Seattle Mariners

Hall of Fame outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. joined the Seattle Mariners ownership group Monday, becoming the first former player in team history to hold partnership interest in the club.

A historic day for our franchise!

Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. has joined the Mariners Partnership Group.

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) October 25, 2021

Griffey said in a statement:

"As I said in my Hall of Fame speech, I'm very proud to be a Seattle Mariner. I'm excited for this incredible opportunity to join John [Stanton] and the rest of the Mariners partnership group. This is a dream come true because of the relationship I've always had with the team, its fans, and the city of Seattle. I view this as another way to continue to give back to an organization and community that has always supported me, and my family. I'm looking forward to continuing to contribute to this organization's success in any way possible."

Griffey played his first 11 seasons and 13 overall with the Mariners. He made 11 of his 13 All-Star appearances with the franchise, winning the 1997 AL MVP and emerging as one of the most iconic players of his generation.

Mariners chairman and managing partner John Stanton said:

"On behalf of all of the partners, I want to welcome Ken. Ken has been an icon of our franchise, on and off the field, for over three decades and we are thrilled that he is joining us as a partner. His knowledge of the game, love of the Mariner fans, his experiences as a player, his passion for community service and his desire to help grow our sport will be a welcome, and invaluable, additional voice."

The Mariners retired his No. 24 jersey in 2016, the same year he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Cincinnati Reds, where Griffey played from 2000 to 2008, also inducted him as a franchise Hall of Famer. 

Griffey has been a special consultant to the Mariners since his retirement and remained an integral ambassador to the franchise and the city of Seattle. In January, Griffey joined MLB as an adviser to commissioner Rob Manfred.

If Major League Baseball's 2021 regular season had ended Wednesday, the Seattle Mariners would not have been headed for the playoffs. And if we're being frank, they're lucky to even be in the race heading into the season's final weekend.

But that's also the beauty of it.

Granted, a better word than "lucky" to describe the Mariners right now is simply "hot." They've won 10 of their last 11 games, 18 out of 26 in September and 41 of 68 in the second half.

What was a four-game deficit in the American League wild-card race as recently as Sept. 18 is now no deficit at all. The Mariners will begin their final three-game set against the Los Angeles Angels tied with the Boston Red Sox for the second spot.

Just one more win will secure the Mariners' first 90-win campaign since 2003. If other stars align just right during the season's final weekend, the organization could clinch its first playoff berth since its historic 116-win season in 2001.

According to FanGraphs, however, Seattle's chances of nabbing a wild-card slot are less than 30 percent. To the extent that the Mariners aren't really as good as their 89-70 record, this isn't an entirely unfair assessment.

What it misses, though, is the not-so-secret ingredient that's taken the Mariners this far. And no matter what happens, 2021 is merely the opening salvo of the latest dynasty in the Pacific Northwest.

---

The Mariners Aren't (Traditionally) Good

Understanding the 2021 Mariners requires understanding fun differential.

This is not a typo, and not to be confused with run differential, which is where the Mariners aren't even breaking even at minus-48. They could become only the 10th playoff team with a negative run differential.

Thing is, the Mariners just aren't particularly good at fundamental aspects of the game. Their defense rates negatively in outs above average, defensive runs saved and ultimate zone rating. And even amid the team's strong second half, the offense is 12th among AL clubs in weighted on-base average, while the pitching staff ranks ninth in ERA and 10th in FIP.

The Mariners, however, couldn't care less about their run differential; they much prefer the other kind.

"Someone told me that our run differential was minus-nine on this trip," manager Scott Servais said in August, according to Corey Brock of The Athletic. "But our fun differential was about plus-90. So we are going with that."

You could argue that "fun differential" isn't an actual thing, but, hey, it must be something since it's on Baseball Reference:

You could also argue that it's impossible to quantify how much "fun" a team has, but take a moment to consider how the Mariners are generally boring on bad days yet practically unbeatable on good days. As in, they're 11-28 with a minus-135 run differential in games decided by five or more runs—and 78-42 with a plus-87 run differential otherwise.

