Scott Servais says the way he was fired was ‘alarming’ but wants to focus on positives.

 

 

A social media alert causing his phone to buzz wasn’t uncommon. While he’s not active on any of the platforms, Scott Servais still knew how to navigate the various platforms, admittedly having an anonymous X (Twitter) account to monitor all things Mariners.

Yes, he might have even read your tweets criticizing his bullpen decisions.

And like most people in baseball, his alerts are set for certain media members that break big news.

Having slept minimally due to a 2:45 a.m. arrival back in Seattle from a road trip from hell and the restlessness that comes from watching his team crater, Servais was still up relatively early even without a game, getting ready to head to T-Mobile Park to do some preparation for the upcoming homestand and meet with Jerry Dipoto at noon.

When his phone buzzed at 10:37 a.m., Servais reflexively checked to see what the alert was about.

It was a tweet from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic that read: “Sources: Mariners expected to fire Scott Servais, name Dan Wilson manager.”

It staggered him like a punch to his gut.

Within minutes, his phone was blowing up. His son and two daughters were all calling to see if the report was true. His father was calling from Wisconsin, wanting to know what was happening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Servais was reeling from the news. He now knew why Dipoto wanted to meet with him.

“That was one of the toughest things, obviously, learning that from an alert on my phone,” Servais said in a phone interview Friday afternoon with three members of the media. “It was just the reality of what may be coming down here in the next few hours. When you’re part of an organization for nine years, it feels like family. And it was alarming that I found out that way, but it happened. I can’t say it didn’t happen. It absolutely happened that way.”

 

 

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Scott Servais says the way he was fired was ‘alarming’ but wants to focus on positives
Aug. 23, 2024 at 7:19 pm Updated Aug. 23, 2024 at 9:02 pm

Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais checks the lineup during the fifth… (John McDonnell / AP)More
By Ryan Divish
Seattle Times staff reporter
A social media alert causing his phone to buzz wasn’t uncommon. While he’s not active on any of the platforms, Scott Servais still knew how to navigate the various platforms, admittedly having an anonymous X (Twitter) account to monitor all things Mariners.

Yes, he might have even read your tweets criticizing his bullpen decisions.

And like most people in baseball, his alerts are set for certain media members that break big news.

Having slept minimally due to a 2:45 a.m. arrival back in Seattle from a road trip from hell and the restlessness that comes from watching his team crater, Servais was still up relatively early even without a game, getting ready to head to T-Mobile Park to do some preparation for the upcoming homestand and meet with Jerry Dipoto at noon.

When his phone buzzed at 10:37 a.m., Servais reflexively checked to see what the alert was about.

It was a tweet from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic that read: “Sources: Mariners expected to fire Scott Servais, name Dan Wilson manager.”

It staggered him like a punch to his gut.

Within minutes, his phone was blowing up. His son and two daughters were all calling to see if the report was true. His father was calling from Wisconsin, wanting to know what was happening.

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Servais was reeling from the news. He now knew why Dipoto wanted to meet with him.

“That was one of the toughest things, obviously, learning that from an alert on my phone,” Servais said in a phone interview Friday afternoon with three members of the media. “It was just the reality of what may be coming down here in the next few hours. When you’re part of an organization for nine years, it feels like family. And it was alarming that I found out that way, but it happened. I can’t say it didn’t happen. It absolutely happened that way.”

But 24 hours after one of the worst, possibly most embarrassing, days of his professional career, Servais wouldn’t criticize the organization that no longer employed him. It was the same stubbornness and professionalism that wouldn’t let him call out players in the media for the failures or lack of effort. Even if he wanted to rip how things were handled, he wasn’t going to do it.

Why?

Well, the organization did give him his first managerial job. And because it’s not what you do. You don’t burn bridges, even if you have a flamethrower. And it certainly wouldn’t help him get another job, specifically a managing job, in Major League Baseball.

“I don’t want to go there,” he said. “I don’t want to talk about the front office and everything else. I just want to focus on all the good things we accomplished in my nine seasons.”

Hired by Dipoto, a close friend with whom he played and later worked in Colorado and Anaheim, Servais had no managing experience when he took over a veteran team that featured Felix Hernandez, Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager in 2016. The Mariners went 86-76 in that first season. It was the first of five winning campaigns, with the highlight coming in 2022 when the team ended a 21-year postseason drought and advanced to the American League Division Series.

“We did do some really positive things here getting to the postseason [2022] and three years in a row of 90, 90 and 88 wins,” he said. “That’s hard to do in this game with where we were at as an organization. That’s what I enjoyed most is the players and watching them develop.”

When Servais and Dipoto helped convince Mariners ownership to start a rebuild after the 2018 season, knowing there would be struggles as the team transitioned away from veterans to unproven players, he wanted to help use that time to help establish a culture of what it means to be a Mariner. He wanted his players to value being a part of the organization and develop a sense of ownership in the team and its success.

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He didn’t want to be their leader. He wanted them to lead while he helped navigate the direction. It started with his shortstop, J.P. Crawford, who came to the Mariners as a failed top prospect with the Phillies. He was angry, he trusted nobody and he’d lost his love for the game. He arrived with a massive chip on his shoulder.

Servais knocked it off with some tough words at first and then tried to provide tough love.

“He taught me how to be myself on a baseball field,” Crawford said. “I think that’s what changed my career.”

Servais still believes in development at the big-league level. Fond of motivational speakers and leadership, he adapted the “Doesn’t matter, get better” mantra. He wanted players to understand they weren’t finished products once they reached the big leagues. They needed to continue to develop and adjust to the difficulties of playing against the best players in the world. It was a mindset that came from his own struggles and failures as a player.

“The thing that I love about it — it’s about players and relationships and helping them develop and see them grow in their career,” he said. “I think back about the relationships I’ve built here with guys like J.P. Crawford, Cal Raleigh and Logan Gilbert and that group of young players and then former players, how you’ve helped them at certain points. And that’s really the most gratifying thing for me.

“It’s helping players and then hoping you can all bring a winning situation to maybe a city or fan base that hadn’t had it in a while. It’s usually when you get these opportunities. Being able to accomplish that here to a certain level, but it’s not the level I wanted it to get to or get the opportunity to.”

This season, it appeared the Mariners might go where they hadn’t been since 2001 — an American League West title. Riding a brilliant starting rotation, the Mariners were able to overcome awful offensive production to roll to a 44-31 record and a 10-game lead in the West on June 19.