Inside Baseball 25

 

 

A pirate, an MVP and a promising young centerfielder are in a rowboat

Tuesday, October 21– Bellingham, WA 

Q: How far will they get before the boat fills up with water and they are violently dismembered by bull sharks in a froth of blood and salt, the rogue fibers of their musclebound torsos floating lazily down to the sandy ocean floor to be consumed nonchalantly by the least of the sea’s parasites—a murky ecosystem failure and decay.

A: Not as far as the World Series.

Along with the traditional offerings of just wait’ll next year and how about them Hawks making the rounds this morning is a milky-eyed group meme of congratulations for how far the Seattle Mariners advanced this year– a resignation that not reaching the World Series is plenty good enough and that we should be not only satisfied but indeed proud that the team got as far as it did. This is a very PNW point of view, and showcases the low expectations for baseball and spectator sports in general in this region. Decades of losing have conditioned us to enthusiastically embrace 2^nd (or lower) place, gleefully celebrating early-bracket victories as if they were championships. We’re just so grateful for a pause in the beatings that we can actually say with a straight face on the morning after a soul-sacking game 7 Championship Series defeat ‘only 112 days till pitchers and catchers! ‘

I wish I could see it that way.

It’s not that there’s any shame in getting beat by a better sports team than yours. Especially in baseball and especially in October, when these series get stretched out over a long week. When you actually amortize the contest over seven grueling games, each with its own game within the game, with the innumerable plate appearances and recurring matchups and tangential storylines and super slo-mo replays & aerial photography, reverse-splits and the in-game interviews & miked-up umpires—it’s a fucking study. And usually there are enough chances for the better team to win. Just ask the Bad Lieutenant.

And yes of course the Mariners tasted success this season. For sure it was exhilarating to be one of the last three teams standing while all other baseball players were already golfing. FUCKING A RIGHT it was thrilling to have stolen along on Cal’s impossible, historic season. Certainly there is much to look forward to in 112 days.

But I guess what bugs me about this post season and what troubles me when I allow myself to consider 2026 is that as the diamonds got larger and the lights got brighter and the stakes got higher, this Mariners team did not consistently show its best self. In fact, it frequently showed its ugliest ugliest ugliest ass to the national audiences who hadn’t seen all that much of them to that point. That’s frustrating, because they’re better than how they played in much of the playoffs.

And it’s not just because my cousins in Boston watched the Mariners boot the ball all over the fuckin’ field in game 6. It’s not that Jeremy in the Bay laughed when they ran the bases like ladybug league soccer practice in 3 & 4. It’s not even when NYY Robert from Florida winced at some of the shockingly uncompetitive swings in all three. Rather it’s a combination of these boners and many more. Frankly, the team that stunk up much of the Championship Series was not a championship team.

And it wasn’t just the bleak nadirs of the Toronto series. There was breathtaking underachievement in the Division Series too.

“But we won the series,” will cry the apologists in teal. “We beat Skubal in an elimination game in front of a sell-out home crowd that stood and stomped for 15 innings. Everyone on Sports Center was talking about it!”

Oh, no doubt. That was a high-stepping October Friday night baseball thriller right there. But a series against these Tigers should never have gone five games to begin with. And this game needn’t have taken as long as it did. The Mariners had abundant opportunities to end that game in the bottom of every inning from the 8^th on without using starting pitching that was supposed to be resting for the Championship Series. But they couldn’t do it. Inning after inning they just couldn’t score one runner from second base. Logan registered an inspired performance in relief for sure, but he never recovered—did he?

The statistical opposite of RLoB (Runners Left on Base) is execution. It doesn’t show up in the box score—there’s no quantifiable metric for it. Rather execution is the general capacity to move baserunners from first base (let alone second!) to home plate, and it is one of the things that separates good teams from very good teams. It is a combination of baserunning and situational hitting, including bunting.

Now, if you’re just planning on hitting a home run every time up, then of course it doesn’t matter– squander all the opportunities you want! But you can’t homer your way out of everything, as the Mariners found out last night.

The tenth man will sleep just fine over the winter, warmed by recollections of the Mariners’ spectacular 2025 stretch run that saw them advance farther into the playoffs than any other Mariner team in history. Tridents up!

