Thiel: Mariners hoping ‘credibility’ makes up for lack of wins

Seattle chairman John Stanton has prioritized pleasing fans more than previous team owners.

By Art Thiel

For the Herald

The Mariners are upon a minor anniversary, one unlikely to inspire the sentimental fetes for which the club’s marketers are locally renowned. On July 5, 2018, the Mariners beat the Angels 4-1. Their ninth win in 10 games improved their record to 56-32, two games behind the Houston Astros in the American League West.

Since then, as you may have heard, the Mariners have plummeted so fast that NASA has offered to supply a heat shield for re-entry through mediocrity to a dull, but safe, thud in baseball’s cellar.

From that height, the Mariners lost seven of the next nine. Through Aug. 5, they would lose 15 of 22 to fall 7½ games back and render the season inert. When the 33-41 mark after July 5 is added to 2019’s 36-47 record entering Wednesday’s game in Milwaukee, the Mariners over the past 12 months a have a winning percentage of .439 (69-88).

That includes a 13-2 start to 2019 that increasingly looks as inexplicable as a rhino horn on a cat.

The one-year anniversary drips with irony, since general manager Jerry Dipoto had his contract extended by ownership July 6, followed by same for manager Scott Servais July 20. At the time, Servais gushed about the team’s prospects.

“We’ve had a great first half,” Servais told reporters the day his extension was announced. “I’m really looking forward to what’s ahead of us in the next two and half months. We’ve put ourselves in a great position.

“We’ve talked about bringing playoff baseball back to the Pacific Northwest. We’ve got a shot. It’s not going to be easy. And that’s the focus I want on the remainder of this season, not on this contract, but how good can we be.”

Servais found out.

He wasn’t quite on a par with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s 2007 forecast that the iPhone was never going to get any significant market share. But the words will find a place in local infamy. (Hey, I may have written one or two columns where a prediction failed to work as I foresaw.)

The topic of credibility came to mind not only because of the anniversary, but from something majority owner John Stanton said. In an interview with the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish published this week, Stanton mused about how he squares up the Mariners’ “step back” strategy for long-term success with a fan base that is historically starved for success.

“I don’t want to say we expected (the poor play), but we certainly knew it was a strong possibility when we announced the step-back policy,” Stanton said. “The alternative was we didn’t say it was a step back, did a bunch of things that were baffling to people and then lost credibility. Credibility is really important to me with our fans.

“Some number of fans are passionate, and they will be here through thick and thin, and have been for 30 years. But others won’t. I want the fans to believe this is going to be a championship team in the next few years. And to be here, or watching it on television, when we are.”

It’s good to hear Stanton wants to be credible with fans, something his CEO predecessor, Howard Lincoln, didn’t prioritize. The fact that Dipoto was up front in October about plans to dump a lot of veterans in exchange for prospects, making 2019 something only a vulture could enjoy (my expression, not his), was good, but really the mandatory minimum that needed to be done.

As the team with the longest active absence from the postseason among the four major North American sports, futility transcends all the changes in players, managers, general managers and bobbleheads. More than perhaps any other MLB ownership group, this group has to break form with a tepid past.

Because of all the incompetence and treacheries that have gone before him, Stanton can’t just want fans to believe in a future. Down the road, he has to act.

The Mariners’ first ownership group (1977-81), led by entertainer Danny Kaye and five local businessmen, was underfunded and overextended. They sold to George Argyros (1981-89), an Orange County real estate developer who cared nothing about Seattle and everything about turning a profit. He sold to Jeff Smulyan (1989-1991), an earnest radio mogul from Indianapolis whose secret agenda (with assent from other MLB owners) was to pull the franchise out of Seattle to Tampa.

Then in 1992, Nintendo founder Hiroshi Yamauchi of Japan was surfaced by then-Sen. Slade Gorton to cash out Smulyan. Baseball owners, filled with xenophobic fear of a non-American owner, fought the sale hard until shamed nationally into submission.

The team’s only run of success — four playoff appearances in seven years — happened under Yamauchi’s tenure. But in the 21 years before his death in 2013, the eccentric billionaire never saw a game in person and never gave more than a cursory few remarks about MLB ownership.

