Who exactly are the Mariners moving forward?
On Saturday, I wrote about a difficult question facing the Seattle Mariners heading into this offseason: Can they trust their starting pitching enough to build around it again in 2027?
Well, on Sunday, I'm bringing you a different question - a far more existential one. It's one I've thought about before, and one I've mentioned on the "Refuse To Lose Territory" podcast, but I'm bringing it here now.
The question that Mariners ownership and team executives need to answer moving forward is: Who are the real Seattle Mariners?
Are the Mariners really the organization from 2025, that won the American League West and got to the American League Championship Series, who then stubbed their toe into a "what can go wrong, will go wrong" season in 2026?
Or, are they really the team from 2026? One that isn't very good, but was on the heels of a "if everything goes right" kind of season the year before?
Right now, it's impossible to know the answer, but it's one that everyone needs to think long and hard about. And given the team's 66-77 record and essentially zero playoff chances, they'll have a chance to get a jump on that question earlier than they'd like.
Seattle Mariners President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto talks with the media prior to the game against the Boston Red Sox at T-Mobile Park. Steven Bisig-USA TODAY SportsIt is my assumption, and the assumption of others, that manager Dan Wilson won't be back in 2027. Will the Mariners keep the rest of the staff in place, simply thinking that a new voice can get the group back to the 2025 version? Will the M's bring in an entirely new staff, thinking that multiple new voices, and an entirely new way of doing things, is the way to resurrect this core?
Or, do the Mariners think that the team isn't very good, and not only do they need new voices, but they need a lot of new players as well? If that's the case, there could be significant roster turnover, in addition to the usual roster turnover that comes from losing players to free agency and non-tenderings.
None of these are easy questions, but they are all on the table for this team as it looks to get back to winning baseball.
The Mariners will finish out a four-game series with the Athletics on Sunday afternoon at 1:10 p.m. PT. Inexplicably, the Mariners are trying to avoid a sweep at the hands of the A's, who are 29 games under .500 right now.
