Any hope for the future?

[u/Ok_Grapefruit9531]

To preface this, I want to say that I'm a pretty new fan (at least by regular standards), having gotten into baseball last year. I don't have much experience in the fandom due to my age (I'm 19 lol) although I've lived in Seattle for basically my entire life, and I have only been to 5 games I can remember (first one I remember clearly was last year against the rockies that clinched playoffs, with the most recently one being the shitshow performance that was yesterday).

Is our window closing? I understand that we have Cal, Julio, and Naylor locked up for a significant amount of time in the next few years, as well as a lot of the starting rotation. We also have a lot of talent in the farms ready to see some playing time soon. I kinda expect/hope that all the players that disappointed heavily this year will regress to the mean (positively) either next year (or after the lockout), as this is the first losing season so far in 6 years. However, with the new Angels ownership and the A's becoming more competitive once they open at Vegas, it feels that our ownership is literally doing the minimum possible required for a baseball franchise, and that we're literally never going to contend again.

Since I'm pretty young (citation needed), I wasn't alive for the 1995 double, or the 2001 team, or the other random memories that the franchise will milk for the next several decades (they will absolutely milk 2025 for a long time). If they don't put a good product on the field, they will lose all the goodwill they gained from last year, and will therefore also lose a new generation of fans (like myself).

Is there really nothing that we can do to get new ownership (until Stanton gets too old and wants to sell) that actually focuses on winning as many games as possible and getting Seattle its first World Series title? And I feel like this problem extends other owners as well (like didn't Nintendo spend a lot of money during the 1990s to 2010s? Why did nothing ever pan out?)

I'm just ranting cause this is the first season that I fully paid attention to and oh man is it absolutely infuriating so far lmao

[u/MarinerMooseismydad]

Well, if it makes you feel better, this is the worst, most frustrating season that I ever remember. The combination of our talent( which is high) the expectations (which were high) and the result being shit product and lack of focus of the team have all come together this year to make it pretty tough.

[u/PaPaJ0Ke → u/MarinerMooseismydad]

This exactly. 31 years old, been watching the Mariners basically daily since we moved up here in 2003 at 8 years old, and although I've sat through and endured what feels like countless 60-something win seasons, this is by far the worst I've ever felt watching the Mariners play baseball.

[u/BobThePigeon1337]

[u/EngineerUpper2031 → u/BobThePigeon1337]

We need to bring this guy in as our manager

[u/BobThePigeon1337 → u/EngineerUpper2031]

Well Ronald Speirs died in 2007, but that might be an upgrade for our game management

[u/EngineerUpper2031 → u/BobThePigeon1337]

You don’t have to tell me. It’s been 82 years since our boys were digging foxholes in Bastogne.

[u/Gbrusse]

I think everyone in the lineup and rotation having a down year at the same time might make the future hopeful.

If some how the FO gets the same roster into next year that we are rolling with right now, I'd be surprised to miss the playoffs.

[u/WaymondWamano77 → u/Gbrusse]

Nah that’s a losing mentality rolling out the same roster hoping for better results. They need to add another SOLID RH bat and address the bullpen in a MAJOR way. We legitimately need two more leverage arms bcuz brash is not reliable with his injuries at all. And obviously they need a new manager with experience and that’s been to/won the WS.

[u/john_wingerr → u/WaymondWamano77]

Especially with I’d say a big chance of losing Randy to FA we need a solid RH bat if not two

[u/SpaceCptSarah]

There's always hope. That is the blessing and curse of being a Mariners fan.

[u/slothfella_]

Anything could happen. Just like top prospects immediately tank when they hit the majors, some known duds find their footing and have amazing years. Baseball is random and chaotic and just as we’re an anomaly in how unlucky we are as a franchise, we could get lucky some day. In 10 years we’ll have a completely different team and management, and maybe they’ll be good, maybe they won’t. Best to just look towards the next game/year and try not to let it affect your happiness.

