Los Angeles Angels at Seattle Mariners

Ahead of the Mariners’ final game of one of their most disappointing seasons in franchise history, manager Dan Wilson informed players and staff on Sunday morning that he is not returning to his role in 2027, multiple sources told MLB.com. The message was relayed from Wilson during a pregame meeting ahead of the Mariners' 7-3 win over the Angels in Game 162 and shortly after doors closed to media. The club has not confirmed the looming leadership change, which is also expected to include turnover among Wilson’s coaching staff. However, among that group, director of pitching strategy Trent Blank and pitching coach Pete Woodworth will be back, per sources, and each are under contract for two more seasons. Separately, as MLB.com reported last week, president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and general manager Justin Hollander are expected to return in 2027.  Shortly after Sunday morning’s meeting, Wilson was asked if he’d had more correspondence with the front office about his future -- following up on his first public comments about his status for next season on Thursday, when the Mariners were officially eliminated. “Those discussions continue to go on, and we'll know more in the future,” Wilson said before Sunday’s game against the Angels. Sunday’s development came the morning that Seattle finished a 2026 regular season double-digit games under .500 and in third place in the American League West. It’s a division that virtually the entire industry -- including the Mariners themselves -- believed they’d be the frontrunners to win. Instead, a combination of wildly underachieving offense, inconsistent starting pitching, a beleaguered bullpen that was battered in the second half, the sport’s worst defense by most advanced metrics and a slew of self-inflicted mistakes wound up sealing their fate. For all these reasons -- coupled with legitimate World Series aspirations coming out of Spring Training -- a case could be made that the Mariners were MLB’s most disappointing team in 2026.  Wilson was hardly the only figure at fault, but he was a central piece to their shortcomings.  Multiple club personnel -- including players, coaches and front-office officials -- indicated to MLB.com on background at different stages of the season the Mariners notably lacked accountability, and that much of these issues stemmed from the top down. That was especially true as the year reached its most perilous points, those sources said. Then, after they were officially eliminated