The Seattle Mariners tabbed Jason Kanzler as their next manager on Tuesday.
Kanzler, 36, spent the past three seasons as the director of player development for the Chicago Cubs, where he oversaw the organization’s minor league system, players and coaching staff.
Kanzler has coached at the major-league level with the Houston Astros, where he served as coach during the Astros’ 2022 World Series-winning season, and assistant hitting coach in 2023.
“I am thrilled to join the Mariners organization and I’m looking forward to hitting the ground running,” Kanzler said. “This team has an immense amount of talent in all facets of the game, and my coaching staff and I are excited to access and unlock this team’s full potential.”
Kanzler succeeds Dan Wilson, who announced on Sept. 27 that he would not return after the Mariners posted a 76-86 record during his third season at the helm. That came one season after Seattle squandered a 3-2 series lead to the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2025 American League Championship Series.
His tenure ended with a 187-171 record.
“Our goal in this process was finding a manager with the ability to challenge all of us to improve,” said Jerry Dipoto, the Mariners’ president of baseball operations. “Jason has the mindset, expertise, communication skills, and intensity to help create a championship standard here in Seattle.”
Kanzler will be the second-youngest manager in the majors behind Washington Nationals skipper Blake Butera, who was 33 at the time he was hired on Oct. 30, 2025.
Prior to his coaching career, Kanzler played three minor league seasons as an outfielder in the Minnesota Twins organization (2013-15).