The Mariners’ manager search has already started to narrow, and not in the comforting way.
Torey Lovullo is staying in Arizona. Stephen Vogt appears to be off the board.
Alex Cora has reportedly turned down Philadelphia again. And now Don Mattingly, one of the most obvious experienced names Seattle could have pursued, may be staying put with the Phillies after all.
That would be a familiar kind of twist for Mattingly. He had already indicated he wanted to remain in Philadelphia, but the Phillies and Dave Dombrowski apparently felt confident enough in landing Cora that they told Mattingly they would find another role for him in the organization. Then Cora said, essentially, “Nah.”
So now the Phillies are back in Mattingly’s lane, and he’ll probably stay. His son is the club’s general manager, the job is comfortable, and nobody is eager to make Thanksgiving awkward.
For the Mariners, the bigger issue is what happens next. The pool keeps shrinking, but the standard should not.
Jerry Dipoto has said previous major-league managerial experience “would be preferred,” though not required. Still, experience matters more than panic.
Seattle cannot treat this like a game of musical chairs and rush to the last recognizable former manager still standing. The club needs the right voice for a talented roster that clearly needs firmer standards.
That urgency is tied to the move off Dan Wilson after one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history. However the organization wants to phrase it, that was a call for change. Settling for the most convenient veteran left on the board would undercut the idea of a real reset.
Mattingly had legitimate appeal as an interview candidate. His résumé carries real weight: he has handled stars in huge markets and spent more than 20 years on major-league coaching staffs. He also helped steady Philadelphia after taking over for Rob Thomson during a rough start.
If the Phillies keep him, Seattle loses another experienced option. That’s fine. The Mariners should not be racing toward whoever happens to be unemployed.
There are still names worth serious consideration, even if they do not come with the same built-in recognition.
Rocco Baldelli is available after seven seasons in Minnesota. He won three division titles and an AL Manager of the Year award, though his Twins tenure ended with consecutive fourth-place finishes.
Brandon Hyde presents another path. He helped guide Baltimore from a 110-loss disaster to a 101-win division champion and won AL Manager of the Year in 2023, but the Orioles eventually fired him.
And then there are the less conventional possibilities. The Seattle Times’ Adam Jude identified Mets bench coach Kai Correa and Pirates coach Kristopher Negrón as names to watch.
Neither fits the veteran-manager mold on its own, but that cannot be the only thing Seattle values. Correa has game-strategy and infield-instruction experience, while Negrón already knows parts of the Mariners organization from his time on Seattle’s coaching staff.
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The complication is that Rodrguezs recent trends have made that call harder to project than it once looked. His defense has slipped, his plate discipline has not been as sharp, and his inconsistency has created at least some pause even as the Mariners seem inclined to keep him in place. Add in the way his clubhouse standing and overall importance continue to matter, and this figures to be one of the biggest decisions Seattle faces when that contract choice arrives. [Read more 🡒]