I’ll wake up cranky, though, after an unsettling slumber– worrying that the end of the Mariners’ 25 season was flawed and ultimately futile. The Championship Series was cheapened by mental mistakes, mis-calculated pitching and terrible swing decisions. The Division Series took too long and wasted resources earmarked for higher callings. And the thrilling 17-4 late September run that moved the team not only into first place, but in fact into a position to enjoy a first-round bye? That was accomplished almost exclusively against sub-500 teams. The only playoff team the Mariners would face during that run would be the Dodgers, who—even with nothing to play for– made the Mariners look pretty thin in a 3-game sweep to close the regular season. The Mariners tiptoed into the playoffs when they’d previously been on a real rager, trouncing any last-place team that got in their way. Not ideal.

No. If there’s one thing I’ll cling to this winter when the sun is unplugged and the tarp is on the infield, it will be the weekend in Houston. The one unqualified triumph of the second half of the season wasn’t realized in October at all, rather in the middle of September with more than a week to go in the regular. The Mariners barged in to Houston on a Friday afternoon having pulled into a tie with the first-place Asstros after an 11-1 run. With only six left to play afterward, it seemed likely the division would be decided between the two rivals on the field. And not just any field, either– but that crooked diamond in that backward town in that confederate state versus the orange villains we had all learned to despise so deeply. This was high drama and it was a perfect opportunity for the Mariners to choke like they had in so many Septembers past. One version of the script saw the Mariners piss away the crescendo of momentum they’d built over the previous two weeks—getting swept in Houston and losing out on not only the division title but in fact a post-season berth of any kind.

But that’s not the script that got played. In true fact, the Mariners dominated from the first pitch, leaving no doubt as to who the best team in the AL West was in 2025. Unhittable pitching from Woo, George & Logan. Multiple home runs from Cal. Speire’s gutty innings. Robles’ impossible catch. It was such a rewarding and dizzying thrill and I will cherish it always.

I wish that was the version of the team that had played the Blue Jays…

 

Rowdy Tellez, Donovan Solano and Dylan Moore walk into a bar

 

It boggles the mind to think that these three guys were Mariners during the same season that just ended last night. It seems like years ago! That gives an idea just how long a major league baseball season really is.

Lots of bit partiers come and go during a season. Guys get waived, traded, demoted and designated. No team ever finishes the season with the same roster it began with. That’s baseball. But it is interesting to note what’s washed ashore and flushed out with the tide over the course of a campaign.

I personally wanted it to work out for Rowdy, partly because I think Quick Sands would have loved him. Tellez had a playful personality and actually managed a pretty darned serviceable first base. He was also 6’4” and 270lbs and when he ran into one (which wasn’t actually all that often) the ball would go a long way. Rowdy homered in three straight games (including a grand slam in a 12-inning win) during an Easter weekend series win over the Blue Jays at that place Rogers Center.

But there wasn’t roster space for Rowdy once Luke Raley returned from the injured list at the end of June and the big guy was bye-byed. The heightened scrutiny at first base motivated Solano to subsequently crank up his program and he went on a tear, hitting .385 in 17 games in June. But the arrival of first baseman Josh Naylor at the trade deadline made Don Salon expendable and he was outrighted back to the Cheesecake Factory.

Those two guys were transients. They shared a role and soaked up some ABs during their relatively brief stays in Seattle. They had some moments, but Dylan Moore was a different story entirely.

The longest-tenured Mariner (signed a month before JP Crawford), Moore was the epitome of a utility player. In his first game with the team– in Tokyo on opening day 2019– he entered the game in the 7^th as a defensive replacement. The next inning, he drew a walk in his first at-bat as a Mariner before promptly stealing second. And then he just kept doing that for the next six + seasons. Whatever the team needed at that moment, Dylan could and would do. He could bunt and run. He could lead off or hit 9^th—it didn’t matter. He played every defensive position except catcher and pitcher! He was such a versatile defensive player, he actually did win a Gold Glove for a utility player, which is baseballese for a guy who wants to play and win bad enough that he’ll play wherever the manager needs him to play and do it well. No drama.

I always thought that if Dylan Moore had gotten more regular playing time—more consistent at-bats—that he could be a star rather than the role-player he spent most of his Seattle seasons as. And he proved me right at the beginning of this year, hitting .385 in April and earning AL Player of the Week honors while splitting starts at second and third base while the Mariners were shaking their roster to see if there just wasn’t someone else better in here somewhere. Ultimately rookies Cole Young and Ben Williamson were brought up to fill the respective positions and D-Mo went back to spot starts, defensive replacements and pinch running. Without the rhythm so crucial to the art of baseball, his production plummeted and he was designated in August to clear a roster spot for Victor Robles, who was emerging from the injured list.

