Mariners fans have already given this franchise plenty of patience. It almost feels unfair to be asked for more after a disappointing 2026 season. They crave postseason baseball that comes with a lineup that puts fear in the opposing pitcher. And they would love to get through a summer without wondering how many perfectly good starts the team can waste.

Now Jason Kanzler gets to walk into all of that with zero games managed on his résumé.

The Mariners hired the 36-year-old after three seasons overseeing the Cubs’ player development system. He has coached in the majors and worked his way through professional baseball, but he has never managed a team at any level. That is a legitimate question attached to this hire. Seattle has chosen to let him answer it while running a club expected to contend.

This is going to come with rough patches. There will be a pitching change we’ll challenge, a lineup that needs explaining and a night when his explanation fills us with rage.

An important question will be about what happens next. Five managers offer reasons to give those answers time to develop. Some won immediately. Others needed several seasons. All began their first major league managerial job without the experience we so often insist a candidate must already have.

1. Craig Stammen Showed a Contender Can Trust a Beginner

San Diego handed Craig Stammen his first managerial job at any level and got a 91-win season and a postseason series victory in 2026. The Padres beat the Cubs in the Wild Card Series before falling to Milwaukee in the NLDS.

The Padres had established stars, expectations and plenty of opportunities for a new manager to look overwhelmed. Stammen still helped them advance.

Stammen also had to survive keeping a struggling team together while questions about his own future grew louder. By midseason, former Padres closer Heath Bell was publicly calling him another failed Preller “project.” That turnaround showed plenty of perseverance.

Kanzler will have to manage expectations upstairs while earning trust in the clubhouse. We should want him to develop his own judgment and have enough conviction to defend it when the season gets uncomfortable.

Stammen gives us a reason to let that process play out. A rough summer can reveal whether a new manager has the nerve and flexibility to pull a team through it.

2. Stephen Vogt Makes the Argument Especially Familiar in Seattle

We barely have to leave the Mariners’ own coaching history to find another example. Stephen Vogt spent 2023 as Seattle’s bullpen and quality control coach. A year later, he was managing Cleveland to 92 wins, a division championship and the ALCS. He won AL Manager of the Year in his debut season.

We watched Vogt work in Seattle, then watched him take Cleveland to the ALCS in his first season. The Mariners hired Kanzler to turn his teaching and player development experience into better baseball. Now we need to see whether his message reaches this clubhouse.

3. Ron Washington Needed Time Before Texas Became a Problem

Mariners fans remember what Ron Washington’s Rangers became. However, the beginning was pretty forgettable.

Texas went 75-87 in his first season, 79-83 in his second and 87-75 in his third. The breakthrough came in Year 4, when the Rangers reached the 2010 World Series. They returned in 2011.

Imagine trying to judge the finished version of Washington after that first summer. Texas gave him time, and the team improved around him. A manager’s development and an organization’s roster building happen together.

We should look for progress from the manager while demanding progress from the people supplying his roster. Washington’s path gives us reason to be patient with the learning curve.

4. Kevin Cash Survived a Beginning Few Fans Would Have Enjoyed

Kevin Cash went 80-82 in his first season with Tampa Bay. His second team lost 94 games. His third finished below .500 again.

There was plenty of losing available for anyone who wanted to declare the hire a mistake. Cash eventually led the Rays to the 2020 World Series and won consecutive AL Manager of the Year awards in 2020 and 2021.

Cash even took them back to the World Series in 2026, six years after his first trip. He keeps finding ways to win with a small-market club whose payroll leaves little room for expensive mistakes. The Rays opened this season with baseball’s 26th-ranked payroll and still outlasted the American League. Cash deserves plenty of credit alongside the front office and coaches who keep making that operation work.

That makes his early losing seasons especially relevant to Seattle. Tampa Bay gave a young manager time to become someone who could repeatedly squeeze October baseball out of a limited budget. Had the Rays judged him entirely on those first three years, they would have missed everything that followed.

5. Mike Scioscia Gave a Division Rival a Lesson Seattle Should Remember

This one comes with the irritation of knowing the Angels got to enjoy the payoff. Mike Scioscia went 82-80 in 2000 and 75-87 in 2001. In his third season, the Angels won the World Series.

After two years, his record offered little hint that a championship was next. We know how easy it would have been to run out of patience. But the Angels stayed with him long enough to find out.

The standard should be visible improvement in Seattle. Adjustments that show the manager is paying attention to what the season is teaching him.

Kanzler has inherited a fan base carrying frustrations he didn’t create. He will have enough responsibility for his own decisions without also answering for every season that wore us down before he arrived.

We can give him a fair shake and keep our expectations high.  And we can expect the Mariners to put a playoff roster in his hands. Our patience with a new manager should come with some urgency from the people who hired him.