Franchise Timeline

With one of the game's best starting rotations and rising young stars in Julio Rodriguez, the Mariners again entered a season of expectations within their perceived World Series window, yet they again missed the postseason as the first time on the outside looking in. Excluding tiebreakers, Seattle finished one game back of the final AL Wild Card for the second straight year, though 2024 presented far more of a squandered opportunity than any in recent memory for the only franchise that hasn't played in the Fall Classic. The Mariners raced out to a 10-game lead atop the American League West by June 19 yet lost that grip exactly one month later, a historically precipitous decline. They remained in the postseason race the rest of the year, but a 1-8 road trip in late August through Detroit, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles became arguably the most defining stretch of the season, one that immediately after led the club to part ways with manager Scott Servais in his ninth season. With Servais out, franchise icon Dan Wilson took over — and, to the surprise of many, given his lack of managerial experience at any level, it was on a permanent basis. The Mariners finished 23-11 under Wilson and finally tapped into the offensive potential they sought after a significant roster overhaul the offseason prior. Much of their success was rooted in interim hitting coach Edgar Martinez, also a franchise stalwart, close friend of Wilson and his teammate with the Mariners in the 1990s and early 2000s. But their late rally wasn't enough to supplant the Astros for first place, and a crowded AL Wild Card race became too much to overcome. As such, the Mariners were again on the sidelines in October, finishing 85-77.

The Mariners in 2025 reached heights that the organization had never before ascended, playing in their first Game 7 ever in a postseason series and coming just one win away from their first World Series appearance. They also won their first American League West title since 2001 and did so by supplanting their longtime rivals with a down-to-the-wire race that culminated in a three-game sweep in Houston in their final road trip. While Seattle's finish to the season was ultimately disappointing, it was nonetheless a season that will be talked about in the Pacific Northwest for a long time. Headlining the Mariners' heroics was team leader and all-world catcher Cal Raleigh, who crushed 60 home runs, won the Home Run Derby in a homecoming of sorts during All-Star Week in Atlanta and was front and center for one of the most heated AL MVP races of recent memory. He wound up finishing runner-up to Aaron Judge in the closest vote tally in six years, earning 13 of the 30 first-place votes while Judge earned the other 17. Raleigh's ascent to superstardom was one of the most prominent storylines in the entire sport, and it came immediately after he signed a six-year, $105 million contract extension just before Opening Day. Nicknamed "The Big Dumper," Raleigh earned his first All-Star selection and was one of five Mariners selected to the Midsummer Classic, along with starting pitcher Bryan Woo, closer Andrés Muñoz and outfielders Julio Rodríguez and Randy Arozarena.