So long, Dylan Moore. I’ll miss singing your name in the stadium when they play “Even Flow.”

 

KNOCK KNOCK (who’s there?)

 

Josh Naylor—Lord, I can’t even remember what this team was like before Josh Naylor landed. I love this baseball pirate so much. He looks like a pirate and walks like a pirate, yet he speaks like a beat poet. He also runs like Fred Sanford! How did this guy steal 30 bases? Because he’s smart. He’s smart at baseball and he’s insightful, unlike most professional athletes. And funny. Whatever the fuck it was he was doing at second base in game 3 of the Division Series with those fake signals– I do not even know. It was like he was helping to land an airplane—no subtlety whatsoever. Then the goofy attempted breakup of the double play in the finale. The errant flip to Logan in Game 2— totally whack! It’s like jazz baseball…                                                                                                                    Not everything worked, like it doesn’t always in the improvisational arts. He made some sparkling defensive plays in the post, but also committed a couple of errors and was called out on the obstruction play. And like everyone else he had a few ugly at-bats.                       Worst of all his gaffes, however, was running in to an out at third base in Game 4 to ash a threat in the 6th inning with the Mariners down only three and the tying run coming to the plate. But I can forgive him that because he’s just my main main that’s all. Signing him will the the Mariners’ #1 off-season priority. Josh Naylor who? 

JP Crawford—This guy is infinitely lovable too. The longest currently tenured Mariner, JP has been a co-face of the franchise and has shown durability and resourcefulness. But he’s 30, and he did not have a great post, batting only .200 with 15 strikeouts. I was gratified to see him have such a great game 7, with a double, the motherfucking sacrifice bunt (the Mariners’ only of the post?) and that lyrical defensive play to start the double and crush the Blue Jay’s 5^th. Identifying his replacement is something the team will need to start working on at some point next year, with the splashy extension he signed in 2022 expiring after the season. JP Crawford who? 

Dan Wilson—I liked Dan as a player and even as a broadcaster, but he’s not my favorite kind of manager. I was delighted when he replaced Scott Servais because I thought Servais needed to be replaced by someone. Anyone. And Dan has largely avoided glaring fuck-ups in his first full + season at the bridge.                                                                                Naturally there has been much second-guessing this morning about the pitching progression last night. Kirby out too soon? Woo out too soon? Bazardo instead of Muñoz? Unlike most of Servais’ moves in 22, I didn’t find fatal flaw with Dan’s choices this month. I think he got unpleasantly surprised by some guys who’d been nails all season long. But I don’t blame Dan for going to them or even going back to them. Sometimes the guy with the bat just hits the ball no matter where it’s thrown.                                                                          One thing that did kind of gross me out this year, though, was the staged ejection in Tampa. A big deal had been made about Lou being at the game, and when some bad strikes were called against Mariner hitters in the 3rd, someone in the dugout got rung by homeplate umpire Manny González. When Dan emerged seeking clarification, he too was tossed. But there was no fire in the thing at all, Wilson’s act was mild and inauthentic– an embarrassment. He looked like he’d just watched some A Eye YouTube video on how you argue with an umpire. Clearly the whole thing was for Lou’s enjoyment only. As much as I miss a good ol’ fashioned baseball argument, I could do without much more of this limp theater. Dan Wilson who? 

The Trident—I don’t know if it’s because the team did actually hit a lot of home runs this year or what, but that tiresome fork didn’t bug me as much this season as it has in the past. Funny how winning changes things! While a lot of teams have done away with these dugout talismans, the Trident is still on the Mariner roster.                                                                                                                                                                                                            I do think they need some PR consultation where some of the other stuff is concerned, however. National media loves running stories about dark horse’s endearing B-market customs, but you can’t run parallel with the mustaches, the witches, the Trident and the shoes-on-the-head. Choose one and play it– but don’t expect national audiences to embrace every quirk, no matter how adorable. The Trident who? 

Eugenio Suárez—It was sure a gas having Geno back. I actually had goosebumps and a tearlette when I heard the story of him boarding the plane in Sacramento. I didn’t like letting that dude go in 23, and I’ve missed him since. Unfortunately, he stunk the fuckin’ joint up pretty good once back– at least on the field, more accurately at the plate. He was still great for attendance though, and I know he’s good in the clubhouse. But he was awful in the playoffs, striking out 18 times. It just looked like he couldn’t get back in the dugout fast enough so he could brush his hair. He had the two good swings in Game 5, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day. I assume there will be no effort made to bring him back for 2026. Eugenio Suárez who?

