Scott Servais, Seattle Mariners.
Unless there is a drastic improvement in 2022, this will be the last season of Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais’ tenure. There are plenty of ripple effects that should lead to his ouster, either during the season or at its end. There is only one path that should allow him to keep his job.
Servais had a history of being irrelevant on the teams he played on. He was a member of the 1988 Olympic team, but only as a back-up to Doug Robbins. As a pro, his only postseason appearance as a player came in 1998 with the Chicago Cubs, and they lost in the wild card round.
While Servais played 11 MLB seasons on six different teams, he rarely had the opportunity to be on a ballclub that won with any regularity. The only synchronous thing between the Mariners and Servais is their affinity for mediocrity. The Mariners need to abandon this mindset.
Since getting the Seattle Mariners job, Scott Servais has never been a frontrunner. Further, he has been marred by second-guessing errors. The Mariners are now in a situation where they need a frontrunner. Their leader should move the team’s focus from simply competing to achieving success.
It is not a secret that Jerry Dipoto and Servais have a kinship. That’s why Servais is the Seattle Mariners skipper. In 2000, Servais confided in his teammate that he wanted to be a Major League Baseball manager one day. When Dipoto had the opportunity to fulfill that wish, he did with the Seattle Mariners.
One of Dipoto’s first orders of business was to dump Lloyd McClendon, who had just completed his second season as manager.
Servais took over a Mariners team that was built to win and managed only 86 victories. The acquisitions of Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz provided fuel to the core that included a dominating duo of Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma. The M’s should have done much better.
That first season should have been a beacon. Servais has never shown a winner’s mentality nor created winner’s results.
In 2017, despite adding Jean Segura, Mitch Haniger, and a whole slew of journeyman starting pitchers to an established roster, the Mariners once again failed to deliver. They finished the season 78-84. Just like the team did with McLendon, they won his first year and then finished with a losing season his second year.
Despite this mixed history, in the midst of a 2018 hot streak with more smoke and mirrors than actual dominance, Dipoto awarded Servais with a contract extension. At the time, Seattle put numbers in the win column but rarely dominated on the field. Instead, they relied on a record-breaking young closer.
As has happened so often in the Mariners past, they failed to make the postseason after a big meltdown. The season ended with a 33-49 record after July 5, which sealed their fate as playoff watchers.
Most of the Mariners faithful knew that something drastic had to change in 2019. Relying on the status quo wasn’t going to get the M’s to the top of the standings.
Players at the core of Seattle’s roster were traded away for prospects. Dipoto filled the rest of the roster with washed-up veterans via free agency. The M’s no longer resembled a team that could win. Fans got force-fed an idea the team needed to rebuild with the same mediocre manager at the helm.
While some fans were all-in on this, others felt betrayed. It was no surprise that the Mariners finished with a disappointing 68-94 record.
Servais isn’t a terrible manager. This season he did okay with the organization’s quickly developing youth. Seattle’s winning percentage climbed by 30 points. Servais needs to go further in 2021. He has to show that he can be a winner, someone the new Seattle Mariner’s nucleus can count on.
This has to be the year where Servais is no longer mediocre and done with imperfect managerial practices. Is he going to make mistakes? Yes. Is he going to make the right choice every time? No, it’s impossible for him (or any of us) to make every right choice.
This young team has to show continued growth and flourish. They need to put MLB on notice that the Seattle Mariners will be a dominant team very soon. As for Servais, his job is simple, produce results.
Seattle Mariners fans deserve a winner’s mentality at the head of the team, a manager who demands, expects, and provides results. Those fans who were around in 1995 remember the pride felt from a young team that unseated the vaunted Yankees. That feeling was something that they’ll never forget and desperately want to experience again.
Servais needs to deliver that to the organization, or he can’t be the Seattle Mariners manager. His mission in 2021 is clear. Win more often than lose and make the M’s relevant. That buys a year, but only a year.
Do you think Scott Servais finishes the 2020 season as the Seattle Mariners manager? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.