Mariners GM explains how manager Jason Kanzler impressed them so much

The top two members of the Seattle Mariners baseball operations department stressed at a news conference on Wednesday how impressive new manager Jason Kanzler was in the hiring process. A day later, general manager Justin Hollander shared specifics about how Kanzler impressed the team when he joined Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.

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“His intelligence, his creativity, his ability to lead and communicate clearly, his ability to set a standard and hold people to it, all really stood out during the process,” said Hollander, who has worked in Seattle’s front office for 10 years, including the last four as GM. “… The references from people who have been around him were sterling, from staff members to players. It was kind of a blowout in every round of the interview session, but we wanted to make sure we were as thorough as we possibly could be.”

Hollander pointed out that just as important with the 36-year-old Kanzler is his ability to know where he could use some help.

“I think he wants to build a dynamic staff around him. He has humility,” Hollander said. “… One of the things that I talked to him about a lot during our conversation… was what would the (coaching) staff around him need to look like. And he identified areas of strength for him, and also areas of weakness personality-wise that he thought he would need people (to help). And that was really important, I think, to all of us to hear.

“You don’t want someone to get up there and say, my biggest weakness is I work too hard. You want someone who can clearly identify what they’re good at and what they need help with, because they’re big jobs.”

Hollander had a story from Kanzler’s interview process that highlighted the humility of Seattle’s first-time big league manager.

“He’s willing to admit when something is hard. We ran him through some exercises that were intentionally very tough. … I remember sitting at dinner with him at the end of his day-long interview in Seattle, and he looked up (and) said, that was hard. That actually resonated with me. Like, that’s the best thing he could have said is something that showed humility, because he is very confident and I don’t know that he’s ever really failed at anything in his post-playing career. He’s moved so quickly.”

Kanzler comes to the Mariners with a resume that includes three years as Chicago Cubs director of player development, two years on the Houston Astros major league coaching staff, a year as Houston’s minor league hitting coordinator, and two years as a hitting coach for Astros farm teams.

What Kanzler’s resume doesn’t include is experience as a manager, let alone in the big leagues, which was something Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said at the outset of the managerial search was “preferred” but not a “prerequisite.”

According to Hollander, the Mariners are confident Kanzler will be able to learn quickly and tap into others around him who have experience in MLB dugouts.

“If we were just going to have experience as the end all be all, then obviously we wouldn’t have hired Kanz,” Hollander said. “… He will make mistakes from an inexperience. We trusted everything about the rest of the traits that he had that he’ll learn from those. He’ll learn from them quickly. He’ll use the people around him on the coaching staff. He’ll look to his left and his right to try and minimize those moments.”

Hear the full Brock and Salk conversation with Seattle Mariners general manager Justin Hollander at this link or in the podcast player below. Catch Brock and Salk live from 6-10 a.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.

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