PEORIA, Ariz. — Maybe it was the chance to watch Cactus League games via free webcast or perhaps even in-person, seeing the sunshine and feeling the warmth literally and metaphorically, hearing the familiar sounds of the ballpark and watching young prospects shine.
It might not have made Seattle Mariners fans forget the winter, or perhaps more accurately, the winter of their discontent. That anger and resentment toward the ownership and front office isn’t likely to subside in the months or even years ahead without success that has to be achieved. But it has allowed them to feel good about baseball again, specifically the players in uniform, if not the organization that employs them.
The focus on who the Mariners have on the roster and what they might be as a team was starting to become slightly more important than what they didn’t do and who they didn’t add.
That ended Wednesday morning when Bob Nightengale’s column about the Mariners went viral. The longtime baseball columnist had talked with Justin Turner in Cubs camp earlier in the week and the former Mariners first baseman had plenty to say about Seattle’s organization and its offseason of inactivity.
“The fact that they missed the playoffs by one game and didn’t go out and add an impact bat or two when you have the best pitching staff in baseball just seems absurd to me,” Turner told Nightengale.
From Turner’s mouth to John Stanton’s ears?
Seattle acquired Turner at the trade deadline last season to serve as a part-time DH/first baseman. The veteran right-handed hitter posted a .264/.363/.403 slash line with seven doubles, five homers, 24 RBI, 20 walks and 35 strikeouts in 190 plate appearances with Seattle. But his presence in the clubhouse as a leader was just as valuable. Players raved about him and lobbied for him to return.
“I don’t think there’s a single person that doesn’t want him back,” Luke Raley said at the end of last season. “He’s really changed mindsets. I truly believe if J.T. was here for the full season, we would be in the playoffs. That’s how important he is and how much he’s worked with people’s mindsets more than anything. He’s just a true pro. He’s the guy that you want in your clubhouse, and he is a true leader.”
The Mariners tried to give the players what they wanted. They made offers to Turner and Carlos Santana in the offseason to share first base with Raley and also get plenty of plate appearances at designated hitter, hoping to have one of the two signed by December.
But the holidays passed without the Mariners making a signing.
Santana turned down what was essentially a two-year contract from the Mariners to sign a one-year, $12 million deal to return to the Guardians on Dec. 21. The proximity to his family, who reside in Kansas City, and Santana’s affection for the organization that helped develop him as a big leaguer was worth more than the money.
Per sources close to the situation, the Mariners contacted Turner on multiple occasions throughout the offseason with one-year offers that were more than the $6.5 million he eventually received from the Cubs just before spring training. But when Turner wouldn’t commit, they eventually went out and signed Donovan Solano to a one-year, $4.5 million contract instead and later brought back Jorge Polanco on a one-year, $7.75 million contract.
“Honestly, as much as I wanted to be back there, if I was the only piece they brought back in, I would be saying the same thing: ‘What the hell are we doing? Are you trying?’” Turner told USA Today. “I feel for them. They’ve got great fans. Their fans are amazing. They want to win so bad. The team is very profitable. And they don’t spend.”
This isn’t a revelation. It’s sort of another confirmation of what has been believed. It’s just another reminder of what has been said or written by players, media and fans in the past. It’s just another depressing reminder for fans that have seen the team make the postseason once in the past 23 seasons and an organization that’s never sniffed the World Series.
Inside the Mariners clubhouse, Nightengale’s column, or more specifically Turner’s comments, had circulated through the players from last year’s team.
They were met with a metaphorical, and even literal, shrug of the shoulders.
“He basically said the same things to me earlier,” said one player.
Players didn’t want to say anything on the record. It wasn’t worth the scolding they’d receive. It was easier for Turner to do it. With his stature and popularity, it does carry some weight. Besides, what could any of the current Mariners really say that wasn’t already said? What good would it do?
Is Turner wrong?
“Not one bit,” said another player, who didn’t want to be identified.
The players know that the organization doesn’t do enough. This isn’t a conversation or belief that’s been limited to this offseason.
“Isn’t it every year?” said another player.
After the Mariners failed to make the postseason in 2023, an emotional Cal Raleigh lamented the team’s failures and shortcomings while also stating what he believed was needed.
“We’ve got to commit to winning, we have to commit to going and getting those players you see other teams going out and getting — big-time pitchers, getting big-time hitters,” he said. “We have to do that to keep up.”
Raleigh apologized for the timing of those comments the next day, but not the thinking behind it, saying, “I don’t apologize for wanting to win.”
J.P. Crawford spoke up for Raleigh after he apologized, saying: “I think Cal had some great comments yesterday. I know there was a big controversy about that earlier this morning. I’m with him on that. I think we need to go out there and really make a move to help this team win. And however it means doing that, they’ve just got to do it. And you’ve just got to get better.”
Mariners ownership responded to those comments by giving Jerry Dipoto just enough money to flip Kolton Wong for Jesse Winker in a bad contract swap and to sign Tommy La Stella and A.J. Pollock as free agents. All three were designated for assignment later that season.
Turner stopped short of criticizing Dipoto in his comments, saying to Nightengale, “I think Jerry catches a bad rap for a lot of these trades. He doesn’t have any money to spend, so he’s got to create money. Like, OK, is it really Jerry’s fault?”
This spring, Mariners players have had a unified response when it comes to the offseason moves, or lack thereof.
“That’s not my job,” Crawford said earlier this spring. “I’m here to play shortstop. Whoever we get, we get. I trust that every guy in here puts in their work.”
Raleigh, Mitch Haniger, Logan Gilbert, Luke Raley and others all had similar comments. It’s not that they coordinated their responses, but it’s a topic the players want to avoid.
“It’s not my job to put the roster together or worry about any of that stuff,” Haniger said a week ago. “I’m just focused on what I can bring every day to the team, work hard, set a good example, perform, help my team win and try to be best player I can be.”
Turner’s comments stirred up a frenzy on social media, particularly at a national level. But for Mariners fans who have followed this team closely, particularly in the years that followed the step-back rebuild, it was more vindicating than disheartening.
“I would think any intellectual baseball fan that’s been following this team would see what has been happening,” said a Mariners player. “It’s pretty obvious.”