Cal Raleigh—What else are we even supposed to say? Are there any superlatives yet available? We all just sound like broken records trying to describe the juggernaut that was Cal Raleigh this season.

Like every player on this team, I would smile if he cut down on the swing-and-miss. I know striking out is part of power hitting, I just wish there was a shortened 2-strike swing that could be employed. For all of them.

He looked tired in the last two games in Toronto and some balls got away him behind the plate. Go figure. The Mariners will do well to find a way to rest him more regularly next season—whether he likes it or not.

I hope he wins the MVP but will understand if he doesn’t. It will boil down to how much value is assigned to the catching piece, obviously. Maybe that and stolen bases! Cal owns that advantage over Judge 14-12. To be honest, I would like to see him running less in general. It just cracks up the radio booth whenever Cal catches everyone off-guard and steals second. But no one’s going to be laughing when he pulls a hamstring or gets in some awkward collision at home plate when fucking Kris Negrón sends him with one out and a 3-run lead. The guy’s got a lot on his plate, maybe we can just cool out on the ill-advised baserunning risks in 2026. Cal Raleigh who? 

Right Field—I like both of these guys—Victor & Dom. But one of them needs to step up or get lost early in 26. Miserable posts, both of them– well sub-Mondoza. And that E for Vic with the laminated cheat card in his teeth was a bad look– as was his javelin suspension in August. Stewy Griffin was as ineffective as anyone in the black hole of the back of the Mariners’ post-season lineup and we need more from the position. Right Field who?

 

 

Rotation—The least of anyone’s concerns, clearly. It’s actually kind of shocking that the Mariners won 90 games with all the injuries and general underachievement of the young starters in 25. Castillo’s surprise season is regularly overlooked in discussions about Mariner pitching, but The Rocker was really good—super clutch. There’s no reason to think the starting rotation will not be wikked awesome again next season after the off-year in 25. Like many of the hitters, they weren’t good enough in the post– but there are explanations for that. Rotation who?

 

Julio Rodríguez of the Seattle Mariners— I have a complicated relationship with Julio. It certainly is not in my best interests for him to fail—yet I find myself being much more irritated when he does than I am elated when he succeeds. I’m not sure why I’m so critical of him. I don’t think it’s the actual money, but it surely has something to do with the expectations attached to it. The Seattle sports blogosphere thinks he’s the best thing since curly fries, but I believe he’s got a long way to go before he’s sharing any sentences with you–know-who. A super long way.

Everyone strikes out sometimes. Everyone hits in to a double play once in a while. Guys get caught stealing, I dig it. But this dude’s errors are more often mental lapses. I think Julio Rodríguez is the most vacant baserunner I’ve ever watched. Certainly the most relative to his reputation as a great baserunner. “But he stole 30 bases!” they whine. This is true. But there’s more to baserunning than stealing second. J-Rod is constantly getting picked off and running in front of ground balls when he should just freeze.

I also do not believe he is an elite defender. “But he’s nominated for the Gold Glove!” At the risk of being exposed as a heretic, my opinion is that he doesn’t make the really difficult plays and that he makes the routine ones look difficult.

Baserunning mistakes cost outs. Fielding errors, like the banquet offered in Game 6 (two by Julio) give extra bases to the other guys. They can’t be tolerated.

I do give Julio all the credit in the world for stiff-arming the All-Star Game, however. For a guy who admires himself as much he does, summoning the discipline to forfeit limelight in order to put himself in a position to do what should be most important (namely having the sensational second half he did) couldn’t have been easy. My cap is off for this bold choice. But I need Julio to play smarter in 2026, all year. Julio Rodríguez of the Seattle Mariners who?

 

Jesus Won— I find this team’s recent embrace of Christianity to be positively revolting. I’ve never thought it was a great look on any celebrity, honestly, but somehow it’s even worse on baseball players. The Latin American guys, I can cut more length—even if Geno laid it on far too thick more than once. But Logan? Where did this even come from? I’ve never observed it before and suddenly they are kneeling in a team prayer. I could do without this and will be writing a letter in the off-season, believe me. Jesus Won who?

 

Randy—This guy is a weirdo. I got a real close look at him at Spring Training, and he is a dark motherfucker. And no, I don’t mean that—he’s just super intense and unless he’s flashing that million-dollar grin then he’s just hard scowling. But I love that he throws 20 baseballs into the stands during the game. Other players actually throw balls to him in left field for him to throw to the crowd. It’s a weird tic.                                                                                                          But Randy had some real presence this season, and even if it wasn’t exactly the 2020 World Series, I loved his work on the basepaths this post and I like him in left. Randy who?

