The Seattle Mariners took a swing on Jason Kanzler, and the reaction has been split from the jump.
Kanzler has never managed at any level, and that alone has put his hire under a microscope. The Mariners are betting on a first-time manager, and some analysts aren’t ready to call that a safe move.
At his introductory press conference this week, Kanzler made clear what kind of team he wants to build.
“The brand of baseball that I’d like to see and be manifest in this identity is something akin to step on their throats. We want to win. We want to beat the other team,” Kanzler said.
Trevor Plouffe, speaking on “The Chris Rose Rotation,” liked Kanzler’s baseball background but still had reservations about handing the job to someone so young and inexperienced.
“I think this guy’s fantastic. A good baseball mind should be in the organization.
I’d want him on my staff. Here’s my take.
I don’t want young guys as a manager. I don’t.
There’s a tendency for a young guy, and I deal with this myself. Maybe I’m projecting, but I do think it’s the truth.
There’s a tendency to want to be friends with the guys,” Plouffe said.
He then drew a sharp contrast between that approach and what he believes Seattle needs.
“The Mariners, to me, don’t need a buddy-buddy. They need a, hey, man, let’s get this s**t right.
It’s hard for a first-year guy to come in there and do that. I am in my veteran manager era.
Give me a guy who’s going to just hold people accountable. We just saw it with Pat Murphy, dude.”
That was a reference to the Milwaukee Brewers manager, who just won the World Series.
Chris Rose wasn’t ready to dismiss the hire outright, but he said he’d be more surprised if it succeeds than if it falls short.
“I’m not going to say that it can’t work because anything can work, but I’ll be more surprised if it works than if it doesn’t,” Rose said.
Kanzler arrives with a strong development background. He was most recently the Chicago Cubs’ director of player development, and before that he spent five seasons with the Houston Astros, including time as a hitting coach on the 2022 World Series champions. His playing career reached High-A in the Minnesota Twins organization.
Seattle turned to Kanzler after a 76-86 season and moved on from Dan Wilson. Former Astros manager Joe Espada was also a finalist for the job.
For now, Kanzler enters 2027 with a lot of questions attached to his name and plenty of skeptics waiting to see how this choice plays out.
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