Mariners decision to part ways with Brant Brown was unavoidable

Brant Brown was in no way the only issue with the Mariners offense, but the lack of production left no other choice than to let him go.

All during the offseason, president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto’s main motivation was to improve the efficiency of the lineup, with a focus towards getting on base more. Even though the Seattle Mariners finished 12th in the Majors in runs scored last year, they were just 22nd in batting average, had the second-most strikeouts among all 30 ball clubs and ultimately missed out on the playoffs by one game.

This resulted in several moves which fans were not happy about, including getting rid of Eugenio Suarez, Jarred Kelenic and Teoscar Hernandez. In their place, came players including Jorge Polanco and Mitch Garver, as well as the return of Mitch Haniger.

Another move Dipoto made, was to bring in Brant Brown as offensive coordinator and bench coach. It helped that he had a history with the Mariners organisation, having previously served as their minor league outfield and base-running coordinator.

Of recent significance, Brown was the Miami Marlins’ hitting coach last season. And while it was noticeable the Marlins were only 26th in runs during the 2023 campaign, they were also tied-fourth best in batting average.

Brown unable to improve offense

Ultimately though, whatever the pros and cons of bringing the 52-year-old in, it proved to not help the Mariners lineup. At the time of writing, they are 28th in batting average, 25th in OPS, led the league in strikeouts and — most importantly — are just 28th in runs scored.

As a result, the Mariners had little choice but to part company with Brown. As per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal he was relieved of his duties on Friday, prior to the Mariners’ home series opener versus the Los Angeles Angels.

This resulted in plenty of criticism from certain factions of the fanbase, accusing the Mariners of making Brown a scapegoat. More specifically, that it was Dipoto who had revamped the lineup, and that the offense had struggled for several seasons with Scott Servais as manager.

However, it still didn’t change the reality that Brown had not helped to improve the offensive production. Further, that Dipoto and Servais get a pass, because of how the ball club is performing as a whole this year, entering Saturday’s action leading the AL West by 4.0 games with a 32-27 record.

In fairness to Servais, he did acknowledge the lack of offense wasn’t just on Brown. Speaking to the media on Friday, he said:

“It’s not all Brant’s fault by any means. It’s just (that we) want to make a change there, maybe a little different voice with our players, and we really need to get our guys focused back into doing what they do best.”

Haniger also offered some support for Brown. As per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com, he said:

“Brownie is not the one to blame for that. It’s not his fault. So as far as other reasonings, I have no idea. But we’re just trying to get our stuff together and move on. We all really enjoyed working with him. Very professional, and a great hitting coach.”

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Internal changes for the Mariners

As a result of Brown being let go, the Mariners also announced that director of hitting strategy Jarret DeHart and assistant hitting coach Tommy Joseph will be more involved with the hitters. In addition, Servais said an internal candidate will fill Brown’s role sooner than later.

Overall, Servais remained optimistic about the future, while also still feeling bad about the situation surrounding Brown. He said:

“We have not reached anywhere close to what our potential is yet. So I’m looking forward to what lies ahead. It doesn’t make this day any easier. No question, it is very difficult.”

Of course no matter how much you talk the talk, you also have to walk the walk; it is imperative that the lineup produces more effectively/consistently moving forward. Otherwise, if the Mariners once again fail to qualify for the playoffs this season, then Dipoto and Servais will be nervously looking over their shoulders.

Do you agree with the decision to part ways with Brown? Or do you believe he has been made a scapegoat for the lack of production from the Seattle Mariners lineup? Let us know in the comments section below.