Seattle Mariners: Another year of “almost”

The Mariners’ 2018 season took a turn for the worst with last night’s loss to the Yankees. With Oakland taking care of the Rangers, the Mariners fall to six-and-a-half games behind the second wild card, with only 21 games remaining. The M’s are technically still in the race but definitely have one foot in the grave.

While talking Mariners with friends and family, a recurring theme has been “next year.” No, why not this year? If giving up postseason hope translates into next year, then the Mariner fanbase has said “next year” the last 17 seasons.

What makes this potential wild card collapse surprising is that the M’s haven’t had a lineup this strong in a while. The M’s are set from hitters 1-6 if you count Ryon Healy. Kyle Seager is still included in the mix because he’s a proven All-Star. Despite his struggle in clutch situations, the team has found their speed demon sparkplug in Dee Gordon.

So why are the Mariners fading away from 2018? Have the A’s been too much to handle and thus too impossible to keep pace with? Or would the Mariners still be in that wild card spot if not for Robinson Cano missing 80 games? Or maybe Scott Servais is too young a manager for the big time. Us Mariner fans have seen this movie too many times. And it’s not a rom-com.

The movie I’m referring to is “almost.” When the M’s almost make the playoffs, it will feel like they’ve made the World Series.

Let’s wind the clocks back to 2014. For the first time in a long time, playoffs became Mariner vocab. With fabulous pitching and an okay lineup, this team was feeling the playoff race. They never made a run for the division but hung either in or around wild card most of the year.

However, the pitching collapsed in a September series to the Blue Jays which ultimately killed the Mariners’ hopes. But they hung in there and stayed in contention until game 162. 2014 came to an end since despite the Mariners sweeping the division-winning Angels; the A’s won too and they controlled their destiny. There would be no wild card tiebreaker with Oakland.

After a losing 2015 season, let’s flash forward to 2016. We saw the beginning of the Dipoto-Servais era. For most of May and June, Servais had the home team in first place until the Rangers leapfrogged them and never looked back. Similar to 2014, this team had the pieces but not enough gas in their tank for October.

Fan frustration continued as 2016’s squad contended until game 161. The bullpen collapsed and the A’s (again) eliminated the M’s. There would be no tiebreaker with the Jays for the second wild card.

No team is flawless and both teams clearly had aspects which held them back. 2014 had mediocre hitting while 2016 had a mediocre bullpen. Edwin Diaz was just a rookie and Opening Day closer Steve Cishek blew saves left and right.

Those teams almost made it but why not this team? On paper they have the hitters and Diaz is now a seasoned star. The middle relief isn’t great but there have been worse over the past seasons. The problem with an “almost,” “next year” attitude is that there’s no guarantee next year’s team may live up to expectations. A few key pieces may depart. The performance of that team becomes wasted and in October, playoff standing doesn’t mean a thing.

The M’s pitching hasn’t been as dominant since 2014 while Nelson Cruz and Cano may not have the career seasons they had in 2016 ever again. Other teams seem to be figuring it out so why not the Mariners?

So while it may not look like they can, let’s enjoy this 2018 team while we can and keep the hope alive while still there. After all, difference makers like Cruz may not be in a Mariner uniform going forward. He probably wouldn’t have been after the deadline if the M’s had been out of contention. Hopefully for the first time in a long time, the M’s won’t “almost” make it. The “next year” mindset is becoming a broken record.