The Mariners appear to have their next major league hitting coach lined up, but the timing of the move makes the whole thing feel a little off-balance. Seattle is reportedly set to hire CJ Gillman, according to The Athletic, even though the club still has not announced whether Joe Espada or Jason Kanzler will be the team’s next manager.
Gillman is a familiar name inside the organization. He served as Seattle’s minor league hitting coordinator from 2022 through 2025, then spent this season as the Washington Nationals’ director of hitting. That background is exactly why the Mariners seem interested in bringing him back: he knows the system, he has overseen hitting instruction before, and he arrives after a year spent seeing another organization from the inside.
The bigger question is how this fits with the manager hire that is still hanging out there. Seattle has already moved on one of the most important coaching roles, which naturally raises a few obvious questions.
How much say did the next manager have in the decision? Were both finalists on board?
Has the organization already made its choice and simply not announced it yet?
Those are fair questions, even if the Mariners are not answering them yet. Hiring a hitting coach before naming a manager is an unusual sequence, and it leaves the public trying to piece together the rest of the staff before knowing who will run it.
Gillman’s case, though, is hard to ignore. His year in Washington came with measurable results.
The Nationals’ farm system jumped from 29th to eighth in wRC+ and from 29th to seventh in home run rate while he was director of hitting. At the big league level, Washington finished third in runs scored.
One season, one sharp climb.
Gillman is not doing that alone, of course. Players and other coaches share in those gains.
But Seattle clearly saw enough to believe he can help shape the kind of offensive identity the Mariners want. They need someone who can carry a hitting philosophy through the whole system and into the majors.
That is where the manager angle gets even more interesting. Espada comes with major league managerial experience.
Kanzler’s path runs more directly through hitting instruction and player development. On paper, a coach like Gillman feels like a cleaner fit with the latter profile.
If that is the direction Seattle is headed, this hire makes a lot more sense.
It also matters because the Mariners need a more connected offensive structure, not a revolving door of advice. A hitter should not have to keep sorting through a new set of messages every week just to survive. There should be continuity from development to the big leagues, and a staff that can make the instruction hold up when the pressure rises.
Gillman’s year with the Nationals also adds some intrigue because of the young talent that was developing in Seattle during his previous run. Cole Young, Colt Emerson, Lazaro Montes and Michael Arroyo were all in the system while he was there. Their paths are different, but Gillman should at least arrive with some familiarity with the organization’s young hitters and the teaching that came before.
That gives the move a purpose beyond simply filling a vacancy. Seattle is not just hiring a coach; it is bringing back someone who already knows the organization’s players, methods and internal language.
The hope, from the Mariners’ side, is that all of this eventually lines up. If Kanzler gets the manager job, Gillman’s return points toward a development-minded pairing. If Espada is the choice, then Seattle will still need to explain how the two plan to work together.
For now, though, the club has introduced the coaching staff in pieces instead of all at once. Gillman is in.
The manager remains to be named. And that awkward wait is still the story.
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