5 Reasons the Mariners Will Be Watching the Playoffs from Home... Again

1 of 5

After they filled fans with so much hope and optimism from late March to the end of June, the Mariners will be doing the thing they have the most consistent history of doing: watching October baseball from home.

So, yes the Mariners are going to miss the playoffs for their 17th consecutive season. This perhaps the most devastating near miss yet, as the team has crashed in the second half, after having a commanding lead for a playoff spot in early July.

The lead slowly evaporated, thanks in large part to the red-hot Oakland A’s, but also due to poor play and decisions from the Mariners organization. So today, we countdown 5 reasons we will not be enjoying playoff baseball in 2018.

Before we begin, let’s lay down a disclaimer or two. First, these are just my opinion. That’s what editorial means. Second, these are not the only 5. Certainly, there is plenty of blame to go around, and concentrating all your anger on these 5 things is misguided. But with all that in mind, let’s begin our countdown with number 5.

5. The Oakland A’s are Better than the Mariners

OAKLAND, CA – AUGUST 31: Khris Davis #2 of the Oakland Athletics swings at a pitch during the first inning against the Seattle Mariners at Oakland Alameda Coliseum on August 31, 2018, in Oakland, California. (Photo by Stephen Lam/Getty Images) /

Fanbases of any team are often narcissistic, and the Mariners aren’t any exception. So many of us are focused on how the Mariners screwed up and blew the lead. Of course, this is only partially true. Yes, the Mariners have played some terrible baseball. But if the Oakland A’s played as they had in the first 80 games, this wouldn’t even be an issue.

Any discussion of why the Mariners aren’t going to be in the playoffs in 2018 that doesn’t include giving copious amounts of credit to the A’s isn’t worth your time. Since June 1st, the Athletics are 58 and 29, a .667 winning percentage. Over the course of a 162 game season, that’s a 108 win pace.

4. Ichiro Becomes a Mariners OF… Again

SEATTLE, WA – MARCH 29: Ichiro Suzuki #51 of the Seattle Mariners waits for a pitch from starting pitcher Corey Kluber #28 of the Cleveland Indians during the third inning of a game at Safeco Field on March 29, 2018, in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images). /

Yes, I have been hyper-critical of this decision since before it was even made. And yes, this still bugs me. If you don’t remember the circumstances for Ichiro becoming a Seattle Mariner again, let’s take a look back.

Ben Gamel hurt his back on March 1st and was going to miss all of Spring Training and part of April. The Mariners didn’t have the MLB ready depth they needed to absorb the loss, so they hit the free agent market to find it. They landed on signing Ichiro, despite the franchise icon being 44-years-old coming off a bad season in Miami.

Ichiro appeared in just 15 games with the Mariners and was unsurprisingly awful. He slashed just .205/.255/.205 on his way to being worth -0.5 wins. Let me repeat that again. Ichiro cost the Mariners half of a win in only 15 GAMES PLAYED.

So why is this decision on the list? Well, besides the obvious reason that Ichiro isn’t good, they passed on Carlos Gonzalez who signed a few days later with the Rockies. For comparison’s sake, Gonzalez is slashing .281/.335/.472 in 118 games and is worth 0.7 bWAR.

In addition to the terrible performance Ichiro gave you, Mariners also sent down Guillermo Heredia when Gamel was ready instead of taking the obvious step of DFA’ing Ichiro. At the time they sent down Heredia he was slashing .310/.417/.552. So I guess you could say they got worse that day.

My rationale on this has remained the same: the Ichiro signing was never about winning. In fact, the Mariners knew it would make them worse and did it anyway. While losing half a game or so may not seem like a big deal, it is indicative of a larger lack of concern with winning in this organization.

Sadly, this charade is not over, as Ichiro will undoubtedly return in 2019 and will be on the Mariners 25 man roster when they open the season in Japan.

3. Epic Failure by Seager, Hernandez, Cano

SEATTLE, WA – SEPTEMBER 19: Kyle Seager #15 of the Seattle Mariners flips his bat getting struck out relief pitcher Matt Bush #51 of the Texas Rangers during an at-bat in the eighth inning of a game at Safeco Field on September 19, 2017, in Seattle, Washington. The Rangers won the game 3-1. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images) /

No two ways around it, Kyle Seager and Felix Hernandez were awful in 2018. It substantially easier to predict with Felix, but that doesn’t make it any less painful. The Mariners entered 2018 knowing the Felix was a shell of his former self and didn’t do anything to change it (more on that later).

In addition to the struggles of Seager and Hernandez, the Mariners also missed arguably its best bat when they lost Robinson Cano. Yes, the Mariners played very well during Cano’s suspension, but one cannot help but wonder how well they would have played had Cano not missed 80 games. Hernandez, Seager, and Cano are the Mariners 3 highest paid players. In 2018, the provided 1.7 bWAR and 2.0 of it came from Cano.

No, that isn’t a misprint. Robinson Cano who missed more than half the season was worth 2.0 bWAR. Seager was worth 0.7 bWAR and Hernandez was worth an almost impressive -1.0 bWAR.

The simple fact that the 3 highest paid players on the team, worth $70 million provided somewhere between $10-$14 million of value ($5-$7 million per win). Pretty much tells you everything you need to know.

The failure of the Mariners 3 highest paid players is one of the biggest and most obvious reasons for the Mariners collapse.

