At 8:33 p.m. Monday, minutes after his season sank below the waves, Bryan Woo was asked how he would describe the legacy of the 2025 Mariners. Before he could answer, a scream rang through the quiet clubhouse, as an unknown teammate in an adjoining room summarized Seattle’s sorrow.
“That,” Woo said, nodding in the direction of the audible anguish. “The legacy is that no one’s really satisfied or happy with this, I think.”
That dissatisfaction should not diminish what the Mariners just did. They won 17 of 18 games in a September stampede to trample the Astros. They won the AL West for the first time in 24 years. They watched Cal Raleigh complete the greatest season by any catcher, ever, an unfathomable feat. They received 25 consecutive starts of at least six innings from Woo, an emerging ace. They produced five All-Stars and a Home Run Derby king. They outlasted the Detroit Tigers in the ALDS. From Victor Robles’ catch, to Jorge Polanco’s single, to Eugenio Suárez’s go-ahead grand slam, they gave fans a downpour after decades wandering the desert.
The Mariners should be proud, and fans should be appreciative.
But no one should be satisfied. There is too much more to do.
“I feel like we’ve already experienced the beginning (of this run). This train’s been moving for a while,” Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said in a season-ending media scrum Thursday. “I think people are just now catching on to it. It’s the first time in our organization’s history we’ve had five straight winning seasons. We’ve won 90 games three of the last four years. We’ve been to two of the last four postseasons. We’ve now won a division title. We’re just checking off boxes.
“There’s two big boxes for us to check off. One is for us to be the American League champ, and the other is to win the World Series.”
I would not blame fans for being dubious. After all, the Mariners made five previous playoff appearances, but did so in back-to-back seasons only once (2000-01). When they tell you they’ll be back, that this is the beginning and not another blip, it is easier to brace for failure than to genuinely believe.
But … believe it.
This should be the beginning, and beyond.
If, that is, the front office and ownership are equally unsatisfied.
Dipoto certainly seemed that way Thursday, when asked for a single word to summarize his feelings.
“I’m going to have a different word now than I’ll have in a couple weeks,” he said, as general manager Justin Hollander and manager Dan Wilson conducted separate interviews. “But disappointed. Disappointed. I know everybody else is, too. It’s …”
He stopped. For eight seconds, he stood in silence, battling back tears before finally finishing.
“Disappointed.”
I hope Mariners chairman and managing partner John Stanton and Co. feel the same way.
As currently constituted, the Mariners are positioned to contend for years to come. They have a core – Raleigh, Woo, Julio Rodríguez, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Andrés Muñoz, etc. – who are in their primes and under contract. They have one of baseball’s best farm systems, ranked No. 3 by ESPN and MLB.com in August. They have reinforcements coming, with eight prospects ranked in the top 100 by MLB, more than any other team.
Of that next wave, Ben Williamson, Cole Young and Harry Ford have already contributed, and infielder Colt Emerson (MLB’s No. 9 prospect) and starting pitcher Kade Anderson (No. 23) may join them in Seattle sooner than later.
On Thursday, Dipoto said the 20-year-old Emerson – a possible successor to Suárez at third base – “will play a part in our season (in 2026). I’m certain of that.”
The temptation, then, is to simply stand pat, to save money and scrape by, to hope good enough becomes even better. To be satisfied.
But now is the time to stiff-arm satisfaction. If not now, when?
Now is the time to re-sign Josh Naylor, who excelled after joining Seattle at the trade deadline. Now is the time to bolster a bullpen that flinched and faltered in the ALCS. Now is the time to be proactive, aggressive, unsatisfied, so Dipoto’s disappointment is not perpetual.
Regarding Naylor – who slashed .299/.341/.490 with nine homers and 33 RBI in 54 games as a Mariner – Hollander said: “I got asked a couple times this year, ‘Do you feel the pressure that you’ve got to bring this guy back? The fans love him.’ I’d feel much worse if our fans said, ‘Wow, that was a terrible trade. Get this guy out of here. He’s horrible and doesn’t fit in.’ The best thing you can hope for when you acquire someone is they play great, you go deep in the playoffs, they love it and they want to be here.
“I think we checked all those boxes. So we’ll try to figure it out.”
In the coming weeks and months, there is much to figure out – particularly the futures of free agents Naylor and Suárez (and probably Polanco). And whether Williamson and Emerson are ready to excel at third. And if Young is the immediate answer at second. And if the combination of Robles, Dominic Canzone and Luke Raley is sufficient in right field. And if it is possible to trade for or sign a significant reliever.
Dipoto said he expects Seattle’s payroll to be “similar to where we ended the year (after adding Suárez and Naylor), as a starting point.”
He also said: “I’d like to win more than 90 games and not have to squeak through. But this year, we charged through. To do it with players we’ve known since they were 16, 17, 20 years old, it’s an amazing feeling.”
To the Mariners’ ownership group and front office: Don’t forget this feeling. The joy. The pain. The disappointment. The scream that summarized it without a single word.
Then do something about it. Because the charge starts now, not in September.