{"id":570249,"date":"2026-02-13T13:46:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T13:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/570249\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T13:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T13:46:12","slug":"seattle-mariners-world-series-hopes-soar-as-rick-rizzs-predicts-championship-season-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/570249\/","title":{"rendered":"Seattle Mariners\u2019 World Series hopes soar as Rick Rizzs predicts championship season ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story was originally posted on MyNorthwest.com <\/a><\/p>\n

The Seattle Mariners<\/a> are in Arizona for Spring Training with a singular goal: finish what they started last season.<\/p>\n

Eight outs. That\u2019s how close the Mariners came to reaching the World Series in 2025. Now, following an aggressive offseason retooling by general manager Jerry Dipoto and assistant GM Justin Hollander, the organization believes this is the year to deliver Seattle\u2019s first championship.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cThis team can get to the World Series and not only get there, but win it for the fans,\u201d longtime Mariners broadcaster Rick Rizzs told \u201cSeattle\u2019s Morning News\u201d<\/a> on KIRO Newsradio Thursday. \u201cI can\u2019t wait to get down there on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mariners add versatile All-Star Brendan Donovan to anchor lineup<\/p>\n

The centerpiece of Seattle\u2019s offseason is Brendan Donovan, acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals in a three-team trade. The versatile infielder hit .287 last season while earning All-Star and Gold Glove honors.<\/p>\n

Donovan is expected to man third base and bat leadoff, setting the table for a lineup featuring Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodriguez, and newly signed Josh Naylor. The addition addresses Seattle\u2019s longstanding need for more contact hitting and on-base ability at the top of the order.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mariners get a guy who\u2019s gonna play with his hair on fire,\u201d Rizzs said of Donovan.<\/p>\n

Analysts across Major League Baseball have taken notice, ranking Seattle among the most complete rosters in the game from top to bottom.<\/p>\n

Naylor, who signed as a free agent, expressed enthusiasm about joining the club during his introductory press conference, praising both T-Mobile Park and the passionate fan base that packed the stadium throughout last season\u2019s playoff push.<\/p>\n

Seattle\u2019s sports teams share a special bond<\/p>\n

The Mariners\u2019 chemistry extends beyond the clubhouse. Rizzs noted the strong bond between Seattle\u2019s professional sports teams, pointing to Rams receiver Cooper Kupp \u2014 an Eastern Washington product \u2014 wearing a Ken Griffey Jr. jersey at the Seahawks\u2019 Super Bowl parade earlier this week.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a shared community between the football team and the baseball team and the Kraken,\u201d Rizzs said. \u201cWe love this city. We love the fans. Everybody\u2019s in the same boat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several Mariners players have deepened their roots in the Pacific Northwest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey buy into this place,\u201d Rizzs said. \u201cThey love the fan base.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rizzs is retiring after this season.<\/p>\n

The first Spring Training game is Friday, February 20.<\/p>\n

Manda Factor is the host of \u201cSeattle\u2019s Morning News\u201d<\/a> on KIRO Newsradio. Follow Manda on X<\/a> and email her here<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story was originally posted on MyNorthwest.com The Seattle Mariners are in Arizona for Spring Training with a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[146,5,4492,3297,49311,12899,94,3992,7982,4,71572,65,151,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-570249","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-arizona","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-brendan-donovan","11":"tag-cal-raleigh","12":"tag-cooper-kupp","13":"tag-jerry-dipoto","14":"tag-josh-naylor","15":"tag-julio-rodriguez","16":"tag-justin-hollander","17":"tag-mlb","18":"tag-rick-rizzs","19":"tag-seattle-mariners","20":"tag-spring-training","21":"tag-st-louis-cardinals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116063632540820175","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}