We like to think of decisions as having clean and clear results. But life rarely works that neatly. Even the smartest choices carry consequences we don’t fully see or understand until later. A career move that opened doors might also have closed others.
The truth is, good decisions are rarely all good. Their hidden costs surface with time, and this is nowhere more true than during the grind of a 162-game baseball season.
Drayer: Struggling Seattle Mariners acknowledge ‘the ball is in our court’
While we all know the familiar refrain, the 2025 Seattle Mariners are not the same old version. They have a different manager, coaching staff, talent level and core philosophies than some of their most recent previous versions.
Those differences have guided decision after decision throughout this season. And what has been different has often been good, but even those “better” decisions come with tradeoffs.
One of the first things manager Dan Wilson told us this spring was that he viewed the season as “162 battles,” his way of describing a more aggressive approach to the season. It is a great turn of phrase and his players responded to it.
“It’s a big deal and I try to keep it that way,” pitcher Logan Gilbert said at the time. “Because you look back, it’s frustrating and we don’t love to talk about it all the time, but we’re within a game or two (of making the playoffs) for the last however many years (and) that the random Tuesday game in May could be the game that gets us in the playoffs, you know what I mean?”
This philosophy is designed to ensure that the game in May is as important as the one in September. And that has helped the Mariners contend this season.
But it also splits from much of the modern thinking on how to approach a long season. NBA teams “load manage” their stars to give them regular breaks throughout the year. NFL teams regularly give veteran players days off of practice. And most baseball teams find ways to rest their players throughout the season, especially ones who play the most physically demanding positions.
The Mariners have four players who have been here all season that have played in more than 130 games, with two more acquired at the trade deadline (Eugenio Suárez and Josh Naylor) right there.
Not all players are created equally, though, and the two that stand out are Cal Raleigh and J.P. Crawford. They play the two most demanding positions on the field and have both really struggled since the All-Star break, especially over the last month.
These are Crawford’s splits (from Baseball Reference):
He has gone from being 22% better than the average offensive player to being 52% worse.
It’s a similar story for Cal:
That 248-point drop in OPS for Raleigh is just a touch beyond Crawford’s 244-point fall. Both are precipitous.
Would a few more days off along the way have helped keep them fresher for the stretch run? I can’t definitively say that. But that has been the more conventional thinking in baseball for a while now. It has been great to have them in the lineup every day – it may be a big reason why the team currently sits in a playoff position. But it’s not a stretch to wonder if we are seeing the eventual tradeoff of those decisions.
Baseball may be 162 battles, but sometimes you have to retreat and sacrifice a battle to win the war. And you don’t want your troops depleted for the crucial moments.
One other change this season was the belief in “grace.” That’s not a word you hear very often in baseball or in all of professional sports, but it’s one of the first things Dan pointed to in the spring as being a hallmark of his managerial style. It was his way of saying that he would be patient with his players and provide them grace when they messed up, slumped or ran into any of the other problems that befall any and every player over the course of a long season.
He has been true to his word.
In five months, Dan has never, not once, called out any of his players in public. He has consistently voiced his support no matter what transgressions we see on the field. He has been steadfast in keeping those conversations private.
Similarly, he has stuck with players through thick and thin. Dylan Moore is the obvious example, but not the only one this season. Dan has been very consistent with his lineup, making very few changes, and even then mostly when circumstances forced his hand (like the Victor Robles injury or the additions of Naylor and Suárez).
The players have voiced their support. Just last week, Cal commented on how valuable it has been to know exactly where he’d be hitting each night without worrying that a few tough games could alter his spot. It was a clear endorsement of his manager and his philosophy of grace. I get the sense he is not alone, and I’ve heard that many of the players had grown frustrated in past seasons, believing that they might be moved or benched if they had a hitless game or two.
But again, it’s fair to wonder about the tradeoff. No modern manager buries his players often and lives to tell the tale. But sloppy play, lousy at-bats and other lackluster plays can get out of hand. They can become a habit if not kept in check. And we’ve seen too many examples of them recently, especially on the road.
Yet the lineup hasn’t changed. The playing time hasn’t changed. There is no public indication that a lack of focus has any consequences whatsoever. I’d guess those issues are handled privately, but there is a clear argument to be made that the modern player responds to the occasional public call out to hold them accountable.
I am glad to see the M’s called a team meeting this week in Tampa. It was probably necessary. We can speculate on whether they are tight, tired, unfocused or whatever. But they have a better sense than we do, and they are the ones who need to figure it out.
Teams can get out of whack in one direction or another. But it must get fixed – quickly.
Seattle Mariners news and analysis
• Seattle Mariners add one reliever, lose another through waivers
• Cal Raleigh hits 51st homer, closes in on more records
• With Lou Piniella watching, Seattle Mariners manager Dan Wilson gets ejected
• It’s time the scuffling Seattle Mariners shake up their batting order
• Josh Naylor is giving the Seattle Mariners every reason to re-sign him
