ESPN MLB Insider Discusses Some of the Criticism of Seattle Mariners Manager Dan Wilson

Earlier this week, Seattle Mariners manager Dan Wilson caught flack for how he handled various situations in a series loss against the New York Yankees.

On Tuesday night, in a game that the Mariners ended up winning, Wilson elected not to go to Andres Munoz in the eighth inning of a 1-0 game with Aaron Judge due up. On Wednesday, he put left-hander Gabe Speier into a game, only to see Aaron Boone counter with pinch-hitter Paul Goldschmidt, who tied a 2-1 game with a home run.

Then, Wilson went to Carlos Vargas, not Munoz in the eighth inning, and Judge promptly took Vargas deep to give the Yankees win.

We discussed some of those decisions, and general bullpen usage, with ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney on a recent edition of the Refuse to Lose podcast:

There's ​no ​question ​managers ​can ​make ​bad ​decisions, ​but ​I ​do ​think ​that ​there ​are ​times ​when ​a ​lot ​of ​the ​options ​available ​to ​these ​guys ​are ​bad. ​Craig ​Counsell, ​as ​you ​know, ​who ​manages ​the ​Cubs ​now, ​was ​generally ​viewed ​in ​his ​time ​as ​the ​Brewers ​manager, ​as ​the ​best ​manager ​in ​the ​sport. ​In ​fact, ​when ​he ​became ​a ​free ​agent, ​the ​Cubs ​gave ​him ​the ​biggest ​contract ​ever ​for ​a ​manager. ​But ​then ​in 2024, ​the ​Cubs ​had ​a ​bullpen ​that ​really ​struggled. ​And ​guess ​what? ​Craig ​Counsell ​didn't ​look ​as ​smart.

The Mariners did rebound to beat the San Diego Padres on Friday night 5-1. They enter play on Saturday at 24-19 and in first place in the American League West.

You can listen to the full interview with Olney below: