Seattle Mariners Supporters Named One of The Most Aggrieved Fanbases
This offseason has been an incredibly frustrating one for Seattle Mariners fans.
The Mariners, who possessed a 10-game lead in the American League West in June, blew the lead to the Houston Astros en route to missing the playoffs by one game. It was the fourth consecutive year where Seattle's postseason fate was decided in the final week of the regular season. It was the 22nd time in 23 years the Mariners missed out on the playoffs overall.
Adding to the frustration was the fact that Seattle had arguably the best starting pitching rotation in baseball but the offense ended up leading the league in strikeouts (1,625).
Logan Gilbert, Vicious 87mph Splitter. 😤
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 29, 2024
7th K thru 5...and 🤫 pic.twitter.com/EWpQ0sAouL
Fans were already disappointed with the results of the 2024 season. But there was some cautious optimism toward the offseason with the expectation the team would raise payroll.
But any optimism was quickly dashed with the news that the Mariners had only $15-20 million in available payroll. That revelation led to a realization that it would be unlikely Seattle would go after upper-tier free agents.
ESPN senior writer David Schoenfield has recognized Seattle fans' frustrations. And in a recent story, he named the Mariners fanbase as the second-most "aggrieved" in MLB.
Schoenfield wrote the following when explaining his reasoning for placing Seattle fans No. 2:
With chairman John Stanton once again holding a line on payroll -- the Mariners are running lower payrolls than they did in 2016 through 2018 -- president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto's hands are tied. That hasn't stopped him before, but so far the Mariners haven't made one major league transaction (other than letting Jorge Polanco and Josh Rojas go). Meanwhile, the AL West is the most winnable it has been in years. The Astros won the division with just 88 wins in 2024, traded Tucker and might lose Alex Bregman, too. Now is the time for the Mariners to pounce and add some offense. Instead: silence. There's a reason why frustrated Mariners fans can buy ".540" T-shirts -- an homage to Dipoto infamous "win 54%" of your games comment.
There's still several months left in the offseason for the Mariners front office to make some moves and inspire some semblance of hope for the fans for 2025.
But this is a fanbase that's had to watch a franchise miss out on the playoffs for the better part of a generation. And Seattle fans have been very vocal about wanting to see a change.
And nothing helps raise the mood of a fanbase better than winning.
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