Colt Emerson, you are buying dinner for the team tonight.

The Mariners just set the record for the largest contract given to a player who hasn’t set foot in the majors yet, handing out an 8-year, $95 million deal with incentives up to $130 million to Colt Emerson, the #1 prospect for the Mariners and the #7 prospect overall. The previous record was held by the Brewers’ Jackson Chourio, with 8yr/$82mil. Emerson’s deal also includes a ninth year club option and a full no-trade clause.

Is this a good deal? Are the Mariners taking a huge risk on a guy with no major league time yet? Who even is this Colt Emerson guy anyway besides an objectively cool name?

Last season, across three levels of minor league ball, Emerson slashed .285/.383/.458 with 16 home runs, an 11.8% walk rate, and a 17.5% strikeout rate. Emerson sees the ball well and has consistently performed over three levels of minor league ball, and is already raking to start the year in AAA Tacoma.

Colt Emerson is in a great place to fit in the new Mariners look. JP Crawford, bless his heart, is getting old and is in the last year of his contract, so this contract for a young, highly touted shortstop prospect is all but the nail in the coffin for JP next season. We here in Seattle all wish the best for the captain but recognize when it is time for the younger generation to step in.

It has been a good few weeks for minor league contracts, with the Brewers locking up their own SS prospect Cooper Pratt for 8yr/$50mil. Teams are trusting in their young talent and I’m glad the Mariners are part of it. Seattle has an extremely strong pool of talent waiting in the minor leagues, especially on the pitching side with dual aces in Ryan Sloan and Kade Anderson, but Colt Emerson is the true star on offense. Locking down the shortstop of the future is a great move, and showing that the team is willing to hand out contracts is a good look.

If (when) Colt gets called up this season, it might throw some confusion into the infield. Daniel Kramer reported that the plans would be to keep JP Crawford at shortstop this season, while having Colt Emerson play third base, leaving Brendan Donovan as a floating island. He has to play every day but there’s no secure spot in the field for him? If this Emerson contract means his ascension to the big leagues is soon, I worry for the well-being of Mariners fans watching Crawford, Emerson, Donovan, and Cole Young get mixed and matched every day. It’s good to have the problem of too much talent, but it is still a problem.

Confusion aside, Colt Emerson is a real talent who I am excited to see make his big league debut probably soon. The hype around him is building rapidly, and I’m holding my breath hoping he’s a Julio Rodriguez and not a Jarred Kelenic.

Go M’s,

Henry “I hate losing to the Yankees” Neiman

After a long offseason and a WBC where no Mariners did much of anything, the season is finally here. Every Opening Day there will be people lining up on Twitter to overreact to what the team looks like on the first game of the season. Let’s have a quick group therapy session to talk out our feelings and go through all the knee-jerk reactions you might be having right now.

Is Brendan Donovan the best free agent signing ever?: Known power hitter Brendan Donovan going deep in his first AB in a Mariners uniform was pretty amazing, and the writing was on the wall for his fast start. He hit .413 in Spring Training and looked comfortable doing it. He’s going to be a real treat this season.

Is Julio going to have ANOTHER slow start?: Plenty of people went hitless last night, not just Julio. “God’s gift to Spring Training” Cole Young notched a handful of strikeouts too, Cal and Naylor both struggled, give Julio a few games at least before we chalk it up to the same old, same old.

Is the bullpen going to be ok?: Yes. We didn’t see Brash or Munoz (even though we should’ve). We can’t worry about the bullpen after seeing multiple innings of Legumina.

Is Dan Wilson messing things up already?: I mean I can’t say that I’m thrilled that we had the bullpen management that we did, but this is what we’re used to. Dan Wilson makes odd bullpen decisions all the time, it’s not something new to freak out about, we knew this stuff happens.

Is Dom Canzone the second coming of Barry Bonds?: Yes. Hide your spouse, hide your children, stay inside because baseballs will be raining from the sky like a Biblical plague. We are all living in the Can-Zone. He is the one true baseball player, and will lead us to the promised land (if we can get more guys on base).

