Gilbert dominates, Raleigh goes yard as Mariners end '24 on winning note

SEATTLE -- The Mariners didn’t have anything to play for in Sunday’s regular season finale other than competitive pride, having been eliminated from postseason contention before this series even began -- which is precisely why Logan Gilbert insisted on remaining on turn through the rotation and making his 33rd start of the season.

Gilbert carried a perfect game into the sixth inning, retiring each of his first 17 batters before Oakland’s No. 9 hitter, Nick Allen, yanked a single into left field. Well beyond his intended threshold of five innings, Gilbert was then pulled at 76 pitches -- and to a roaring ovation from the ticketed 42,177 at T-Mobile Park.

Gilbert’s dominant outing and another afternoon full of run production from Seattle’s bats -- including a two-run homer from Cal Raleigh -- ended in a 6-4 win over the A’s.

For the first time since 2020, the Mariners entered their final series of the season without playoff implications, leaving these three days as a time for reflection. Core players discussed what went right -- but more so, what went wrong -- in a year where they came short of heightened expectations, exacerbated all the more by blowing a 10-game lead atop the American League West in mid-June.

With Sunday’s win, they finished 85-77, and for the second straight year, as the first team on the outside looking in of the final AL Wild Card spot. Seattle secured its fourth straight winning season, but only one of those has resulted in a postseason berth, in ‘22.

Some reaction from the clubhouse:

Raleigh: “The season is more than five weeks. It's a long season .... I'd like to say it was a good step in the right direction, but like I said, that doesn't really mean much at the end of the year when we're not in the playoffs.”

Luke Raley: “Not getting to the postseason, to me, it wasn't a successful season.”

Julio Rodríguez: “I don't want to say, like, disappointed. Obviously, it was definitely a learning year for a lot of us as players, as a person, to me personally too. I just feel like this is just our long journey.”

That trio was among the most productive within a lineup that, despite a September turnaround, was largely responsible for the Mariners’ most glaring shortcomings this season.

Mariners offense, MLB ranks (Opening Day through Aug. 31)
BA: .216 (30th) / .255 (8th)
OPS: .668 (29th) / .764 (4th)
wRC+ (league average is 100): 98 (18th) / 125 (2nd)
WAR, per FanGraphs: 14.2 (20th) / 8.3 (3rd)
Runs/game: 3.9 (27th) / 5.1 (4th)

The focus now shifts to the front office and how it constructs the 2025 roster. Yet, with most players under contract -- and many due for notable salary raises -- it appears that the focus will hinge as much, or more, on building on a strong finish as adding significant external talent.

Specifically, Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto lauded the simplistic messaging that resonated from interim hitting coach Edgar Martinez and new manager Dan Wilson, who took a far more grounded approach to their guidance towards players.

It was a contrast to that of former hitting coach Jarret DeHart, who was widely praised for breaking down swing mechanics but lacked gameplanning experience, and offensive coordinator Brant Brown, who was dismissed after just two months on the job, in large part for struggling to connect with players.

“We learned where we may be doing things the wrong way, and we have to make adjustments,” Dipoto said, “not just an approach on the field, but in how we put the roster together, and maybe in some of the things we're looking for -- and then, how those those things fit in our ballpark.”

To be sure, Dipoto said that the club will seek proven reinforcements to add to the lineup this offseason. But he also suggested that most of the position-player nucleus will remain intact.

“We've always believed in the foundation of this team,” Dipoto said. “Obviously, we need to improve in some areas, and we'll take a look at that as we get into the offseason. But the group here, the group that has come through and formed our foundation ... our position player group, there's a lot there.”

The Mariners finished the year 21-13 under Wilson, who took over after Scott Servais was dismissed on Aug. 22. That yielded a .618 win percentage -- and one that, over 162 games, would correlate to 100 wins.

The counter, obviously, is that the season is six months, not one, and Seattle’s was arguably lost before that leadership change. The Mariners were five games behind Houston in the AL West and 7 1/2 games back of the final AL Wild Card spot after Servais’ final game.

Sunday was another benchmark to Seattle’s strong finish. But the season must also be assessed in the aggregate.