Seattle Mariners rumors indicate that time may have run out on the team this season. With a tough loss to the Houston Astros on Friday night (Sept. 15), the Mariners dropped to 74-74 on the season. That also puts the Mariners 3.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins for the second Wild Card spot in the American League. Though the Twins did lose as well on Friday, the Mariners fell further behind the los angeles angels in that race.
The Angels beat the Texas Rangers late Friday night to improve to 75-72 on the season and move the team within two games of the Twins for the final Wild Card slot.
While that’s good news for Angels fans, it creates an even more difficult road for the Seattle Mariners to sneak into the postseason. The team really needed a win over the Astros in Game 1 of the series.
How bad do things look for the M’s in the Wild Card race?
The reason the latest Seattle Mariners rumors aren’t positive for the team is that there are only 14 games left in the regular season. Not only do the Mariners need to finish the season strong, but the team is also going to need help from the opponents of the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Angels. Can the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox wake up in time to make a difference in the Central Division race?
Coming into Friday night, the playoff odds for the Seattle Mariners had dipped to just a 6.6 percent chance at taking a Wild Card slot.
Following the loss to the Astros, the Mariners have just a 5.3 percent chance at making the postseason. This is where jokes can be made about the team “still having a chance” at that ultimate goal, but time is not on the side of this team.
Did the front office of the Mariners do enough this season?
At the end of August, the Seattle Mariners pulled off a trade to acquire starting pitcher Mike Leake from the St. Louis Cardinals. He has gone 3-0 with the team, showing that this was a great move by the front office and maybe one they should have made a bit sooner if the Cardinals were looking to get rid of him. An earlier trade for David Phelps didn’t work out quite as well when the relief pitcher almost immediately got hurt.
On paper, the Mariners may have a roster good enough to compete for the postseason in 2018 if they can just stay healthy. Losing James Paxton, Drew Smyly, and Felix Hernandez for large chunks of the 2017 MLB season ended up being tough to overcome. The team hasn’t given up on the pursuit of a playoff spot, but as these Seattle Mariners rumors indicate, the team might need to go 12-2 or better just to have a chance over the final 14 games.
