The Mariners’ most recent road trip was always going to be the team’s early litmus test. It’s a hard ask of any team to face three of the best teams in the American League in ten games in ten straight days. Unfortunately, the Mariners 2-8 performance was apocalyptically poor. The team’s Fangraphs playoff odds, already bad, have now plummeted to less than 2%.
Here’s the good news. We now know what we have. Jerry Dipoto will no longer harbor any illusions over whether it’s right to trade Edwin Encarnación and Jay Bruce. The Mariners can see what they have in Shed Long and J.