The Seattle Mariners announced the firing of long-time manager Scott Servais, who has been in place for the past nine seasons, amid a skid in the AL West.
The move, which includes relieving hitting coach Jarrett DeHart of his duties as well, comes after the Mariners lost 8-4 to the Los Angeles Dodgers to become an even .500 on the season at 64-64.
With a little more than a month to go in the regular season, Seattle is six games back of the AL West lead, which is held by the Houston Astros, and 7.5 games behind for an American League Wild Card slot.
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In short, the Mariners need some sort of spark to get them out of a stretch that has seen eight losses in their last nine games, including a sweep from the Dodgers.
The Mariners were once leaders in their division by 10 games as of June 10. However, they have gone 20-33 since then, while the Astros, a team that got off to a horrendous start, found themselves and have been climbing back ever since.
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"Where we were in the middle of June and where we are today – it’s hard to believe, actually, how quickly it all dissolved for us," Jerry Dipoto, president of baseball operations, said via ESPN.
"Collectively, we determined that our organization needed this. We needed to do something to create a different theme, a different vibe in our clubhouse. I'm not trying to throw Scott under a bus at all here. I can't say enough positive things about the things he did in contributing here, but I do think we needed a new voice."
The Mariners have had the best ERA in MLB this season at 3.53 entering Thursday, but are dead last in batting average at .216 – three points below MLB’s worst team, the Chicago White Sox, by record.
Seattle did receive a jolt when they added Randy Arozarena and Justin Turner at the MLB trade deadline, but they have gone on this skid after initially winning six of nine games with them on the roster.
Players like J.P. Crawford, Mitch Garver and Mitch Haniger have not been performing well, and Jorge Polanco was expected to give a boost as a switch hitter and has also been mediocre this season.
The Mariners are hopeful under the new direction of Dan Wilson, the team’s coordinator of their minor leagues, who will serve as interim manager.
In his nine seasons as manager, Servais went 680-642 with only one playoff appearance in 2022, where they lost in the ALDS to the Astros.
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