A word from John Stanton

In a fantasyland where a Mariners owner said exactly what we wanted to hear.

(Ed. note: Thanks readers for your patience as I take some time down, then catch up on work and finally deal with a crushing finish to the season. Here is, of course, obviously not actually John Stanton. I think a lot about what it’d be like to own the M’s so here you go. The ideal words from an ideal owner.)

I’m pissed.

I’m disappointed. I’m frustrated. I’m angry. I’m crushed. I’m sad.

A few days and change into the hollowness of another offseason, I’ve felt everything our fans have felt. Because I’m a fan myself. I love this team and this organization—and am honored to be the steward of it. But being a steward and an owner is an active role.

The fate of the organization rests with me. While I am the owner of this team, at least one of them, I work for this community—for this fan base, for this city, this region and beyond.

You will hear from Jerry, Scott and Justin—three individuals I trust and know want the same thing I do—but before that, I wanted you to hear from me.

This is not what I want.

This is a step back, and we will learn from it.

We could be playing today. I’d rather be getting ready for that.

But even better would be getting some rest here at home for a couple days as we ready for Game 1 of the ALDS on what sets up to be a beautiful Saturday evening in the Pacific Northwest.

At this point, the world has seen our summers. It’s past time to show them the our Octobers.

Words are only words. This I know. There’s nothing I can say that’s going to sound good today. But I do want you to know I feel how you do.

And I’m going to do something about it. I owe that to you.

As I’ve seen y’all debate on Twitter and wherever else, there’s no guaranteed road to success. While they all come with pitfalls, there are many avenues to being great—and we are going to utilize every one of them.

I mentioned above I owe it to the fans and I do. Figuratively—and literally.

We play in this beautiful hallowed park because this community has invested in it many times over. We had more fans spend their time and their hard-earned money here this summer than we’ve had in a long time. That includes a pristine All-Star Week and, whew, that Julio round in the derby.

We owe it to our fans to invest that money back into the club. They’ve given us so much, so much energy—so much patience—and they deserve the same level of commitment going back.

You will see payroll increase. It will increase dramatically. We are committed to being a world-class organization and in this game, that means putting up the kind of weight the big guys put up. Like them, we’re supported by a world-class city.

But like I said, this rests with me. If I have to put more resources into the club, I will. If I have to go out and find more partners so we can give this team, this organization, the resources it deserves—I will.

I’m not going to get into particular players or even avenues for improvement, but we will do all we can to maximize every one of them.

I’ve been at these games with you. I’ve got a scorebook full of dramatic regular season wins and heartbreaking losses—and that one Postseason 18-inning affair that filled every box in it.

I felt crushed at the end of that last year. I felt it even more this year.

And I don’t want to feel it again. Not anytime soon.

I’m here talking to you now when the baseball season has another month left, and our fans deserve to be part of it.

We will get there. We will be there.

I will make sure of it.

With that, I open it up to questions before we turn it over to Jerry, Scott and Justin.

(Go M’s.)