first base and infield coach in 2019. In 2022, he remained as infield coach but gave up the first base job to Kristopher Negron. Negron moved to third base in 2025, opening first base for Young, before joining the Pirates this year.
Photo courtesy of Matt Kartozian, Imagn Images
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