Opening Day is always a time to predict the whole season based on one game. Half the fanbases scream “We’re gonna win it all!” and the other half scream “The season is over already!”. I hope we can all at least wait a week before calling our shot. In all fairness, I didn’t love what I saw from the top of our lineup besides Donovan, and I would’ve preferred some cleaner innings from the bullpen. But Logan looked great out there besides one bad inning, and the marine layer is clearly not stopping the Mariners from hitting home runs. When Luke Raley and Dom Canzone are putting the bulk of the offense on their back, you have to feel decent about the depth of the lineup. I predicted the Mariners to repeat as division winners, and one loss isn’t shaking that. George Kirby is on the bump tonight, I’ll be at the game tomorrow for Cal bobblehead night, life is good. Welcome back, baseball.

Go M’s,

Henry “I’m gonna miss Rick Rizz a lot and I haven’t processed it yet” Neiman

Ins:

Josh Naylor (resigned for 5 years): A+ move. I’ve talked at length about how good this is.

Jose Ferrer (trade with Nationals): B+. The Mariners clearly see Ferrer as an elite reliever, trading away Harry Ford for him. Losing Ford isn’t actually that bad though (I’ll get into it later). Bullpen help was a need, as having to rely too heavily on Munoz, Brash, Bazardo, and Spier was what ultimately ended last season. Additionally, the bullpen needed another lefty with the loss of Ferguson. A good pickup in a place of need.

Rob Refsnyder (1-year deal): B. Refsnyder is a solid depth piece and a sure platoon guy for how he crushes lefties. I look forward to his short but entertaining highlight reel.

Andrew Knizner (1-year deal): D. This guy is nothing. I’d honestly prefer we resign Mitch Garver over this guy. Obviously he’s a backup catcher but there’s no reason to use a roster spot on a guy who will obviously not produce. Confusing pickup.

Cooper Criswell (trade with Mets): B-. This is a solid project guy.

Brendan Donovan (trade with Cardinals): A. While the price to get him was steep, losing a few top prospects is a worthy trade to get one of the most consistent hitters at the 2nd base position. Donovan brings a .281 average over his four years in St. Louis, along with Gold Glove caliber defense. A truly strong 2nd baseman to shore up a large hole left by Jorge Polanco. A very needed move and a very good sign that the front office cares about winning.

Outs:

Jorge Polanco (Mets): D-. Devastating loss. Polanco was the clutch hero and a severely underrated part of the Mariners machine all season. Losing him means losing a steady bat, a 2nd base glove, and a lot of fans’ hearts. Good luck in New York Polo, we thank you deeply for your service.

Harry Ford (Nationals): A-. I know I said we wasted a spot on Knizner but honestly the backup catcher is a waste entirely, Cal Raleigh takes away any need for a good backup catcher and the Mariners traded Ford away when they could get the most value from him. Nice knowing you, Prince Harry.

Caleb Ferguson (Reds): B+. Whatever, man. He wasn’t great for us.

Gregory Santos (Giants): B+. He really could’ve been good for us if he wasn’t hurt the entire time he was a Mariner. Unfortunate how it went.

Eugenio Suarez (Reds): C-. This one stings. I know he didn’t play the best in his second stint with the Mariners, but Geno is and will forever be a legend in Seattle. His contract for the Reds felt like one that the Mariners could have matched, and with a hole remaining at 3rd base, the loss of Geno is a tough pill to swallow.

Ben Williamson (Rays): B-. Williamson was a solid player at times last year, and I expected him to be the starting third baseman going into the year until the Donovan trade. Williamson was a great glove and a middling bat, but showed enough promise for me to be excited to give him a chance. Not having him puts third base into question, but if losing him is what it took to get Donovan, I would make that trade any day.

The Mariners are probably not as good as they were at the end of last season, but they are decidedly better than they were at the start of last season. Rowdy Tellez, Ryan Bliss (miss him), and Luke Raley all started on Opening Day last year. The main question mark remaining is 3rd base, and if I had to guess, the current plan is to either move Donovan there or give Cole Young a shot at it. Colt Emerson will probably start the year in AAA, but could be called up at any moment. While the loss of Polanco and Suarez definitely sets the Mariners back going into the 2026 season, the team is still in a really good place and feels to be in a position to make another run at October. Final offseason grade: B+.