This is to say Seattle is good when it has to be, and never more so than when the pressure is on. This can also be quantified with "clutch," which rates the Mariners as the best club there is on offense and the second-best there is on the mound based on how they've performed in high-leverage spots:

• Offense: .362 wOBA, 1st in MLB
• Pitching: .284 wOBA, 6th in MLB

Looking strictly at the Mariners' offensive performance in high-leverage spots, it's as if they've had Starling Marte (who also has a .362 wOBA) at the plate whenever they've needed a big hit. Accordingly, they've produced a lot of those this season.

This makes for at least one reason to believe the Mariners could pull off an improbable, 2006 St. Louis Cardinals-style run through the postseason if they can get in. Because under the bright lights of October, every situation might as well be a high-leverage situation.

Of course, this is an act we've seen from the Mariners before. Getting the job done in the clutch was also their M.O. in 2018, when they won 89 games despite a minus-34 run differential. It's perhaps a cautionary tale that those Mariners not only missed the playoffs but were also then promptly torn down ahead of a 94-loss season in 2019.

But if ever there was a case of "one of these things is not like the other," it's the 2018 Mariners vs. the 2021 Mariners.

---

This Is Just the Beginning

Though the '18 Mariners were good in their own way, the future of that team never looked especially bright. Heck, with baseball's oldest offense and its worst farm system, that team basically didn't have a future.

By contrast, the '21 Mariners have one of the league's youngest offenses and a farm system that MLB.com ranked No. 2 overall. And if anything, these things undersell the team's youth movement.

Among AL clubs, the Mariners have given more plate appearances to 25-and-under hitters than every team except Cleveland. This is true even though reigning AL Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis (knee) and Gold Glove first baseman Evan White (hip) have barely played because of injuries. Likewise, it only includes 241 plate appearances for 24-year-old second baseman Abraham Toro, who came aboard via trade in July.

While his performance as a rookie—i.e., a .177/.260/.349 line in 90 games—is alarming, 22-year-old center fielder Jarred Kelenic still has a lot of time to live up to his recent billing as one of baseball's 10 best prospects. To this end, the .903 OPS, 38 home runs and 41 stolen bases he's posted in three minor league seasons remain a tantalizing tease.

By early 2022, Julio Rodriguez should also arrive. The power-hitting outfielder, who will turn 21 on Dec. 29, is in the No. 2 slot of MLB.com's top 100. He's slashed .347/.441/.560 in the minors this year, though that doesn't count his 1.069 OPS for the Dominican Republic's Olympic squad.

In the meantime, the Mariners have a Gold Glover at shortstop in J.P. Crawford and a young catching tandem in Luis Torrens and Cal Raleigh. Factor in the underrated Ty France and the potential returns of sluggers Kyle Seager ($20 million club option) and Mitch Haniger (free agent after 2022), and the developing picture is one of a lineup whose best days lie ahead.

Pitching-wise, the Mariners are set to return at least two solid starters in Chris Flexen and Marco Gonzales, and maybe a third if they exercise (and this is admittedly oversimplifying it) a four-year, $66 million option on All-Star Yusei Kikuchi. What they need is top-of-the-rotation talent, but they have options.

A former top prospect in his own right, Logan Gilbert has dazzled with his fastball velocity and walk rate, which rank in the 79th and 87th percentiles. He's also recently taken on the look of a Game 1 starter, ripping off a 2.70 ERA in six September outings.

Seattle likewise has right-handers George Kirby (No. 33 overall) and Emerson Hancock (No. 34) rising through its farm system. As its long-term books are essentially empty, the team also has the flexibility to seek a top-flight arm such as Robbie Ray, Kevin Gausman or even Max Scherzer in free agency.

Where the Mariners are now is similar to where the Toronto Blue Jays were last year. Sure, they've perhaps arrived ahead of schedule. But they're nonetheless here to stay, and their presence is likely only going to get bigger as they continue to develop their core.

---

The AL West Is About to Become Very Winnable

Unlike the Blue Jays, however, the Mariners shouldn't have to worry about bumping up against insurmountable obstacles within the AL West.

Come the offseason, the division-leading Houston Astros will stand to lose shortstop Carlos Correa and aces Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke via free agency. And with MLB.com's No. 29 farm system, they might even be tempted to turn their focus to the future.

