Seattle Mariners Catcher Expands on Team Being Eliminated From Playoff Contention

SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners won't be competing for a playoff spot in their final four games of the regular season.

The Mariners' small playoff hopes ended after the Texas Rangers' 3-1 win against the New York Mets on Thursday. The Rangers and Houston Astros needed to lose their final four games of the season and Seattle needed to win out for the M's to make it to the postseason as American League West champions.

Before the first in the Mariners' season-ending four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday at T-Mobile Park, one of Seattle's star players offered an honest assessment on the year the team has had.

"It's disappointing," Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh said in a pregame interview Thursday at T-Mobile Park. "We definitely didn't deserve to make the playoffs. Just a frustrating year in general. A lot of areas to improve in. Just, ultimately sucks because you failed. But got to accept it and try to right the ship."

Over the course of the season, a common thread of thought that was repeated that a "turn" would be coming. With the talent on Seattle's roster, there would be a point in the season, similar to 2025, where fortunes would turn for the better and the team would go on a run.

That turn never came. After their eight-game win streak from May 25-June 2, the Mariners won three consecutive games in just two stretches, with the last being July 18-20.

According to Raleigh, that thread of thought might have led to a lack of accountability at points in the season, which led to complacency in various stretches.

"I think there's a lot of areas you could point to," Raleigh said. "Ultimately, I think it was a lack of focus, lack of execution, lack of energy at times. And then you can kind of roll that in with defense was not good all year, controlling the running game was not good all year, playing bad on the road all year. Hitting with runners in scoring position was definitely not good. I'd say those are kind of some key points you could look at.

" ... The 'waiting on it' part — maybe that was the wrong thing to do. You shouldn't wait on something. You shouldn't hold back on something that may need to be said or may need to be done. It's doing it there and now and making sure you're not holding back. I look at myself, could I have done more? Yes. I should have done more. But it's not just me, I think it's a lot of guys. I think it's staff, I think it's front office, I think it's players. From top to bottom, I think we could have been a little more aggressive. We're grown men here. We're trying to get to the same goal. And if it hurts somebody's feelings, it hurts somebody's feelings for a day. But at least it got taken care of, whatever that situation may be."

Seattle had injuries over that stretch. High-leverage reliever Matt Brash was limited to just 20 appearances due to two stints on the IL with a lat strain. Offseason trade acquisition and 2025 All-Star Brendan Donovan was limited to just 39 games due to three separate IL stints: two due to a left groin strain and one with a concussion.

Center fielder Julio Rodriguez, Raleigh, shortstop/third baseman J.P. Crawford, outfielder Luke Raley, shortstop Colt Emerson and starting pitchers Emerson Hancock and Bryce Miller are also included among the players who've either missed time with respective ailments or are out for the season.

"Every team deals with that," Raleigh said. "Guys are gonna go through aches, pains, injuries. It's silly to use that as an excuse. Twenty-nine different ball clubs are dealing with the same thing that we are and you can't use that as an excuse. We're definitely not going to. It came down to play on the field, and it was not executed."

The Mariners entered the season with legitimate World Series aspirations and are now going into the offseason early with more question marks than answers that will all but certainly lead to turnover within the team, whether that's roster, staff or both.

Among the changes rumored to happen is the dismissal of Dan Wilson as manager of the team.

"Obviously, tons of speculation," Wilson said in a pregame interview Thursday. "All that kind of stuff. Just trying to get through these next four days and push hard, finish up as strongly as we can and find some positives here at the end. Then we take things as they come."

As for Raleigh, he acknowledged that the roster could be improved upon but left the specifications up to the team's front office to decide.

"I don't know," Raleigh said. "My focus has been on the season, trying to finish strong, try to do as much as I can to help us. That will be something that (president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto) and (general manager Justin Hollander) will evaluate. And ultimately, if they key us in on it, great. If not, it is what it is."

Seattle won't be the only team entering this offseason with questions. The current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the MLB and MLB Players Association is set to expire Dec. 1. That leaves roughly a month for the Mariners and the rest of the MLB to sort through their roster. Teams will not be permitted to make any moves pertaining to the 40-man roster until a new CBA is agreed upon.

That month-line timeline ramps up the pressure on the Mariners even more to make any changes they feel are necessary to the team's success in 2027. As for the players and staff currently on the team, it will be a long offseason of reflection discussion as to what went wrong and to make sure that what happened in 2026 doesn't become a habit for the team.

"It's a learning point that we're all gonna have to take accountability for and understand," Raleigh said. "If it happens once, that's one too many times and if it happens again, it becomes a habit. It's just about changing that and making sure we turn it around."