Go M’s,

Henry “Dylan Moore got signed by the Phillies and I’m so sad about it” Neiman

I got a chance to talk to John Stanton himself very briefly at the Mariners stadium employee end of year party (I stood awkwardly next to him for like 30 seconds deciding how to introduce myself), and made a joke about Josh Naylor, to which he responded “I’ve heard that name a lot tonight”. Naylor has always been a top priority for the front office, they made that very clear.

Let’s talk about the contract. 5/92.5 is a damn near perfect contract in my eyes, a good chunk of money to show the Mariners will actually spend money, but it doesn’t eat the whole offseason budget up. Additionally, Naylor will only be getting $10mil in 2026, leaving around $40 million for Jerry Dipoto to play with in the next couple months. The Mariners could still have the money to look into bringing back Jorge Polanco or try to make a bigger splash on one of the higher-end free agents (less likely but imagine if the Mariners make a push for Schwarber or someone). This is the largest contract given out to a free agent hitter in the entire Dipoto era, possibly the most pathetic record to beat given that the previously largest contract was Mitch Garver for 2/24.

This is an ideal start to the offseason just in comparison to the last decade of Mariner offseasons. Dipoto getting such a fan favorite deal done early in the offseason, shattering his own record for contract size, and Naylor himself grinning ear to ear his whole press conference, this really couldn’t have gone better for the Mariner locker room and for the fanbase.

With Naylor locked up with a full no-trade clause, the Mariners will have Josh Naylor, Julio Rodrigeuz and Cal Raleigh until 2030, and it really feels like the window for contention is wide open in Seattle. Hopefully this is not the only move for the Mariners this offseason, as there are still a few holes that need to be patched. The bullpen is a concern, along with question marks at second and third base. The front office needs to keep their foot on the gas right now because right now, the Mariners are going into the offseason only a few pieces from a World Series winning team. The first step is complete, but it’s not time to rest on your laurels yet.

Go M’s

Henry “Do I Buy a Naylor Jersey or Save My Money For Once” Neiman

I’ve taken a day to reflect and mourn this season, and what hurts the most is how many things had to go so perfectly right to get the Mariners this far. A relatively weaker AL, a down year from the Astros, an MVP season from a catcher, years that shattered expectations from a handful of players, an incredible trade deadline, a dominant September, a first round bye after a Tigers collapse, a favorable ALDS, and winning the first two games of the ALCS on the road. When could that possibly all line up so perfectly again.

I said after the game that it was the worst sports moment of my life, and I stand by it. The only close option is the Malcolm Butler interception to lose Super Bowl 49, and I’ve always said I’m a baseball fan before a football fan. When the Blue Jays took the lead I felt all the feeling leave my legs, and I barely said a word for the rest of the game. I knew it was over right then and there.

A lot of people are going to blame Dan Wilson for putting Bazardo in that situation over Munoz, but you can’t blame the guy for going to one of his most trusted arms. Bazardo had the season of his life, and has had his praises sung all postseason. Obviously Munoz is elite, but putting Bazardo out there is not a bad idea. Worse are people who blame Julio Rodriguez for striking out to end the game, like he hadn’t scored two of their three runs that night and homered three times in the ALCS. Anyone could’ve had that last at-bat, none of this is his fault. Mariners fans want someone to blame, and I offer the only obvious option: George Springer.

Springer is a nightmare in human form. Former Astro, known cheater, and playoff performer against the Mariners, there was no person who could’ve hit that home run in the 7th that would make me feel worse than him. For most Mariners fans, giving Springer that moment makes it that much worse. Blue Jays fans will take the time to complain that fans booed Springer after he took a pitch off the knee in game 5, but if anyone has been to a Mariners/Blue Jays game in Seattle, there is a large crowd of Jays fans that travel well. Most of that booing can be attributed to Blue Jays fans booing Bryan Woo for hitting Springer with that pitch. Obviously some people booed Springer for his injury because he is heavily disliked across every fanbase outside of Houston and Toronto, but Blue Jays fans should just celebrate their win without trying to grab some sort of misguided moral high ground.

