4 candidates to be Mariners' next manager with Dan Wilson's seat getting hotter

There have been three managers fired this season, and you'd swear that Seattle Mariners skipper Dan Wilson wants to be the fourth. Nobody saw him as a brilliant strategist coming into 2026, but now his mismanagement of games is getting almost comical.

So even if it hasn't been two full years on the job for Wilson, it doesn't feel too soon to wonder if his job is in jeopardy. And, by extension, who might be next in line to manage the Mariners.

The odds are probably against Jerry Dipoto giving the Mariners Hall of Famer the same in-season heave-ho that Scott Servais got back in 2024. If nothing else, it doesn't hurt Wilson's cause that he has yet to have all the advantages he was supposed to in 2026. There's still hope that once injuries heal and Cal Raleigh starts hitting like his 2025 self again, the Mariners will dig themselves out of their 42-43 hole.

If the Mariners fire Dan Wilson before 2026 is over, these 2 candidates could take his job

Yet in the event that the Mariners don't wait until the offseason to show Wilson the door, the play will probably be the same one that resulted in him getting the job in the first place. The team looked in-house after firing Servais in 2024, where Wilson was working as a special assignment coordinator at the time.

Manny Acta, Bench Coach

Might as well begin with the obvious one. Because if Wilson goes, it's not as if Manny Acta also has to go. He's been with the organization since 2015, and he worked under Servais before Wilson took the manager's chair.

Acta checks all the boxes as the right pivot if the Mariners move on from Wilson. It would be a natural promotion for him, and he has enough respect in the clubhouse to assume the players would go with it. He also has six years' worth of managerial experience, and he's spoken about how important it is to balance analytics with instinct. It's some kind of identifiable stance, whereas Wilson's moves too often defy explanation.

Jake McKinley, Major League Field Coordinator

If not Acta, there's any number of other coaches the Mariners could turn to if they fire Wilson. Edgar Martinez and Trent Blank — the club's directors of hitting and pitching strategy, respectively — come to mind. There are also base coaches Eric Young Jr. and Carlos Cardoza, and bullpen coach Austin Nola.

Jake McKinley is more of a wild card, and perhaps not a likely one given that he's only been with the Mariners since last December. However, he was an inspired hire at the time. He joined the organization hot off a successful run as the head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack, so his hiring served as a nod to how college programs are increasingly run like major league franchises.

To that end, McKinley gained first-hand experience with the Milwaukee Brewers before he left for Nevada. He's made a good first impression in Seattle, including on veteran and younger players alike.

If the Mariners fire Dan Wilson after 2026, they could go in these 3 directions for a new manager

If the Mariners wait until the offseason to fire Wilson, they would surely have more options. It'll be easier to look outside the organization, and the appeal of the gig — i.e., an established contender with a core of stars and an elite pitching pipeline — could allow them to have the pick of the litter.

Alex Cora, Free Agent

The Mariners might as well get in this line if they put themselves in the market for a manager. There was a loud uproar when the Boston Red Sox fired Alex Cora in April, immediately giving rise to a consensus that he's the best free-agent manager out there.

He has a .534 winning percentage as a manager, plus a World Series ring from 2018. And even if he's more likely to end up with the Philadelphia Phillies or New York Mets, maybe it can't hurt that his brother, Joey, was an All-Star for the Mariners in the late 1990s.

Grady Sizemore, Minnesota Twins First Base Coach

Hey, why not shout out a local hero? Before he was an All-Star in Cleveland in the 2000s, Grady Sizemore was a multi-sport star at Cascade High School in Everett. He even had a scholarship to play quarterback at the University of Washington at one point.

Sizemore has spent recent years building an impressive portfolio, working in the front office of the Arizona Diamondbacks and on the coaching staffs of the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins. Most notably, he got a 45-game taste of managing after the White Sox fired Pedro Grifol in 2024.

Sizemore is now the first base coach under Derek Shelton in Minnesota, where Austin Martin described his style as "quiet until he needs to be vocal." That makes him sound like the next evolution of Wilson, who tends to err on the side of too quiet and too calm.

The Field

This is a bit of a copout, but there just isn't a whole lot to say about why other managerial candidates specifically fit the Mariners.

If they were to fire Wilson and move to replace him with somebody who has ample experience and good credentials, next in line after Cora are guys like Rocco Baldelli, David Ross and Brandon Hyde. There are also some compelling managerial prospects out there, including George Lombard, Omar López, Walter McKinven and Morgan Ensberg. Legends like Albert Pujols, Carlos Beltrán and Yadier Molina probably aren't candidates for the Mariners, but they're out there, too.

For the meantime, the pressure's all on Wilson. The Mariners have seen what he can do, and they have every reason to be asking if the team deserves better.

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