The Seattle Mariners, in desperate need of a spark with their season slipping away, fired longtime manager Scott Servais on Thursday. Dan Wilson, the longtime Mariners catcher who had been serving as a coordinator in the organization’s minor league system, will replace him.
The decision was made by Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto — a longtime friend of Servais — in the wake of a three-game sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers, giving the team eight losses in nine games. Seattle held a 10-game lead in the American League West as recently as June 18 and has since gone 20-33, falling five games behind the Houston Astros with only 34 remaining.
“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,” Dipoto said on a videoconference call.
The team also let go of hitting coach Jarret DeHart, whose firing comes less than three months after the dismissal of offensive coordinator Brant Brown. The Mariners, bolstered by a dynamic starting rotation, lead the majors in ERA but rank last in batting average. Their .654 OPS over these past 53 games ranks lower than every team except the Chicago White Sox.