Seattle is about to fire the wrong person.
The Mariners are expected to part ways with manager Dan Wilson at the end of the season, according to Adam Jude of the Seattle Times. No official decision has been announced, but Wilson is reportedly considered unlikely to return.
The Case Against Him Is Real
Seattle reached the ALCS in 2025 and came close to a World Series appearance. Expectations for this season were high. The Mariners entered Saturday at 72-82.
That is a collapse, and managers get fired for collapses. Wilson is 183-167 overall since taking the job in August 2024 after the midseason firing of Scott Servais, which is a winning record, but nobody keeps a job on career winning percentage when the current year went like this one did.
The Case For Him Is Better
Look at what else is happening in Seattle. Randy Arozarena, an All-Star outfielder having one of the best seasons of his career, is expected to leave in free agency. The organization was reported earlier this month to be moving on from Arozarena and other notable figures after the season.
So the roster is about to get worse, and the plan for making it better involves subtraction. That is not a managerial problem.
Wilson took over a team midseason, got it to within a series of the World Series, and then watched the front office construct a 2026 roster that finished ten games under .500. Blaming the guy filling out the lineup card for that is the easiest available move and the least useful one.
The Mariners Pattern Is the Actual Story
Seattle fired Servais midseason in 2024. Seattle is now firing Servais’ replacement two years later. In between, the organization reached the ALCS with essentially the same core.
Franchises that cycle through managers every two seasons while keeping the same front office are telling you where they think accountability lives. The Mariners have a good young core and an ownership group that has spent years being criticized for not spending to support it.
The Job Will Still Be Attractive
Whoever takes over inherits real talent. Seattle’s young players are legitimately good, the ballpark is a pitcher’s dream, and the division is winnable. Candidates will line up.
They should ask one question before signing: what is the payroll going to be? Because the last manager reached the ALCS, missed the playoffs the next year with a worse roster, and got fired for it.
Wilson caught for this franchise from 1994 to 2005 and is in the team’s Hall of Fame. He deserved a better ending than becoming the first managerial casualty of the 2026 offseason.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.