Mariners Playoff Bracket: AL field lines up 2 beatable Central teams for Seattle

As much as some people may wonder if there's a glitch in the matrix, the Seattle Mariners are hot property ahead of the playoffs. They won 17 of 18 prior to the Dodgers series to secure the AL West, have an invaluable first round bye, and are favorites to win the World Series according to FanGraphs.

Despite the saying that to be the best you have to beat the best, if your path to a potential championship can be made easier along the way, there aren't going to be any complaints. At least in theory, this is a position the Mariners now find themselves in.

As much as being the No. 1 overall seed in the AL would have been a tremendous accomplishment for the Mariners, you can contend that being the second seed is actually better for them. It allows them to hold off on facing the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox until the ALCS, and instead lets those teams self-cannibalize in the meantime.

While that goes on, the Mariners can prepare to begin their ALDS on Oct. 4, facing one of two beatable AL Central teams. Helping the situation is of course holding homefield advantage, with their record at T-Mobile Park in 2025 ranked second-best in the AL, but what about their actual opponent?

Well it's either going to be the Detroit Tigers or Cleveland Guardians, both of whom lost their season series against Seattle.

Tigers stop their free-fall just in time

We recently wrote about how the Tigers were in an endless tailspin, which started with being swept in dominating fashion at home by the Mariners just before the All-Star break. However, despite their poor record overall since then at 28-40, they still managed to do just enough to qualify for the playoffs for a second consecutive season.

We won't go as far as saying the Mariners have the Tigers' number, just because of what transpired last season when the head-to-head encounters ultimately cost the M's a playoff spot. However, they do have an edge over their Detroit rivals in 2025, with a 5-1 record in the head-to-head season series and — lets be honest — a more talented roster.

This is not to say the Tigers aren't a talented team in their own right. However, they were one of the worst offensive teams in the majors during the second half of the season, ranking just 21st with a 94 wRC+, 23rd with a 6.0 team fWAR, as well as only 20th with a .700 OPS.

By extension, you won't be surprised to hear it hasn't been much better for the Tigers' pitching staff. For the second half, they ranked 20th with a 4.33 ERA, 18th with a 4.19 FIP and 16th with a 1.28 WHIP.

Of course, let's not forget though that the Tigers do have a certain Tarik Skubal pitching for them. September has been a bit of a lull for him — at least by his ridiculously high standards — but he's still in line to make it two consecutive seasons of winning the AL CY Young Award.

Guardians on a roll but hardly explosive

At least based on the last month or so, the Guardians are a more dangerous opponent for the Mariners compared to the Tigers. They went on a 24-8 run starting on August 26, resulting in an extraordinary come-from-behind effort to win the AL Central.

What really stood out during this stretch by the Guardians is that they only allowed 81 runs, 16 less than anyone else. In fairness, they've been pretty impressive in this respect over the course of the season as a whole, with their 641 runs allowed tied for fifth-lowest in the majors.

It also helps that the Guardians have the duo of Tanner Bibee and Gavin Williams on the mound for them. You don't want to face either right now, with Bibee and Williams having posted respective ERAs of 1.30 and 1.88 for the month of September.

At the same time, you wouldn't count on the Guardians beating the Mariners in a slug-fest. The Guardians are the only one of the 12 playoff teams with a negative run difference, with them ranking third-worst in the majors in scoring, encapsulated by ranking last in team batting average and second-worst in OPS.

Meanwhile the Mariners have a top-10 offense in scoring, highlighted by hitting 238 home runs compared to only 166 by the Guardians. Overall, you should never take any opponent for granted especially come playoff time, but if the M's can't beat the Tigers or Guardians over the course of a five-game series, they will only have themselves to blame.