2. Mariners Off-Season Failures

SEATTLE, WA – SEPTEMBER 30: GM Jerry Dipoto of the Seattle Mariners looks on from the dugout prior to the game against the Houston Astros at Safeco Field on September 30, 2015, in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) /

This past off-season, the Mariners made a few flashy moves. Unfortunately, they didn’t exactly work out. Dee Gordon and Ryon Healy have been worth exactly 0.1 bWAR combined. The big free agent signing, Juan Nicasio, was a disappointment although did flash some promise. But at -1.1 bWAR, Dipoto’s off-season was a disaster.

Now, I am a big believer in the process over results. But at the end of the day, GM Jerry Dipoto will be judged on results. And his 2017 off-season was an epic failure.

Perhaps his worst offense is actually what he didn’t do this off-season. Remember when we talked about the Mariners went into the season knowing that Felix wasn’t any good? Also, remember when numerous people voiced their concerns about the health of James Paxton and Marco Gonzales? And whether or not Erasmo Ramirez could hold up as a #4 SP? Now, do you remember what the Mariners did to address these concerns?

Hope it didn’t take you long, because the answer was nothing. Not doing anything to address the biggest weakness on the team turned out to be a massive blow to the 2018 season. Too bad it wasn’t the most obvious thing ever.

Perhaps, even more, aggravating was the market itself. The Mariners really needed pitching prices to remain low, something that hasn’t been the norm in recent years. However, late into free agency, pitchers like Alex Cobb, Jaime Garcia, and Lance Lynn went for reasonable deals.

Now, very few of these free agent signings ended up working out for the signing team. However, we fall back on our process over results conundrum. The Mariners desperately needed starting pitching. Everybody knew it. And yet, nothing happened.

The inability to address the starting staff, as well as the lack of any interest to upgrade the bench and sure up the middle innings are all massive reasons why the Mariners find themselves in the position they are in.

1. In-Season Management Decisions

SAN DIEGO, CA – AUGUST 29: Scott Servais #29 of the Seattle Mariners stands during the national anthem before a baseball game against the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park on August 29, 2018, in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images) /

Finally, we reach the biggest problem with the 2018 Seattle Mariners. They were improperly managed during the 2018 season. And no, this is not going to be a rip job on Scott Servais. Jerry Dipoto must share in the blame here as well. But let’s start with Servais.

When he was hired, Scott Servais made some waves at his introductory press conference with his stance that he wanted to be a cutting-edge manager. He didn’t want to bunt. He wanted to be creative in his use of the bullpen. And he wanted to be tough to play against.

Well, our general disdain for Servais’ bullpen management is well documented. Instead of the creative bullpen usage we were promised, we instead got a service manual of early 2000’s bullpen usage. Innings based usage in the bullpen is a ridiculously flawed idea and as unimaginative as possible.

More from SoDo Mojo

Servais constantly didn’t use Edwin Diaz in tight but winnable games only to see his team get blown out the next few nights. However, Servais will run Edwin Diaz out there to get 3 outs against the bottom of a teams order with a 3 run lead just to get him a save. Idiot.

And when Jerry Dipoto went out and got him another closer in Alex Colome, Servais stubbornly refused to use him earlier than the 8th inning. He never flipped Diaz and Colome to play matchup this season. How can you not take advantage of that?

As for the bunting, Servais does it all the time. What’s worse, he has no issue asking guys like Jean Segura and Ben Gamel to do it, despite them being 2 of the best 5 bats currently in the lineup. The Mariners have the second most bunts in the AL, trailing only the last place Rangers. Epic failure.

Now let’s shift focus to Jerry Dipoto for a moment. We already touched on his obsession with making Ichiro work, but that is nothing in comparison to his stubbornness to keep Andrew Romine around despite him providing absolutely no value to the team. None. It isn’t like there wasn’t a better option out there.

In addition, Dipoto’s trade deadline acquisitions have been a disaster. Zach Duke, Adam Warren, Sam Tuivailala, and Cameron Maybin have been worth a combined -0.6 fWAR. It is tough to blame a GM for trade deadline mistakes. After all, you are buying lottery tickets, and you are going to lose more than you win. This is especially true when you are asking a player to perform at a high level for 2 months after getting traded. It’s a tough task.

I can handle swinging and missing at the deadline. It is a part of the game. However, the utter lack of anything happening in August is indefensible. Yes, the Mariners tried to get somethings done. But at the end of the day, they epically failed. Hard. They didn’t make a single noteworthy transaction.

On top of that, the Mariners management actively chose to be worse in August with their decision to send down Ben Gamel over Guillermo Heredia. Gamel, who owns a .352 OBP and a 0.9 fWAR was sent down for almost all of August for a guy who cannot hit and provides nothing that Maybin didn’t.

All that being said, I am not advocating for sweeping changes at the top of the baseball ops department. By all accounts, Servais is an above-average manager or better at everything that happens before and after the 9 innings he is on TV that day.

Dipoto is smart, aggressive, and has done a nice job of raising the floor of the franchise and finding good talent where others have overlooked IE Mitch Haniger, Marco Gonzales and Ben Gamel. I think he needs to be more aggressive in free agency, but nobody knows how much he is limited by ownership.

Next. This Question Will Determine the Entire Off-Season. dark

Overall, I am okay with the current management duo of Dipoto and Servais, but that does not excuse the simple fact: they played massive roles in the decline of the 2018 Mariners.

Home / Mariners News