It’s not “Wait until next year” with the Mariners, it’s “Now wait until next year”

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It’s hard to be anything but disappointed with the Seattle Mariners’ 2021 season ending.

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They were the hottest team in the American League heading into the last weekend of the season. They had three consecutive sold-out crowds at T-Mobile Park, poised to collapse collectively. They had a real chance to end 19 years of frustration and stop the franchise’s long playoff drought just before it hit 20 seasons.

Of course, it didn’t work. They lost their last three-game streak to the Angels to break a tie for a wild card spot, and like in 2014 and 2016, the Mariners (90-72) couldn’t finish a late run in playoffs though this one had the most momentum behind him of all.

How the Mariners’ season ended and where the Mariners franchise is heading are two very different things, however. And there’s nothing to be disappointed with when it comes to the next step for Seattle, especially when you take stock of all the positive signs the 2020 season is leaving behind.

Where to start ?

And the player who made the most noise during the last weekend of the season, Mitch Haniger? He’ll be back in the right field, perhaps with a 2021 American League Player of the Year award on his coat. No one knew how he would hold up this year after an injury and multiple surgeries that kept him from playing for a year and a half. He held up better than anyone might have expected, ending with a career year with 39 home runs, 100 RBIs, .804 OPS and perhaps most importantly 157 games played without any moves on the injured list. In a young team, having a veteran puncher like Haniger in the middle of the roster to lean on is huge.

Then the rough diamond that is Chris Flexen. Disconnected from Korea, the 27-year-old right-hander returned to the major leagues and became one of the AL’s most effective starters, posting a 3.61 ERA and a WAR of 3.5 while making 31 starts . He and veteran left-hander Marco Gonzales give the Mariners a strong veteran duo to build their 2022 rotation.

What about those guys in the bullpen? Paul Sewald, Drew Steckenrider and Casey Sewald – the latter being the owner of a Mariners-record 0.67 ERA over 42 appearances (of which the last 29 were all scoreless, another team record) – could take that term ‘rough diamond’ to a higher level than even Flexen. And while you can’t expect the bullpen’s success to translate into next year, the good news is that the Mariners have a closer veteran, Ken Giles, who missed everything in 2021 due to of Tommy John’s surgery, joining a mix that includes 22-year-old Andrés Muñoz, who made his own Tommy John comeback on Sunday by throwing fastballs as hard as 102 mph in 2/3 innings of scoreless work.

The Mariners also have a young but somewhat experienced core of positional players who have shown varying levels of promise this season. Ty France looks like a potential superstar, and the defensive improvement he made at first base has some wondering if he could do something similar somewhere else in the infield once Evan White is in. healthy and ready to produce in the big leagues. Shortstop JP Crawford followed a 2020 Gold Glove season with continued stellar defense and much improved offense as Seattle’s first hitter and top table setter. You can also add 24-year-old second baseman Abraham Toro to this list, too, thanks to his hot shot after arriving from Houston in a trade, although he has more to prove after a late-season crunch and that he always behaves defensively. .

We still haven’t finished. Think of the players who have missed much of the season with injury, including White and especially Kyle Lewis, the 2020 AL Rookie of the Year. They will look to return in 2022 and re-establish themselves in the young core of the Mariners.

And yet, we’re just getting to the two things that should give the Mariners the most hope in 2022 and beyond.

First, the 2021 rookies and the top prospects right behind them. Prized outfielder Jarred Kelenic may have struggled a lot throughout the season and finished averaging 0.181 and 0.615 OPS in 93 games, but he became one of the Mariners’ best hitters over the course of their streak. from 11-3 to end the year. This is perhaps the most positive take-away of the entire season for the future of the Mr.

Starting pitcher Logan Gilbert was even more successful in his rookie year than Kelenic and at times dominated opposing teams. If the lanky right-hander starts to land his side throws for strikes in 2022, be careful. They and wide receiver Cal Raleigh will likely be joined soon next season on the Mariners’ roster by top prospects like Julio Rodríguez, Emerson Hancock and George Kirby, and there are more names on the way besides them.

Finally, the kicker. The Mariners just won 90 games for the first time since Edgar Martinez’s last All-Star season – not his last season, his last All-Star season. The franchise knows its configuration to be successful. He knows the time is right. The time of what? Now is the time to start spending money and prospecting for capital on established players who can help M’s become a true American League player. We’re already pretty sure they’ll have to replace Kyle Seager’s production, and with the positional flexibility many of their players have, they can get creative in how they add star power to this. off-season.

The Mariners may have come within two games of a wild card spot, but it’s not the highest number in the standings this year. The real number to know is five, which is the number of games the Mariners have finished behind the Houston Astros (95-67) in the AL West race. Seattle was nine games away from Houston in 2020, and that was in a season that only lasted 60 games, not 162. It’s a remarkable turning point. And not only do the Mariners win over the Astros, they edged the Oakland A (86-76) – against whom they currently have a 12-game winning streak – in the process.

They are certainly not the same old Mariners. And for the first time in a long time for Mariners fans – honestly, maybe for the very first time – it’s not “Wait till next year.”

The snow hold on until next year.

ESPN Seattle’s 710 instant reactions to M’s first 90-game winning season since 2003



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