3 Reasons to stop being a Mariners fan... and 3 reasons you should never leave

Reason #2 to Stay: This is the best position the team has been in, in decades

I mentioned it a bit earlier, but the team is in a really good spot right now. The core and the stars are young, or at least on the right side of 30. You take a look around the team, and you have to start with the pitching staff. Castillo, Kirby, Gilbert, Woo+Miller. Thats insane, and they are all under control for a long time.

Shoot, If GIlbert turns up this year like I predicted above, would it be possible to have three Mariners starting pitchers receive Cy Young votes? Castillo and Kirby were both in the top 4 when the calendar turned to September last year. There is a reason why the rotation is lauded by so many.

Let's drop down and talk about the prospects. Although they aren't the best farm system in baseball like they were a few years ago, you've seen a lot of players graduate and have massive impacts on this team at the Major League level. After all that, they are still a top ten farm system, and have a shot at 6 players making the top 100 this year. A strong international class headlined by Felnin Celesten and Lazaro Montes last year brought it up, and when you add last year's three first-round picks from the draft, it's a wonderful position to be in.

Then we have Cal Raleigh. Having a stud catcher behind the plate that can hit decent, drop bombs at any given moment, and does a great job managing the staff is a joy that few teams have. Crawford is your "old" guy in the core, but looks like he is entering his prime after an insane 2023 season that saw him as the second best shortstop in all of baseball on the offensive side of the ball.

You may have noticed I missed one person, here. Fear not, as he gets his own slide.