Mariners can do one thing to assuage offseason anxieties: play well | Jacob Thorpe

SEATTLE – Does the offseason get worse when the team is better? Or are we just paying closer attention?

Either way, it’s finally time to play ball.

Well, almost. First, you owe Jerry Dipoto an apology. Yes, you personally. For this smug ball writer is certain he is the only person in the larger Mariners ecosystem who did not embarrass himself with forced outrage when the Mariners president of baseball operations Dipoto correctly and reasonably stated that a team aiming to win 54% of its games over time will make the playoffs most of the time and likely wind up in the World Series.

The horror. The outrage. The baseball-sized pearls that were clutched. How dare this franchise, in a sport with no salary cap, that at the time had made the playoffs once in 22 seasons, consider consistently finishing among the sport’s top teams an aspirational goal?

Two years later and the Mariners are coming off their deepest foray ever into the postseason, and first AL West title since Houston joined the division having won … 55% of their games. The second-place Astros? 53%.

Now the oddsmakers in Las Vegas have Seattle among the favorites in the American League and the fourth best chance of winning the World Series. The over/under for wins for Seattle is set at 89.5, which, hey, is just a tick above 54%. How bout that?

Seattle has a bevy of bats and the game’s deepest rotation. From a personnel standpoint, the offseason was largely a success. Josh Naylor re-signed with the team, and Dipoto and Co. added All-Star infielder Brendan Donovan at the top of the lineup and lefty pitcher Jose Ferrer to the bullpen.

Infield prospect Colt Emerson, the No. 9 prospect in baseball, won’t start the season with Seattle but is clearly champing at the bit to get to the show.

(Yes, all you aspiring copy editors. A horse “champs” at its bit, it doesn’t “chomp” it.)

But from a clubhouse vibes perspective, Thursday’s opener can’t come soon enough. The handshake that wasn’t at the World Baseball Classic between star catcher Cal Raleigh and Randy Arozarena just can’t seem to be put to rest, with the latest news being that the teammates have quashed their beef, that at first they said was not a beef, just in time for the season opener.

Listen, either this whole thing is a joke or they really hate each other. Either way is fine, so long as they hit. Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent famously didn’t get along. Reggie Jackson and Yankees skipper Billy Martin fought on national TV. The Mets had to get a psychiatrist to mediate tensions between Darryl Strawberry and Keith Hernandez.

Writerly balance says I should now give you some examples of teammates who loved each other on losing teams, but we don’t know them, because they were losers. I’m sure they exist, though.

If Raleigh and Arozarena are at odds but playing well, great. The catcher’s spot behind home plate is a long way from left field. Sit them on the other end of the bench and put their lockers far apart.

If they don’t play well, bye Randy.

The Seahawks sure didn’t make it easier for the Mariners by following up the baseball team’s historic postseason run with a Super Bowl victory. Sure helped those winter months fly by, though.

Baseball seasons are long and the only certainty is the coming overreaction to the first 20 or so games, but here are some other predictions for what summer has in store for Seattle:

The team and Julio Rodriguez will get off to a sluggish start, causing widespread panic in the Pacific Northwest.

The team will make the playoffs and Rodriguez will end up in the MVP conversation.

One of their best players in the upcoming playoffs isn’t on the team yet.

Raleigh will hit 40 or fewer home runs but have about as good a Wins Above Replacement (WAR) statistic as last season when it’s all said and done. This will make hypocrites of those who used WAR to justify robbing him of the MVP last season, when they undoubtedly use the regression in home runs as reason to call last season a fluke.

Seattle fans will keep T-Mobile Park full all season, finally.

When the NBA eventually returns to Seattle, it will find that this is once again a baseball town.