A Grip on Sports: The M’s did a few things so out of a character this month one has to wonder if they actually smell a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

A GRIP ON SPORTS • A lot can change in a month. The whole world, in fact. The Mariners’ world. In the 31 days that made up July, the M’s hierarchy took a left turn so out of character as to be, dare we say it, Yankee-like. Could Yankee-like success follow?

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• Could, sure. Will? Not so clear. But look at the positions Jerry Dipoto and the M’s have clearly improved since July 1. First base. Middle relief. Third base. All without gutting a farm system that Dipoto will tell you – rightly – is the key to the franchise’s long-term future.

And, surprisingly, it would not be much of a surprise if there were more additions on this, the final day of July and of baseball’s trading period.

What in the name of George Steinbrenner is happening at the corner of Edgar and Dave? And why are these developments important?

There is an interconnection between those two questions. There are no super teams in the running to win the World Series. Everyone’s enemy, the Yankees, are vulnerable. The Astros too. Cleveland, Minnesota, Tampa, Baltimore, all American League teams expected to be in the hunt, really aren’t. Detroit has risen. Same with Toronto. Boston. But strike-fear-in-your-heart they are not. The World Series door is open for Seattle. Maybe wider than ever before. Even 2001.

Still, this franchise’s ownership springing for a couple months of high-end salary? Doesn’t fit its character. And should be applauded. If we ever want to see it again. It’s the goal, right? Even more than winning at a 54% rate every year.

If one looks back the past 10 years, deadline additions have played a key role in pretty much every championship team’s run to winning the flag that flies forever.

The most-recent example? The Dodgers, already as rich in talent as Midas was in golden mufflers, last season added starter Jack Flaherty, reliever Michael Kopech and eventual NLCS MVP Tommy Edman, who also turned out to be the engine of their postseason juggernaut.

The 2025 Mariners are not the 2024 Dodgers. Then again, neither are the 2025 Dodgers. That’s why the additions of Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez for their bats and Caleb Ferguson for his left arm, are so important.

Bash in the door when it’s weak. Go for it. Put your chips in the middle. Name a cliché and Dipoto’s front office has decided to do it. Good for them.

• How often does the biggest news from a regional sports metropolis like Seattle include bombshells from two front offices on the same day?

Adding back Suárez’s good vibes, and potent power bat, was the big one, sure. If he returns to T-Mobile and helps lead a charge to the World Series, the July 30 trade certainly will be the talking point for years at Jimmy’s on First.

But the Seahawks’ news has more long-term potential.

Jody Allen, who is obligated to sell the team at some point to honor her brother Paul’s final wishes, gave John Schneider a contract extension. Schneider will lead the front office until 2031.

In other words, he is locked in contractually possibly longer than Allen may own the team. That can only be seen as a good thing.

Schneider arrived in Seattle in 2010 with coach Pete Carroll. The two won a Super Bowl, should have won another and then had to try to rebuild on the fly. It didn’t work, though the Hawks have never fully crashed. The inability to ascend once more, though, cost Carroll his front-office influence – and his job. There became one person in charge. And he will be in charge for six more years.

OK, so contracts are not ironclad. But the perception thrown out Wednesday is. The Seahawks’ power is rooted in Schneider’s office, not that of coach Mike Macdonald or anywhere else. And that’s how it will stay.

• If you have a chance to get away from the job for a day soon, take it. And spend your free time in Cheney, watching the Eagle football team practice. Or in Moscow with the Vandals. Or down in Pullman. Whatever your choice is.

Watching a college football preseason practice is well worth the time. And, with the weather we are having, the sweat. Wear comfortable shoes. Hydrate. Slather on the sunscreen. A big hat helps too. But take it in.

Football practice is like a track meet in a way. Everywhere you look, something is happening. Ball-security drills. One-on-one line play. Pitching machines firing passes. It’s a cornucopia of football. And worth the effort at least once.

If only to install the certainty the game is way-too-demanding for anyone over 40.

