The Major League Baseball playoffs are moving onto the divisional round this weekend and sadly, the Seattle Mariners are nowhere to be found.

It was just one year ago that the Mariners won the American League West and then beat the Detroit Tigers in a thrilling five-game American League Divisional Series before losing to the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Championship Series. 

This year, the story took a much different turn. The Mariners, who entered the season with World Series expectations, went just 76-86, finishing third in the American League West, despite how wide open the American League as a whole was.

As a result, the Mariners have moved on from several members of the coaching staff, including manager Dan Wilson.

If you're an optimist, you see this change as a fresh start and a new opportunity to get the train back on the tracks. If you're a pessimist, you see these changes, and the comments made by Jerry Dipoto this week, as an indicator that the organization is too far gone to be saved quickly enough to make a big difference in 2027.

I won't tell you how to feel, I simply bring these two points of view to the table.

The Blue Jays finished in last place in 2024, going 74-88. They were one of the worst offenses in the sport, scoring 671 runs, which was the eighth-fewest in baseball.

They dealt with injury, as Bo Bichette played 81 games. They dealt with regression, as Bichette hit just .225 with four home runs and George Springer hit just .220 with a .303 on-base percentage.

Fast forward to 2025 and the Jays scored 798 runs, which was fourth-most in baseball. They got a bounce back, 32-homer season from Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. finished 13th in MVP voting. Throw in some breakouts from Addison Barger and Nathan Lukes, plus a playoff breakout from Ernie Clement, and the Jays won the American League East at 94-68 and advanced to the World Series.

There are similarities there for the Mariners: Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez regressed this season while injuries crumbled the roster in other spots. Brendan Donovan played just 39 games. Matt Brash missed half the season. Several other key players spent significant time on the injured list.

If you want to be an optimist? Rodriguez and Raleigh return to form and Donovan stays healthy in 2027, plus you get the next step for Dominic Canzone and another step forward for Cole Young and Colt Emerson.

Is it likely? It remains to be seen. But it's certainly possible. The Jays are proof that one year can make all the difference.

The Mariners have never been as truly hideous as the Orioles were from 2018-21. The O's went 47-115 in 2018 and then won 54 games in 2019. After a pandemic-shortened 2020, they won 52 in 2021, but with those bad records came extremely high draft picks.

By the end of 2022, the Orioles were trending positively with the likes of Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson. That group won 101 games and the American League East in 2023, and there were more youngsters coming with Jackson Holliday, Colton Cowser, Grayson Rodriguez, Kyle Bradish and Jordan Westburg either in the fold or about to enter it.

With all those young players, the Orioles were the "it-team" and were expected to contend for a decade. They still won 93 games in 2024, but they were swept in the wild card round of the American League playoffs, making them a disappointing 0-5 in playoff games for 2023-24.

The O's regressed further in 2025, going 75-87, firing manager Brandon Hyde early in the season, and things weren't much better in 2026 as they went 79-82.

If you're looking for a truly negative comparison for the Mariners, this is it: A team full of young talent that had a small window, missed it, and then never really got going again. The O's traded Rutschman this past season and while some of those young players are still there, that group never really got a chance beyond 2024.

The latest episode of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast is now out, featuring ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney. You can listen here, or you can watch in the YouTube player below.