Dan Wilson, who managed the Seattle Mariners to the brink of their first World Series appearance yet oversaw a significant regression the following season, told his team he will be fired as manager before the team's Sunday, Sept. 27 season finale, the Seattle Times reported.
The Mariners' 2026 season began with great expectations, but devolved into disappointment and ultimately concluded with the end of Wilson's reign.
Wilson, 57, took over for the fired Scott Servais for the final 34 games of the 2024 season and assumed the job on a permanent basis, leading the Mariners to 90 wins and the AL West championship in 2025. The Mariners held a 3-2 lead over the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL Championship Series, but lost Game 6 and blew a 3-1 seventh-inning
lead in Game 7 as a handful of Wilson's managerial moves backfired, culminating in George Springer's go-ahead three-run homer.
Still, the club had designs on going at least a step further this season, with a loaded pitching staff, a re-signed Josh Naylor and a trade for Brendan Donovan that galvanized the infield. None of it worked out: Cal Raleigh backslid from a 60-homer season to batting .182 with just 23 homers, Donovan was frequently injured and several members of the pitching staff regressed.
Despite the general ineptitude in the AL West, the Mariners slipped further down the standings by going 20-31 in July and August and suffering some indignities along the way, most notably a 22-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Aug. 18. They finished August with five consecutive losses to fall a season-high 10 games under .500.
Wilson was a beloved as a Mariners player, the primary catcher on the club that won the first division title in franchise history in 1995 and an All-Star the following year. He played 12 of his 14 major league seasons with Seattle.
The Mariners finished with a 76-86 record this season, their worst full-season mark since going 68-94 in 2019. Wilson was 187-171 in his three seasons.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mariners manager Dan Wilson tells team he'll be fired | Report
