Mariners' New Manager Calls the Astros 'the Team That Shall Not Be Named'

Jason Kanzler introduced himself to Seattle by refusing to say one word: Astros. At his introductory press conference at T-Mobile Park on Wednesday, a day after the Mariners announced his hiring, the 36-year-old was asked what he remembered of the ballpark from his years on the other side. “I fondly remember coming here when I was with the team that shall not be named,” he said, “and what distinctly stands out to me is this atmosphere is electric.” The joke ran the whole 30-minute availability, general manager Justin Hollander joined in, and by the end of the day both fanbases were arguing about it online. It was a first impression with a clear message: the new manager knows exactly which rivalry he has walked into.

What did Kanzler actually say?

He said the line twice, in two different ways, and the room picked it up both times. After the “team that shall not be named” opener, Kanzler added: “I remember, I think, that Electric Factory was even a thing that was used and I think one of the things that excites me among many things is that I would like to ride the lightning with this team and this city.” The Electric Factory is the nickname for T-Mobile Park’s crowd noise, which dates to 2022, the season Seattle ended a 20-year playoff drought and turned the ballpark into the loudest building in the American League. Hollander then called Houston “the organization that shall not be named,” and three reporters followed his lead. MLB Network shared the clip on X with a laughing emoji, and it travelled from there.

Why did the joke land with Mariners fans?

Because Kanzler used to work for the team he would not name, and everyone in the room knew it. He spent five years inside the Astros organization, including two seasons on their major league staff in 2022-23, and he was there when they won the 2022 World Series. A new manager arriving from a division rival and refusing to say the club’s name is a small act of loyalty to his new city, and Mariners fans read it that way. The history helps too: Houston still carries the stain of the 2017 sign-stealing scandal, when players used a center-field camera to read catchers’ signs live and warned hitters by banging a dugout trash can, as covered in our guide to the biggest sports scandals. A Voldemort joke about that club writes itself in Seattle.

Who is Jason Kanzler?

A first-time manager with an unusual path to the job, and Seattle knows it. The Twins drafted him in the 20th round out of the University of Buffalo in 2013, he played three seasons in A-ball, then retired and taught high school in Texas before Houston hired him as a minor league hitting coach in 2019. He spent two seasons on the Astros’ major league staff and took over as the Cubs’ farm director in 2024, running their minor-league system for three seasons. He has never managed a professional game at any level, and he becomes the third straight manager hired by president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto without prior managerial experience. He replaces Dan Wilson, who was not retained after the season.

Why did Seattle hire him anyway?

Because the interview beat the resume. Dipoto said the search ran for more than 30 days, with a long list narrowed several times, and that Kanzler “blew them away to such an extent that it outweighed the experience factor.” He said experience is good, but in this case it was not good enough to dissuade them from everything else Kanzler brings, including a developmental background Dipoto thinks will land with modern players. Hollander went further, saying the Mariners interviewed Kanzler for a major league hitting coach job in 2021 and that it was “one of the most, if not the most, impressive interviews that I think all of us had ever been a part of.” Kanzler himself was direct about what he wants: “I want to win. I want to develop people. I want to develop players, and I want to achieve something with a collective and a great group of people around me.” Dipoto chose him over former Astros manager Joe Espada, which adds one more layer to the rivalry angle.

What did the fans say back?

Mariners fans loved it, Astros fans hit back, and a few Mariners fans worried it was too much, too soon. “Forever the little brother,” one X user wrote. “It’s awesome living rent-free in their heads,” said another. “The Mariners are ‘the team that shall not win a world series,’” a third added, and several Astros fans answered with two words: “Rent free.” The sceptical side showed up too. “That’s the behavior of someone who’s already scared of them,” one fan commented, and another told him to grow up. The split is the point. A new manager’s first joke is a cheap way to win a fanbase, and it is also a promise he now has to keep against the team he would not name. Managers have had their words travel further than they expected before, as Pat Murphy found out when his Yankees jab went viral, and Kanzler’s line is now attached to his name the same way.

What does the hire mean for Seattle?

It means a reset built on development rather than experience. Seattle went 76-86 in 2026, its first losing season in six years, after entering the year as a projected World Series contender, and Dipoto said in September that the team needed fresh ideas. The odd part is that the Mariners already beat Houston: they went 10-3 against the Astros in 2026, yet Houston still won the AL West at 81-81. Kanzler inherits Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh and a young, talented group he called “a good team already” with the potential to be excellent. His stated brand of baseball is “step on their throats,” and his culture line was just as blunt: “What we allow is what we stand for.” The first real test is not a press conference. It is spring training, where a manager who has never run a dugout has to turn all of that into a team that plays the way he talks, in one of the biggest ballparks in the league, as covered in our guide to the largest MLB stadiums. Asked how he plans to overtake a club that has won eight of the last 10 AL West titles, he had a one-line answer: “I know all their secrets.” The Mariners’ managerial search is now closed, and the secrets line is the first thing he will be judged on.