THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Despite cheap owners, M's should still contend

How about answering two questions? 

No, not you. 

We need a reply from the baseball gods, some financial wizards (at Forbes magazine), plus a few analytical gurus who have been keeping track of the Seattle Mariners. 

That last group speaks a language certain to give us headaches, so we’ll limit them to simple numbers. 

The target audience for these questions is pretty obvious. 

We’re reaching out to Mariners fans who are weeping, howling at the moon, or both. 

This group is understandably baffled that the club spent zilch during the offseason, ignoring the chance to shoot for great things — given a pitching rotation that led all of baseball in most meaningful categories a year ago. 

Despite the starters’ dominance and a better-than-average defense, the M’s only managed to win 85 games, missing the playoffs by one measly game. 

It made sense for ownership to invest in this team, big-time. 

But, no. 

And that brings us to our questions.  

Ready? 

QUESTION No. 1: Are the Mariners owners really cheapskates? 

Hah! 

That’s actually a kind description. 

Oh, and most fans don’t know this, but the oft-used phrase “ownership group” is nonsense. 

Business tycoon John Stanton owns 90 percent of the team, which Forbes estimates is worth $2.2 billion. 

Now, about the Mariners’ payroll, and Stanton’s steadfast refusal to raise it more than a pittance. 

Jim Riley of Ballcap Sports did an interesting exercise in which he measured the revenue and payroll of each MLB club, along with whether the team’s spending on actual athletes was going up or down. 

Riley’s research showed that the Mariners’ revenue in 2024 was $396 million (per Statista) while baseball payroll was $147 million (per FanGraphs). 

That left a staggering gap of $249 million. 

Yes, the club had to pay concessionaires, groundskeepers, ushers, scouts, yada, yada. 

But I promise all those support troops didn’t earn a total of $249 million. 

A fairly large chunk of that cash headed for Stanton’s pockets.

One other item popped up in Riley’s digging. 

While 19 of MLB’s 30 teams had a significant gap between revenue and payroll, most are projected to increase the amount dedicated to players this season. 

Not Seattle. 

Riley found that the Mariners will drop payroll around 8 percent by the end of the year. 

Ugh. 

Bottom line: Don’t blame baseball boss Jerry Dipoto or GM Justin Hollander. 

They’re doing the best they can. 

It’s entirely on Stanton that Jorge Polanco will be playing third (on a gimpy knee) instead of free agent Alex Bregman. 

QUESTION No. 2: Will this lack of investment in the roster ruin the Mariners' 2025 season? 

It sure won’t help. 

All may not be lost, however. 

The M’s went 21-13 after Dan Wilson replaced Scott Servais as manager. 

Wilson brought team legend Edgar Martinez aboard as a batting instructor, hitters changed their approach at notoriously difficult T-Mobile Park, and the gang took off. 

They were 27th in runs scored prior to Wilson’s arrival (and were 64-64), then jumped up to fifth in those last six-plus weeks. 

The team batting average went from .215 (dead last) to .255 (eighth), and strikeouts dropped from 27.7 percent (worst in MLB) to middle of the pack at 23.7 percent. 

I know, a 34-game run at the end of a season represents a dangerously small sample size in baseball. 

Still, there are some legit reasons why this team might be able to carry that mojo into the new season. 

Let’s call Victor Robles (.328 average, .860 OPS) and Randy Arozarena the equivalent of offseason pickups, since they were acquired in early June and at the trading deadline, respectively, and really changed the lineup. 

FanGraphs has an analytics site that grinds up all sorts of facts, trends and things we can’t even imagine — it’s called ZIPS — and the predictions are very encouraging for the Mariners. 

ZIPS suggests that J.P. Crawford will have a big rebound year, that Matt Brash and Gregory Santos will shrug off injuries to give Seattle back its shutdown bullpen, and that rookie third baseman Ben Williamson could be an all-time sleeper. 

One area that MUST improve under the new, make-contact regime is the ability to hit breaking balls. 

A year ago, anyone who could spin it owned the Mariners. 

Did you see the movie “Major League”? 

Well, the M’s all might as well have been Pedro Cerrano, a Cuban slugger who burned incense to an image of a little character called Jobu. 

Cerrano’s famous lament: “I cannot hit curveball. Straight ball, I hit it very much. Curveball, bats are afraid. I ask Jobu to come, take fear from bats.” 

If the Mariners’ pitching stays healthy, if two rookies wind up as infield starters, and Julio Rodriguez wins the MVP … hey, they could win it all. 

Might want to ask Jobu for help, though. 

Email: scameron@cdapress.com 

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three times each week, normally Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday unless, you know, stuff happens. 

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”