Expressing gratitude for this era of Mariners Baseball

Pretend I posted this on Thanksgiving.

There was a time not that long ago when “meaningful second-half games” was a legitimate stretch goal for the Seattle Mariners and their fans. For multiple seasons in a row, too, it would’ve been something to have even a “big series” in the second half.

And when it happened for the first time in what felt like forever, it was something.

2014, anyone?

It feels so long ago because it is so long ago, now 11 seasons since that one. But it was also literally the just the regime before the group we have now.

That season went well, the following one did not and Jerry Dipoto was hired as GM.

It only took hair over a decade to legitimately reach true contender status but hey, here we are.

And where are we? I enjoyed Dipoto himself getting the chance to encapsulate it during last month’s end-of-season media availability.

We have, I think, universally, one of the best farm systems in baseball, in terms of top end prospects, preparedness of those prospects, guys who are near and ready, we’re excited by that.

And I look at the core of our team, and most of them are in their mid-, late-20s. Most of them are having what should be the best years of their career.

Our starting rotation returns in full. We’ve got core players like Cal, Julio, and JP through the middle and young players that populate other spots on the field.

Productive veterans all over the field that return. And we’re right in the prime of what we should be doing, so it’s exciting. The only thing that makes it different is that this year, we go in being the divisional champions.

Would we all have preferred it not take this long to hang a 2025 A.L. WEST DIVISION CHAMPIONS banner? Yes.

But here’s something that needs to be said about the 2025 Seattle Mariners, something I’ll probably say a lot over the years ahead:

They could’ve won it all.

The 2025 Seattle Mariners were good enough to win the whole damn thing. They really could’ve done it.

They didn’t—but they could’ve.

That’s the mark, the target heading into this winter and the season to follow. And all ensuing seasons until something otherwise makes that not the case.

This is the new standard for Mariners Baseball

Their success—or, at least, above averageness—is undeniable.

That’s Luke Arkins of Mariners Consigliere.

Obviously, seventh-best isn’t the first-best we’re looking for in a single season. But it’s winning consistently—at least, to the level the Rays do?—over an extended period of time.

The best part of this endeavor, however, is the intent the organization has expressed to push beyond that.

It’s weird the 2025 Marines and the 2021 Mariners won the same number of regular season games. The latter went Fraley, Trammell, Haniger across the outfield on Opening Day, with Evan White and Dylan Moore on the right side of the infield.

Obviously, teams can and do often change after Opening Day. The 2021 club sure did—Cal Raleigh’s debut season, for one—but none with as much intent and ambition as the 2025 iteration.

The 2025 Mariners made perhaps the best mid-season upgrade trade in franchise history. No, they did. That happened. I feel like we can call that off memory.

They did that and then they pushed on. They got The Guy. They went and paid the price in prospects and money for the biggest bat available at the deadline. And it was their guy, the guy they should’ve never traded away.

Do we all wish Geno would’ve hit a little better on his second tour? Sure. Yeah. Whatever.

But you can never take Game Five away. It happened. The things that swing games and seasons and legacies matter. They transpired.

The Mariners pushed on and made the big trade and not only could’ve won it all but were close to doing so.

To put it simply, they tried. For once, they really tried to win a championship. And hey, look what happened.

Now it almost feels like second nature.

Of course they got a deal done with Josh Naylor. They had to—and so they did. What a world.

It’s easy this time of year to dive into projections, to make grandiose plans and chart out the win totals. It’s hard to be present when the team isn’t playing any games.

Still, outside baseball, the end of the year is time to take stock, to find joy in being in the presence of the ones you care about.

It’s a good time to savor the softer side of life, like Josh Naylor positively beaming when shown—to raucous applause and his walk-up song on the organ—on the big board at a Kraken game last week.

This is a guy who, six months ago, didn’t know where he’d be playing in a few weeks, let alone a few years.

And here he is, as beloved as a ball player can be in his new hometown, with $90 million to his name and a potential organizational hall of fame career in front of him.

That’s the good stuff. That’s life.

This blog can sometimes balance two ideas that might otherwise feel contradictory:

• That the game of baseball is about more than wins and losses, it is the backdrop to life for so many of us

• The Seattle Mariners owe it to their fans to win a championship and should make every effort to do so

I swear they’re not contradictory. Quite the opposite.

Never does sports fandom have more weight, more meaning, than when these two ideas meet.

I want to hug and lift up my wife in joy when the Mariners win a World Series. Or maybe it’s having one of my future kids on my shoulders at the parade, them asking why I’m crying about something good.

And everyone reading this has their own version, or own past experience from this fall’s playoff run that’d serve just as well.

Here, to follow, is one I loved.

It comes from Mariners President of Business Ops Kevin Martinez, one of my favorite people of all time. He shared it in an interview with Seattle Sports that aired the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

If you’re someplace you can watch it, here it is. Transcript to follow.

Salk asks if Kevin has a favorite game. Here’s what followed.

Yeah, I had a couple, but one is deeply personal.

It was the morning of Game Five. It was my dad’s 96th birthday.

So I’m driving over the I-90 bridge. It’s very early in the morning. I call my father and we have a conversation and now they live in South Florida. My mom is 88, dad’s 96, and they’re the biggest Mariner fans in South Florida.

They’re staying up late, they’re watching all the games down the stretch.

And I said, “so dad, how do you feel about…” and I get my love of baseball from my parents, both of them. And I said, “how do you feel about tonight?”

He goes, “I got a good feeling.”

He goes, “I got a really good feeling about Geno Suárez tonight.”

He goes, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he hits four home runs.”

I said, “dad, let’s settle down.”

That’s getting a little aggressive, four home runs.

So it’s Geno’s first at bat and I share with the person sitting next to me, I shared the story and I said, come on, Geno, do it for dad on 96, you know, his 96th birthday.

Next pitch, Mike, next pitch—it goes into Edgar’s Cantina.

And then of course, Geno hits the granny to win it. So that game, that moment, that conversation with my dad, that will stay with me forever.

To quote Leo in OBAA,

Life, man. LIFE!

Let me hit you with one more quote on the way out.

“There comes a time when all the cosmic tumblers have clicked into place — and the universe opens itself up for a few seconds to show you what’s possible.”

If you’re reading this, you know what it’s from. Apologies for the corniness.

But that’s what it’s all about.

So often we dream on what might be possible even when it surely isn’t.

Right now, your Seattle Mariners winning the World Series is possible.

Perhaps not as probable as the moment when Dan went to Eduardo but I digress.

The Mariners signed the bat they needed to sign. It sounds like they’ll either get another or a leverage reliever—maybe both.

It all goes to supplement one of the best cores in the sport.

It’s December in Seattle and even though the Hawks are rolling, you’d be challenged to find a local sports fan who isn’t ready for spring training.

This city’s a baseball town. Most are when the hometown nine has a shot at a title.

The Seattle Mariners do. Now and for the forseeable future.

And for that I’m thankful.

Go M’s.