SEAside Thoughts: Mariners Struggle to Find Killer Instinct

Mariners SEAside Thoughts Week 20

“There’s a thing called “talent”! They don’t have it!” – George Knox, Angels in the Outfield

• Ohtani is so good
  • The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Los Angeles (LAAALA) are the worst team in baseball over the last couple of months and may be one of the worst run organizations in the league. As a Mariners fan since I was a little kid back in 2000, I feel pretty confident that this is the lowest I’ve ever seen a once proud franchise. The only reason why they’re not the basement dwellers is because of that bad man Shohei Ohtani.
  • He will likely finish second in MVP voting, and top ten in Cy Young voting…think about that for a second. Ohtani is the most talented player in baseball, and may be so for the next 5-8 years. He absolutely dominated the Seattle Mariners in all three games…and they still got swept. The Ohtani era in Los Angeles has been a complete individual success, and yet a complete team failure. The era is coming to an end soon.
  •  Mariners need a 2024 plan on signing Shohei Ohtani. The focus obviously needs to be on getting better in free agency this winter.
  • The Mariners need more offense, and could honestly use another high level pitcher if the option is there. The potential of Ohtani filling both these roles could be the key to a level of success this franchise has never seen.
  • There’s a balance here between being aggressive for 2023 and leaving open the option for Ohtani in 2024. Make no mistake, Ohtani will make close to 50 million a year in this new deal. Don’t let anyone tell you they can’t financially meet that mark, it’s just a question of what it could sacrifice for 2023.
  • Ohtani may become one of the greatest to ever hold a ball and a bat, I hope the Mariners are in position to sign him.

• To the Mariners series in Los Angeles
  • I’ve been watching baseball for over twenty years, and I can honestly say I’ve never seen what I saw in game one in that majestic ninth inning. I can’t even describe all that went down, so go watch Jomboy Media give a glorious review of the miscues that led to a hilarious victory that spring boarded a Mariners sweep.

• Their sweep was important and showed growth
  • The Angels are clearly broken, and it was great, and critical to see the Mariners take advantage of them; that’s what teams that are making the leap do.

• The series loss in Oakland showed there is still room to grow
  • The Oakland A’s are a complete rebuild, the worst team in baseball. They took two out three from the Mariners. This shows Seattle are still in the process of becoming a great team.
  • These series are crucial to the cushion Seattle needs, not just for making the postseason, but to be in the best position going into the postseason.
  • Although Castillo hasn’t looked as sharp in his last two outings, he’s the man I want starting game one of any playoff series. Taking care of these bad teams helps you get to that position.

• Issues with the offense
  • I know the offense has improved since the return of key players, but their consistency is something that has been severely lacking.
  • Seattle looked like a true contender in three of nine road games, having a consistent and impressive offense. In their other games, they either had one big inning, or couldn’t scrape across five runs against teams that look like they’re trying to lose.
  • In my opinion this shows that Seattle is clearly a power bat short. The addition of Haniger and Rodriguez are huge, as well as the recent hot streak by Suarez, but they need a little more.
  • In order to secure this ever-elusive playoff spot, they NEED Ty France back. Ever since the injury to his wrist, he’s been bad.
  • The team needs to decide whether they want to rest him, or adjust his position in the lineup. The player we are seeing now is a 6-7 hitter, not a guy healthy enough to be in that crucial two hole spot.
  • Give Ty France the next 4-5 games off, or move him down the lineup until he proves otherwise.

• Standings heading into last “easy” series for a while 
  • The Mariners went 5-4 on their AL West road trip, that’s a major letdown. After the day off, they will host a Washington Nationals team with the worst record in baseball.
  • The Mariners really need to take these two games, before they head into the final tough stretch of the season.
  • As disappointing as the past week and a half have been, the most importat thing is that the Seattle Mariners have a 2.5 game lead over the Baltimore Orioles for the final playoff spot with 40 games to go. The Mariners also own the tiebreaker over the O’s, which may be huge over the next six weeks.

• This week’s SEAside Thoughts Player of the Week are the LA Angels. Sorry, I had too.
• This week’s Mariners Music Mojo is Back to the Future by Bastille.

Go Mariners!