Mariners fans grumble at The Athletic's harsh, but fair MLB Power Rankings

The Seattle Mariners might have been panned for their offseason moves (or lack thereof), but they are actually getting some love from the mainstream sports media. As we recently wrote about, both MLB.com and FanGraphs have predicted the M's will return to the playoffs this coming season.

Well, now we have an intriguing article by the The Athletic (subscription required), complete with preseason power rankings ahead of the 2025 MLB season. The question is, how have the Mariners fared?

Well, it really comes down to from what angle we want to approach The Athletic's positioning of the Mariners. On the positive side, they have been ranked 11th overall and sixth out of all American League teams, suggesting they could make the playoffs as the final wild card team in the AL.

However, in keeping with the 'little room for error' department, The Athletic has also given the Mariners playoff odds of 44.1 percent. This translates to the 13th-best odds among all 30 Major League teams and seventh in the AL, specifically. That suggests they'll finish just shy of the playoffs. Again.

Mariners and their fans always on the edge in more ways than one

That The Athletic is essentially saying it will be nip and tuck when it comes to the Mariners' playoff chances will come as no surprise to a fan base which is used to going through an emotional roller-coaster ride with this team. With apologies for mentioning it yet again, the M's missed out on the playoffs in each of the past two years in painful fashion, finishing just one win back of the final wild card spot in the AL both times.

At least The Athletic offers a humorous take on the Mariners' plight, as they prepare to navigate the choppy waters of what seems destined to be yet another stressful season for everyone concerned. Grant Brisbee's write-up of the team doubles as an analogy which will likely have M's fans sadly nodding in agreement:

"Think of the Mariners as a high school junior with a 99th percentile SAT score and an A in AP Chemistry, History and Spanish. But they have a D in P.E. because they never brought their gym clothes. They’re taking the easiest elective allowed — beginning triangle — but they missed the final while in the bathroom. Their parents were thinking Gudger College (a Simpsons reference), but the kid might not even graduate high school."

Brisbee goes on to make the salient point that the Mariners had already achieved the hard part, by putting together an elite rotation with five bona fide starters. However, continuing the high school analogy, they hung around in the bathroom and screwed about on the phone during the offseason, as opposed to adding a couple of quality infield bats.

In truth, though, this is such a Mariners thing to happen to a franchise that, even when things go right, they still somehow seem to end up going wrong. Of course, the prime example of this is equalling the all-time Major League record of 116 regular season wins back in 2001, but still failing to even make the World Series. (On this point, as fans are well aware, the M's remain the only one of the 30 current franchises to never appear in the Fall Classic.)

Are the Mariners' playoff odds a fair reflection?

At the same time, we can appreciate if some believe The Athletic is out to lunch in giving the Mariners only the 13th-best playoff odds among all 30 teams. In fact, to somehow attempt to reference the high school analogy, perhaps their MLB writing staff collectively only managed a D in Math?

Further, aside from arguably the top rotation in baseball, the Mariners have a bullpen which will be reinforced by the (hopefully) healthy return of Matt Brash and Gregory Santos. They also have a catcher competing to be the best at his position, along with an outfield which has the potential to contend to be number one in the Majors.

However, it really does come back to the team not doing enough to find more quality infield bats to help what was one of the worst offenses last season. If there was ever a time to think big it was this past offseason, when the likes of Pete Alonso and Alex Bregman were genuinely available.

Instead, Jerry Dipoto and company spent limited funds, including on a player who had been let go following the worst offensive season of his Major League career. As a result, we can actually understand why The Athletic has given the team odds which hint at one more near-miss on a playoff spot.

If there is any franchise which has the potential to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, it is your Seattle Mariners.

Recent Posts