Many fans expected the Mariners to seek out experience in its next manager after parting ways with Dan Wilson following a disappointing 2026 season. Wilson, a franchise legend, had no previous MLB managerial experience prior to taking the job for the Mariners, and despite pioneering a deep postseason run in ‘25, he fell out of favor last season amid some prolonged struggles from the club.
Seattle interviewed numerous candidates to take the reins, including the likes of Rocco Baldelli, Stephen Vogt, and Joe Espada, but ultimately stunned the league by appointing Jason Kanzler to the vacancy. Kanzler has no previous managerial experience at any professional level. He’s 36 years old and just over a decade ago was teaching high school physics.
Who is Jason Kanzler?
The Mariners’ new manager joins the club after spending the last three years as the Cubs’ director of player development. Prior to that, Kanzler entered the professional coaching ranks with the Astros, landing a role as a low-level minor-league hitting coach in 2019 before becoming the organization’s minor-league hitting coordinator. He joined the MLB staff under Dusty Baker in ‘22, and landed with Chicago in ‘24.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time Kanzler has been approached by the Mariners for a role with the MLB club. In ‘21, Seattle interviewed him for a hitting coach role, but he ultimately opted to remain with the Astros. Despite his lack of managerial experience, Kanzler is plenty familiar with baseball, having been a two-time Rawlings Gold Glove winning outfielder in college as a walk-on at the University of Buffalo. He was selected by the Twins in the 20th round of the 2013 MLB draft but never reached the majors.
Between his minor-league playing career and his coaching career, Kanzler spent time in Katy, Texas, where he taught high school physics and chemistry and coached the school’s baseball team. Now, he finds himself in one of the most intriguing roles in MLB, looking to turn around the fortunes of a Mariners team that’s never won a World Series and took a big step backward after a 2025 ALCS run.
It’s certainly an intriguing hire, but Seattle’s front office seems to think Kanzler is the right man for the job. He’s received glowing reviews from higher-ups in the organization.
Kanzler has never managed beyond the high school level before. | Ben VanHouten/Getty Images
What has been said about Jason Kanzler?
Mariners general manager Justin Hollander spoke highly of Kanzler when introducing him as the club’s 19th manager.
“Finding someone with Jason’s skill set, who can develop while we’re in the big leagues, who can connect an organization from top to bottom was a huge part of this,” said Hollander on Wednesday. “And he was by far the most impressive candidate when we talked to people about where development starts and stops.
“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,” Hollander said on Seattle Sports Radio’s Brock and Sock. “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.
“If we were just going to have experience as the end all be all, then obviously we wouldn’t have hired [Kanzler],” Hollander said. “He will make mistakes from 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.”
Here’s what president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto had to say about the Mariners’ new skipper:
“Experience is good; in this case, we didn’t think it was good enough to dissuade us from all of the traits that Jason brings to the table,” Dipoto said Wednesday about Kanzler’s lack of managerial experience. “He checked almost every box that you could check in terms of career experiences. The uniqueness of his developmental path, I think, is going to go a long way with modern players.
“There’s an urgency of what he brings to the table in terms of preparing, in terms of practicing, and it’s all modern. It’s deliberate in a way… that appeals to a modern player and a modern team, and I think that’s what we were trying to achieve,” Dipoto said on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM Radio on Sunday.
Clearly, Kanzler wowed both Dipoto and Hollander throughout the interview process. And his modern, analytics-based approach to the game seems to have resonated with Seattle’s front office.
What has Jason Kanzler said about taking over as the Mariners manager?
In terms of his approach to baseball, Kanzler, who comes from an analytical background, could not be much more different than his predecessor in Wilson. Wilson was far more old school, and that approach didn’t align too well with Seattle’s front office. Kanzler is the polar opposite.
“I think we would be fools not to use good information for our advantage, and we will use good information to our advantage,” Kanzler said during his introductory presser. “In terms of gut feel, I think there will be situations where there is not a clear right or wrong objectively, and that is where understanding the players, understanding the nuance, understanding the context comes into play, and it does matter. My gut feel will not be the only gut feel that is considered in those situations.”
Kanzler was complimentary of the environment in Seattle when referencing his previous visits, and jokingly refused to refer to the Astros by their name during his introductory press conference.
“I fondly remember coming [to Seattle] when I was with the team who shall not be named. What distinctly stands out to me is, this atmosphere is electric… One of the things that excites me, among many things, is I’d like to ride the lightning with this team and this city. Now, in terms of the players, I think it’s extremely exciting. This is a young group. They are talented. This is a good team already, and they have the potential and talent to be an excellent team.”
How Kanzler’s first season in Seattle can be successful?
For Kanzler’s first year in Seattle to be considered a success, improving the team’s defense and hitting would be a good start. Seattle had one of MLB’s worst offenses last season, ranking 27th in OPS (.693), 28th in slugging (.379) and 28th in runs scored (664). Kanzler is known as something of a hitting guru, and that’s been his calling card throughout his trajectory through the coaching ranks. With Kanzler at the helm, the organization will be hoping to see improvements from this Mariners lineup across the board next season.
Making the postseason will also be an important achievement. An underperforming Seattle team was in the playoff hunt until the end of the season, and the Astros managed to win the division and represent the AL West in the playoffs despite winning just half of their games. The door is wide open for Kanzler’s Mariners to win the division, and if he can get that job done, he’d be off to a great start to his tenure with his new club.
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