Breaking News: Kanzler will be the new manager

[Captain 97]

I just don't get why people would make a big deal about this. Baseball managers aren't like football or basketball coaches. They don't install innovative offenses or defenses. They don't give rah-rah speeches that make the team go out and steamroll the other team. All they really have to do is have a good relationship with the players, not screw up the lineup and not screw up pitching changes. Really, the best manager in baseball would have made the Mariners what, 3-5 games better in 2026?

I'm neither thrilled nor bummed about Kanzler, although if he doesn't do the dumb things Dan Wilson did we'll all be happy with that. But we need players, this is a distraction from that more than anything.

If the M's won an extra 5 games every year, they would have been in the playoffs every single year since 2019 including this past year.

[Hy Feiber]

This tells you how serious the M's are for this next season. They went with the guy who had the best haircut and who will do whatever the front office tells him to do. And who was likely the cheapest.

They had a chance for a full reset, and they went with another iteration of the same level of mediocrity as the last 2 guys. The dude is literally a day old donut - cheap, stale, and and best enjoyed by people who’ve already given up on better.

Whatever ambitious off-season plans I had just went out the shitter. This is the benchmark they have set. Good god.

This post is loaded with assumptions. They might all be correct. But something tells me you don't really know anything about Kanzler.

So apparently a requirement for picking a major league manager is that few know anything about him.

[Big_Maple]

What would allow the Ms to win more games? a) going with Espada or b) sticking with Dan Wilson and adding Aaron Judge?

You've spent multiple posts attacking ONE minor point while ignoring my actual argument. We get it, mediocre players can become great managers. Nobody disputed that. And your Aaron Judge hypothetical is just another straw man. Of course elite talent matters more, but that doesn't make managerial decisions irrelevant. My point was never that Kanzler WILL fail. It's that a team needing to win now chose someone who's never managed a single game over a proven MLB manager (much less stepped into a major league uniform). We have résumés, experience, and results to evaluate that decision. Pretending we can't question a hire until we know the outcome is absurd.

You're confusing uncertainty with a complete absence of evidence. I've made my point. You can keep arguing against one I never made.

[DanielVogelbach]

You've spent multiple posts attacking ONE minor point while ignoring my actual argument.

So, I can't respond to that minor point? It was a point that you included. It was one of the first points you made when responding to my comment regarding the amount of assumption you're making. It was one of your leadoff points, and was incredibly weak. Playing experience is irrelevant.

I don't have a strong opinion on the hire, because I don't have any info. You have a strong opinion, but you haven't presented any info.

Rookie managers can be great. Veteran managers can be terrible.

Furthermore, my main point is that it doesn't really matter that much. You fill out a lineup card, you put the hit and run on, you bring pitchers in from the pen, you pinch hit, you talk to the press. It doesn't really take years of experience to figure it out. Dan Wilson won a lot of games in 2025. I'm not giving him credit for that, I'm saying there's only so much a manager can do to impact wins and losses. I would say most of the impact is going to be from the leadership and setting the tone rather than the in-game decision making. Have you really studied Kanzler's personality and his approach to player development? Nope. Have you presented anything other than surface level assumptions and complaints? Nope.

[DavidGee24]

I just don't get why people would make a big deal about this. Baseball managers aren't like football or basketball coaches. They don't install innovative offenses or defenses. They don't give rah-rah speeches that make the team go out and steamroll the other team. All they really have to do is have a good relationship with the players, not screw up the lineup and not screw up pitching changes. Really, the best manager in baseball would have made the Mariners what, 3-5 games better in 2026?

I'm neither thrilled nor bummed about Kanzler, although if he doesn't do the dumb things Dan Wilson did we'll all be happy with that. But we need players, this is a distraction from that more than anything.

If the M's won an extra 5 games every year, they would have been in the playoffs every single year since 2019 including this past year.

That is very true, but we're talking about the difference between the absolute best and worst managers and 5 games is probably overly optimistic. Would the best manager in baseball have gotten us to 81-81 this season? Maybe, if he told Dipoto to stick it with his lineup demands.

[Big_Maple]

I don't have a strong opinion on the hire, because I don't have any info. You have a strong opinion, but you haven't presented any info.

So now MLB managing is just filling out lineup cards, waving runners around, and talking to reporters? Fascinating. Someone should tell all 30 teams they've been dramatically overcomplicating the hiring process. And apparently résumés, qualifications, and experience aren't "information" anymore unless I've personally interviewed the candidate. Yes, rookie managers can succeed and veterans can fail. Brilliant observation. That doesn't make experience irrelevant or every hiring decision equally defensible. You've reduced a complex leadership position to a handful of chores while lecturing me about superficial analysis. The irony is impressive.

[DanielVogelbach]

I just don't get why people would make a big deal about this. Baseball managers aren't like football or basketball coaches. They don't install innovative offenses or defenses. They don't give rah-rah speeches that make the team go out and steamroll the other team. All they really have to do is have a good relationship with the players, not screw up the lineup and not screw up pitching changes. Really, the best manager in baseball would have made the Mariners what, 3-5 games better in 2026?

I'm neither thrilled nor bummed about Kanzler, although if he doesn't do the dumb things Dan Wilson did we'll all be happy with that. But we need players, this is a distraction from that more than anything.

EXACTLY. It's not the NFL.

What matters is the guys actually pitching and hitting. We all know when to bring the infield in.

[DanielVogelbach]

So now MLB managing is just filling out lineup cards, waving runners around, and talking to reporters?

No, they don't have to wave runners around. That task is delegated.

[Big_Maple]

EXACTLY. It's not the NFL.

What matters is the guys actually pitching and hitting. We all know when to bring the infield in.

Ironically, that's the least reductive thing you've written all day.

[seattlefan-daBronx]

Another fucking Yesman for Jerry. I don't even know the guy and my blood is boiling.
Management just cannot get out of their own way. We the fans suffer for it.