The Seattle Mariners fired manager Scott Servais on Thursday and replaced him with Dan Wilson, the team’s starting catcher in the 1990s.
Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said in a news release that Servais and hitting coach Jarret DeHart have been let go, effective immediately. Wilson will manage the team Friday when the Mariners host the San Francisco Giants.
“We believe that we need a new voice in the clubhouse,” Dipoto said. “Dan knows our team and has been a key member of our organization working with players at every level over the past 11 years. He is well respected within and outside of our clubhouse and we are confident he will do a great job in leading our group over the final six weeks of the season and moving forward.”
Servais and Seattle fans have seen the Mariners’ lead in the American League West, which stood at 10 games on June 18, erased. The team now is five games behind the Houston Astros in the division and 7 1/2 games out of the final wild-card spot.
The Mariners were 13 games above .500 when they had their biggest division lead and now are 64-64, going 20-33 since. Off Thursday, the Mariners return to Seattle, fresh off a 1-8 road trip, on Friday to face the Giants.
Seattle’s pitching staff has done its share, leading the majors with a 3.53 ERA and .224 opponents’ batting average. But the offense has underperformed, last in the majors in average (.216) and hits (903) and leading in strikeouts (1,308).
Servais, 57, took over as the Mariners manager in 2016 and had a 680-642 record (.514 win percentage). He took the Mariners to the postseason in 2022, celebrated as the Mariners ended a 21-year playoff drought.
They were swept by the Astros in the American League Division Series.
“I do want to thank Scott for all his efforts here in Seattle over the past nine seasons,” Dipoto said in the news release. “He has poured his passion into the team and our community and I know I speak for the entire Mariners organization in thanking him for his hard work.”
Servais is the second-winningest manager in franchise history, trailing only Lou Piniella (840-711, .542).
“I have devoted my entire life to baseball, from playing little league games in Coon Valley, Wisconsin, to leading the Seattle Mariners for nearly a decade,” Servais said in a statement. “It has been one of the greatest honors of my career, and my family and I are grateful for the shared experiences along the way.
“To the tremendous people whom I have had the privilege to work alongside every day — players, coaching staff, support staff, ballpark employees, media, and all who had a hand in this journey — thank you. Together, we ended a 21-year postseason drought and just days ago, held first place in a fiercely competitive division.”
Wilson, 55, was with the Mariners from 1994-2005, counting some of the biggest names in franchise history — Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson, Edgar Martinez, Alex Rodriguez and Jay Buhner — among his teammates. He’s a member of the team’s hall of fame.
Wilson has never managed at any level or been on an MLB coaching staff, though he has worked as a special assignment coordinator for the team and been a fill-in broadcaster.
“I appreciate the faith that Jerry, Justin (Hollander, executive vice president and general manager) and the Mariners organization have placed in me, and I’m eager to get to work,” Wilson said in the release. “I believe this team is capable of playing great baseball this season and look forward to the opportunity to work with this group of players and coaches.”
DeHart has been working for the organization since 2018, when he was the Arizona League Mariners’ hitting coach. He was the hitting strategist for major league club in 2019 and the assistant hitting coach in 2020-21 before his promotion to hitting coach and director of hitting strategy in 2022.
–Field Level Media
