When the Seattle Mariners announced their change at manager last Thursday, there were a couple of surprises.
The first: Dan Wilson was moving into the role.
The second: Wilson was coming in permanently, not with an interim tag.
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Despite not having experience as a manager outside of a few short stints filling in for Mariners minor league affiliates, Wilson was chosen by the M’s to take over the ship. And like baseball fans in the Northwest last week, Wilson wasn’t exactly expecting that he would be Seattle’s next skipper. But don’t take that to mean he’s not ready.
On the heels of the Mariners winning his first series in the dugout this weekend, Wilson joined Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Monday morning and answered if he had any idea before hearing from the M’s that being their next manager was a possibility.
“No, I didn’t. And you know, it definitely took me by surprise,” Wilson said. “But at the same time, I was excited. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime.”
Wilson is no stranger to the current team. In addition to being in the Mariners Hall in the Fame for his playing career and regular appearances over the years as a broadcaster, he’s long worked in baseball operations for the organization and was in his seventh year as special assistant for player development before making the move to manager. He also coached the Mariners’ alternate site in 2020 where Julio Rodríguez, Cal Raleigh, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby and others spent their time with the minor league season canceled.
“I’ve been around the team for a while. I have relationships with some of the guys from in and through the minor leagues, so there’s a lot of familiarity there, and that has also really helped in the transition,” said the former All-Star catcher. “Couldn’t be more grateful and want to do the best job possible. Very honored and humbled by the opportunity, and just really want to give the Mariners organization, the fans in Seattle the best job and the best team that we can have.”
The File: A closer look at new Mariners manager Dan Wilson
The 55-year-old Wilson played in 30 postseason games during his Mariners career, which represents 77% of the playoff games in franchise history, and his sights are set on getting Seattle back to October baseball.
“(I’ve) been in baseball a long time, and it was an opportunity to lead what is really an outstanding team,” he said. “Just hoping to do what I can, along with the coaching staff, to help these guys and help all of us get to get to the playoffs again and hopefully into that World Series and a world championship here in Seattle.”
Could a return to the postseason happen this year? The Mariners (66-65) have just 31 games to go entering Monday with a 4 1/2-game deficit in the division and 6 1/2-game deficit for a wild card, so it’s not impossible but would take quite the run down the stretch.
“When you get to spring training, your vision is to win the world championship. And you build that and you build towards that during the entire season. And in this case, we have at the time (of the manager switch) 34 games, now 31 games to get that accomplished,” Wilson said. “So I think for me, as I look at it, that’s the goal, that’s the vision. This is a team that we’ve talked a lot about how strong the pitching staff is and the incredible work that they’ve done on the mound and the great defense that we have behind them. They say that pitching and defense wins championships, and I believe that wholeheartedly. And so this is a window, this is a time where we can get it done and that’s the hope, that’s the vision for this club.”
Listen to the full Brock and Salk conversation with new Seattle Mariners manager Dan Wilson in the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post. Catch Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk from 6-10 a.m. weekdays.
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