Despite my better judgment, I'm ready to be hurt again

As I drove north on I-5 Monday afternoon, the familiar jingle of my default iPhone ringtone forcefully began to ring over the speakers of my Corolla, interrupting the shuffle of early 2010s hits to which my girlfriend and I had been listening.

The caller ID on my car’s screen read ‘T-Mobile Park,’ instantly dimming any interest I had of the incoming call. We listened as the ring repeated a handful of times, and then stopped, before our playlist resumed.

Later when I’d check my voice mail, I’d find the transcribed copy of yet another Seattle Mariners season ticket membership sales pitch. Not surprising.

In the aftermath of the disappointing 2024 season—one that would, once again, not end with a postseason berth—I cancelled the flex membership I had been renewing, despite a steadily climbing price, since the 2022 season. I was determined to withhold my hard-earned cash until necessary additions to the lineup materialized.

For most of the offseason, things looked bleak—it appeared the Seattle Mariners would enter their 2025 season with a largely unchanged roster and very little addition to the payroll, relying on upside and better injury help to propel them to a division title in the wide-open AL West this time around. While I was craving baseball, I was struggling to get excited for Opening Day—something unthinkable for me in most years.

Merely hours after I ignored a call from a season ticket representative, the vibes feel entirely different. On Tuesday afternoon, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that the M’s are extending Cal Raleigh on a six-year, $105 million contract. The deal buys out three years of arbitration and three of free agency, ensuring that the Platinum Glove catcher remains in Seattle through at least 2030.

The news of a Mariners folk legend choosing to spend likely the best years of his career in Seattle sent shockwaves through the team’s fanbase and has revitalized the optimism in many, including myself. Though I would be lying if I said I didn’t wish they would have made a larger splash on the free agent market this winter, this is a moment in which the organization deserves credit.

Time and time again, Jerry Dipoto and the front office as a whole have caught plenty of flak from fans and the media for their frequent own goals and self-sabotage from a PR standpoint, and deservingly so. Whether it be the ’54 percent’ comments or their own players insinuating that the general manager doesn’t even talk to the players, Dipoto’s propensity to ending up on the butt-end of jokes in the media has been seen as one of his biggest weaknesses in heading the team’s baseball operations. This has often distracted from some of the real successes he has had in rebuilding one of the worst organizations in baseball into one consistently pumping out talent, leading to more success at a major league level.

The criticisms of the team’s balance sheet are damn-well warranted, and I’m definitely setting the bar low when I say this, but it is refreshing to see the organization believing in the things that it is doing and acting accordingly, not panicking and throwing money at a problem à la Jack Zduriencik or Bill Bavasi. The investment in Cal Raleigh as a franchise cornerstone is an organizational success and deserves to be recognized as one.

I wish they had done more this offseason. I truly do. I understand the impatience of fans too. I share it. That said, we may never fully understand the dynamic between the current front office and ownership, and how decisions on payroll are made. What I do know is the roster I can see in front of me, and I see no reason to believe that they can’t continue to improve on the strides that have already been made. Hell, there is so much upside on this 2025 team that isn’t being talked about on a national level, purely because of the bad press that came with the minimal free agent spending.

Randy Arozarena finally gets to settle into the city of Seattle and T-Mobile Park. Matt Brash and Gregory Santos look to return to the bullpen and provide much-needed back-end help to Andrés Muñoz. Jorge Polanco, with an incentive-laden contract, hopefully has better injury luck and looks more like his 2024 second half than his first half, while Mitch Garver looks to repeat odd-year magic once again. Not to mention the M’s were victims of -4 wins in Pythagorean luck during the 2024 season, fourth-worst in the Majors and something that can likely chalked up to the injuries that piled up in their bullpen, but is largely uncharacteristic of the team over the past decade.

I can’t imagine bringing in hitting coach Kevin Seitzer from the National League hitting powerhouse Atlanta Braves can make the offense worse than it already was, either—even if you think hitting coaches don’t really matter.

All that being said, there is plenty to be excited about this summer, and it’s not just because the days are going to get longer again. Today, Logan Gilbert, another homegrown talent, is going to take the mound for his first career Opening Day start. T-Mobile Park is going to be sold out—albeit a little later than usual—and the hometown boys are going to be starting another campaign in front of a rocking crowd. Once again, if things break right, this year’s team is talented and capable enough to write some history for this franchise.

Maybe these exercises in optimism are futile, but they are at the heart of being a Mariners fan. One day, after all the waiting, it will all be worth it. We hold on to the hope for an eventual catharsis. It’s so fitting that the team attached itself to a Ted Lasso-style ‘BELIEVE’ sign in 2021, especially when people who have watched the show know that season one of that series ends with the resignation that “it’s the hope that kills you.”

I think the Mariners may be able to pull off the division this year. Despite my better judgment, I’m ready to be hurt again.