Enough about Springer though, this season was categorically the best Mariners team I have ever watched in my life (I just missed the 2001 team). Now is the time to mourn what could’ve been, and to reflect on the incredible season Mariner fans got to witness. I want to thank everyone who took the time to read this blog for the past couple of months. I will continue to write during the offseason when (hopefully) the Mariners make some moves in free agency, and you can expect me to be back in full force next season. I hope everyone takes the time they need to recover from this heartbreaking finish to the season, and I will see you all soon.

Go M’s,

Henry “I Hope Both Teams Lose the World Series” Neiman

Looking at the Wild Card matchups and the last few weeks of the season, I saw the Tigers as the ideal matchup. Cleveland was playing with devil magic and the Tigers were struggling, and the Mariners had beaten Tarik Skubal twice already. Forget the Astros or the Guardians, I wanted Detroit. Well I got my wish, but only after watching Skubal obliterate the Guardians in such dominant fashion that I was begging Cleveland to win the series.

Game 1 was a nightmare, plain and simple. Losing to the Detroit bullpen with George Kirby on the mound is bad enough, but to go 11 innings at home and lose after the 2022 18-inning nightmare is a gut punch. On paper, that was the easiest game of the series and now the Mariners had to win three out of four between two Skubal starts and two games in Detroit. Absolute worst case scenario, you cannot lose that game if you are the Seattle Mariners. I watched that game from a hotel room and I was not happy.

Game 2 was great, it was the exact bounceback win that the Mariners needed. Cy Young on the mound, already down 1-0, must-win game. Jorge Polanco turns up and says “Yeah let me rock him to sleep because I’m his dad”. The first player since 2021 to get multiple home runs off Tarik Skubal, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. But this was far from a stress-free win, as a costly error and a jammed double tied the game in the 8th inning, and it was time to panic. That is, until Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez showed why they are superstars. Tied series, crisis averted, but man did that game scare me.

Game 3 was by far the most stress-free, but even that wasn’t fully relaxing. Yes the Mariners went into the 9th with a 8-1 lead, putting in Caleb Fergeson to get the last three outs. But no, he had to get shelled, allowing three runs and no outs, forcing Dan Wilson to use Andres Munoz in a game he should never have needed to pitch in. Even an easy win turned into a stressful final frame.

Someone on Twitter said that playoff baseball takes every boring part of baseball, every bit of waiting, and replaces it with stress. I think that might be the best description of the postseason I’ve ever heard. This is only my second time watching the Mariners in October, and I don’t know if my body can take it. I legitimately gave myself a nosebleed during Game 1 from stress. For all the younger Mariners fans like me with not a lot of playoff experience, I can recommend yoga or some form of stretching to help with nerves. If the players are staying loose, so should we. It’s like Cal Raleigh says, motion is lotion. Game 4 is today and the Mariners could clinch the ALCS. If not, the fans are in for the most stressful Game 5 since 1995. Just remember to breathe.

Go M’s,

Henry “I Believe In Bryce Miller” Neiman

In my last post I talked about how important it was to start the month strong and prove that the team can win on the road, as well as handle divisional opponents when it matters most. The Mariners are doing exactly that between winning in Atlanta and sweeping the Angels in four games. As of right now, the Seattle Mariners are playing like a playoff team. So it only seems fair that they now have to play a playoff series.

These next three games against the Houston Astros are the closest thing to playoff baseball you can get in September. The division is on the line as the winner of this series not only goes into the final six games with a lead, but clinches the season series tiebreaker. It cannot be overstated how important this series is for both teams, but for the Mariners who haven’t won the AL West since 2001, it just means more. For Seattle, these are three of the most important regular season games of the past 20 years. For Houston, it’s just a normal Friday.

The Houston Astros are in a weakened state right now with 13 players on the IL, most recently Yordan Alvarez who will miss the rest of the regular season with an ankle sprain, a merciful relief for Mariners fans haunted by the 2022 ALDS (me). Their rotation is being carried by Hunter Brown and Framber Valdez, and their bullpen is missing Josh Hader. There truly could not be more factors helping out the Mariners unless Jose Altuve has a change of heart and decides to retire tonight. But it is a very bad idea to underestimate the Astros, who despite the injuries are in the position they are, and are coming off of sweeping the surging Texas Rangers, potentially killing their season. The Astros are the most successful team of the past ten years, and it is easy to say that they have been here before. But with everything seemingly against them right now, can they hold off the surging Mariners?

