O’Neil: I was wrong about the Seattle Mariners, and I’m happy to admit it

Published 8:30 am Thursday, October 2, 2025

On Friday, Sept. 5, the Seattle Mariners were beaten 4-1 in Atlanta.

It was their fourth consecutive defeat, and their sixth loss in the last seven games. At that point, Seattle was five games over .500, 3.5 games back in the AL West and one game ahead of the Kansas City Royals for the third and final wild-card berth.

In other words: The Mariners were on pace to do what they’ve usually done in Jerry Dipoto’s time running this baseball franchise, which is tease you with a playoff berth just long enough to make it really hurt when they fell short.

What happened next was one of the single most exciting months in Seattle sports history. Seventeen wins in the span of 18 games. A catcher who broke home-run records, a centerfielder who showed why he’s one of the best players in the sport and a three-game series in Houston in which the Mariners dropped three days of dingers on top of the wicked witch of the AL West.

But more than anything, it was a validation of Jerry Dipoto’s approach to building this team.

It’s important for me to state that very clearly because one year ago, in this very space, I argued that Dipoto should be fired as the team’s president.

I had my reasons—most of them relating to my opinion of his people skills or lack thereof—but I also believed Dipoto’s approach to building this franchise would result in a team that was just good enough to break your heart.

Good, but never great. In the thick of the playoff chase, but rarely making the postseason.

If I was being snide, this is where I would point out that Seattle actually won 55.5 percent of its regular-season games to reach the playoffs this year.

I’m not being snide, though. Besides, I also understood the point Dipoto was trying to make that day (and he did have a point even if his timing was awful, his choice of words poor and his delivery utterly tone deaf). He was saying that the best chance of winning a World Series comes from building a team that is consistently good over a long period of time—a decade—as opposed to employing go-for-broke, win-it-now mentality. Sure, trading prospects might boost your team in the short term, but creates a two or three-year peak followed by a rapid decline. Fail to win during that window of opportunity, you’re going to be locked in the cellar for years afterward.

For 10 years now, Dipoto has taken the tortoise’s approach to running Seattle’s franchise even as people such as myself have increasingly hollered for more of the hare’s mentality.

Under Dipoto, the Mariners have finished with a winning record in seven of 10 seasons. They never won more than 90 games in that time, though, and missed the playoffs by two games or fewer on four different occasions.

This was obviously quite frustrating for everyone involved, and it prompted me to conclude that as good as Dipoto had been at rebuilding this franchise and its farm system, it was going to take someone else running things to get it over the hump.

I was wro …

I was wrrrroooooooo …

I was perhaps just a tad rash in this assessment.

What appeared to be the same old story just one month ago took an exhilarating turn in September, and while I’m not going to tell you that Dipoto expected it to unfold the way it did, he deserves a ton of credit for the fact that it happened.

The essence of the philosophy Dipoto has employed to build this team is that you give yourself as many chances as possible to catch lightning in a bottle. You hang around, stay relevant and wait for things to break your way. If that doesn’t happen this year, maybe it will next season.

Perhaps the longtime division heavyweight implodes. Or your team’s catcher finds a new bat that works like Wonder Boy. Or maybe a pair of big-hitting corner infielders come available at the trade deadline, providing essential upgrades to the lineup.

Things came together for Seattle this September in a way they had not in previous years under Dipoto. Something truly wonderful and unexpected occurred, and in all the excitement that has engendered, I think it’s worth pointing out the tortoise-like persistence that made it possible as opposed to wondering why it hadn’t happened sooner.

I don’t pretend to know what will unfold over these next few weeks. What I do know is that the only team in the league that has never reached the World Series not only has a chance do so this year, it has what might be its best chance ever.

Dipoto deserves credit for creating that opportunity, and in revisiting my thoughts from last year, it’s hard for me to think of a time I’ve been happier to be wrong.

Danny O’Neil was born in Oregon, the son of a logger, but had the good sense to attend college in Washington. He’s covered Seattle sports for 20 years, writing for two newspapers, one glossy magazine and hosting a daily radio show for eight years on KIRO 710 AM. You can subscribe to his free newsletter and find his other work at dannyoneil.com.