John Stanton's twisting of the truth on his Mariners ownership lands with a thud

Nobody should be holding their breath waiting for John Stanton to sell the Seattle Mariners. He's more focused on convincing the masses he's the right guy to own the team, and we're here to tell you it's not going any better than it was before.

After the Mariners' season ended in an emotional and awkward fashion on Sunday, Monday was the day for the brass to make the rounds. Jerry Dipoto addressed the media, mostly to take heat. So did Stanton, mostly to deflect.

Stanton's entire interview on King 5 News' "Ultimate Seattle Sports Show" is worth watching, but the part that's getting attention on social media concerns Stanton's response to fans who think he should sell the team:

"Selling the team is an inherently risky proposition, in that you don't know what the interest of the new owner will be," Stanton said, later adding: "We're committed to staying here. We're also committed to winning."

So, apparently it's our bad that we were under the impression selling a team is about making a whole bunch of money, regardless of the intentions of the next ownership group. Stanton could probably make at least $3 billion by selling the Mariners, but it seems the team is less of an investment and more of a passion project. Big, if true.

John Stanton's defense of his commitment to winning with Mariners doesn't add up

The best defense of Stanton is that he and Dipoto have delivered the goods as far as turning the Mariners into a winner. Scandalous, I know, but the team is still ninth out of 30 teams in wins since the start of 2021 even after this year's 76-86 slog.

Some of the teams below Seattle on the post-2021 wins list include the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs. Those clubs have more resources, and you can rest assured that's not lost on fanbases that must see things worth envying when they look to Seattle.

Yet there is still the lingering question of how the Mariners use what resources they have, and specifically whether they could be spending more money. Because while Stanton did reference having increased payroll over the last five years, what's wrong with this picture?

The Mariners have increased payroll each of the last five years, but up is the only way to go when you're starting from a low point of MLB's 25th-highest payroll. Even this year's "franchise-high" payroll still landed the team in the middle of the pack.

As for those quotes on "franchise-high," inflation is a thing. The Mariners' last franchise-high payroll before 2026 was a $157.9 million payroll in 2018. That payroll is worth $211 million in today's dollars. This year's actual payroll came in about $50 million under that mark.

This underscores why Mariners fans tend to perceive the Stanton-Dipoto regime as being smart, but ultimately so risk-averse that the franchise's first World Series is doomed to remain just out of reach. So when Stanton tries to sell himself as some kind of generous benefactor, it just doesn't land.

And yes, that is putting it mildly.

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