Players to watch:

For Seattle, Cal Raleigh (obviously) is a huge factor here. If the MVP hopeful can swat a few into the Crawford boxes this series could be a long one for Houston. The Mariners will need to find a way to get to the two aces in Houston’s rotation, and it starts with the Big Dumper. Jorge Polanco is having one of the best months in his Mariners career, hitting more doubles in September than Seattle has rainy days. He has been incredibly clutch, and a bit of an unsung hero these past few weeks. And if you need another guy who has been clutch, Josh Naylor has been an incredible breath of fresh air for this Mariners offense, and a guy you want on your side if tensions rise in this series. There’s a good chance of a little pushing and shoving this weekend, and I want Naylor on the front lines.

For Houston, Framber Valdez is a tricky one. He has been great this year but has a habit of blowing up and not getting himself back together, and the Mariners have hurt him in the past. He’s a lockdown pitcher when he is on, but the pressure could get to him. Carlos Correa has predictably turned his year around the minute he put the orange jersey back on, and has been vital to the Astros down the stretch. A consistent playoff performer, Correa always steps up when the lights are bright. The wild card is Issac Parades, activated tonight right before the series starts. He is expected to start and could prove an issue if he picks up where he left off before his hamstring injury.

Every Mariners fan I know is pacing back and forth waiting for first pitch. I keep having to stop writing this article to stare at my Cal Raleigh poster in my office and center myself. All of Seattle is behind this team, hoping for a little piece of history this weekend. Good luck out there boys.

Go M’s,

Henry “I’m Freaking Out, Man” Neiman

The remaining games in the season are all very important. Let's take a look at which of these final 23 games mean the most right now.

Braves (road): The Mariners need to prove that they remember how to win on the road. With a vital and terrifying final road trip looming later, the team needs some sort of confidence booster on the road now, and beating a solid Braves team would do it.

Cardinals (home): if there is one series I am comfortable with the Mariners losing, it is this one. The Cardinals have no bearing whatsoever on the team’s playoff chances, and they aren’t just going to win all the games. Better to lose this one than a more important series. The main reason I would be unhappy losing is that I am going to one of these games and so I’d like the Mariners to at least win that one.

Angels (home): Four games at home against the division pests from Anaheim? Cannot lose this one. Intra-division record might be important for tiebreakers and losing to the Angels always feels bad.

Royals (road): This is a sleeper pick for a make or break series. The Mariners have never once had a normal series against Kansas City. There is always some insane collapse or tomfoolery when these two teams match up. It will be mind-boggling and terrifying. Please somehow manage to win this, the Royals are too close for comfort in the Wild Card race.

Astros (road): This is the road trip from hell. The place to win the division is here in Houston. This series will decide the season series between Seattle and Houston and will most likely be the opportunity for one team to break away from the other. This will be the most important three games of the entire year. I am not looking forward to this at all.

Rockies (home): You have to beat Colorado. Cal Raleigh will hit 17 home runs this series.

Dodgers (home): It is really unfortunate that the Dodgers have not done the usual thing where they have the division locked up by mid-September, because it would be great if LA just rested their starters to close out the season and let the Mariners pick up a few easier and much needed wins. But no, the Dodgers might need these games just as much as the Mariners, and if Seattle wants to prove that they are a real playoff contender, closing out the year by beating the defending champs is a great way to do it.

Having typed all this out, it really does just look like the Marines have to win almost every series to have a real shot at October success. Surely this will happen and everyone will be very happy, it’s a good thing that the Mariners have no history of falling exactly one game short of the playoffs!

I don’t know if I’m going to make it through this month of baseball.

Go M’s

Henry “You Really Do Have To Beat The Rockies” Neiman

There is a drug so addictive that a single taste of it in a community can have everyone addicted in days. This drug has surfaced in Seattle from time to time and causes chaos, leaving broken people in its wake. This terrifying substance?

Hope.

The Seattle Mariners find themselves 1 ½ games back of the Houston Astros for the AL West lead and 1 ½ games back of the New York Yankees for the first Wild Card spot. Since being swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks in June, the Mariners have gone 34-21, which leads the American League, including eight games in a row. The feeling in the Seattle air is one that I have not felt in years. The levels of confidence and hope coming from Mariners fans is not unearned, but it is scary. Let’s break down some of the happenings over these last few weeks;

• Cal Raleigh has broken out of his slump, sitting at 45 home runs after hitting one in three consecutive games against the Rays.

