After letting go of now-former manager Dan Wilson, the Seattle Mariners have made it clear that they need to fix their culture, from the accountability factor to how they practice and prepare.

Upon hearing that, it's become pretty clear to me that the M's are going to choose someone who is more of a disciplinarian as their next manager. While of course you want someone who will be able to resonate with players, I think they will stay away from those who are termed as "players managers."

That doesn't mean they'll hire an old-school taskmaster, but I do think whoever they hire will have some of those traits.

My question is: How will players respond to that kind of coaching, presuming that's the direction they go in?

Not always, but typically, we think that young players need a more disciplined manager. We associate youth with recklessness that we assume needs to be wrangled in by someone who is in more of a parental role.

Once a team graduates into a veteran group, we assume that they can handle themselves and that they no longer need that type of leadership. That's when we assume they need a more loose manager, someone who lets them just take care of themselves.

But the Mariners are at an interesting crossroads in that regard. While they have youthful players like Colt Emerson, Cole Young, Kade Anderson, Michael Arroyo and Lazaro Montes, they really are a team full of young veterans that have between 4-6 years of experience under their belts. Cal Raleigh, Matt Brash and Logan Gilbert, made their debuts in 2022. Julio Rodriguez and George Kirby debuted in 2022. Dom Canzone, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo debuted in 2023. Brendan Donovan and Josh Naylor are both established veterans. So are Andres Munoz and Seranthony Dominguez.

So again, how will the M's players respond? My gut tells me that they'd handle it OK and that a majority of the M's veterans are process oriented and detail oriented. I think they will like being held accountable and I think they will like being pushed to dot all the I's and cross all the T's. It doesn't mean every single player fits that mold, but I think a majority of them do.

As of now, the Mariners and Astros are the only jobs that are currently open. So, the Mariners have the ability to be deliberate and thorough in their search. However, the longer they wait, the more the potential lockout buts up against things.