Check out all the published entries in our Offseason in Review series here.
The Mariners took steps toward relevance last season, when they finished with the seventh-best record and the fourth-best run differential in the American League. Still, at 86-76, they fell short of the playoffs for a major league-worst 15th year in a row. Team brass is ready to draw that ignominious streak to a close in 2017. Amid an aggressive, trade-packed winter, general manager Jerry Dipoto proclaimed in January that the Mariners are “plainly” in “’win-now’ mode.” Then, just after the start of spring training in February, club president Kevin Mather declared, “It is time to play October baseball in Seattle.