• Julio Rodriguez has had a 1.011 OPS while batting .292 this past month. His 12 home runs in that time rank first in the majors.

• Josh Naylor looks like the trade of the year, hitting the cover off the ball while stealing 11 bases in his first 15 games with the team.

• Bryan Woo has thrown 6+ innings in all 23 starts this year.

• Literally everyone else is playing well also

• What is happening

The choice is tough for Mariners fans. Believe in this Mariners team and risk having our hearts broken in late September once again, or to stay skeptical and risk losing out on enjoying what the Mariners are doing right now. In the past decade, the Mariners have missed the playoffs by one game five times, including three times in the last four years. But I agree that something feels different this year. The last few seasons, even though the Mariners stayed close in the Wild Card race up to the end of September, the division was long out of reach. That is not the case this year. This team is legit.

That was the article I was going to put out last week, right after the start of the series against the Baltimore Orioles. It is in true Mariners fashion that the pendulum is swinging back the other way, having lost seven of their last nine since I wrote the first part of this article. I was unfortunately correct to proceed with caution about the Mariners’ hot streak, as they once again prove to be anything but consistent down the stretch. The first time through the Mariners’ fully healthy rotation put up an 8.72 ERA, with only Bryan Woo having a respectable outing. The wheels are falling off the bus at a frightening pace, and if Mariners fans went all in on the hope of last week, it is biting back tenfold right now. The only saving grace at the moment is that the Astros are matching the bad stretch of play, so the Mariners have lost no ground in the AL West in the past week.

October looms large right now, and this type of play will not end with Seattle in the postseason. Something needs to change, and fast.

Go M’s,

Henry “I Threw My TV Remote Across The Room Today” Neiman

Julio Rodriguez is a really good baseball player. We all know this. The fact that he is so talented is what makes it so frustrating when he goes on long slumps and slow starts, as Mariners fans know how good he can be when he heats up. Well, I am happy to report that the summer sun has hit Rodriguez and he is hot, hot, hot. Since July 11th he has slashed .360/.429/.820 with seven home runs, a 248 wRC+ and a 1.249 OPS. That is superstar stuff right there. Pair the yearly Julio hulk-up with a seemingly neck-and-neck pace from Randy Arozerana, and the Seattle outfield is looking as good as it has ever been. So why have the Mariners gone 5-5 out of the break? Let’s ask Clint Eastwood:

The Good:

• With J-Rod and Randy looking like gods right now, it cushions the slight slump that Cal has been in since the break, but it seems like the MVP hopeful is finding his footing again.

• Logan Gilbert pitched one of the best games of his career at home against the Brewers, with ten strikeouts through six innings while allowing only two baserunners.

• Josh Naylor has settled in well in Seattle so far, hitting in every game and stealing multiple bases in a game for the first time in his career.

• After a year of disdain, I must give flowers to the work that Eduard Bazardo has been putting in. He is quietly putting up a 2.70 ERA and has become a legit leverage arm.

The Bad:

• The bullpen continues to raise my blood pressure. Carlos Vargas and Casey Legumina have not been gaining any favor with me as of late, and the need for a fresh arm continues to mount.

• JP Crawford has not looked like himself recently. He is 1 for his last 30, and his handful of defensive errors loom large right now.

• Dylan Moore remains in the hot seat, and with the trade deadline looming he might be on his way out of Seattle. This is the hardest thing to reckon with as president of the Dylan Moore Fan Club. If this is the end for his time with us, I want to thank him for his years of unyielding service and Gold Glove defense.

• The umpires in the Angels series sucked, I feel no need to go into detail.

The Ugly:

• The price that the Arizona Diamondbacks are asking for Eugenio Suarez has made many teams balk at him, and might be giving the Mariners cold feet about a reunion with everyone’s favorite third baseman. The Mariners may be shifting priorities to bullpen help, as written by Adam Jude.

• The Texas Rangers have closed the gap and are tied with the Mariners now, as if the team needed any more pressure on them.