The Oakland Athletics, meanwhile, are about to lose a whole bunch of players in free agency. Plus, Matt Chapman and Matt Olson are at that point where their escalating salaries are clashing with Oakland's perennially limited budget. One of them might have to go in a trade so the A's can save money and bolster their 28th-ranked system.

In Anaheim, just how the heck the Angels are supposed to break out of a string of six straight losing seasons is a good question. At the least, they'll need to add a whole bunch of pitching. After that, they'll need to hope that Mike Trout's and Anthony Rendon's injury-ruined 2021 seasons aren't a sign of things to come.

The Texas Rangers? Well, what about the Texas Rangers? They're second to only the Baltimore Orioles in losses over the last two seasons. Their rebuild likely has at least two or three seasons to go before it's done.

So even if the Mariners aren't the best team in the AL West right now, they're the only team in the division that is heading upward. As long as that's the case, 2021 will be neither their last nor their best chance to finally break their playoff drought.

---

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.

MLB is taking the 2023 All-Star Game to the Pacific Northwest, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.

T-Mobile Park in Seattle will reportedly stage the event in two years' time, having last served as host in 2001. That game is remembered in large part for Cal Ripken Jr.'s third-inning home run in his final All-Star Game.

Passan also noted how 2001 was the last time the Mariners made the MLB playoffs, showing how few games of great significance T-Mobile Park has seen in the years since. Seattle is two games back in the race for the final wild-card spot in the American League, so the franchise's lengthy postseason drought could come to an end.

The 2023 edition will be the third time the Mariners have welcomed the Midsummer Classic to their home stadium. The Kingdome was the venue for the 1979 MLB All-Star Game.

The American and National Leagues split the first two games in Seattle. Ron Guidry walked Lee Mazzilli to score what proved to be the decisive run in a 7-6 victory for the NL in 1979. Ripken's home run then powered the AL to a 4-1 win.

Recent history favors the Junior Circuit to claim the rubber match at T-Mobile Park since it's riding an eight-game winning streak.

Before heading to Seattle, the All-Star Game will stop at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Dodgers were originally supposed to host the 2020 All-Star Game, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two days after being the first pitcher ejected under Major League Baseball's policy of routine checks for foreign substances during games, Seattle Mariners reliever Hector Santiago has officially received his mandatory suspension. 

MLB announced Santiago's 10-day suspension on Tuesday but noted he won't begin serving it immediately because he filed an appeal:

Héctor Santiago has been suspended 10 games pic.twitter.com/iGh66tyR6D

— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) June 29, 2021

Santiago came on in relief of Logan Gilbert in the third inning of the first game of a doubleheader on Sunday.

After tossing 2.1 innings, the umpires came out to check Santiago's glove. They determined there was some sort of foreign substance on the mitt, leading to him being tossed from the game. 

"[Umpire Phil Cuzzi] said he felt some sticky stuff on the inside of the glove," Santiago told reporters after Seattle's 3-2 win. "All I used was rosin. I used it on both sides, trying to keep that sweat from dripping down to the hands."

Crew chief Tom Hallion told reporters that Santiago was suspected of having "a foreign substance that was sticky on the inside palm of his glove." and it was "very noticeable."

Per the official rules guidance issued by MLB outlining the policy, "any pitcher who possesses or applies foreign substances in violation of the rules will be ejected from the game and automatically suspended in accordance with the rules and past precedent."

Santiago is in his first season with the Mariners after signing a minor-league deal with the club in May. He was added to the 26-man roster on May 27. 

The 33-year-old has a 2.65 ERA with 23 strikeouts and 13 hits allowed in 17 innings across nine games in 2021.    

The Seattle Mariners reportedly acquired first baseman and outfielder Jake Bauers from Cleveland on Thursday.

According to Zack Meisel of The Athletic, Cleveland will receive a player to be named later or cash in return.

Bauers, who was designated for assignment last week, has appeared in 43 games for Cleveland this season, hitting just .190 with two home runs and six RBI.

---

The 25-year-old Bauers made his MLB debut in 2018 with the Tampa Bay Rays, hitting .201 with 11 homers and 48 RBI in 96 games.

