Jerry Dipoto, president of baseball operations for the Seattle Mariners, believes the team’s open manager position will be highly coveted by candidates. And in explaining why, he revealed some feedback the team received from players regarding a disappointing season that ended with Dan Wilson and the M’s announcing he would not return as skipper next season.
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“The performance on the field this year has made us question a lot of the things we do at the major league level,” Dipoto said. “And I will say that several of our major league players who have come through our system have referenced what they learned in player development that was abandoned in the major leagues this year. … We have a host of players who have come through our system and they have seen a difference. We have to get back to what we believe to be a Mariners baseball process.”
A year after winning the AL West and reaching the American League Championship Series, the Mariners failed to live up to their high expectations in 2026, finishing third in the division and missing the playoffs with a 76-86 record. It was Seattle’s first losing record in a full season since 2019.
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The Mariners have underperformed across the board in 2026, but retain a core that includes All-Stars Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez, Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo, George Kirby, Josh Naylor and Andrés Muñoz. Of those seven players, only Raleigh will be 30 years old at the start of next season.
“I’ll say this selfishly, we’re coming off a 76-win season, which is usually associated with a team that’s not particularly exciting to be with. There’s not a single candidate in baseball that wouldn’t be excited to take on this job,” Dipoto said. “This ballpark, this city. The talent on this roster – none of these guys I mentioned will be over 30 to start next year. Robust farm system and deep staff.
“All the pieces are there. But you can’t be the worst defensive team in baseball. You can’t make the mistakes that we’ve made consistently throughout the year. You have to be better prepared and in tune with a process that leads to winning, and we’ll find someone through that process who will come in and be in agreement with what we see as the direction the team needs to go, and then guide us in a way that we can get better.”
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