The real drought is the division

And the Mariners will have to go and take it.

It’s good to have bits. You want to have at least a starting rotation of jokes, references or however you’d otherwise best characterize a “bit” with those closest to you. Let me throw you a free one—or at least a shard of one.

One of my favorite things to do is to take certain words or phrases and add in a baseball name. Here’s an example, perhaps our most-used, deployed when preparing to head out the door:

You ready?
Ready Freddy? 
Are you ready...Freddy García?

Of course, they’re not always so joke-y. Or maybe I’m using the word “bit” wrong.

But even in the world of Mariners online discourse, I’ll tie certain ideas or beliefs to specific individuals—usually the oldheads who go back to the Lookout Landing comments.

What I read as a bit may be someone else’s strong-held belief. And that’s on me. But there’s a certain humor in how frequently people express a specific niche viewpoint.

Like there’s someone a lot of folks in online Marinersdom know who hates most references to catcher-based stats. That Mike Piazza “most for a catcher through X seasons?” His arch nemesis.

Another person—Darren Gossler, who you might be more familiar with for his work on his payroll spreadsheet—often advances the view in the headline of this post.

Yeah, the Mariners made the playoffs in 2022. But the real drought—what really matters—is winning the division, the mark of being a Good team. Especially in the American League West.

Because a lot of blogging is giving further platform to a view you agree or mostly agree with, we’re going to do that here. And what a time for it, huh?

After Cole Young’s walk-off liner, the Mariners were a victory away in the Bryan Woo v. Hunter Brown matchup from pulling within two games of the Astros. A dropped pop-up, poor decision-making and inverse plays at the plate knocked the ballgame sideways and turned what looked like it’d be a two-game Astros division lead up to four.

It was the type of game that shows that, yes, they are playing Cooper Hummel and Taylor Tramell (good for him) and will play them even more after another injury to a key cog—but there’s still some tribal knowledge there. Something institutional where they reflexively do the things it takes to win the division.

The temptation will exist for the Mariners—because it’s been a piece of the strategy going on five years—to let the Astros come back to them. Eventually, they have to fade toward the middle of the division and, Jerry-willing, the Mariners will be there to slide past.

No.

It hasn’t happened yet. No need to bank on it now. They’re not going to give it up—you have to go and take it.

The Oakland Athletics won six division titles since the Mariners last had one. The Angels, too, won it a half-dozen times in that span. The Angels!

And then, of course, the Astros won it every non-COVID year since 2017. Sounds like some sustainable winning. That’s the standard, that’s the target.

The series opener against the Brew Crew will be game 100. The trade deadline is a week from Thursday.

I say the same type of thing every year around this time: you’ve gathered a lot of data on the current season, you know a lot not only about your own club but the status of the league at large.

So what do we know?

• All possibilities for this team are still in play.

• You have a legitimate MVP candidate. That never happens.

• As such, the run production is up.

• The output of Randy Arozarena should only bolster the case for adding good players even on good money. Every notch affixed to lengthen the lineup—Cole Young lately, Canzone obviously—pays exponential dividends.

• The Mariners are in very solid shape, at least as good as these Astros, despite not seeing their starting pitching be its dominant self yet—mostly due to health issues.

• The Astros are in a tough spot. They’ve lost seven of ten as injuries mount. A trendy division pick, the Rangers lurk 3.5 behind the Mariners in a crowded Wild Card field—but one where you are starting to see a little stratification.

• The farm continues to cook. Just cook. Not only that but the #1 draft prospect on some folks’ big boards landed in their lap at #3 and he’s a polished college starter who will move fast. It could put other pieces in play.

• The best team in the American League is the one you just swept in their building. The AL East is grinding but there’s not a juggernaut in there. The American League, as it has been lately, is wide open.

• There are clear positions to improve.

When people say “You just have to get in,” the “just” does a lot of work. So much so that it covers up what’s really a key part of the whole deal.

When this many teams do get in, and anyone has a shot, you do have to get in.

The Mariners need to play for the division. And to do that, they have to proactively take it.

The M’s have the prospects to make the additions they could make that’d place them at least on par with the biggest threats to the pennant in the American League. And they could do it while maintaining a system with a lot of promising players.

You have people in this town talking, again, about the Mariners in ways you don’t always hear—and it’s every bit as heartening as the M-V-P chants for the big man.

The Seattle Mariners. And the World Series.

That is the goal, after all.

I don’t know exactly what it would like for the M’s to take sincere aim at a division title and potential American League pennant. I leave that to everyone else with the patience and ball knowledge to give it an earnest attempt (shout Luke and Jage).

What I do know is that it’ll likely take the Mariners running a payroll that is not below league-average. Even at the trade deadline, even after the prospect cost, good players are paid good money.

The Mariners need more good players. They have space for more good players. They should have the resources for more good players.

With 99 games in the rearview, the Mariners have everything to play for.

It’s time to play for it all.

Go M’s.