He was traded to Cleveland as part of a three-team deal prior to the 2019 season. That trade netted the Rays infielder Yandy Diaz, while the Mariners acquired designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion and Cleveland picked up both Bauers and first baseman Carlos Santana.

Bauers saw fairly regular playing time in 2019, hitting .226 with 12 home runs and 43 RBI in a career-high 117 games and 372 at-bats.

Cleveland utilized him both at first base and in left field, and there was some belief his versatility would earn him a spot on the team again in 2020.

Instead, Bauers didn't make a single appearance for Cleveland last season, and since there was no minor league baseball because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he did not play in a competitive game of any kind.

Bauers made Cleveland's roster out of spring training this season, but he was never able to gain his footing and was DFA'ed despite Cleveland having limited options at first base.

For now, Cleveland is going with 25-year-old Bobby Bradley at the position, and he is off to a good start with a .400 batting average, one home run and three RBI in three games.

Bauers could receive some regular at-bats in Seattle given that starting first baseman Evan White and several of the Mariners' other hitters are on the injured list.

Lately, Seattle has been using utilityman Ty France at first base, although bringing in someone like Bauers with more extensive experience at the position could provide the M's with more flexibility.

Bauers will join a Mariners team that is third in the American League West at 31-32 and finds itself five games out of a playoff spot.

Meanwhile, Cleveland is second in the AL Central at 32-27 and two games out of a playoff spot.

There wasn't much for the Seattle Mariners to celebrate during Friday's 16-1 loss to the San Diego Padres, but backup catcher Jose Godoy's appearance in the game marked a milestone in Major League Baseball.

Per ESPN, Godoy became the 20,000th player in MLB history when he replaced starting catcher Tom Murphy in the bottom of the sixth inning.

There had been a social media countdown to MLB's 20,000th player thanks to Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman, who run the Cespedes Family BBQ Twitter account.

Since the start of the season, they have honored every player who makes their MLB debut with a synopsis of their career. Here is what they posted about Godoy on Friday night:

20,000th player in MLB history: José Godoy

- signed w/ STL in July '11 out of VZ; $200K signing bonus
- spent 9 years w/ STL; reached Triple-A in '19; at alt site in '20
- elected FA, signed w/ SEA in Nov. '20
- OF COURSE THE 20,000TH PLAYER IN MLB HISTORY IS A BACKUP CATCHER!!! pic.twitter.com/YC8TlMuttL

— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) May 22, 2021

Mintz and Shusterman noted April 1, Opening Day, when they started the countdown that 19,902 players had played at least one game in Major League Baseball.

Godoy, 26, played 468 games in the minors, posting a solid .275/.362/.360 slash line. 

In two plate appearances Friday, Godoy went 0-for-1 with one walk.

The positive COVID-19 test in the Seattle Mariners organization belongs to a member of the team's traveling party. 

Per ESPN's Jeff Passan, the positive test has caused "concern within the organization about potential spread due to a significant portion of players being unvaccinated."

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the positive test in the Mariners organization. 

Per MLB's health and safety protocols for this season, individuals who test positive are required to isolate for at least 10 days, must be cleared by the league's Joint Committee and team physician, pass a mandatory cardiac evaluation and a determination that the individual doesn't pose the risk of infecting others before being allowed to return.

Passan noted the Mariners are concerned about a potential outbreak because they are "well short" of the 85 percent vaccination threshold that MLB requires to relax its COVID-19 guidelines for teams. 

According to the Associated Press, 14 of MLB's 30 teams have hit the 85 percent mark on COVID-19 vaccinations. 

MLB had to postpone the Washington Nationals-New York Mets series at the beginning of the season due to four Nationals players testing positive for the coronavirus. Two games between the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Angels on April 17-18 were postponed due to COVID-19 issues involving the Twins. 

The Mariners are still scheduled to play the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Friday night at 10:10 p.m. ET. 

The future is apparently now for the Seattle Mariners. 

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the American League West team is calling up pitching prospect Logan Gilbert and will likely start him during Thursday's game against Cleveland. The right-hander checks in at the No. 28 overall player and the No. 4 player in the Mariners' system on MLB.com's prospect rankings. 

Gilbert is not the first high-profile prospect Seattle has recently turned toward in the early going this season.

