LOS ANGELES — The Mariners shook the baseball world and the Seattle sports scene by relieving Scott Servais of his managerial duties on Thursday, continuing a 2024 full of coaching changes in Seattle sports.

First it was the Seahawks in January. Then the Kraken in April. Now it’s the Mariners in August. (Not to mention the many changes to the UW and WSU track teams.)

All were surprising in their own way, but for the Mariners, who were ten games ahead in the American League West on June 19 and five games behind on August 19, this was a rapid decline that forced the franchise to act.

RELATED TOPICS: Mariners fire Scott Servais after 9 seasons, name Dan Wilson as new manager

Most of the time, this responsibility falls to the manager or head coach, whether they like it or not.

To be clear:

• Scott isn’t out there striking.
• Scott must make the most of a lineup that has struggled to maintain offensive consistency and, in some cases, injuries.
• Was he perfect? ​​No, but who is?
• In fact, there may be several different reasons for the Mariners’ drop in performance over the summer, which could be attributed to a wide range of culprits.

In a nutshell: It is hardly Scott’s sole fault

But this is a business, and for a Mariners fan base that is losing patience with a chance at a championship, perhaps losing another shot at the playoffs meant the team had to do something. Ultimately, the responsibility fell to the manager.

“On June 19, we were 10 games ahead in our division, and this morning we wake up and find out we’re five games behind,” said Jerry Dipoto, Mariners president of baseball operations.

“And the last two months have been very difficult for a lot of people,” Dipoto said in a call with reporters Thursday afternoon. “I think the way our team has been playing lately. It goes beyond just the issues on offense, and I think we just have to get back to believing in who we are as players and who we are as an organization. I don’t want to put any pressure on Scott. I’ve said that publicly. Each of us has played our part in the difficulties we’ve had as a team this year. And our team is telling us we need to do something different. And that’s it.”

And so they will do something different and appoint Dan Wilson as manager, his first coaching experience at this level. The move shows that the fan base has tried and tested them, that the Mariners are listening to them and are trying everything they can to produce a winner.

Servais, for his part, led his team to triumph in 2022, ending a 21-year playoff drought and giving fans hope for what might come. We’ve seen the comebacks late in the season, from being seven games behind in August 2023 to being just one game behind.

But this year, it felt different. It felt like no matter what button Servais pushed, whatever he tried, the Mariners couldn’t find that consistency since June. The starting pitcher was never a problem, but it felt like everything around them was wasting excellence.

It was almost inexplicable why it hadn’t worked in the last two months.

If Scott Servais loses his job, the Mariners will try to find a way forward that will re-engage their loyal fan base. Whether that’s a turnaround, with fan favorite Wilson leading the rest of the 2024 season, or whether 2025 will see a new chapter with coaches and some players remains to be seen.

But the Mariners sent a message with this move.

They are listening to you. They are frustrated too.

They are now proving that, as difficult and painful as the farewell may be for a coach who has been in office for nine years, they will do whatever it takes to make Seattle a consistent winning team on the field.