The Seattle Mariners are 47-47, and that’s why the noise around Dan Wilson has gotten so loud. But the case for firing him just doesn’t hold up when you look at what’s actually happening on the field.
Wilson’s run as manager has been too short, and too tied to changing circumstances, to turn him into the main culprit here. He inherited a rough situation in 2024 after Scott Servais and the Mariners blew a 10-game lead in the division.
Even then, Wilson went 21-13 and missed the playoffs by one game. Then came his first full season, when he guided Seattle to a 90-72 record, an American League West title, and a trip to the American League Championship Series.
That left him at 111-85 in his first stretch as a manager.
If that isn’t enough for some people to call him a good manager, fine. But 94 games this season still isn’t enough to label him a bad one, either.
The bigger issue is that managers rarely get judged in a vacuum. They get the credit when stars are rolling, and they take the heat when the lineup goes flat.
That’s how this works. Dave Roberts was once the guy Dodgers fans wanted gone before Mookie Betts arrived and the winning started piling up.
Alex Cora looked like a World Series machine with Betts in Boston, then watched the Red Sox slide when the roster changed. John Schneider’s Blue Jays went from last place in the American League East in 2024 to Game 7 of the World Series in 2025 thanks to a huge Vladimir Guerrero Jr. season and a strong Ernie Clement playoff run.
Seattle’s problem right now is that the players around Wilson have not delivered enough. Cal Raleigh has gone from 60 homers to nine.
Julio Rodriguez had just two home runs in June. Luke Raley hasn’t homered since June 11.
Colt Emerson has only one since June 14. Rob Refsnyder has been well below his baseball card numbers, and Victor Robles hasn’t been able to match what he did in 2024.
That’s the part many fans don’t want to hear: until the roster starts producing, the manager won’t be the difference-maker. Wilson can only work with what he’s getting.
There’s also the message it would send if Seattle moved on now. Wilson took the Mariners to the ALCS last season.
Firing him less than 100 games into the season that followed would tell the rest of the baseball world plenty about how this organization operates. Scott Servais got nine years despite limited overall success.
The manager who won big right away would be gone almost immediately? That’s not exactly a selling point for future candidates.
And injuries are part of the picture, too. They don’t explain everything, but they matter. A prospective manager looking at this job would notice the losses of Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodriguez, Randy Arozarena, Matt Brash (x2), JP Crawford (x2), Gabe Speier, Carlos Vargas and Brendan Donovan (x2).
This season has been frustrating, and that frustration is understandable. But Wilson has earned the rest of the year. The Mariners’ players need to do more, or this thing could unravel quickly.
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