Just because they’re not the worst we’ve seen doesn’t mean they don’t play like it sometimes. The yawning gap in talent between the best teams in the league and those like the Mariners who, in another period, might easily be the league’s worst, is dwarfed by the chasm between the best and the league’s true worst.
Today’s loss, served piping hot by a bullpen implosion, puts the M’s at 29-43. That’s a .403 winning percentage, good enough for last in the AL West. But last in the AL West is nowhere near the worst of the worst.