He appointed Nintendo of America’s lead counsel, Lincoln, to look after his baseball interests. Lincoln had neither baseball nor retail experience. When NOA inherited the team, its interest was mostly in countryman Ichiro Suzuki and asset appreciation.

Stanton knows the dubious ownership history well. As a born-and-raised lifer here — the first such majority owner in club history — he’s lived it. He’s been a part-owner since 2000, and actively engaged in youth and independent-league baseball.

But besides the second-half collapse, last year on his watch was a sexual harassment scandal from years past, which included club president Kevin Mather, that tainted the front office. After a single season, Dipoto fired his ballyhooed director of high performance, Dr. Lorena Martin, who is suing for wrongful termination. And Robinson Cano embarrassed himself and the franchise with an 80-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs.

Whether Stanton could have done something to avert any of these misdeeds is difficult to say. But he’s the guy now saying he “wants the fans to believe this is going to be a championship team in the next few years.”

Acceptance of that desire is a matter of faith, not facts. At best, the faith wanes.

If and when the time comes that the Mariners do contend, Stanton and his partners need to honor the indulgences of the disaffected with a player-payroll checkbook that is nearly as infinite as the baseball sordidness that preceded the moment.

Art Thiel is co-founder of sportspressnw.com

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Sports

Silvertips forward Shea Busch participates in the Florida Panthers development camp at Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on July 1, 2025. Florida selected Busch in the fourth round of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft on June 28. (Photo courtesy Shea Busch)
Shea Busch experiences whirlwind NHL Draft week

The Florida Panthers selected the Silvertips forward in the fourth round on June 28.

Rome Odunze scans the field in a scrimmage at his youth football camp at Archbishop Murphy High School on July 10, 2025. The former University of Washington star is entering his second NFL season with the Chicago Bears. (Joe Pohoryles / The Herald)
Odunze ‘gives back’ in Everett youth football camp

The former University of Washington star hosts a single-day camp at Archbishop Murphy on Thursday.

The New York Yankees' Aaron Judge, top right, celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk-off sacrifice fly ball during the 10th inning against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, July 10, 2025, in New York. (Justin Casterline / Getty Images / Tribune News Services)
Yankees walk off Mariners on Judge’s sac fly for series sweep

Seattle blows 5-0 lead after Bryan Woo takes no-hitter into eighth inning.

Raleigh says Munoz tipped pitches during Yankees’ comeback

The Yankees had a bead on Seattle Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz. That’s… Continue reading

Midfielder Christian Soto dribbles up field during Snohomish United's 5-1 win against the Tacoma Stars at Stockers Fields on July 9, 2025 (Joe Pohoryles / The Herald)
Snohomish United keeps playoff hopes alive in home finale

With 5-1 win against Tacoma, the USL2 club’s focus on local talent keys success in inaugural season.

Silvertips forward Carter Bear fields questions after the Detroit Red Wings selected him 13th overall in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles on June 27, 2025. (Photo courtesy Natalie Shaver / CHL)
Two weeks after Draft, Silvertips’ Bear still can’t believe it

The Red Wings’ first-rounder reflects on draft night and his experience at Detroit’s development camp.

AquaSox down Devils for consecutive wins

The AquaSox were on a 2-10 stretch coming into the series.

Cam Schlittler’s strong debut freezes Mariners

The Mariners fell to the Yankees, 9-6, on Wednesday night.

Storm flies too close to the Sun, loses in an upset

Connecticut snapped a 10-game losing streak to beat Seattle 93-83 on Wednesday morning.

Giancarlo Stanton of the New York Yankees flips his bat after hitting a three-run home run in the sixth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in New York. (Evan Bernstein / Getty Images / Tribune News Services)
Raleigh, Judge heat up homer race at Yankee Stadium

In the battle of baseball’s biggest sluggers, Aaron Judge… Continue reading

Seattle Seahawks linebackers Derick Hall (58) and Boye Mafe (53) celebrate a defensive play during the 2024 season. (Rio Giancarlo / Getty Images / The Athletic)
Season to reveal long-term plans for Seahawks linebackers

The Seattle Seahawks selected edge rusher Boye Mafe with… Continue reading

Silvertips defenseman wins U20 Ball Hockey World Title with Canada

Rylan Pearce helps Canada win gold at the ISBHF U20 World Championships in Slovakia.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.