The Mariners are hiring Tanner Swanson as their new bench coach, reports Joel Sherman of The New York Post. Swanson had previously been working for the Yankees as major league quality control coach and catching coordinator.
It’s a homecoming for Swanson, who is now 44 years old. He’s a native of Washington state and played college ball for various schools there. He eventually moved into coaching at the high school and college levels. He entered the professional ranks when the Twins hired him as a minor league catching coordinator in 2017. He got his first big league job with the Yankees in November of 2019.
As Sherman points out, Yankee catchers have generally been well regarded in recent years. He points out that current Yankees Austin Wells and J.C. Escarra have strong framing marks while former Yankees such as Kyle Higashioka, Jose Trevino and others have also done well.
Swanson will presumably doing far more than working with catchers in Seattle. A bench coach is generally considered a manager’s second-in-command, so Swanson’s duties could be more diverse with his new club. He will be working under a relatively green manager. The Mariners hired Jason Kanzler this week. In addition to being a first-time skipper, Kanzler is just 36 years old and has a pretty short coaching résumé.
Swanson will try to help Kanzler learn quickly on the job as the Mariners try to bounce back from a disappointing 2026 season. Manny Acta was the bench coach in 2026. He and several other coaches were dismissed in September shortly after the Mariners parted ways with manager Dan Wilson.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
