When it comes to Seattle Mariners closer Andres Munoz, I've tried to carefully articulate the same point throughout the offseason.

I believe, that when the season is over, we'll look up and see that Munoz has excellent numbers. He very well might be an All-Star for the third straight season. However, with four straight seasons of declining velocity and spottier control in the second half of the 2025 regular season, I do believe that Munoz will be prone to some missed chances in 2026.

It doesn't mean that Munoz is bad, by any stretch. but if you throw a little slower and walk a guy here or there, then that leads to more pitches and more hits and more traffic and more opportunities for the other team to score.

I don't consider myself worried about Munoz, or even concerned, but I am cognizant of him having individual games that are a struggle, and any individual game that's a struggle could be a big deal to a Mariners team that is looking to win the American League West again.

I brought my thoughts to ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney on the latest 'Refuse to Lose' podcast and asked him if my observations were fair or an overreaction:

I think it's fair, and I also think it's normal and teams can win with someone like that. Right? When you think about, okay, shut down closers, guys who dominate, because Mariano Rivera really set the standard where it felt like that every time in the game, you had no chance. Well, right now in baseball, that's true with Mason Miller of the San Diego Padres. That's true, last year, with Edwin Diaz, he was that great with the Mets. I think Cade Smith of the Cleveland Guardians is a really good closer. But you know what, and I know this because we recently did the top ten rankings of the best relievers in baseball -- mostly -- they're not lock down. Most closers have times during the course of the year when they go through some struggles. David Bednar did a great job with the Yankees at the end of last year, coming over as a closer. When he was in Pittsburgh, he actually fell out of that role. He was booed in Pittsburgh because they felt like he wasn't a lockdown guy.

I think you have to remember that those absolutely hyper-dominant short relievers who just are awesome and go 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, seemingly every time out, those guys are the outliers. I think the Mariners have a really good closer."

The 27-year-old Munoz went 3-3 with a 1.73 ERA in 64 games last season, striking out 83 batters in 62.1 innings.

He's off to play for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic, which begins on July 5.

Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!