The Seattle Mariners went in a bold direction with their new manager, and not everyone is sold on the hire. Jason Kanzler has never managed at any level, and that lack of experience has some analysts questioning whether he is the right man for the job.
At his introductory press conference this week, the 36-year-old laid out his vision.
“The brand of baseball that I’d like to see and be manifest in this identity is something akin to step on their throats. We want to win. We want to beat the other team,” Kanzler said.
On “The Chris Rose Rotation,” former MLB infielder Trevor Plouffe weighed in on the hire, and he was not fully convinced.
“I think this guy’s fantastic. A good baseball mind should be in the organization. I’d want him on my staff. Here’s my take. I don’t want young guys as a manager. I don’t. There’s a tendency for a young guy, and I deal with this myself. Maybe I’m projecting, but I do think it’s the truth. There’s a tendency to want to be friends with the guys,” Plouffe said.
“The Mariners, to me, don’t need a buddy-buddy. They need a, hey, man, let’s get this s**t right. It’s hard for a first-year guy to come in there and do that. I am in my veteran manager era. Give me a guy who’s going to just hold people accountable. We just saw it with Pat Murphy, dude.”
That was a nod to the Milwaukee Brewers manager, who just won the World Series.
“I’m not going to say that it can’t work because anything can work, but I’ll be more surprised if it works than if it doesn’t,” Rose said.
Kanzler was most recently the Chicago Cubs’ director of player development. Before that, he spent five seasons with the Houston Astros, serving as a hitting coach on the 2022 World Series champions. His playing career topped out at High-A in the Minnesota Twins organization.
The Mariners hired Kanzler to replace Dan Wilson after a 76-86 season, one of the most disappointing in franchise history. Former Astros manager Joe Espada was also a finalist for the job.
Kanzler will have plenty of doubters to prove wrong when the 2027 season gets underway.