A new name has surfaced in the Mariners’ managerial search, and it’s one that points in a very different direction than the familiar big-league candidates already in the mix.
The Athletic reported that Seattle is also interviewing Jason Kanzler, a 36-year-old who is currently the Cubs’ director of player development. That puts him alongside Joe Espada and Rocco Baldelli as another option for the job, but Kanzler brings a far different résumé than either of those established managers.
Kanzler’s path to this point has been a winding one. He was drafted by the Twins in 2013 out of SUNY Buffalo and spent three seasons as an outfielder in Minnesota’s system, reaching High-A. After being released in 2015, he spent a few years teaching public school, ran his own performance training business, and coached Cape Cod League baseball in the summers before moving into coaching full time.
His ascent continued in the Astros system, where he rose from a minor-league hitting coordinator in 2019 to the big-league staff of the 2022 World Series champions. The Cubs then brought him in as director of player development before the 2024 season.
That background matters because Kanzler looks more like the kind of development-minded baseball operator Mariners fans already know in Justin Toole and Andy McKay than someone like Espada or Baldelli, who have extensive major-league managing experience. McKay held Seattle’s player development job for seven years before being promoted to assistant GM in 2022, and later moved to the Guardians before the 2026 season to take an on-field role.
Kanzler’s public footprint also fits that profile. His Twitter account, @KanzlerThinks, hasn’t been updated since 2020, but the posts left behind reflect the kind of coach who spends a lot of time thinking about process and teaching. His LinkedIn page lists “proficiency” in Spanish and a “broad coding background,” and his Twitter bio describes him as a “hobbyist programmer,” suggesting someone comfortable with technology as part of the job.
The Cubs hired Kanzler when their farm system was loaded, with seven MLB Pipeline top-100 prospects. Shortly after taking the role, he told MLB.com that the strength of the system was actually a challenge, because a competitive big-league team can drain the farm through trades. He stressed the need to keep the pipeline deep and durable for that reason.
That idea lines up with the situation in Seattle. The Mariners began the season with seven top-100 prospects, but four of them - Colt Emerson, Kade Anderson, Lazaro Montes, and Michael Arroyo - have already been promoted to the majors. That has kicked off a new contention cycle while also reshaping the next wave of talent coming behind them.
Kanzler’s experience at the Cubs means he has worked on both sides of that equation: building the farm and watching young players arrive in the big-league clubhouse. If Seattle is looking for someone who understands where the organization is headed into 2027, that background makes him a notable candidate.
The larger question is whether he has enough big-league experience to turn that perspective into managerial success. Kanzler was 34 when he joined the Cubs, two years younger than Toole was when he took the same job in Seattle. At 36, he is nearly 10 years younger than Baldelli, 15 years younger than Espada, and more than 20 years younger than Dan Wilson, the Mariners’ last skipper.
Age alone won’t decide that fit. What matters is whether the next manager can help build the kind of clubhouse culture the Mariners need.
Earlier, Chandler Rome described Espada’s Astros clubhouse on 710 Seattle Sports’s Bump and Stacy show as “self-policing.” Seattle’s next manager, by contrast, will have much more work to do in shaping leadership and accountability.
That’s where Kanzler’s energy could come into play. Even if some of it reads as a little over the top, it might still be the kind of spark Seattle needs in a clubhouse that often felt stagnant and directionless. And if he does land the job, he wouldn’t be walking into a room short on personality - Cal Raleigh, after all, is no stranger to a parody song himself.
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