Commentary: Why the Mariners are unlikely to fire Dan Wilson
NEW YORK – Following a long postgame flight that got them into Manhattan in the early morning hours, the Mariners started this seminal road trip with a day off Monday.
Perhaps the respite from on-field failure will offer a mild reset following a home stand that started with a series win over the Twins, devolved into a lost series to what’s left of the Tigers and hit a nadir while being swept by the Rays during their 50 Seasons celebration.
Meanwhile, manager Dan Wilson spent his day off in Minneapolis, saying goodbye to his former college coach John Anderson, who was a mentor, a friend and the man he credits for turning him into a MLB player.
Anderson, the legendary University of Minnesota baseball coach who led the program for 43 years, passed away unexpectedly on July 26. It was crushing news for Wilson, who was once rumored as a candidate to be his coach’s successor. The school held a celebration of life for Anderson with hundreds of people coming to pay their respects.
Anderson was often quoted as saying that Wilson, who was a first-team All-American in 1990 for the Gophers, was “the best person he’s ever coached.” The two had a special bond with Anderson even serving as a member of Wilson’s wedding party. Wilson’s son, Eli, played for Anderson and the Gophers as well.
Anderson helped instill the concept of servant leadership in Wilson, who has in turn introduced it to the Mariners.
When Wilson joins the Mariners in New York on Tuesday morning, he’ll try to find a way to stop a downward slide that started in early June and continues to pick up the wrong kind of momentum.
“We’ve got to find a way to get some wins,” Wilson said after Sunday’s 5-1 loss.
Nothing we’ve seen from the Mariners this season says they are capable of finding a way to anything other than more frustration.
In a season where so much was expected, they have underachieved. In a year where playing at an average level would win them the AL West, they’ve managed to play below that in a frustrating and often unsightly way.
The ire of the fan base, and the blame for the struggles, has centered on Wilson. A once-popular figure from the most successful era of the franchise, there were more than a few boos when he was announced for the Mariners’ Top 50 players celebration.
Fans have demanded his firing.
It’s an expected aspect of the job. It comes with the territory of the title and its responsibilities. A year ago, Wilson was in the process of leading the Mariners to one of the most successful seasons in franchise history, winning the AL West title and making a deep run in the playoffs.
And now the fans that cheered him want him gone.
Yes, it can change that quickly.
How that postseason run came to an end didn’t help, with Wilson opting to use Eduard Bazardo to face George Springer instead of Andrés Muñoz in a leverage situation in Game 7 of the ALCS in Toronto. Springer hit a homer off Bazardo that proved to be the decisive hit. That decision has not and won’t be forgotten by fans.
Wilson knows how it works. After all, he replaced a manager that was fired midseason.
On Aug. 22, 2024, Scott Servais, the second-winningest manager in team history, was let go following an awful 1-8 road trip that dropped the team’s record to 64-64. He was less than two seasons removed from leading the 2022 Mariners to the postseason for the first time since 2001.
The 2024 team was in the midst of an epic free fall. On June 18, they were 44-31 with a 10-game lead in the American League West over the Astros.
After reaching that high-water mark above .500, the Mariners posted a 20-33 record to the day of Servais’ firing, losing their 10-game division lead in a span of 24 games. Only the White Sox, who lost 121 games, posted a worse record over that span.
“The last two months have been very difficult for a lot of people,” Jerry Dipoto, president of baseball operations, said after the firing. “The way our team has played recently, it’s gone beyond just struggling to play offense. We need to get back to believing in who we are as players and who we are as an organization. I’ve said this publicly, each of us has played our part in the struggles that we’ve had as a team this year. But our team is telling us we need to do something differently. And this is that.”
There was a thought that Servais, who was in the final year of his contract, was a little too controlling and too hands-on in his approach, which the players were starting to outgrow. Wilson pushed for the players to take ownership and ceded some of the leadership aspects to the likes of Cal Raleigh, J.P. Crawford, Julio Rodríguez and Luis Castillo.
When the Mariners named Wilson as Servais’ replacement, it wasn’t just for the rest of the season. There was no interim tag. Wilson was the new manager moving forward, which was a curious, if not unusual decision.
“I also believe that walking in the door as an interim anything doesn’t really allow you to lay the appropriate groundwork or get the trust in the building that’s required to be a good leader in the major league space,” Dipoto said then. “We can’t know a person better than we know Dan Wilson, and I believe in both his baseball and who he is as a person, and I think that will resonate very well with our players.”
The current M’s limp into the road trip with a 56-63 record – the most games they’ve been under .500 this season – and somehow sit only four games behind the Astros in the AL West.
On June 9, the Mariners defeated the Orioles, 6-5, in 10 innings to improve to 36-32 and push their lead in the AL West to three games over the Rangers.
Since then, they’ve gone 20-31. Only two other teams have a worse record over that span – the A’s (15-36) and Angels (19-31), both in the AL West.
There are similarities to the buildup in Servais’ firing and the current situation with the Mariners.
But the circumstances surrounding the former manager and the current manager are also different. While Servais led the Mariners over eight seasons, helping build a culture during the team’s rebuild, he didn’t have the same attachment to the organization as his replacement.
Wilson was a stalwart catcher for 12 years with the Mariners and a member of the team’s Hall of Fame. After his playing career, he has worked in various capacities for the organization. His affable personality made him a perfect ambassador for the organization.
Firing Wilson, particularly midseason, might be popular with fans, but it would be something more than an uncomfortable situation for everyone else involved.
He’s beloved within the organization, including the ownership group and the players. He has a close bond with players, specifically Raleigh, building relationships with them as they climbed the minor-league ranks. Right or wrong, he’s given them his trust to hold themselves to the standards set.
Would the M’s owners want to embarrass one of their own due to the failures of this season? It doesn’t seem likely. It would likely fracture the relationship with Wilson beyond repair. While he’s not one to hold grudges, some things can’t be forgotten. The majority of players would not be pleased with the move even though the onus falls upon them and their lack of production.
When Servais was fired, there was an inevitability in the weeks prior that the players felt, understood and ultimately accepted. That feeling hasn’t leaked into the current clubhouse. There is still a hope, misguided perhaps, that they can “find a way” to still get it done in the final two months of the season.