Report: Mariners manager candidate withdraws from consideration

The William Souther comment is the one lacking "sports IQ"--not the other two commenters who point out what anyone with sense knows. The Seattle Mariners are the only franchise never to be in a World Series. After 50 years of existence, that is embarrassing. This same franchise also could only point to 4 playoff appearances between their founding and 2022. Since then, they can point to only 2 more. That is likewise embarrassing. Suggesting that this ownership group wants to win is laughable and goes against all of that data. Even if they now "claim" to want to win, they don't know how. True, the farm system has improved. But in that same time frame, they have refused to spend any money (even on short term contracts) and have refused to do much of anything since the Root Sports fiasco. The payroll remains subpar. The goal is not to just have a good farm system--it is to have a good team, which requires young players and veterans. Dan Wilson was a terrible manager as anyone with baseball sense knows, which was shown by his bizarre in-game decisions in the 2025 playoffs and the choice to go to a tired Bazardo in game 7 of the ALCS. The front office also bears responsibility to the extent of their involvement with in-game decisions. The lack of success this year is not just about the "talent" not living up to expectations. It is instead a combination of a lack of accountability that goes directly to the manager. A good franchise would have fired Dan Wilson in July, but the Mariners were busy celebrating 50 years of nothingness. Any real fan understands this and also understands that the Mariners will never see any sustained success with this ownership group. It is time for someone else to own the team (as long as they keep the team in Seattle). I also grew up in Seattle and know all of the history. But attempting to dismiss 2026 as simply "just baseball" is a lack of understanding of what the Mariners are as a franchise. The Mariners need a serious culture shift. The fish rots from the head.

I grew up in Seattle. Left after college in 1989, but have remained a loyal fan ever since. I make it back for games every year. One of the things that I find discouraging is how unbelievably ignorant Seattle has become, overall, as a ‘sports town.’ The relative sports IQ has plummeted since I lived there. Just these two comments alone, underscore the sheer incompetence of the average fan. Mariner fans used to whine about George Argyros when I lived there, and in that case….they had a point! Our farm system sucked. And any time a player rose to prominence, he was traded. For “prospects” that almost never panned out. This ownership group has made a commitment to winning. They scouting department was expanded, and we now boast one of the best farm systems in baseball. Our top players have almost ALL been NOT traded, but signed to long-term deals. Our talented, young pitching staff has been retained. The ‘Old M’s management’ would have panicked at the trade deadline, and dealt one of our young arms (Kirby, Gilbert, Miller, Hancock) for what they deemed “instant offense.” Sorry, but one hitter wasn’t going to solve all the M’s problems this year. Bottom line is that we over-achieved in 2025, and that led to somewhat unrealistic expectations for 2026. I admit it, I got sucked in myself. If you ever played baseball at a higher level than little league, you’d understand just how whacky baseball can be, no matter HOW MUCH talent you have in the clubhouse. A season can go off the rails easily. I hated the team firing Dan. I thought he was an excellent coach. And had a great relationship with the players. And frankly, if you’re going to fire a fairly popular coach, it’s a good idea to already have a replacement in mind. It’s clear the owners didn’t. So for that, I’ll criticize. But to say this group isn’t committed to bringing a WS to Seattle? I’m sorry, but that is just asinine, as is the logic that doing so will make the team too expensive to retain. Who THINKS like that? Also….cry me a river about all the money you “pour into” attending games! Are you kidding me!?? I must spend….gosh….$10-$15k a year on football games/trips. Baseball? Ha! It’s still the best value in sports! Hands down!

I agree with David Boze I think managers around the league know's that Stanton doesn't want to win. Jerry does but bottom Johnny, nope and he has a track record of holding back when opportunity knocks. It's no secret that upper management likes a competitive team but not a champion because that can get too expensive for a cheapskate like Stanton. It's a tactic that many owners use when they like the status quo , stay in the middle get the fans hope up then fizzle.