SEATTLE – Seattle Mariners President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto announced today that Jason Kanzler has been named as the team’s new field manager. Kanzler is the 22nd manager in club history (19th full time).
“Our goal in this process was finding a manager with the ability to challenge all of us to improve,” Dipoto said. “Jason has the mindset, expertise, communication skills, and intensity to help create a championship standard here in Seattle.”
“We are excited to welcome Jason and Ashley and their family to the Mariners,” Executive VP & General Manager Justin Hollander said. “Throughout the process, Jason consistently demonstrated elite leadership skills, high-end content and an ability to connect and partner with players, staff and front office. We all believe Jason is the right person to lead our organization back to the Postseason.”
Kanzler, 36, previously was the Director of Player Development for the Chicago Cubs (2024-26), where he oversaw the organization’s minor league system, players and coaching staff. He has Major League coaching experience with the Houston Astros (2022-23), where he served as Major League Coach during the Astros 2022 World Series-winning season, and Assistant Hitting Coach in 2023.
“I am thrilled to join the Mariners organization and I’m looking forward to hitting the ground running,” Kanzler said. “This team has an immense amount of talent in all facets of the game, and my coaching staff and I are excited to access and unlock this team’s full potential.”
Kanzler began his coaching career with the Houston Astros organization, where he spent 5 seasons (2019-2023) working in a variety of roles for the club. Before his time with the Major League team, Kanzler was the hitting coach for High-A Fayetteville in 2019 and minor league hitting coordinator in 2021. He was slated to serve as hitting coach for Double-A Corpus Christi in 2020, but was assigned to the Astros alternate training site as a coach when the 2020 minor league season was cancelled.
In 2022, he was a part of the coaching staff that led the Astros to a World Series win and 11-2 Postseason record. In 2023, he served as Assistant Hitting Coach and helped lead the Astros offense to 4.55 runs-per-game which ranked 3rd in the American League.
Prior to his coaching career, Kanzler played 3 minor league seasons as an outfielder in the Minnesota Twins organization (2013-15). Across 255 career games between Class-A Cedar Rapids and High-A Fort Myers, he batted .249 (225x904) with a .720 OPS. Kanzler was drafted by the Twins in the 20th round of the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Buffalo.
Kanzler was born in Penfield, New York and attended the University of Buffalo. During his junior season at Buffalo (2013), he batted .330 with a 1.008 OPS and a stellar .994 fielding percentage. He was named University of Buffalo Male Athlete of the Year following the season and as a centerfielder became the first player in NCAA history to win two Rawlings Gold Glove Awards (2012-13).
Kanzler earned a degree in psychology from the University of Buffalo and is also a certified strength and conditioning specialist. Jason lives with his wife, Ashley, and their two children.
Kanzler's introductory News Conference will be streamed live at 2:00 p.m. PT on Wednesday, November 4 at the following link: