Heartbreak of '25 has Raleigh, J-Rod resolved to finish the job

SEATTLE -- At a local comedy show this week, Cal Raleigh took center stage and sported a wide smile.

Raleigh was the butt of a few jokes. He cracked a few himself, and he opened up more personably to a large gathering of Mariners fans whose packed-house presence underscored how reinvigorated the region has become after one of the best seasons in franchise history.

And just as much, it showed how the fan base has endeared itself to the player who has become the city’s sports star.

“The beginning of a new year brings a lot of hope,” Raleigh said Saturday at a sold-out Mariners FanFest, the club’s first since 2019. “So to pair that on top of that with the Seahawks doing really well, it's been a good time here.”

The comedy show was one of the many local hangouts that the Mariners’ all-world catcher has taken to. It seems to be a case of a player making his baseball home his permanent home, as he has mostly remained in Seattle all offseason. Most popularly, he has been a regular at Seahawks games during their run to next Sunday’s Super Bowl.

Yet there has also been a period of reflection for Raleigh -- largely on what could’ve been.

Raleigh has moved past the sting of last season’s end, when the Mariners were eight outs away from their first World Series but instead blew a 3-1 lead to the Blue Jays in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series. Yet it will always simmer.

“It was hard, just because the World Series was going on, and you feel like you should still be playing,” Raleigh said. “Part of me is like, I don't know if you really ever move on. I think, essentially, you're going to be feeling that one for a long time.

“And it doesn't matter if you eventually go on to win it or not -- like, you're still going to look back and be like, 'Wow, that season, we felt like we had a real chance, a real shot.' So I think part of me will always feel that. But at the same time, you can't dwell on it. You've got to understand that that chapter has closed and we're opening a new one.”

Julio Rodríguez echoed that sentiment, which represented a shift from previous commentary when entering a new season, this being his fifth. In years past, Rodríguez has pointed to the positives achieved despite disappointing finishes, notably in 2023 and '24, when the Mariners were the first team on the outside of the postseason.

But on Saturday, he broadened that scope -- suggesting that Seattle’s 2025 heartbreak could soar into '26 resolve.

“That's something that you kind of carry with you,” Rodríguez said. “It's just the experience, something that you now have. I feel like that's something that I carry with me, like the experience that I had in those [playoff] games. And I feel like it's going to help me to become a better player, and come with kind of like a little adjustment of mentality for this new year.

“The difference from my rookie year [in 2022] when we made it to the playoffs and this time, it felt like we were actually in it. It felt like we were actually a legit team, and that we had a shot to even win it all. And obviously, we know we were caught a little bit short. But I just feel like the experience side of it, you can't make it up. You've got to be there. You've got to be able to play those games -- and know you can't perform in those games. And I feel like everybody as a team definitely took the best out of it.”

Raleigh was one of the sport’s biggest storylines last season when he swatted 60 home runs, and he faces the challenge of a curtain call. Rodríguez has long been touted as possessing some of the game’s best raw talent, but he hasn’t yet put it all together for a full season.

Individually, they face expectations in 2026 that will almost certainly hinge on whether the Mariners can finally break through to that elusive Fall Classic. But at least through their first public comments on that endeavor, they are eager for the challenge.