Jason Kanzler took an unconventional path to becoming the Seattle Mariners' new manager. He once considered medical school, then became a two-time Rawlings Gold Glove winner as a walk-on outfielder at Buffalo. After being drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 20th round of the 2013 MLB draft and spending three seasons in the minor leagues, he worked as a high school physics and chemistry teacher in Katy, Texas. Baseball kept calling him back. He is now the 19th full-time manager in Mariners history and the 22nd overall since the club's inception in 1977.
Seattle general manager Justin Hollander said Kanzler's dynamic personality and analytics-forward background as a player-development coach made him the obvious choice. "To Jason's credit, I think he left us no choice throughout the process," Hollander said. "He dominated the process to the degree that I think we would've been foolish to take all that hard work and throw it out the window." Kanzler, most recently director of player development with the Chicago Cubs, previously spent time with the Houston Astros, where he was promoted to Dusty Baker's coaching staff in 2022, the season the Astros won the World Series.
Jerry Dipoto, the Mariners' president of baseball operations, said this is the third manager he has hired, all without prior managing experience. This time, he engaged far more of the baseball operations team in the process. The hire follows the club's decision to fire Dan Wilson after a disappointing 76-86 finish this season.
Kanzler said he plans to combine good information with an understanding of players and context. "I think we would be fools not to use good information for our advantage," he said. "My gut feel will not be the only gut feel that is considered in those situations."
Source: ESPN MLB · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing