The Seattle Mariners have a manager opening, and the job should draw interest. The roster still carries plenty of talent, it’s relatively young, and the division doesn’t look daunting. But ESPN’s Buster Olney pointed to one factor that could make some candidates pause: the geography.
Olney brought up the issue on last Thursday’s “Refuse to Lose Territory” podcast, saying the travel burden is very real for Seattle.
Like the perception of the Mariners is, the travel thing is real. Like there is more wear and tear on this group of players, on this team, than any other organization because they travel more miles than any other team.
And so that is real. And I do think that, and I know this, through the years, having conversations with people who have considered going after jobs with the Mariners, and they talk about it and they say, 'yeah, you know, I love this, I love this. I love this, great city and it's too far away and it's not something I want to take on.'
But I do think it's a coveted job because of the context."
That travel grind only became more pronounced after the schedule shifted to a balanced format following the 2022 season. Seattle’s trips this past year included Detroit, Kansas City, Chicago (White Sox), Cleveland, Minnesota, New York (Yankees), Boston, Toronto, Tampa Bay, Washington and Miami.
Next season, the Mariners will still have to make all of those trips except Washington and Miami, while also adding New York (Mets), Philadelphia, and Philadelphia.
Olney also discussed another possible obstacle: pay. The Mariners are among the lowest-paying managerial jobs in baseball, which could factor into how the search unfolds.
Seattle is looking for a new skipper after parting ways with Dan Wilson at the end of the 2026 season, and the club has said the search will be wide-ranging with no publicly known candidates at this point.
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