Mariners' rise in AL playoff picture has the competition running scared

With only five trips to the playoffs in just under 50 years, Seattle Mariners fans can be forgiven if they sometimes feel envious of other teams and their fanbases. They remain the only active franchise to never even make it to the World Series, and any anguish is only intensified by those hated Astros claiming seven AL West titles in eight years and winning two of four World Series appearances over the same time period.

Well, don't look now, but it's possible the Mariners are finally in a position to be envied and hated in their own right, at least based on comments being made around the majors. Currently riding the wave of an MLB-best nine-game winning streak, other teams have woken up to the threat coming from Seattle and are apparently running scared.

The Mariners are feared and respected around MLB right now

As per Cameron Van Til of Seattle Sports, ESPN MLB insider Buster Olney talked about how the Mariners are viewed during an appearance on Brock and Salk. He said:

"This is just based loosely on conversations I’ve had with executives around the sport and evaluators from other teams – If you were to ask the simple question, which team gives the American League the best chance to win the World Series? I think the Mariners would finish first."

Buster Olney

It doesn't stop there. When ESPN's Jesse Rogers surveyed 19 players, executives and scouts around the league, he asked who the AL and NL teams were to beat along with who their respective biggest threat was. Where it really got interesting from a Mariners perspective was when Rogers asked who the October sleeper pick was.

The consensus in both the AL and NL was that the Mariners were the October sleeper pick, with the overriding sentiment that they had yet to play their best baseball, but were a legitimately deep and talented roster. One NL player said:

"It's one of those lineups where everyone is waiting for them to put it all together. Their rotation is very talented, and they have one of the best closers in the league. I think they're one of those teams that, if they get hot at the right time, no one can beat them."

Anonymous NL player

Reference was made to Cal Raleigh hitting 50-plus homers, but that other players are built to thrive in the moment and win late, including the likes of Randy Arozarena and Eugenio Suárez. One anonymous AL executive added that the Mariners are his surprise team, helped by the starters picking up after a challenging few months and in line to prosper in the postseason.

In theory, part of what makes the Mariners so scary to other teams is just how unpredictable they have been this season. Aside from the aforementioned nine-game winning streak, the M's have also had streaks of eight and six in a row, while on the flip side they've had two five-game and two four-game losing skids.

Of course, as much as this unpredictability and ability to get red-hot unnerves other teams, Mariners fans should equally feel nervous about the team's propensity to go stone-cold at the drop of a hat. As Olney mentioned during his chat with Brock and Salk, no one has been more of a Jekyll-and-Hyde team than the M's.

Overall, let's be clear in stating there's no doubt about just how much talent and potential this Mariners roster has, with them capable of competing with anyone on their day. Yes the pitching and road play has been rough at times, but last year the rotation was No. 1 in baseball and earlier this season they dominated the high-flying Tigers in a road sweep.

The Mariners hold the No. 3 seed and could even still grab a No. 2 seed to really leverage their home-field advantage. They have the competition running scared, so now it's a case of justifying this and taking advantage of arguably the best chance to make their first ever World Series since the 116-win team in 2001.