As either the Tampa Bay Rays or Milwaukee Brewers prepare to celebrate the first World Series victory in franchise history, the Seattle Mariners are stuck watching from a corner, wondering if it will ever happen to them.
Still the only active MLB franchise to never reach a Fall Classic, the Mariners are looking for a new manager after Dan Wilson announced his departure at the end of this recently completed season. And just when it appeared their search was closing in on a final candidate, they're reportedly back to the drawing board.
Rocco Baldelli removed his name from consideration, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported Sunday, citing family reasons. Several reports had indicated Baldelli was the preferred candidate for the position. Baldelli won American League Manager of the Year honors in his first season helming the Minnesota Twins in 2019, but did not manage anywhere this season since being dismissed at the end of Minnesota's disappointing 2025 campaign.
Baldelli's playing and managerial careers show many parallels. Both began strongly, only for unfortunate circumstances (injury and the COVID-shortened 2020 season, respectively) derailing what were positioned to be a meteoric rises. Despite posting 9.1 WAR before his age-25 season, Baldelli ended his playing career after parts of only seven seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox. Similarly, the Twins won 101 games in his first season as skipper, but only reached the postseason twice in the next six years.
The Mariners are in an odd spot. They were the darlings of baseball in 2025 with catcher Cal Raleigh's MVP-caliber campaign, but both the team and Raleigh plummeted this season. The only reason they finished out of last place in the AL West was thanks to sharing a division with the Athletics and Los Angeles Angels.
With Baldelli off the board, former Houston Astros manager Joe Espada is believed to be one of the primary candidates for the role.