Mariners legend Edgar Martinez joins Dan Wilson's staff as hitting coach
Seattle Mariners firing manager Scott Servais, new skipper announced
The Seattle Mariners fired manager Scott Servais on Thursday and will name former All-Star catcher Dan Wilson as the interim manager, per a report from The Athletic. The move comes as the team has plummeted out of the playoff picture after holding a 10-game lead in the AL West in mid-June. The team is expected to make an announcement on Thursday, per the report.
SEATTLE - The Seattle Mariners on Thursday fired manager Scott Servais after nine years with the organization, and replaced him with Dan Wilson, Mariners Hall of Famer and former catcher.
In his first move as newly appointed manager, Wilson is adding Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez to serve as the hitting coach for the remainder of the 2024 season.
Martinez, who is also in the Mariners Hall of Fame, played 11 years with Wilson from 1994 to 2004, appearing in four postseasons together.
The expectation is that Martinez, who had a legendary 20-year career with Seattle as a designated hitter, will help a Seattle team that has been struggling to hit the ball in 2024. Seattle has the worst team batting average in all of MLB and the most strikeouts (1,308) of any team this season.
Martinez, 61, has stuck with the organization since his retirement in 2004 in various coaching positions. He has spent the last six seasons as Mariners Organizational Hitting Advisor. From 2015-2018, he served as the hitting coach under Servais.
"When Dan reached out to me, I told him that I'd be happy to assist him this season in whatever way I could," Martinez said in a statement to the Mariners. "I know the talent and work ethic this group of hitters has, and I hope I can be of help to them."
Seattle has been looking for answers to their hitting struggles since firing former hitting coach Brant Brown in late May, and replacing him with Jarret Dehart. DeHart, who had been with the Mariners organization since 2018, was fired along with Servais yesterday.
Fan reactions to Mariners firing Scott Servais
It didn't quite come as a shock to Mariners fans, but the hope is that Dan Wilson will lead the organization to victory after Scott Servais was ousted.
The Mariners play their first game under Wilson and Martinez tomorrow at T-mobile park against the San Francisco Giants. The team currently sits at 64-64 and are competing to stay alive in the American League playoff race. They currently sit 7.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins for the last wild card spot.