Joe Espada, Jason Kanzler Reportedly Finalists For Mariners Managerial Job

The Mariners’ managerial search may be coming to an end. Adam Jude and Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times report that former Astros skipper Joe Espada and Cubs director of player development Jason Kanzler are the finalists. Those two will have in-person interviews Tuesday and Wednesday. The report mentioned the possibility of the Mariners reaching out to coaches from the Rays or Brewers after the World Series is done but the Mariners are planning to name a new manager by the end of the week. Both Espada and Kanzler have been connected to the job opening in previous reports but there were plenty of others in the mix and it now appears it is down to these two. The Times says there were 30 to 40 names on the initial search list and the club had conversations with many candidates. Rocco Baldelli was identified as one of them but he withdrew his name recently. Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports that was likely due to geography, as Baldelli and his family live in Florida. Kramer also reports that White Sox bench coach Walker McKinven and Rays senior advisor Brandon Hyde were also in the mix but no longer in the running. His report, which was published yesterday, noted that Espada and Kanzler would be getting in-person meetings but wasn’t clear if those two were considered finalists. Today’s reporting from The Times has many of the same details but goes a bit farther in framing Espada and Kanzler as finalists. There would be some key differences between the two finalists. Espada is 51 years old and has previous managerial experience, whereas Kanzler would be a first-time skipper and is 15 years younger. Espada spent the past three seasons managing the division-rival Houston Astros. The club’s results were broadly good but not great during that time. They won the American League West in 2024 with 88 wins but were eliminated by the Tigers in the Wild Card round. They dropped to 87 wins last year and missed the playoffs. This year, they managed to win the division again with just 81 wins before another quick playoff exit. A manager can only work with the roster he’s given, so it’s always hard to assign credit or blame to a skipper for a team’s overall results. The Astros had some good players during Espada’s run but clearly weren’t as talented as they were in prior seasons. Regardless, the Astros decided not to bring him back for the 2027 season, so he’s a free agent. Kanzler would be a less orthodox choice for Seattle. As mentioned, he’s relatively young and hasn’t been a manager before. That’s not totally abnormal but such hires usually have minor league managerial experience or lots of time as a big league coach. Kanzler’s work in the professional ranks started with a 2019 job with the Astros as minor league hitting coordinator. He was up in the big leagues in 2022 with the nebulous title of major league coach. He got the title of assistant hitting coach for 2023. In 2024, he jumped to the Cubs as director of player development. The Mariners will have to decide which of these two options is best for the club as they look to bounce back from a nightmare season. Per Kramer, the two candidates will be meeting with coaches, front office executives and people from the ownership level at T-Mobile Park, some of them flying into Seattle just to take part in the process. Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images View Comments (3)