The Momentum Behind Seattle: Why Many Believe 2025 Was Just the Setup for a Bigger 2026 .MH
If you’ve followed this team long enough, you know the difference between blind hope and a window that’s actually cracking open. What Seattle Mariners fans are feeling heading into 2026 isn’t just the usual “this is our year” optimism. It’s more grounded than that, and honestly, more dangerous for the rest of the American League.
This year felt like the test run. Everything didn’t quite line up, but just enough clicked to make you think, “Okay…if they really lean into this thing, 2026 could get weird in a good way.” That feeling isn’t an accident.
Let’s talk about why 2025 might go down as the year the Mariners found their launchpad.
Mariners fans should think 2025 was just a teaser for the chaos coming in 2026
The core is just getting started
Julio Rodríguez, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Cal Raleigh, and Bryan Woo — this is no longer a cute young core that’s going to be good “someday.” Someday is now.
Julio has settled into that terrifying territory where a “down week” still looks like most players’ solid production. Kirby, Gilbert and Woo are what every team is desperate to buy in free agency: top-of-the-rotation arms who don’t beat themselves. If the starting five can remain healthy for a full season, you’re looking at a very dangerous team.
And then there’s Cal Raleigh, who casually turned into a folk hero with that 60-homer explosion in 2025. No one in their right mind should pencil him in for 60 again — that’s how you end up yelling at clouds in July — but the point is this: he’s clearly leveled up as a hitter. Even if the home run total settles into something more “human,” Mariners fans aren’t exactly terrified of him falling back to his 2024 self either. A catcher who once “only” hit in the mid-30s with 100 RBI is still an absolute luxury at that position.
A full season of Josh Naylor changes the vibe
You’re talking about a first baseman who just put up a 20–30 season while slashing .295/.353/.462 with a 128 OPS+. He’s a tone-setter. A natural leader. A guy who makes every game feel a little louder just by existing.
The home run total should climb with a full year in Seattle and more time in the middle of this lineup. The steals might come down — and that’s fine and should be expected. Nobody’s asking him to be Billy Hamilton on the bases.
You don’t sign a player like Naylor if you’re planning to half-step. Which leads right into the next point.
Jerry Dipoto’s tone is starting to match the moment
For years, Jerry Dipoto has talked about sustainability, pipelines, and competitive windows. And he wasn’t wrong. The Mariners did need to build a foundation. But 2025 felt like the turning point where “the future” stopped being an excuse and started becoming a demand.
Naylor has made it very clear that he wants to play for a contender. Same with Raleigh, who wants to win a World Series in Seattle. When you have core players drawing that line in the sand, the front office either listens or risks wasting the best years of the roster.
Lately, Dipoto’s actions and tone have inched closer to what fans have been waiting for. He’s still talking about flexibility and the long view, but he’s also starting to behave like someone who knows the window is here, not theoretical. You can build for the future and still go for it when the opportunity is screaming at you.
The AL West is begging to be bullied
The division is no longer a brick wall.
The Rangers look like they’re quietly setting up for a soft reset under Skip Schumaker. The Astros? Still dangerous, still well-run, but no longer operating on that inevitable, Thanos-like plane. They’re mortal again, and their margin for error isn’t what it once was.
Then you have the rest. The Angels are, politely, a tire fire rolling down a hill into a landfill. And the A’s are trying to convince everyone they’re a serious operation while not actually having a real MLB home. It’s hard to fear a team that doesn’t know what zip code it’s supposed to be representing.
Dipoto and the front office didn’t keep the books clean and stockpile talent just to watch this moment pass by. Because if this group stays healthy and the front office leans in, 2025 might end up being remembered as exactly what it felt like: the dress rehearsal before the real show.
