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Seattle Mariners

Mariners set to hire new hitting coach; Edgar Martinez back in expanded role

Edgar Martinez, pictured in 2015 working with then-outfield coach Andy Van Slyke, left, and Robinson Cano, appears to have a major role with the Seattle Mariners next season. (Getty Images)
By Ryan Divish Seattle Times

SEATTLE – The Seattle Mariners have moved closer to finalizing their MLB coaching staff for the 2025 season and could make it official in the coming days.

The team is set to announce the addition of two new hitting coaches and also confirm that Edgar Martinez will still have a major role and oversight on the Mariners’ overall hitting strategy.

MLB sources recently confirmed that Martinez, who returned in August to serve as the interim hitting coach after manager Scott Servais and hitting coach Jarret DeHart were fired, will serve as the senior director of hitting strategy. It will be a hybrid role that has limited travel. He will be present for a large portion of spring training as well as Mariners home games, while attending some road games.

The sources also confirmed a report from MLB.com that the Mariners are going to hire Kevin Seitzer as the team’s hitting coach and Bobby Magallanes as the assistant hitting coach for manager Dan Wilson’s staff.

Seitzer served as the Braves hitting coach from 2015 to 2024, but was not retained for the 2025 season. He has also worked as a hitting coach for the Diamondbacks, Royals and Blue Jays.

Magallanes served as Seitzer’s assistant in Atlanta since 2021 after working in the Braves farm system for two seasons.

At an end-of-the-season news gathering, Jerry Dipoto, Mariners president of baseball operations, joked that he would beg Martinez to come back in a coaching role after the Mariners’ offense, and outfielder Julio Rodriguez, produced at improved levels in the final months of the season.

“He will be involved,” Dipoto said. “He will be involved in a significant way moving forward, and he wants to be. What that looks like in terms of a role, we’re probably gonna have to get a little creative. I don’t think it’s the burden of the job.

“It’s that Edgar loves what he’s doing. He likes this team. He’s engaged. He’s here home games anyway. He just doesn’t stick for the game. So we’re trying to figure out how to develop a creative situation with our hitting program that allows Edgar to play a prominent role without asking him to be with the team for every game.”