It’s common for Seattle Mariners fans to feel like the sky is falling, although this year admittedly feels worse than most. However, even with the team’s season-long struggles, they remain 52-50, with playoff odds of 14.7% (FanGraphs), 12.7% (Baseball Prospectus), and 14% (FiveThirtyEight). That’s not where they want to be, but they’re not totally out of it. In fact, other playoff teams have done way more with way less.
In 2006 the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series after only winning 83 games; the very next year, the Cubs won the NL Central winning only 85 games; in 2008, the Dodgers won the NL West with 84 wins, and the Twins reached a wild card spot in 2017 with just 85 wins.