Mariners fans left to hope that World Series near-miss is only the beginning

Here’s the thing about a gut punch in Game 7 of the ALCS: it leaves a bruise, but it also leaves a blueprint. The Seattle Mariners went pitch-for-pitch with a loaded Toronto Blue Jays club in an ALCS that kept flipping on one swing, one mound visit, and one missed sinker. That kind of October education doesn’t simply vanish; it hardens a clubhouse and clarifies a front office’s shopping list. If 2025 was the proof of concept that this group can carry the weight of a pennant chase, then the sequel should come with fewer question marks and a lot more intentionality.

Because beneath the heartbreak is a roster that finally looks like a sustained idea, not a one-year spike. The Mariners didn’t ride a single miracle arm or a career-year bat; they built a spine that can hold over time. They played elite run prevention, found enough thunder, survived injuries that would’ve sunk lesser teams, and learned what their October personality is: stubborn, opportunistic, and just volatile enough to scare anyone who draws them.

Mariners’ World Series near-miss should be the start, not the story

Start with the headliners. Cal Raleigh didn’t just mash, he detonated: 60 homers and 125 RBI from a switch-hitting catcher is the kind of line you have to double-check before you post. He’s about to have an MVP case on the ballot and, just as important, a permanent spot on the franchise marquee alongside Julio Rodríguez. That’s a co-face-of-the-club arrangement you can plan around for years.

Around them, 2025 introduced pieces that matter now and project even better later. Cole Young’s first look at second base came with seams, rookie walls tend to do that, but the instincts, the at-bats, the baseball I.Q. all screamed “keeper.” 

On the mound, Bryan Woo graduated from “next up” to “best right now,” dragging a bruised rotation through the heaviest months. Get George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, and Bryce Miller back and healthy for a full season, and you’ve got four postseason-caliber starters before you even address the Luis Castillo rumor mill. (Yes, he’s under contract. Yes, the hot stove will still talk itself into trade scenarios again. Here’s your official welcome to winter.)

And then there’s the fork-in-the-road stuff. Do you try to run it back with deadline adds like Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez, who brought real edge and production? What’s the plan for approaching contract years on Victor Robles, J.P. Crawford, Jorge Polanco, and Randy Arozarena? You can’t keep everyone, but you also can’t cheap out on the identity you just formed. This is where a season like 2025 should pay off: higher gates, better ratings, and a clearer business case to stretch payroll in targeted places.

The reason to lean aggressive is simple: the pipeline isn’t theoretical anymore. Cole Young keeps developing. Harry Ford is ready to impact however he can. Lazaro Montes, drawing Yordan Álvarez comps, looks like left-handed thunder you only find at the top of a lineup card. Colt Emerson keeps stacking mature at-bats. Ben Williamson went down, found the power switch at Triple-A, and still projects as a Gold Glove defender. Lastly, Ryan Bliss returns to complicate decisions in the best way. This is what a healthy organization looks like: big-league anchors with waves behind them.

All of that funnels into a simple offseason mandate: protect the core, buy certainty where you can’t grow it, and let the kids force collisions on the depth chart. Add one more bankable bat that lengthens the middle. Insulate the rotation with a veteran you trust to take the ball in October if someone wobbles. Keep the bullpen lean, mean, and strike-throwing. The aim isn’t to “get back,” it’s to make returning feel inevitable.

So yes, the ending in Toronto hurt. Of course it did. But Mariners fans know the difference between false hope and the real stuff, and this feels like the latter: star power at the top, a rotation you can sell in any series, a farm that keeps feeding the fire, and maybe for the first time in a long time, the revenue and resolve to act like a team built to stay. If 2025 was the near-miss, 2026 is the chance to make it the origin story.