The AL West is wide open now. The Astros are streaky and injured, the Rangers are surging, and the Mariners are the Mariners. With two months to play, four games separate all three teams now. I can’t help but think back to two years ago, when the same three teams slugged it out down the stretch and Seattle found themselves on the outside looking in. This year cannot be a repeat of 2023. The deadline and the next few weeks are going to be the most important of the season so far, and the Mariners need to stay aggressive. If Geno cannot come home, call up Minnesota and get Griffin Jax and Willi Castro. This does not feel like a year where the Mariners are just doomed to be on the outside looking in, this team is good enough to win the division. Time to go and take it.

Go M’s,

Henry “Turning on Twitter notifications for Jeff Passan” Neiman

I was sitting at my computer working on my next post about the trade deadline and the past week of Mariners baseball when my phone buzzed with a Jeff Passan tweet. Now, that post is going to have to be a little late, as there are more pressing items to talk about suddenly.

Josh Naylor is a massive pickup for the Mariners for a number of reasons. He provides an immediate boost to a stagnant first base spot currently held by a combination of Luke Raley and Donovan Solano. Naylor is slashing .292/.360/.447 with 11 home runs, and even if his stats are helped by Arizona’s hitter friendly park, he should still be able to be productive at T-Mobile Park. The Mariners needed a fresh bat and a solid contact guy, and Naylor perfectly fits the bill. In addition to his on-field production, his fiery confidence and explosive personality will be a fun addition to the lineup. I can’t wait to see him charging through the dugout after home runs and dangerously wielding the home run trident.

Trading for him over a week before the deadline is an unappreciated boon, as the Mariners get an extra week of him in the deal, another ~10% of time. It also shows how aggressive the Mariners are willing to be in this deadline, as the reports that have been circulating about the team being “all in” seem to be confirmed. Daniel Kramer reported yesterday that even after the Naylor trade, “Eugenio Suarez is still Seattle’s top priority and being aggressively pursued by the Mariners”. Naylor should not be the only player that Seattle brings in during this deadline, and it is clear that they remain squarely in the hunt to bring Geno home.

The return for Naylor was LHP Brandyn Garcia and RHP Ashton Izzi. Garcia made a brief appearance on the big-league roster before the trade, and I actually met his family briefly in the Mariners Team Store (they were buying custom jerseys of his, which actually I feel bad about now that he got immediately traded). Garcia has a 2.24 ERA in High-A and AA, but had a rough first outing for the major league team. Izzi has a 5.51 ERA in High-A so far, but 54 strikeouts in 47 innings.

The big win in this trade for the Mariners was that they did not have to dip into any of their top 10 prospects to get this deal done. If they do manage to get Suarez however, they will almost certainly have to deal at least one of them. This comes with great news on the Geno market in that the Yankees just traded for Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon, putting them out of the running for Suarez.

The deadline should not be over for Seattle, even if they do get Suarez. The Mariners are in great need of a bullpen arm, and a hot start to this trade deadline gives fans like me confidence that they are going all in this next week.

Go M’s,

Henry “I’m glad the Yankees didn’t get Geno” Neiman

The 2025 season has been nothing less than emotional whiplash so far. A lackluster offseason followed directly by Victor Robles obliterating his shoulder had me believing that we should pack it up and try again next year. Dylan Moore’s AL Player of the Week win had me texting all my friends that I knew buying his jersey was a good idea. The injury bug biting the rotation early was immediately helped by a surging Logan Evans and a very respectable Emerson Hancock. I no longer beg every day for Donovan Solano to be DFA’d. I think Jorge Polanco’s magical month was not a fluke and hope his horrible month afterwards was. If this year has shown me anything so far, it is that if I have any strong feelings about this team one way or the other, all I have to do is wait a week and things will turn completely around.

