Royals, Tigers wins (and tiebreakers) eliminate Mariners from 2024 playoff contention

Since losing their division lead to the Houston Astros, the Seattle Mariners have watched their postseason chances slowly crumble. Nonetheless, they managed to keep things alive, albeit barely so, until the last second and with a recent dominant 8-1 win over Houston, it seemed like they would have a chance to right the ship.

Unfortunately, the team left too much of their fate out of their control. With the division out of reach, Seattle had to look to the Wild Card as their only path forward. Sitting just a few games behind the Tigers and Royals for the last two spots, the Mariners needed not only to win their own final games of the season but also needed teams in the AL Central to lose theirs. To Seattle's credit, they did what they could involving the final few roster pieces that remained. But alas, it wasn't enough.

During Thursday's matinee games, both the Royals and Tigers beat their respective opponents to gain a three-game lead over the Mariners. Even if they won all three of their remaining games while the Royals and Tigers lost all three, the tiebreaker situation wouldn't have been in Seattle's favor.

With a 1-5 record against Detroit, Seattle fails the first tiebreaker against the Tigers. The Royals and Mariners had an even 3-3 head-to-head record this year, but Kansas City's dominant 33-19 inter-division record slightly edges out Seattle's own 29-20 record against AL West opponents. Even in the event that they picked up three wins against Oakland, it be 32-20 in a best-case scenario, still one win short of taking it to the third tiebreaker. Because of these results, Seattle has been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.

It's hard to point to just one or a few things that went wrong, but some moments hurt their chances more than others. Ultimately, 2024 marks another year where Seattle's playoff fate came down to the wire, but this season felt different. A dominant 10-game division lead seemed to put them in a great position for October, but a faltering offense, overall inconsistency, and too late of a rise for their franchise superstar, it wasn't enough to overcome the relentless Astros.

The front office has their work cut out for them. Will they spend in free agency to acquire some new pieces? What names will be released or sent down? What players, if any, could be called up from the talent-rich farm system? It remains to be seen but one thing's for certain: Mariners fans will have to wait until 2025 for a chance at the postseason again.