Seattle Mariners Collapse in ALCS: Dan Wilson’s Inexperience Cost a World Series Run
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A team that defied expectations all season long came one win shy of a World Series appearance. Losing hurts most when you’re this close to the dream. Despite taking a 3–2 series lead over the Toronto Blue Jays, the Seattle Mariners couldn’t close the deal.
Game 7 of the ALCS wasn’t just painful because they lost—it was heartbreaking because of what could have been. Painful because of how far they’d come. The players gave everything they had only to be let down by the one person who was supposed to guide them: their manager, Dan Wilson. A date with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2025 World Series slipped right through their fingers.
And quite simply, they deserved better.
Seattle’s Rise Deserved a Better Ending
The Mariners proved they’re one of baseball’s elite. With a complete roster and the league’s best power-hitting catcher, they had the look and feel of a championship team. They played with heart, unity, and relentless fight—the kind of team that makes October baseball magical. They battled through adversity, rallied when all seemed lost, and refused to quit.
Effort wasn’t the issue. Talent wasn’t either. Team chemistry? Not a problem.
What failed them was inexperience. A rookie manager making rookie mistakes on the sport’s biggest stage.
Dan Wilson made his managerial debut this season—not just in the majors, but anywhere. No minor league seasoning. No apprenticeship. Not even a Little League stint. It showed. In the biggest moments of the season, his lack of experience was impossible to ignore.
To his credit, Wilson did show flashes of creativity, tweaking lineups and trying new combinations to spark the offense. But that’s where the praise ends. When it mattered most, he authored a masterclass in how not to manage October baseball.
Seattle’s Small-Ball Struggles
Bunting became the symbol of everything inconsistent in Wilson’s approach. Throughout the playoffs, he ignored obvious small-ball opportunities that could have changed the outcome of a few tight games. One could argue that he had faith in his hitters or that he had a different philosophical approach. But no matter how you slice it, his unwillingness to play small ball hurt the Mariners, and when he did ask his hitters to lay down a bunt, it wasn’t the right time.
Just look at what happened in Game 7. J.P. Crawford, one of the team’s hottest bats, stepped in with runners on first and second and no outs in the fourth inning. Wilson had him lay down a bunt. Why then? When every number, every ounce of momentum screamed “swing the bat,” especially given the plan was to pull the starter early. They needed runs and Wilson’s decision to give the Blue Jays an easy out absolutely zapped the team of its energy.
That wasn’t strategy—it was confusion.
And it reflected something deeper: a failure in fundamentals.
The Mariners ranked 30th in MLB in productive outs—dead last. The kind of outs that move runners, score from third, and win postseason games. These aren’t analytics or modern strategy—they’re baseball’s backbone. The little things. The things that decide everything in October.
You can’t be last in the league at doing the little things and expect to survive, particularly when every run feels magnified in the playoffs.
Questionable Pitching Calls
Then there was the pitching.
Luis Castillo—one of the hottest arms in baseball—was pulled in the third inning of Game 4 with the bases loaded. Not because of injury or fatigue. Just… pulled. The Mariners got blown out.
In Game 5, Bryce Miller, cruising with just 56 pitches through four innings—also pulled. Predictably, the bullpen coughed up the lead, saved only by Randy Arozarena’s miracle catch and late-game heroics from Cal Raleigh and Eugenio Suárez.
Then came Game 7—the breaking point. George Kirby, your ace, dominating through four innings on just 65 pitches—pulled again. Later, in the seventh inning of a winner-take-all game with a World Series trip at stake, Wilson turned to Eduard Bazardo instead of Andrés Muñoz—his most trusted arm. Bazardo, the same reliever who had been shelled just two days earlier.
“Everybody was ready," Muñoz said, per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com
"But in that moment, they thought that was the best decision, and we all support that, because we've been doing that through the whole season. So today it didn't work. It doesn't mean that they made a wrong call. It was just that today wasn't the day. That's it.”
It was the wrong decision. And it was avoidable.
The Mariners Were Too Good for This
Wilson was out-managed multiple times this postseason. His players overcame him as much as they played for him. They battled through the chaos and gave themselves a chance to win it all.
But they deserved better.
This team’s heart and soul were undeniable. Their will to fight, to believe, to pick each other up—it was everything you could ask for in a ballclub. But October baseball is about razor-thin margins. And when your manager can’t manage the moment, the players pay the price.
Maybe Dan Wilson will grow into the job. Maybe he’ll learn from this. But this year, this team, this run—he cost them.
And they didn’t deserve that.
Mariners on SI has spoken to multiple current and former MLB players and scouts, all in agreement that Wilson showed his inexperience over and over.
This Mariners team will be remembered for its grit, its heart, and the unforgettable ride it gave the city of Seattle.
But they absolutely deserved better.
