THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: It's early, but is M's Wilson over his head?

Wow, a loaded question.

Several, in fact.

Over the past few days, some readers have sent emails to quiz me on the same subject.

Is Dan Wilson over his head managing the Mariners?

Short answer: At the moment, yep.

Dan’s plan to play “old-fashioned baseball” has looked distinctly shaky as the M’s sit with a 5-8 record, too many key players hurt and hardly anyone hitting when it matters.

If you feel like giving the career Seattle catcher a break as he (theoretically) learns this gig and deals with problems that he cannot control, I’m OK with that.

To a point.

Wilson managed the club down the stretch last year, and the Mariners won 21 of 34.

That looked encouraging, but it was still basically Scott Servais’ team, going about its business with its own routines, yada, yada.

It looked nice to bring Edgar Martinez back to help the hitters, but batting coaches mostly stand around the cage and offer sage advice which is almost universally ignored.

The Mariners went 21-13 under Wilson’s stewardship because, well, they got terrific pitching and (finally) some hits that won games.

They likely could have gone 21-13 if YOU had been the manager.

NOW, IT’S a different ballgame.

Wilson and his bunting offense must stand and be recognized.

Martinez is great to have around, and so is veteran batting coach Kevin Seitzer.

But this season, Dan Wilson has to make decisions about the bullpen, how to handle late innings in close games, and so forth.

So far, he looks overmatched.

I think he knows what he wants (more or less) while planning ahead of time, but as games unfold, he stumbles and bumbles a bit as he tries to get his battle strategy working.

Sometimes he seems to go paralyzed, staring out at the diamond like the game is all a dream.

Here’s an example from the Mariners’ 12-inning, 2-1 loss on Tuesday night.

In the bottom of the 11th with the score tied, Julio Rodriguez (the ghost runner) had advanced to third with one out.

A run wins the game.

Randy Arozarena walked, and Wilson failed on one of the most basic tactics in that situation.

The Astros did not hold Arozarena on first, an obvious defensive move because they wanted to plug as much of the hole between first and second as possible.

Every time you see this happen, the runner (Arozarena) immediately steals second.

There’s never a throw, because (in this case) the Astros can’t risk a bobble or anything that might allow Julio to score.

But.

Because Wilson and the Mariners were in a daze and Randy didn’t just steal second unopposed, Mitch Garver’s subsequent ground ball to short turned into an easy double play.

That’s just managerial malfeasance.

Some of the Mariners' goofs have to be shared with Jerry Dipoto and the front office.

Yes, the injuries have made it tough, but somehow they’ve constructed a roster which put Wilson in position to have left-handed Miles Mastrobuoni batting for left-handed Dominic Canzone.

Huh?

WILSON isn’t on the hook alone for mid-game pitching decisions.

He’s got help, plus computers and analytics and all sorts of things — although my suspicion is that Wilson, who clings to that old-fashioned baseball, goes with gut feelings.

Dan’s already come up with a slice of late-inning gospel: He won’t use closer Andres Munoz except to close.

In other words, Gregory Santos or Trent Thornton or Carlos Vargas or Mariner Moose would work the ninth inning in a tie game – keeping Munoz to close.

Managers who go that way run a huge risk.

Say their ninth-inning guy gives up the game-winning run while Munoz sits in the pen doing —what, the New York Times crossword puzzle?

To be fair to Wilson, he MAY have formed this plan while imagining Matt Brash (or Troy Taylor) back from injury and ready to fire.

They are not back at the moment, though, and Wilson clearly is making some decisions on the fly.

Lefty Gabe Speier warmed up furiously the other night, presumably to face Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez.

Wilson eventually went to the mound, where he found the laboring Santos.

Everyone in the stadium assumed Dan would call for Speier.

So did Speier, who jogged almost halfway to the mound before being told no, Wilson had decided to stick with Santos.

You know things aren’t running smoothly as a Swiss watch when puzzled relievers are trotting across the outfield.

So.

Addendum to my answer on Dan Wilson.

Let’s wait and see, but early evidence is scary.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three times each week, normally Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”