SEATTLE – On March 21, 2024, a fan was invited into the press box at the Peoria Sports Complex in Arizona. In a 3-3 spring training tie between the Mariners and Reds, the young boy was tasked with playing public address announcer for the bottom of the fourth inning. After leadoff hitter Mitch Garver struck out, the boy leaned into the microphone and quickly met his match.
“Now batting: Cal … oh.”
He stopped, leaving empty air, staring at seven letters, silently sounding them out. Rather than contorting the vowels and consonants, he said nothing, and the at-bat went on without him.
Raleigh – pronounced rah-lee – was not a household name just yet.
Consider how much has happened in the 19 months since. Raleigh is the reigning Home Run Derby champion and may be the American League MVP – after swatting more homers than any catcher, switch-hitter or Mariner in a season. Julio Rodríguez topped 30 homers and 30 stolen bases for the second time at age 24. Bryan Woo emerged into the Mariners’ ace, which is saying something considering the competition. Andrés Muñoz became one of baseball’s best closers. Josh Naylor, Eugenio Suárez and Randy Arozarena lengthened Seattle’s lineup at two different trade deadlines.
The Mariners won the American League West in 2025 and were eight outs from the World Series.
Raleigh, Rodríguez and Co. have become the baseball equivalent of household names.
There may be more to come.
“This is a little different. We have a built-out, mature team,” president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said Thursday when asked how the Mariners plan to deploy their pool of prospects. “We have a number of star players around the field that I think the world at large just found out were stars. We’re going to have to be a little choosier with how we implement our young players. But they’re going to play a big part in what we do now and moving forward. That’s how you sustain.”
In Seattle, sustained success has been hard to come by. After the Mariners won the AL West in 1995, they went 85-76 and finished 4.5 games back the following season. After they fell in the ALDS in 1997, they fell below .500 in both 1998 and 1999. After they won an MLB record 116 regular-season games in 2001 … well, you know what happened next. After they snapped a 21-year playoff drought in 2022, they finished one game out of the wild card for two consecutive seasons.
Successful sequels rarely happen here.
So, why should you believe the best is yet to come? Because Raleigh (28) and Rodríguez (24), Seattle’s centerpieces, are in their primes and signed for the foreseeable future. Because the rotation – also including Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryce Miller and Luis Castillo – remains intact. Because Mitch Haniger’s and Garver’s contracts are about to come off the books, which (you’d hope) will help in re-signing Naylor and improving elsewhere. Because the Astros are no longer inevitable.
Because no other team – besides, maybe, the Dodgers – has a better blend of current players and future prospects. Second baseman Cole Young, third baseman Ben Williamson and catcher Harry Ford have already arrived. Third baseman/shortstop Colt Emerson (MLB’s No. 9 prospect), starting pitcher Kade Anderson (No. 23), slugging outfielder Lázaro Montes (No. 29), second baseman Michael Arroyo (No. 63) and switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje (No. 90) should follow in the next several seasons. The Mariners tout eight of MLB’s top-100 prospects, more than any other team.
Realistically, Raleigh’s rise is not replicable.
But we’ve all seen the difference 19 months can make.
“We’ve got a great foundation – universally, one of the best farm systems in baseball in terms of top-end prospects, preparedness of those prospects, guys who are near and ready. We’re excited by that,” Dipoto said. “I look at the core of our team, and most of them are in their mid-late 20s. Most of them are having what should be the best years of their career.
“Our starting rotation returns in full. We’ve got core players like Cal and Julio and J.P. (Crawford) through the middle and young players that populate other spots on the field, productive veterans all over the field that return. We’re right in the prime of what we should be doing.”
In the next several seasons, the Mariners should do even more.
“We have accomplished things as a team that haven’t been done before for this team, this franchise,” Rodríguez said Monday after the Mariners’ season abruptly ended in Toronto. “Every single guy put in so much work and effort throughout this whole year, and dedication. Literally, so much. I’m just really proud of everything we have done this year.”
Even so – I’ll say it – the best is yet to come.
Not because everybody knows Raleigh’s name now. Because, soon enough, there should be so many more names to know.