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WSU: Football season began Wednesday morning in Pullman. The Jimmy Rogers’ Era as well. Greg Woods was there. Has this story on what happened in the morning and the afternoon split-squad practices. It begins. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, a lot of schools began practice Wednesday. It was the first day for the Huskies as well. Washington has what looks to be a much-improved roster in Jedd Fisch’s second season in charge. … Oregon State also began practice. … So did Oregon, whose coach spoke after and whose players spoke with their on-field play. They are fighting for spots on one of the better teams in the Big Ten. … Deion Sanders fought cancer over the offseason. Now he is back on the sidelines in Boulder. … Can California improve enough to help coach Justin Wilcox keep his job? … A day with a college football-related lawsuit? That’s not rare anymore, is it? However, the justification behind former Stanford coach Troy Taylor’s with ESPN is a bit different. … Does Utah’s new quarterback stack up with the schools’ former quarterbacks? Everyone began to find out the answer as the Utes started practice yesterday. … Utah State did as well, with some storylines to follow. … USC has a new strength coach with a last name that harkens to the past. But there is no relation. … UCLA is beginning its practices in Costa Mesa, where it is a little cooler. … Everyone has questions to answer. Including Arizona State. And Arizona. … The Wildcats began their workouts in the Tucson heat. … It’s not cool in Boise, where one receiver hopes to heat up opposing secondaries. … San Diego State started practice knowing it takes a six-game losing streak into the season. … In basketball news, there is a new coach in charge of the Arizona women and she seems popular. … The Boise State men know who they will open against in Maui.

Idaho: Heat was everywhere on the Palouse, including in Moscow where the Vandals also started a new era. The Tracy Ford one, as he took over from the departed Jason Eck. Peter Harriman was at practice and has this coverage. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana State and Montana each have a player on the Buchanan Award watch list. …The Bobcats are under a lot of pressure to repeat last year’s success. … Weber State knows it has to improve. And where it has to happen. … Sacramento State’s attempt to move up has run into an NCAA roadblock, part of the organization’s plan to re-assert control.

Preps: Our boss, sports editor Ralph Walter, passed along yesterday this 20-year-old story about North Central High alum Ryne Sandberg he found in the S-R files recently. I thought it would be a good idea to link it for you. The writer is someone you know. … Theo Lawson recently caught up with former Mt. Spokane star Tyson Degenhart and talked with him about his contract with Toronto. … I can pass along the latest S-R local briefs column which includes a lot of track and field results over the summer. Included in the notes is this one: “Winston Schroder, who lives in Florida but returns to Spokane to compete in the summer, won the decathlon in boys 15-16. He finished with 6,729 points. Schroder had five firsts, winning in the 100 (10.89), long jump (22-3½), shot put (42-1½), 100 hurdles (15.45) and discus (125-8). He was second in pole vault (12-11½), 400 (51.45) and javelin (164-3).” I call your attention to this for two reasons. Winston is still a 15-year-old. I was also privileged to coach him in basketball for four years. And, yes, he is one of the better athletes I have ever coached. … One last local note. The same week the greatest MLB player from a Spokane high school, Sandberg, died, another former local star, Ferris’ Andrew Kittredge, was traded to Sandberg’s old team, the Cubs.

Mariners: Yes, the M’s lost Wednesday night to the host A’s. Bryan Woo was not at his best. Again. The A’s blasted a handful of home runs and won 5-4, giving Seattle a 3-4 record on their just-ended road trip. But the trades for Suárez, which will be finalized today, and Ferguson probably will mean more long-term. … Victor Robles checked off another box on his return to-do list. … The Suárez deal received high marks nationally.  

Indians: Spokane did what it needed to do Wednesday, defeat the last-place Hillsboro Hops. All it took was a resilient pitching performance from Konner Eaton and key hit from Cole Messina to earn a 3-2 victory. Dave Nichols has the coverage.

Seahawks: Kenneth Walker III has changed his eating habits. His sleeping pattern. All in the hopes of having a bounce-back season that will lead to a contract extension. … We linked this Times’ story on offensive lineman Christian Haynes yesterday. It is on the S-R website today.

Sounders: One of the harder things to do in sports is to keep track of all the different competitions a professional soccer team takes part in. The Sounders are about to start League Cup play. Explain it to me, please.

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• There were some thunder boomers last night. Why does that matter? If you share your abode with a skittish dog, you know why. We do. No one in our house is looking forward to Friday and the forecast of evening thunderstorms again. Maybe we’ll drive to Seattle today just to avoid the noise. Until later …