THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Wilson has a strange knack as M's skipper

I’m sorry to be writing this.

Truly.

But there’s no use running laps, playing checkers or finding some other way to stall.

It’s time.

The Mariners need to part ways with Dan Wilson.

There are a gang of managers in MLB who somehow have the gene, a knack for the job.

We could argue over who belongs on that list, except that we know there are a few savvy characters who have it in their blood.

Bruce Bochy.

Tito Francona.

Likewise, there are some sharp young heads, like the Guardians’ Stephen Vogt.

The largest group of managers, though, fall into the category of treading water.

These are guys who go “by the book” and hang around for a job or two before bumping up to some job in the personnel office.

For better or worse, Wilson does NOT fall into the “yawn” category.

He’s creating his own book with surprising use of pinch hitters and relief pitchers — infuriating the fan base.

The Mariner World knows this: Dan will do SOMETHING strange, and it will probably decide a game.

THE BAD news here is that in spots where a manager can put his personal tattoo on results, Wilson has a pretty dismal record.

The M’s are 6-12 in one-run games (beginning this week’s series against the Athletics) and … yes … that’s the worst record in MLB.

If you want to defend Wilson — at least this year — there’s no question that the Mariners have been gutted by injuries to key players.

There’s a pretty good argument that those one-run losses have had something to do with bullpen injuries to Matt Brash and Gabe Speier.

Brash, in particular, has the tools to get critical outs — the kind that lock up wins.

Of course, Mariners fans have been griping with Wilson over his use of Brash when situations seem to scream out for his “death slider.”

So.

This dispute can cut either way.

The anti-Wilson crowd sees a pretty salty bullpen anchored by Andres Munoz, Carlos Vargas and new lefty Jose A. Ferrer.

Plus Brash and Speier.

Meanwhile.

The paying fan sits in the left-field seats and moans: “How can this guy botch the bullpen in these close games?”

Wilson’s defenders, on the other hand, point out that the M’s were missing Brash and Speier early in the year — when this dreary stretch of .500 ball got started.

THE BIG question is really pretty simple.

Will the Mariners get some traction under Wilson sometime soon?

Or will his bizarre slices of strategy keep Seattle from matching the talent on its roster?

Somewhere in here, you’d think that the wounded offense (Brenden Donovan, Cal Raleigh, etc.) would start to generate some runs.

What happens, though, is that when that talented pitching staff holds an opponent to two, the M’s get 10.

Or none.

They’re having a hell of a time matching up the numbers.

Here’s the thing: Certain managers, the good ones, generate some form of electricity that produces wins that easily could have been losses.

The others struggle night after night, and eventually disappear.

Mariner fans worry that Wilson is headed for “Column B.”

With good reason, I’m afraid.

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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."