How will the Mariners do in 2024? Fans and Sodo Mojo predict what will happen this year

We've done this over the last couple of years, and it's a fun way to get a look at what some of the staff here at Sodo Mojo are thinking. We can make all the predictions, guesses and estimates, and prognostications that we want, but in the end there is only one (explanded) prediction that truly matters. What will the Mariners record be at the end of the season, and when does their season end?

We ended up with eight people here at Sodo preenting their predictions for what they think that the Mariners are going to do this season. Not only that, but everyone threw in a little blurb about how they think the Mariners are going to do, maybe some highlights of how they get there, and what the inevitable downfall is for the team in 2024.

It's more than that, though. We asked you, dear reader, what your thoughts were as well. The results were quite positive, which is a surprise when you think about the negativity that can be Mariners Twitter/X.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that 87.4% of you thought that the Mariners would have 86 or more wins on the season. 86 is that window where they are going to be in playoff/Wild Card range at the end of the year. Even the 42.6% that picked 91 or more are essentially saying that this is a legit playoff team.

After seeing that, we decided to ask you for your predictions on the season. We grabbed a couple of them to put in this article, and I've interspersed them throughout. We start with the worst record predictions and work our way up. How do the collective we feel about the season? Let's get to it.

The 88-74 crew... and a lot of Wild Card berths

Aidan Smith: 88-74: Wild Card

Mariners clinch a Wild Card Berth and win their 1st playoff game since Ichiro's historic rookie season. Mitch Garver finally plays more than 100 games and hits 25 homers, while Julio finishes top 3 in AL MVP voting. Mitch Haniger struggles to stay on the field, resulting in 400+ plate appearances from Dominic Canzone.

On the pitching side, Bryce Miller and Logan Gilbert both make the AL All Star team, but Luis Castillo regresses a bit in his age 31 season. The Mariners pitching staff gets bit by the injury bug, and the front office is forced to trade Jonatan Clase and Harry Ford to replenish the roster with much-needed starting pitching depth. After winning exactly 54% of their games in 2024, Jerry finally convinces John Stanton to spend some money at the Winter Meetings.

Christine Navarro: 88-74: Wild Card

I compared the Mariners’ hitters and pitchers in Spring Training against the other teams in the AL West. The Mariners did well with their batting averages. Our starting pitchers have not performed thus far as well as the other teams nor matched their statistics from 2023. While I anticipate that the Mariners will have a winning record at the end of the season, I hope that the pitchers will not have a slow start. If our principal players are healthy, I predict that we could win 88 and lose 72 as the team did last year. Go Ms!

Levi Coovert: 88-74: #5 Seed (Wild Card)

Second place in the AL West, finishing behind the Astros is where the Mariners end up in 2024. They match up against the Orioles in the first round of the playoffs, sweeping them with Castillo and Kirby on the mound. They move on to play the #1 seeded Yankees in the ALDS. Unfortunately, the Mariners lost game 5 as Soto and Judge got the best of the Mariners. The future looks bright though, and fans are positive once again as Julio finishes top-3 in MVP voting and four Mariners make the All-Star game.

Pushing towards 90 wins... and our first missed playoff prediction

Jeff Nooney: 89-73: Wild Card

I think the Mariners are going to be competitive in 2024, coming in second in the AL West, earning a wild card spot. 89-73 gets it done, with Houston winning the division. The Team MVP is going to be Julio, who completes the first 40/40 season in club history. With the Cole injury, I think Luis Castillo wins the AL Cy Young award, and has the ERA title. As for the playoffs, I think they make it to the ALCS, and face those same Astros, and beat them in 6 games, earning their first World Series trip. They lose in 6 to the Dodgers, tho.

Nic Cunningham: 90-72: 2nd in AL West: Wild Card

The Seattle Mariners failed to make a big splash this offseason and made multiple cost-cutting moves such as trading away Eugenio Suarez for Seby Zavala and Carlos Vargas. However, they did succeed in making some small additions that left this year’s lineup better than last year’s iteration. Mitch Garver’s bat will instantly provide some much-needed run production, and Jorge Polanco is an above-average hitter at second base. 

Seattle still boasts an elite pitching staff, anchored by a big three of Luis Castillo, George Kirby, and Logan Gilbert. The Mariners added to their bullpen with the acquisitions of Gregory Santos and Ryne Stanek. They had the opportunity to go after Blake Snell to build an even more dominant rotation, perhaps trading one of Bryce Miller, Emerson Hancock, or Bryan Woo for a bat, but chose to stand pat instead. 

While the lineup is much different than last season’s, it should be slightly more productive. Combined with arguably the best starting pitching rotation in the MLB and a strong bullpen, this Mariners team looks poised to compete with the Astros for the AL West title.

Still, if the front office was given the budget they expected, this team could have been even better. While I expect Seattle to make the playoffs, fans will notice the lack of big-time acquisitions the team made throughout the season. The make the playoffs after finishing second in the AL West, but end up losing in the ALDS.