Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez show stark contrast after awful Game 7 loss

When the Mariners' season came to an end last Monday, their two superstars were both asked how they felt about the 2025 season.

Of course, asking a player whose season just ended in heartbreaking fashion how they felt the season went is probably not the best idea, for multiple reasons. Emotions run high after losing, and they run especially high after being eliminated from the playoffs, after being eight outs away from the World Series. Perhaps a more accurate version of their feelings would be captured after a week or two to reflect on the season and rest up.

Still, it is interesting to note the differing responses that Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez offered when they were interviewed after the game.

Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez cover all the emotions of the Mariners' Game 7 loss

Despite his off-camera scream during the postgame media session, Rodríguez offered a positive outlook — one that was hard to understand immediately after the loss for many fans, but one that many fans will likely look back on in agreement when they've had time to get over the loss. Especially if the team eventually does win the World Series with this core, 2025 will be seen as a building block; a step in the right direction.

"I'm really proud of everything that I've done this year," Rodríguez said after the game during the Fox 13 postgame show.

"When I was a kid in Loma de Cabrera I never really thought, ever, that I was going to be able to get this far in this sport. And to be able to hit a home run in Game 7 in the sport that I love, that I grew up playing, it was very special," he added.

Rodríguez also gave love to the Mariners' fans who supported them throughout the season.

Rodríguez finished his interview with a positive spin, saying he thinks the Mariners will be back to the postseason in future seasons.

If that's the case, and if the Mariners do go on to build on this season and eventually win a World Series title, the Game 7 loss at Toronto will hurt a lot less in the future.

However, we have not seen that yet, and for the time being, the loss does hurt. Nobody seemed more devastated than Raleigh, whose season outlook looked a lot different from his teammates'.

"I hate to use the word failure, but it's a failure," Raleigh said. "That's what we expected was to get to a World Series, win a World Series and that's what the bar is and what the standard is."

It sure feels like Raleigh's words echo the minds of most Mariner fans, who are likely feeling like the Mariners' blown 2-0 and 3-2 leads in the ALCS were a failure.

However, the team obviously cannot be expected to win the World Series every year. If the core, fueled by Raleigh and Rodríguez, never wins an AL Pennant, Raleigh's words might ring true for the rest of history. But if the team comes back stronger and wins their first title soon, 2025 will be remembered much more fondly as a year the Mariners set the stage for something special.