The stunning decline of the Seattle Mariners prompted a leadership change, with the club replacing manager Scott Servais with Dan Wilson.
The team announced Thursday afternoon that hitting coach Jared DeHart has been waived.
“We believe we need a new voice in the clubhouse,” Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said in a statement. “Dan knows our team and has been a key member of our organization working with players at every level for the last 11 years. He is well-respected inside and outside our clubhouse and we believe he will do a great job leading our team moving forward in the final six weeks of the season.”
“I want to thank Scott for all his efforts in Seattle over the past nine seasons,” Dipoto said. “He has poured his passion into the team and our community, and I know I speak for the entire Navy system in thanking him for his hard work.”
The Mariners have turned a 10-game lead in the American League West into a five-game deficit in the standings, hurting the march to the postseason for a franchise seeking its first medal. Servais presided over a frustrating situation — the Mariners’ elite pitching staff’s performance continued to be squandered by a sagging offense that was near the bottom of the league by many measures.
President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto announced today that Dan Wilson has been named the team’s new field manager.
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— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) August 22, 2024
Servais, 59, was in his ninth season as Mariners captain. Since his hiring in 2016, he has compiled a 680-642 record (.514 hitting percentage), though the club’s lone appearance during his tenure came in 2022. The Mariners won the playoff series, dispatching the Blue Jays in the wild-card series. before getting swept by the Astros in the ALDS.
Although it was a bittersweet ending, the playoff appearance ended a 21-year postseason drought, the longest in North American professional sports at the time. But the Mariners missed the playoffs in 2023, and despite a promising start to the season, are now in danger of doing so again in 2024.
Wilson, Servais’ replacement, represents a connection to the franchise’s glory days. Wilson played for the Mariners from 1994 to 2005, spending that time as Randy Johnson’s batterymate. Wilson, 55, has never been on a major league coaching staff or managed at any level, but he remains a familiar face around the current team. He served as the club’s special operations coordinator in spring training According to the Seattle TimesHe developed a close relationship with starting catcher Cal Raleigh. He also filled in as a broadcaster for the team’s Root Sports affiliate and was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame in 2012.
“I appreciate the confidence Jerry, Justin and the Mariners organization have placed in me,” Wilson said in a statement. “And I’m excited to get to work. I believe this team is capable of playing great baseball this season and I look forward to working with these players and coaches.
Wilson leads a club 64-64, five games out of a playoff spot and on a three-game losing streak. The move will bring additional scrutiny to Jerry Dipoto, who took over as general manager in September 2015. The Mariners begin their next series in Seattle on Friday against the San Francisco Giants.
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(Photo by Scott Service: Brandon Slaughter/Getty Images)
