The Mariners have taken the next step in their managerial search, with Joe Espada and Jason Kanzler set for in-person interviews this week, according to Daniel Kramer of MLB.com and multiple sources.
Those two names have already moved beyond the virtual stage, and while it’s still not clear whether the job will come down strictly to Espada or Kanzler, there has been talk that Seattle would like a decision wrapped up by the end of the month.
Espada and Kanzler also share a notable thread: both were on Dusty Baker’s coaching staff with the 2022 World Champion Astros. Their backgrounds on the field are similar in one respect too, since both came out of smaller colleges - Kanzler from SUNY-Buffalo and Espada from the NAIA University of Mobile. Espada, though, was a second-round draft pick and spent about twice as long in pro ball as Kanzler, even though neither made it to the big leagues as a player.
Their paths after playing split sharply.
Espada moved straight into coaching after his playing career ended, beginning with the Marlins and climbing through that organization before serving as a special assistant to the GM with the Yankees. He also managed Team Puerto Rico in the WBC. In 2017, the Astros added him to their big-league staff, and he was promoted to manager in 2023.
Kanzler took a different route into the profession. He first worked as a teacher in the Katy School District in Texas, where he won Rookie Teacher of the Year, while also running his own performance training business.
His first major-league opportunity came with the Astros in 2019, when he was hired as a minor-league hitting coordinator. He worked his way up to the big-league staff in 2022, then made a big jump in 2024 when the Cubs named him director of player development.
Age is another major contrast. Espada is 51. Kanzler is 36, which would make him the youngest manager in baseball other than the Nationals’ Blake Butera, who at 34 was the youngest manager in baseball last year by six years.
Butera’s first season in Washington exceeded expectations, and his staff and players spoke positively about his tenure. Still, the Mariners are in a different spot - one year removed from the ALCS - and need to make sure they land the right person.
The timing matters, too. Seattle has a lot of coaching vacancies to fill after parting ways with the vast majority of its big-league staff after the season. There’s also outside pressure from the market, with two teams in the division also searching for managers and other clubs making coaching changes of their own, especially at hitting coach.
Even so, the bigger priority is getting the hire right as the Mariners rebuild almost their entire big-league coaching staff and try to shape a clearer identity.
In Other News...
Kyle Seager Is Getting A Mariners Tribute Fans Can Rally Behind
Kyle Seager is back in the spotlight in a way Mariners fans can probably get behind. The longtime third baseman has been nominated into the MLB Hall of Pretty Good, a tongue-in-cheek honor reserved for retired or inactive players who never won an MVP or Cy Young and fall short of Baseball Hall of Fame standards. Seager has already come through the fan nomination process, and the final vote for the 100th inductee is set for Wednesday afternoon.
For Seattle, the appeal is less about Cooperstown and more about recognition for one of the franchises steadier stars of the last decade. Seager has long been regarded as one of the best third basemen in team history, and his rsum stacks up well enough to keep his name in that conversation even if the Hall of Fame is not part of it. It is the kind of tribute that fits his career perfectly, a nod that feels both lighthearted and deserved while fans wait to see whether the process sends him in as the latest familiar face to get a small but genuine honor. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Face An Offseason Test They Cant Afford To Fail
The Mariners head into the offseason with a familiar challenge in front of them: the AL West is there to be attacked, but only if Seattle actually takes advantage of the opening. Houston has a general manager vacancy and has already interviewed former Nationals executive Mike Rizzo, a reminder that the division rival is sorting through its own uncertainty while the Mariners still search for meaningful ways to improve. So far, Seattle has not made many productive additions, and the pressure is on to use this winter to strengthen both the roster and the decision-making around it.
That makes the next few moves matter even more, especially with key pieces like Julio Rodrguez, Josh Naylor and Cal Raleigh all carrying their own offseason context into the winter. The Mariners do not just need depth for depths sake, they need strategic upgrades that help them compete across a division race that rarely leaves much margin for error. If they want to keep pace, the front office has to turn opportunity into actual help, and soon. [Read more 🡒]
Former Mariners Infielder Just Delivered Seattles Painful October Reminder
Ben Williamson gave Tampa Bay exactly the kind of postseason moment Seattle knows all too well, coming off the bench and lining a pinch-hit single in the 12th inning of Game 4 to help the Rays beat the Brewers 4-3 and stay alive. For Mariners fans, the name alone was enough to sting a little more than usual, because Williamson once belonged to Seattle before being moved in a three-team trade that reshaped the roster.
The reminder lands in October, where every small swing feels bigger for a franchise still chasing its first World Series appearance. Seattle had hoped the deal would help tilt its own future forward, with Brendan Donovan coming back in the swap, but Williamsons clutch hit instead put a former Mariner in the middle of a survival game while the Mariners remained on the outside looking in. [Read more 🡒]