Let’s look at the past week and a half alone. The Mariners shut out the Pirates three times, including a win over Paul Skenes. For a team that seems to play up or down to their opponents, getting solid wins over a bad team is very encouraging. Follow that up by going into Yankee Stadium only one game behind the struggling Yankees, avoiding Max Fried and Carlos Rodon, and proceeding to get obliterated. Even seven no-hit innings from the internet’s favorite pitcher Bryan Woo and a five-run lead could not give us a win in that series. That was probably the worst game of the year, with the only one coming close being the Robles injury game in my opinion. After that series, everyone wanted to sell at the deadline. The Mariners clearly couldn’t beat good teams and the Astros just were not going to give up any ground in the division. And to make things worse, they had to go to Detroit to play the MLB-leading Tigers before the break. Another bad showing going into the break would surely sink our hopes completely of this team being a real contender…Oh we swept them? And scored 35 runs? And Julio Rodriguez looked like himself for the first time all year? Yeah, that makes sense.

Going into the break the Mariners are actually in a pretty good spot, all things considered. While the Astros continue to be annoyingly good, even without Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, and most of Yordan Alvarez, five games is not an insurmountable lead. The wild card race is very active, and I’m not scared of Boston or Tampa Bay running away from the Mariners in the standings. Even the Yankees are still well within striking distance. The rotation is finding its form again, the bats are no longer the worst in baseball and the trade deadline has a large Geno Suarez-shaped shadow looming over it for us. Oh yeah, and Cal Raleigh exists.

If you told me at the start of the year that Cal Raleigh would be a legitimate contender for MVP, leading the league in home runs, Home Run Derby champ (Don’t let anyone tell you one inch isn’t a lot) and have the greatest season for a catcher ever up to this point, I would be surprised but not shocked. After his last few amazing seasons, I’ve always thought that Cal could be a player of this level, but I didn’t actually expect it to happen like this. If you really think about it, the signs were there. Breaking Mike Piazza’s catcher home run record through the first three years, winning a Platinum Glove and then signing a six-year contract, things for Cal have been looking up and up and up for a while now. He was the best catcher in the league last year (William Contreras was also very good I know), and he is only getting better. Do I think he wins the American League MVP? I can’t say yet. Aaron Judge is still a god amongst men and Yankees fans love to throw his stats in Mariners’ fans’ faces on Twitter whenever the MVP race is brought up. But the popularity contest is a wildly important part of this whether you like it or not, and the national media LOVES Cal Raleigh right now. If anything, Judge might have a problem with voter fatigue. Look at the NBA, the only reason Nikola Jokic didn’t win his third MVP was because the league wanted a new face on top for a bit. Cal might get the same treatment. At this point, I’ll take what I can get.

I feel like I need to set out the vibe that I want to bring to this blog. I spend too much of my day on Twitter consuming the most downtrodden doomposting I’ve ever read in my life. I don’t want to add to that. I am writing this before the All-Star game tonight, and I expect our boys to have a good time out there and for Woo to strike out everyone he sees. But coming out of the break, this next series against Houston is one of the biggest of the year. We cannot afford to come out of the break with high spirits and get slammed by the one team we can’t afford to lose to. The Houston Astros are very beatable. I think on the Mariners’ best day they are by-and-large the better team and have real potential to win the division.

And before you all go “Henry, how can you be so hopeful about this team after 23 years of coming up short when it counts?”, I don’t know. I want more than anything for this team to be good, and I think this fanbase is so starved for a win that we can lose hope too easily sometimes, me included. I truly can’t imagine what a Seattle Mariners World Series would look or feel like, and so every little win will feel like a step closer to an unimaginable goal. The 2025 Mariners have legit potential to be a very good baseball team and I want to properly enjoy what we are doing and not just think about October all the time. Let’s be clear, it is not going to be sunshine and rainbows every day here. I have seen some truly horrific baseball from this team and baffling moves from the front office, and I will complain when it happens. There is an important balance that we must find as Mariners fans that allows us to hope when things are good, and not get so out of hand that we are inevitably crushed when we end up one game short of the playoffs. If anyone has not watched the Jon Bois Youtube documentary of the History of the Seattle Mariners, it tells a great story that this team is so much more than the wins and losses. If we cared only about winning the World Series, we would have all jumped ship to the Dodgers already.

Sorry if I got a little carried away there. I just clearly think I know better than everyone about this team and need my perfect correct opinions to be heard over everyone else’s (Although if I wanted that I shouldn’t have put this behind a paywall huh). Let’s have some fun this season.

Go M’s,

Henry “I hope we don’t DFA Dylan Moore” Neiman