SEAside Thoughts: Judgment day is here for the Mariners

After witnessing arguably the most disappointing, lifeless, and infuriating series loss of the season to the very bad Washington Nationals, the Seattle Mariners find themselves at the edge of the cliff. Sitting at 38-41, the Mariners are 10 games back of the Rangers in the West and 5.5 games back of the Wild Card spot. That is the least of their worries right now. The 2023 Seattle Mariners are bad, boring, lethargic, and lack the intangibles to save this season right now. Not only will it take an Angels in the Outfield level of a miracle to get this team into the playoffs, but we’re staring down the barrel of this rebuild being in need of another rebuild. 

Yesterday, Jerry Dipoto did his weekly radio show, and continued to defend his manager and team, taking the blame, but also holding fast that this team can turn it around. I admire his vision and belief, but his words will be put to the test as the Mariners will begin a brutal final two weeks before the All-Star break. A home series against the best team in baseball in Tampa Bay before a road trip to the red hot Giants and Houston in the house of horrors. Ten games, and does anyone actually think they’ll do anything better than 4-6? The Mariners have been one of the most consistent teams in baseball at getting destroyed by teams above .500, and now they’re about to take on three teams that all have legitimate World Series hopes. 

Maybe Seattle could catch the magic of 2021 and 2022. Maybe they can get some power back in the offense, cut down on the insane strikeout levels. Maybe they can find the special sauce they had winning one run games and extra inning battles. Maybe they can get hot against the best, and I look like a fool for writing this in October when they’re in the postseason. 

But…I’m probably not wrong. The offseason was confusing and deflating to most. The pitching has been fun to watch, but health issues and failure to hold late leads is crushing. The offensive setbacks by every single hitter not named J.P. Crawford is as concerning as any issue for this team. Jerry said the failures of the team is on him, but if this 1st half finish goes poorly, we will see Jerry make changes. 

A poor finish will lead to one of the most disappointing and awkward All Star Game host cities in recent memory. There’s a real chance that we could see major change to the franchise a week or two after Seattle pretends to be excited about hosting the best in all of baseball. I mean Julio is getting to be in the home run derby because of last year and the derby is in Seattle. Julio has shown nothing to earn him the right to be in that competition (still excited to watch him win it). 

If things continue to go south, the Mariners need to figure out how to salvage the direction of this franchise, not the 2023 season. Does Servais get to stay the skipper if his voice is falling on deaf ears? What kind of prospects could Teoscar Hernandez and Paul Sewald bring? How high of a draft pick could Seattle get to? These are not the conversations I wanted no part of and never expected, but they are dangerously close to a reality. 

Speaking of the best coming to Seattle, we can pretty much say goodbye to the Shohei Ohtani dream. We may be looking at needing improvements at four to five positions this winter. Ohtani alone can’t fix what is currently rotting this team. 

This team is in dire need of a season-altering run against the very best in baseball, or else judgment will come for this entire franchise.