 

The Bullpen—I have appreciated that these modern Mariners teams have had strong and deep relief pitching. To me, a rad bullpen is even sexier than a great starting rotation. Particularly in the post season, it’s fascinating when the nameless gunslingers emerge from beyond the left-field fence to face certain hitters again and again. And not just the closers, but the set-up guys and other specialists too. Muñoz was good again this year– but he was far from perfect, with seven blown saves. Even the successful finishes often seemed to be an adventure for him. But Brash has settled in nicely to his 8^th inning role and Bazardo & Speier had great years even if some of their luck ran out in the playoffs. With the hopeful return of Santos and Thornton next year, the bullpen should again be a strength for the Mariners. The Bullpen who?

 

Quick Sands—I wasn’t even old enough to vote when I first started copying everything Rick Sands did, and we were friends for more than 40 years before he died last season. He taught me lots of stuff and made baseball cool for me again after a decade of estrangement, worshipping the NFL. We went to a million games together over the years, but never a World Series game. Matt and Evan and I took his voodoo stickers to spring training and I was looking forward to taking them to a Series game also. But the team ended up making too many fucking baserunning mistakes and missed the fall classic by 9 outs. Quick Sands would have scoffed at the just wait’ll next year optimism, mocking it as sushi-eating American League bullshit. But, you know—just wait’ll next year… Quick Sands who?

 

The World Series— By the time I’ve gotten to the bottom of this pompous protest piece, two games of the Series are downstream. Game 1 was a shocker. Like most people, I didn’t know if Toronto would even score a run let alone win a game. But the Dodgers haven’t exactly looked like the 27 Yankees either. Still, I like LA to win it all, maybe in as few as five. We’ll know more after tonight. I won’t be going to Game 4 tomorrow night, like I had hoped… The World Series who? 

 

Jorge Polanco—I don’t usually watch baseball on television. A 30+ year radio listener, I normally only see baseball on TV if I’m in a bar or a hotel room. I don’t miss too many pitches during a season, but I’m normally listening to them while I’m cooking or walking or puttering in the garage. So it wasn’t until pulling down a Fubo subscription this post that I actually got a good long look at that bug-eyed freak Jorge Polanco. Talk about your blank stares—I love this dude’s super-neutral shark act. You get absolutely nothing from him and then BOOM– he’s running slow around the bases.                                                                    The Mariners haven’t had a real DH since Nelson Cruz. I hope they’ll make an effort to sign Polanco, though he will likely test the market after a productive season. Maybe we should step up our efforts to circulate that blooper reel error of his in shallow right field during the Division Series. Dude not necessarily known for his D. Jorge Palanco who?

 

2026 SEATTLE MARINERS—Despite how sardonic and generally discontented I come off, I do think this team will definitely win the World Series next year. Of course, I always think the Mariners are going to win the World Series until the pitch on which they are eliminated for the season—even when that’s been in June. This year it wasn’t until the end of game 7 of the ALCS. And yes of course that is something.                                                                                                                      I do hope there’s a grown-up in the room at some point during spring training 26, however, who will motivate these boys to re-visit the some of the classics like catching the ball, throwing to the right base, bunting, and not getting picked off third. Home runs are bitchin’ but a bunch of balls taken smoothly the other way pencil out the same in the scorebook. I know it’s a lot to expect, but being a team that puts the ball in play (TOR25) sometimes has a better chance of winning a pennant than the team that hits home runs a lot but then can’t score after a leadoff double when the season’s on the line (SEA25).                    There is much to be optimistic about looking forward. The rotation should be as good as any in the game. They have stars under contract and with any luck they’ll sign another in Naylor. Hopefully Mitch Garver is playing elsewhere and that he takes Luke Raley with him. They may well have the steepest home-field advantage in the sport.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             But we can’t pencil in 60 for Cal again—he won’t be pitched to like he was for a lot of this year. Someone on the pitching staff is going to be injured and miss half the season. How are matters going to take shape at second and third base? Who knows when the best Julio Rodríguez is going to show up…                         A baseball season is a long prospect. It starts in early February and doesn’t end until November if you’re good. If you make sweet love to and impregnate your darling one (does not matter if you are married to her or not) on the first day of spring training, she might give you a son on the last day of the World Series. And there’s only three months of leave available before you have to get back in the dugout with those dudes that are all dressed the same as you.

As Quick Sands often said, baseball is mean…