Mariners hiring Washington native Tanner Swanson as bench coach

With the managerial hiring behind the Seattle Mariners, the immediate next item of business according to general manager Justin Hollander was completing Jason Kanzler’s staff.

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They took a big step forward in the task Friday afternoon, as a baseball source confirms the team is in the process of hiring Tanner Swanson, who has been a member of Yankees manager Aaron Boone’s staff since 2020, as their next bench coach.

The move is a homecoming for Swanson, who is from Roslyn, went to high school in Cle Elum, and played collegiately at Green River and Everett Community College before graduating from Central Washington University. He has also coached for the UW Huskies and makes his offseason home in the Seattle area.

Swanson, 44, was originally hired to be the Yankees major league catching coordinator and since had field coordinator added to his title. He is highly regarded throughout the game for his work with catchers and has had success in improving the Yankees’ catching staff, most notably Austin Wells. Swanson is credited with introducing the one knee down catching stance that has become the most popular method in the pro game in recent years.

While he does not bring managerial or bench coach experience to the Mariners staff, the position of field coordinator – which works closely with the manager and is involved in all aspects of the game – lends itself to the position. As his role with the Yankees grew, Swanson was known to be involved in game strategy on the pitching side. He has been seen as up and coming in the game beyond his catching work, with his name surfacing recently as a bench coach candidate with multiple clubs.

Swanson is the son of legendary left-handed catcher Jim Swanson of the famed Portland Mavericks minor league team from the 1970s.

With the hiring of Swanson, there are at least three coaching positions to be filled with the Mariners needing to add a first base coach and expected to add two hitting assistant.

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