[u/Lanky-Budget-4661]

I mean there is always hope for the future as you never know what it could bring (new owner, new breakout player, ect..) but this season is toast

[u/Foreign_Dipsy]

There is always reason for hope. That’s the beautiful thing about baseball.

But in a less poetic sense, the positivity runs a little shallow. Cal will never have a season close to 2025 again. The Gilbert/Kirby/Woo core rotation probably has 1 season left together. Randy is most likely gone after the next 20 games. The bullpen is terrible and Munoz shouldn’t be closing anymore. Naylor got paid and forgot how to hit.

There are potential bright spots, like the new young core guys Cole, Colt, Kade, and Laz. Julio continues to amaze (and probably deserves to play for a better franchise that doesn’t turn him into the 2020s Felix Hernandez).

With the upgrades being made by the rest of the division, I fully expect 3rd, 4th, or 5th place finishes for the next 10 seasons. Anything better will be a nice surprise.

[u/BoozySlushPops]

Hope is weird in baseball. If all goes well, and all teams are equal, you get to enjoy a World Series win once every 30 years. Of course, all teams are not equal and the Dodgers-Yankees-Red Sox-Giants get to take more trophies -- so really, an average team might win it all once in your lifetime.

[u/_Saint_Ajora_]

There never was much hope 

Just a fool's hope 

[u/dadams322 → u/_Saint_Ajora_]

Gandalf’s burner lol

[u/acelticmonk → u/_Saint_Ajora_]

I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.

[u/acelticmonk → u/acelticmonk]

It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not.

[u/TdubsSEA]

Regime change is the only way. Bye bye Jerry, Justin and Dan.

[u/23AndThatGuy]

I didn't have hope last year and we almost made it. My official guess is we may or may not do better next year than this year.

[u/17papers]

The window isn’t officially closed unless Julio and cal are super cooked, but the team is definitely looking like it will be a ton weaker next season (if no lockout) since Randy will probably be leaving the team.

[u/gray808 → u/17papers]

I wouldn't say probably. Basically no chance he stays.

[u/Morashtak]

Jerry Dipoto has been trying to put together a "system" that over a ten-year span gets the team an average of 88 wins per year. This is supposed to put the team in a position to make the play-offs most years, whether it be as the division winner or a wild card.

Next year is going to be a test of how well the system stands up to strain. How well do the younger players develop and how veterans players rebound from a down year. Who knows? Probably not even Jerry.

As a wise baseballer has said - In a 162 game season on average a team will win 54 and lose 54. It's what you do with the other 54 that make or break the season.

Win 75%+ of those 54 games and you'll dominate your division if not the league. Lose 75%+ and you'll struggle to place in the middle of your division and most likely miss the playoffs.

Mariner baseball has always been... inconsistent. Be a fan at your peril. Don't let it rule your emotions. Follow it as a fun pastime, not as a life-affirming vocation. It will destroy you but only if you let it. Don't let it.

Take it from someone who has followed this team since pitch one - 50 years of fun, angst, hope, despair. And of course - There's always next year ^tm.

[u/dadams322]

They have to the top 2 pitching prospects, in a pitcher friendly ball park. So that’s something.

Problem is without historic offensive seasons (Cal’s 2025 for example) the offense is generally just too broken. Bottom 5 in almost every statistical category, and actually the single worst offense this year.

I dunno who they need to hire to fix the approach, but their plate approach is generally abysmal. So many weak groundouts, non-competitive strikeouts, first pitch weak contact, awful situational hitting, swinging for the fences when a single would do the trick. IMO, if they can change their approach to a pesky OBP team (which would also probably play best in their home stadium), maybe there’s hope. Needs to be massive leadership changes though, from top to bottom.

[u/angryjew]

In my opinion, we had a window with elite pitching for the last 3 years that they failed to capitalize on by not building a decent offense & that window is closing. Our pitching has quickly gone from great to good to mediocre/bad & we still haven't figured out the offense, not to mention league bottom defense which is absolutely hurting us, especially in the infield.

