“The idea here is that we want to be a contending team for a long time. And if you consistently put yourself on the dance floor, that’s when good things happen. I said this jokingly in the offseason: the Dodgers went out and had a magnificent offseason. They have achieved in building what I think is one of the best rosters you will ever see. And the chances of them winning the World Series are still pretty small — comparatively.
“That’s just how baseball works. But they’re going to be on the dance floor. And if they’re on the dance floor with that kind of talent, year after year after year, sooner or later you break through. And that’s what I was trying to convey. I think our players mostly understand that, and I believe that the fan base in general knows that I put my foot in my mouth with words that didn’t convey the thought that I was trying to convey. And that’s all I was saying: we’re trying to be a sustainably winning team.”
If the Mariners franchise has sustained one thing in its 47 seasons, it is vast epochs of heartbreak. First came 18 seasons without a playoff berth. After a flurry of four postseason appearances in seven years, there were two decades with none.
A thrilling wild-card run in 2022 produced one home game against Houston. It lasted 18 innings and the Mariners never scored. They struck out 22 times and shuffled off the playoff stage with a 1-0 whimper.
“When there’s really good pitching on both sides, combined with one of the most terrible days for shadows, you’re not going to hit well,” outfielder Mitch Haniger said on Thursday. “That’s why nobody scored for six hours. It’s never sunny in October. And it was sunny in October.”
Last fall brought storm clouds: an 88-74 record, one game behind Toronto for the final AL wild-card spot. The Mariners had the AL’s best earned run average, 3.74, and their pitchers set a franchise record for strikeouts.
But so did their hitters, with 1,603, second most in the majors to Minnesota. The Mariners’ run production wasn’t terrible — they ranked 12th in the majors — but the volume of empty at-bats took a toll.
“We created a lot of opportunities in many games,” manager Scott Servais said. “But when you lose out on getting in the playoffs by one or two games — I mean, off the top of my head, I can go back to eight or 10 games that were bases loaded, nobody out in the eighth, ninth or 10th inning — and we don’t score. That hurts, and it’s hard to overcome that.”
The postseason press conference was only the start of the gloom. Not only did another, higher-spending division rival win the World Series, but the Mariners’ spending power changed when they took full control of their regional sports network after a minority stakeholder, Warner Bros. Discovery, pulled out.
Dipoto then embarked on a complex and, at times, confounding winter strategy of diversifying the offense without markedly adding payroll. Three trades would follow:
• Nov. 22: third baseman Eugenio Suárez to Arizona for reliever Carlos Vargas and catcher Seby Zavala.
• Dec. 3: outfielder Jarred Kelenic, pitcher Marco Gonzales and first baseman Evan White to Atlanta for reliever Jackson Kowar and pitching prospect Cole Phillips.
• Jan. 5: starter Robbie Ray to San Francisco for Haniger (who had left as a free agent after the 2022 season) and pitcher Anthony DeSclafani.
To the remaining Mariners, the moves were unsettling, especially losing Suárez, a popular team leader, for a seemingly meager return. As Dipoto maneuvered, Servais traveled to visit several players and explain — as best he could — what was going on.
“I think at first there was a little bit of: ‘What’s the direction here? What are we doing?’” said starter Logan Gilbert, who met with Servais in Florida. “And then halfway through it’s like: ‘OK, this team’s looking really good.’”
By the time the team gathered for spring training, the picture was clearer. Designated hitter Mitch Garver, who batted cleanup for the Rangers in the World Series clincher, signed a two-year, $24 million deal at the end of December.
In early January, lefty slugger Luke Raley, who plays first base and the outfield corners, arrived from Tampa Bay for shortstop Jose Caballero. Later in the month, Dipoto flipped DeSclafani to Minnesota in a four-player package for Jorge Polanco, a switch-hitting second baseman with pop.
Without Suarez, Kelenic and Teoscar Hernández, who signed with the Dodgers, the Mariners have lost 59 homers from the 2023 lineup. But that trio also combined for 557 strikeouts, and the Mariners are counting on the newcomers to make better swing decisions without sacrificing much power.
In the gauzy days of spring training, at least, the pieces seem to fit.
“We have a more well-rounded offense; there’s no holes,” first baseman Ty France said. “They went out and got guys that they felt could eliminate the strikeout and get on base more, and they got a little bit of slug with Garv. One through nine, it’s solid.”
France worked at Driveline over the winter to make his swing more efficient, building off the strides his teammate, shortstop J.P. Crawford, had made there. Crawford led the AL in walks last season with a career-best 19 homers, and the hitters who could follow him in the lineup — Polanco, Julio Rodríguez, Garver, catcher Cal Raleigh and France — make for an imposing everyday group.
“We’ve got a deep lineup this year, a lineup that can definitely keep pressing on the pitcher from top to bottom,” said Rodríguez, who had a torrid second half (.941 OPS) after a hectic first half as the local face of the All-Star game.
“I’m honestly just looking to be able to play at my pace, be able to focus every day, and whatever comes from that, I’m willing to accept it.”
Will the Mariners’ fans accept anything less than a deep postseason run? Not with a parade so long overdue. But the team looks poised to get back on the dance floor — and for now, that will have to be enough.
(Top photo of Mitch Garver and Dylan Moore: Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press)