Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Servais served in the
Texas Rangers' front office as the senior director of player development from 2004 until 2010. He was hired by
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim general manager
Jerry Dipoto as assistant general manager in
2011. Dipoto and Servais are close friends, a relationship formed while playing together for the
Colorado Rockies in
2000, when the pair had discussed Servais' dream of one day serving as a manager.
Seattle Mariners 2016–2021 When Dipoto resigned during the
2015 season, the Angels hired
Billy Eppler. Dipoto was soon hired as the
general manager of the
Seattle Mariners on September 28, and manager
Lloyd McClendon was fired on October 9, days after the
season's conclusion. On October 23, Servais was hired as the Mariners' manager. On June 26, 2016, Servais received his first ejection as a manager, asking home plate umpire
Carlos Torres why he didn't ask the first or third base umpire to see if
Shawn O'Malley went around on his swing or not. Servais finished his
first season with a record of 86 wins and 76 losses. in 2018 Servais received his second ejection as a manager on April 16, 2017, after first base umpire
C. B. Bucknor originally called
Leonys Martín's grounder a foul ball and changed the ruling after Rangers first baseman
Mike Napoli pleaded with Bucknor that it was a fair ball and Rangers manager
Jeff Banister was on his way out to plead his case. On May 25, Servais received his third ejection of his managerial career on a questionable called third strike on
Guillermo Heredia against the
Washington Nationals. His second season concluded six games under .500, a record of 84 losses to 78 wins, third place in the
American League (AL) West. This extension came when the
2018 Mariners were playing 58–39, the fourth-best record in the MLB. The team would falter after the All-Star break and finished the season in third place in the AL West, 14 games behind the first-place
Houston Astros, and 8 games out of a
wild card berth. in 2019. Following the 2018 season, Dipoto traded away many of the team's best players in order to rebuild toward the future. As a result, the
2019 Mariners finished 68–94 after a franchise-best 13–2 start. The shortened 2020 season had a better result at 27–33. Through the 2019 and 2020 season, rumors circulated about Servais' long-term career stability with the Mariners, although Dipoto and other front office staff voiced confidence in Servais. In 2021, Servais led the Mariners to their best season since
2003, finishing with a 90–72 record and two games back in the AL Wild Card race. The Mariners won despite a
run differential of -51, the worst ever for a team with at least 90 wins. Servais joked that the team had a positive "fun differential", which led
Baseball Reference to add that fictional statistic to the team's page. On the final day of the season, needing a win to possibly force a tie for the Wild Card, the Mariners lost to the Angels. Servais placed second in voting for the
AL Manager of the Year Award, behind
Kevin Cash of the
Tampa Bay Rays. On September 1, the Mariners announced that Servais had agreed to a multi-year extension with the club.
2022–2024 In 2022, Servais' Mariners had high expectations, but stumbled to a 29–39 record in the first 68 games of the season. However, the Mariners recovered and made the
MLB playoffs as a wild card team. Servais became only the second manager in Mariners history to lead the team to the playoffs. The Mariners faced the
Toronto Blue Jays in the
AL Wild Card Series. They won the series in two games, clinching their first playoff series win in 21 years, with the team coming back from an 8–1 deficit in Game 2 after the fifth inning to win 10–9, tied for the second largest comeback in postseason history. In the
AL Division Series, they faced Houston, who had beaten them 12 out of 19 times in regular season. In Game 1, Seattle scored four runs in the first two innings and held the lead to 7–3 going into the eighth inning. However, the bullpen could not hold it, and the lead was only 7–5 going into the 9th;
Paul Sewald allowed two baserunners (a hit by pitch and a single by
Jeremy Peña) to reach while getting two outs. Servais elected to use
Robbie Ray to face
Yordan Alvarez to end the game. The move failed, as Alvarez launched Ray's second pitch into deep right field for a walk-off 8–7 win. Two days later, the Mariners held a 2–1 lead going into the 6th inning. Again, with two outs and Peña on base, Alvarez was at the plate, this time facing starter
Luis Castillo. Alvarez hit a home run to left field to give Houston a 3–2 lead. In the 8th, Servais intentionally walked Alvarez to get to
Alex Bregman with a runner on. Bregman lined a shot to right to make the final score 4–2. Two days later, the Mariners played their first home playoff game in 21 years. 18 innings later, they lost 1–0 on a Peña home run to finish their season. In total, Seattle was outscored 10–2 over the final 29 innings after leading 7–3 in the 8th inning of Game 1. In 2023, the Mariners were leading the AL West on September 2 with a record of 77–58. They won just 11 of their last 27 games before being eliminated in the penultimate game of the season and finishing third place behind Houston and Texas, although they did finish with a winning season for their third straight year, the first such period for the team since the 2000–2003 teams. The 2024 season showed promise, with the team leading the division by ten games on June 18. They proceeded to collapse in July and August, going from 13 games above .500 to at .500 while losing the division lead. The Mariners fired Servais on August 22, making him the first MLB manager to have a ten-game lead of a division/league and not finish the season. In more than 8 seasons, Servais had a managerial record of . He ranks second in franchise history in wins, losses, and ejections behind
Lou Piniella and is one of only three managers, along with his successor
Dan Wilson and Piniella, to pilot Seattle to the playoffs.
San Diego Padres On January 11, 2025, Servais was hired by the
San Diego Padres as a special assistant for player development. He was considered for open manager jobs with the
Minnesota Twins and
Baltimore Orioles after the 2025 season but returned to the Padres in 2026. ==Managerial record==