By this time next week we will have a pretty good idea of where the Mariners are headed, in what has so far been a disappointing season.
All season long, the thinking has been that the Mariners are better than what they have shown. That the talent on this roster meant it was only a matter of time before they put it all together and rose to the top, in what is an underwhelming American League. Now though, more than ever, concern is setting in that maybe the M’s just aren’t that good.
It still seems barely conceivable to come to this conclusion, not when you have the likes of Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez, Josh Naylor, Bryan Woo, George Kirby and Andrés Muñoz. And yet it’s that same core which has underperformed in 2026 and contributed significantly to the team being under .500 with two thirds of the season completed. Now add in quality players such as Brendan Donovan and Matt Brash missing the majority of the campaign through injury, and it makes for an extremely unappealing recipe.
For the longest time there has been reassurance in the belief that the Mariners remained the best team in arguably the weakest division in the majors. Now though we can’t even be sure of that, after losing three of four in Texas versus the Rangers. As a result, the M’s have lost the head-to-head season series with three games still to go, which could make all the difference come the end of September.
Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez and company need to start playing more like what they are capable of
To be clear, we do still retain faith that this team will perform their now traditional second-half surge. That Raleigh, Rodríguez and company will still show just how good they really are, to come back and claim an AL West which is very much there for the taking. However, it’s becoming harder and harder to retain that faith with every passing day, with us now almost begging them to prove everyone wrong.
When Dominic Canzone hit his three-run homer on Sunday, it really did feel as if this could be a turning point in the Mariners’ season. That they could make it two in a row on Monday and split the series in Texas. Instead, it proved to be another false dawn, as the Rangers won 7-3 and now have a 2.5 game lead over the M’s in the division.
The Mariners now head to Los Angeles for what was already pegged as a crucial series versus the Dodgers, but has now become even more important. The M’s have never fared particularly well at Dodger Stadium, having been swept on their last four trips there and with a 7-17 record all-time. At least Shohei Ohtani won’t be pitching against them, but this seems like small consolation when faced with the two-time defending World Series champions.
Mariners’ approach to the trade deadline will tell us a lot about how confident they are in succeeding this season
What will be particularly interesting about the Dodgers series, is how the outcome impacts the Mariners’ approach to the pending trade deadline. Will they still be buyers as has long been expected, looking to add a quality right-handed bat and reliever? The answer is hopefully yes, but what we can say is that Jerry Dipoto’s and Justin Hollander’s approach ahead of Aug. 3 will tell us plenty about what they think of the team’s playoff chances.
In fairness, even if the Mariners do make a couple of key acquisitions by this coming Monday, it will only help so much. In the end, it is about Raleigh, Rodríguez, Naylor, Woo, etc, playing closer to their talent level and more consistently. It is also about getting Donovan and Brash back sooner than later, and with them similarly producing up to their capabilities.
Ultimately, we do want to believe the Mariners will take an aggressive trade deadline approach, even if things don’t go well against the Dodgers. That Dipoto and Hollander will retain belief in what this team is truly capable of. At that point, it would then be up to the players to deliver and not make fools of the front office, in a season which promised so much but is now teetering on the edge of disaster.
Photos courtesy of Tim Rogers Photography
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