Welcome to 2026, which is bringing the most hotly anticipated Seattle Mariners season since 2002.
It wasn't a 116-win romp through the regular season, but in many ways the Mariners' 2025 season was even more satisfying than what happened in 2001. Cal Raleigh hit 60 dang home runs. The Mariners won the AL West for the first time since that '01 campaign. And in the end, they came closer than ever to finally making it to the World Series.
That the Mariners didn't make it to the Fall Classic is where one can begin to imagine how things might be better in 2026.