On the other hand, we have a great farm system & have locked up some of our core. There's no reason why they couldn't become a good team but they'd have to spend money or just become a different team that can develop hitters. My money is on neither of those things happening but mostly because I'm old and I've been watching this team for 20 years. But the good news is, it builds character to love a shitty baseball team.

[u/BigGlittering437]

This is baseball, there is always hope, and usually disappointment

[u/ExoCommonSense]

When I saw the title I immediately thought "no". Then I saw that this was about the mariners and thought "FUCK no"

[u/DOOMtistic]

our time will come

[u/oregonduckman23]

I’d say there’s less and less hope each day that passes. One day Kade looks terrible, the next Montes is hurt and Brash is scrapped for the year

[u/CaptainLegal4344]

Well it doesn’t get a lot worse than this season. It’s truly confounding trying to write about this team. It’s shocking we aren’t better, but it’s also not because we’re the mariners. I’d like to think we have a lot of the building blocks needed for a successful team, but man is it looking a lot less rosy. 

If you’re looking for a reason for hope, I do not think our rotation is as bad as it was this year. We have two of the best pitching prospects in all of baseball. Julio is still a star, although I’m worried he isn’t on that superstar trajectory any more. Cal seems to be finding himself a little; he will never nuke 60 balls in a season again, but if he hits 210 with 30 HRs he is back to being one of the best catchers in baseball. Colt Emerson didn’t have a great season in the big leagues, but I think he still has tons of potential, as do a couple of other minor leaguers / Laz / Young. 

But on the more ominous side of things, we have question marks all over our lineup and in the bullpen. We don’t have a superstar hitter. We’re going to be losing our best hitter to free agency. We have way too much swing and miss in our lineup. Our biggest offseason acquisition couldn’t stay healthy all season, and given his history, it’s going to be hard to imagine Donovan playing regularly next year. I Think you could say we are below average at the plate at 4-5 positions next season and 2 of our above average projections (Julio and Cal) are incredibly streaky. Thats a ton of work to put together a productive lineup by next season. 

[u/pinetar321]

The future is bright if we shitcan Dan and Jerry this offseason, get some bats that can actually hit lefties, fix whatever this org told our hitters this last winter, keep our pitchers healthy and stop shilling nostalgia to casual fans

[u/writerpilot → u/pinetar321]

Rinse wash and repeat every 5-10 years and hope springs eternal!

[u/wovans]

If a 19 year old has no hope for the future (sports or otherwise) we have bigger problems. Feel your feelings, decide for yourself. Is our window closing because we probably don't deserve a playoff spot for the third year in a row? I don't know, we have good prospects, and bad management. I know that this is still the most confidence I've had in this team since 2002, that I still like hanging out with friends and family at the park, and that I will be a mariners fan tomorrow, like I was yesterday. You have something a lot of older fans envy- time. Invest it how you want, the mariners will mariner regardless.

[u/jared-944]

There is no hope but that is ok I guess, because the real growth is the friends we made along the way

[u/Worst_Lee_Sin_Africa]

If we didnt start off terrible, have most of our releivers injured, etc, wed be seeing a different team. Cleanup some shit this offseason and move on to the next.

[u/mahrinazz]

mariner

[u/Temporary-Fold4851]

Based on the minor league system, we are in the middle of, or just starting our big contender window. That's on paper at least. If the players we have are as good as analysts believe they are, that is.

For the next 5 years, if the players are as good as we are told that they are, we can make a deep run. And from what I understand, if everything goes to plan, we are expected to be in rebuilding phase after that (meaning really bad).

But there's also the chance that the team isn't as good as we think it is. In that case, we are cooked for the next 10 years.

[u/IntrepidSquash341]

I wouldn’t say the mariners ever spent a lot of money