Passan also reported the Mariners will call up outfielder Jarred Kelenic for Thursday's game. Kelenic is Seattle's top prospect and the No. 4 prospect in all of baseball.

It doesn't come as a massive surprise that the Mariners are turning to Gilbert at this point of the season. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times noted manager Scott Servais has turned to the bullpen because of injuries to Marco Gonzales and James Paxton.

Seattle also has just one off day between now and June 7, so it would be far more difficult to keep working with a short rotation.

"We have good players that are close to being ready to help us here," Servais said, per Divish. "Ultimately, it's not my decision when they come, but those conversations are going on and they'll continue to go on."

Gilbert shined in his only start in the minor leagues this year and allowed one earned run and four hits while striking out five for the Tacoma Rainiers, who are Seattle's Triple-A affiliate. 

He started 26 games in the minor leagues in 2019 and finished with a 2.13 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 165 strikeouts in 135.0 innings, underscoring his potential with head-turning stats.

If he can pitch like that in the major leagues, he probably won't be going back to the minors anytime soon.

One of the top prospects in baseball is expected to join the big leagues this week, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.

The Seattle Mariners will reportedly call up outfielder Jarred Kelenic, who is ranked as the No. 4 overall prospect by MLB, in time for the first game of their series against Cleveland on Thursday.

The 21-year-old was the No. 6 overall pick by the New York Mets in the 2018 draft.

Jarred Kelenic dealt with a strained adductor muscle in his knee this season but has managed to go 9-for-19 at the plate, with two home runs and a pair of steals through five games with the team's Triple-A affiliate, the Tacoma Rainiers, this season.

About last night...

@JKelenic_1019 is the first player to hit two home runs in his Triple-A debut since Luis Robert did it in 2019.

— Mariners Player Development (@MsPlayerDev) May 7, 2021

The promotion is apparently a long time coming for Kelenic. In February, he told Bob Nightengale of USA Today that the team kept him at their alternate training site in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season as a punishment after he turned down a contract extension more than a year earlier. Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto denied the allegation.

"It wasn’t just communicated one time to me. It was told to me several times," Kelenic said. "That’s the God’s honest truth. It got old.’"

His comments came around the same time that team president and CEO Kevin Mather resigned after comments he made at a local Rotary Club meeting became public. In video footage, Mather made disparaging remarks about players' English abilities as well as service-time rules—admitting that the team would keep the top prospect in the minor leagues to start the year in an effort to push off his free agency.

“Not to be given that opportunity was so beyond frustrating," Kelenic said in February. "I feel that guys should be rewarded for their play, and have the best guys on the field, especially when you talk about a team that hasn’t gone to the playoffs in 20 years, and your best prospects are just sitting there watching."

The Mariners are moving along in the AL West, in third place at 18-17—just two and a half games behind the first-place Oakland Athletics.

Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais confirmed Tuesday that starting pitcher James Paxton would miss the remainder of the 2021 season and undergo elbow surgery.

"Left arm ... left elbow surgery," he told reporters. 

Paxton, 32, was pulled just 1.1 innings into his first start with the Mariners last week after two years with the New York Yankees, with the injury originally described as a forearm strain. 

It's been a tough two-year stretch for Paxton, with injuries limiting him to just 20.1 innings last year (1-1 with a 6.64 ERA, 1.47 WHIP and 26 strikeouts across five starts).

"I feel like for me, it's kind of been one thing after another," he told reporters on April 6. "And I work really hard and do everything that I can to be out there, and I'll continue to do so. And hopefully I can catch a break and stay healthy for a good chunk of time in the future."

James Paxton just addressed the media. Says the pain in his arm was different that the flexor strain he dealt with last year. The process of coming back from that was going well, but the stress of a live game was apparently more than it could handle.

— Jen Mueller (@JenTalksSports) April 7, 2021

He spent his first six seasons (2013-18) with Seattle before heading to New York in a blockbuster trade ahead of the 2019 campaign. He was traded back to the Mariners this offseason. 

With Paxton out, Nick Margevicius will step into his place in the starting rotation, with intriguing prospect Logan Gilbert likely to get a shot as one of the team's five starters at some point this season.

The Mariners have opened the 2021 campaign 5-4 as they look to end a playoff drought dating back to 2001.