The Seattle Mariners are on a quest to end a 15-year playoff drought and bring post-season baseball back to the Pacific Northwest.
This will not be an easy task. All four teams in the American League West have improved and the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox each improved on paper as well.
Not to mention the Yankees have a ton of young talent and the Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles bring powerful lineups and nice pitching staffs to the ballpark every night.
So how can the Mariners climb their way to the top of the heap? Some things need to happen for them to have a shot. Other things would be nice, but not necessary to achieve their ultimate goal. Let us distinguish between these needs and wants.
Imagine you are buying a house. You have two kids, a dog, plus you and your significant other. So, you need at least two rooms; one for the kids and one for you but you want three rooms to have some extra space.
Maybe you need a nice yard for the kids and dog to run around in but you want a pool to entertain the family as well. Starting to get the idea?
Needs are a must have, in this case, for the Mariners to make the playoffs. Wants are cool extra’s you can live without, but they sure would be cool to have.
So without further ado, here are five things the Mariners need to do to make the playoffs, and five things we want to see them do in 2017.