Heading into their 49th Major League Baseball (MLB) season, the Seattle Mariners occupied a spot both familiar and not. Years of postseason-less baseball had finally come to an end in 2022 when the team snapped what was the longest playoff drought in North American sports at the time. The following two seasons, however, were a return to futility as they failed to return to the postseason. Now, in 2025, the Mariners — the lone MLB team yet to appear in a World Series — have the same championship aspirations with a largely unchanged roster, a new manager and more fan pressure than ever.
“Our objective every year, but particularly this year, is to win a World Series,” John Stanton, the majority owner of the Mariners and a Whitman class of 1977 alum, said. “That, I think, is very plausible for us this year.”
In part, Stanton’s confidence in the team’s potential stems from the recent change in the team’s managerial position. Dan Wilson, a former catcher for the Mariners from 1994-2005, was named manager of the team on Aug. 22, 2024.
Stanton spoke about the benefits that come with having a former player as team manager.
“I think it helps a great deal to have been in the position that your players are in,” Stanton said. “… [C]atchers are by far the most prominent position of former players that become managers because they deal with both sides of the game [pitching and hitting].”
Another point of optimism for Stanton is the Mariners’ farm system, which provides the team with a network of Minor League player prospects.
“We’ve consistently invested in young players. And young players, by definition, are learning and getting better… For the last couple of years, we’ve consistently gotten better as we’ve developed our pitchers,” Stanton said. “The pitching has, frankly, never been much of an issue. We have what we think is one of the best, if not the best, pitching staff in baseball.”
In recent years, pitching has certainly not been an issue for the Mariners, whose pitching staff has ascended to top-of-the-league status. The real problem, as any local fan knows all too well, is hitting.
“The success of the team really does depend on being able to hit this year,” Stanton said.
Following Wilson’s appointment, there were promising signs that the team’s hitting would improve. Wilson brought Hall of Famer and former Mariner Edgar Martinez onto the hitting staff. After his arrival, the team’s On-base Plus Slugging (OPS), a measure of batting productivity, ranked 4th in the league for the remainder of the season, and they scored the 6th most runs in the period. This was a far cry from the team’s 28th-ranked OPS and 27th most runs scored before their involvement in the organization.
Unfortunately, this fairytale improvement may not be here to stay. Through the team’s first eight games of the current season, the Mariners rank 25th in batting average, 25th in runs scored, and 19th in OPS. Notwithstanding the small sample size, this is a worrying look for a team whose success will likely depend on hitting ability.
As for his message to the Mariners fanbase, which has continually voiced its frustration with the team’s lack of offensive potency, Stanton used the common sports expression, “Trust the process.”
“We’re trying to make sure that we’re only hitting good pitches as hitters. We evaluate every pitch every day at every level. I get a report that evaluates both hitters and pitchers at the major league level,” Stanton said.
Despite a team-worst 11-19-2 spring training record, Manager Wilson had good things to say about the team’s offensive performance during the period.
“Offensively, [there were] a lot of great things that we saw,” Wilson said during his Opening Day press conference.
In Wilson’s eyes, the key to an offensive resurgence is Mariners Catcher Cal Raleigh. Wilson spoke highly of Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, who on Tuesday, March 27 agreed to a six-year extension worth $105 million.
“[He had an] incredible season last year, all-star season for him. Really excited to get him back out there and doing what he does. He’s coming off a good spring training and is ready to go, as are all our guys,” Wilson said.
Wilson and Raleigh have formed a special bond that goes back to Raleigh’s time in the minor league. Wilson commended the catcher for his new contract and lauded his leadership of the team.
“… [A] huge congratulations to Cal and what he’s been able to do here… I think he proves each day his value to this organization… what he means to the community here in Seattle as well,” Wilson said.
As for the rest of the offense, Wilson emphasized the potential for the team to benefit from roster versatility and flexibility as it heads into the season with largely the same position player roster as in 2024.
“We’re going to see how it [the roster] goes as we go… [W]e talked about that a lot in spring training: having some interchangeable parts, some versatility [in] the infield. We will continue to keep that a priority as we go through. To be able to say right now how that’s going to shake out is a little tricky, but I know these guys are prepared, and that’s the key… These are guys that are eager to play and eager to get in there and contribute to the team,” Wilson said.
Wilson acknowledged potential challenges that the team could face over the course of the season, including injuries. Still, he remains confident that the team’s deep roster will weather any storm.
“It’s a luxury as a manager to have that kind of flexibility and guys that are able to do it as well as these guys are,” Wilson said.
After an exhilarating 4-2 win against the Athletics on Opening Day, Wilson spoke to the media about the game.
“A great way to start the year. Fans were outstanding… Just a great ballgame all around,” Wilson said. “We’re all looking to come out of this one confident,” Wilson said.
Still, Wilson reminded, the win was just one game out of 162.
“This is a long season; we can’t forget about what’s in front of us. We still have a long journey ahead of us, but it is good to get off on that right foot,” Wilson said. “We come back tomorrow, and we start fresh again and have a clean slate, so hopefully we continue this momentum.”
With seven additional games played since that Opening Day win, Wilson’s hope hasn’t come to fruition. As of April 5, through their first eight games of the season, the Mariners have a 3-5 record and are tied for last place in the American League (AL) West division with the Athletics and the Houston Astros. Their run differential of -12 is second-to-last in the AL. In a similar fashion to the 2024 season, the offense has struggled to begin the season, failing to get on base consistently and ranking 24th out of 30 teams in total runs scored at 27.
On the pitching side, the team’s earned run average of 4.52, or 4.52 runs allowed on average per nine innings pitched, is the 14th lowest in the MLB. However, this is likely inflated due to the 10 runs that were given up against the Giants on Friday.
As Wilson stressed, baseball is a marathon, not a sprint, so the team’s less-than-inspiring start to the season should be taken fairly lightly. For the Mariners fan base, though, starved as it is of postseason appearances and championship hardware, this is easier said than done.
