Stanton plans to put Seattle Mariners back in postseason
By Mark Howe
No MLB club has a longer playoff drought than the Seattle Mariners. It dates back to 2001 and new ownership is not content with extending it much longer.
More than anything else, the longest-tenured ownership group in Seattle Mariners history may be known for what didn’t happen. In 2001, the team captured the imagination of baseball fans around the world with an amazing 116-win season. But once the New York Yankees won the American League Championship Series, all the momentum from that amazing season has been lost.
Like a mirage; it was there one minute, gone the next and left Mariners fans thirsting for more.
John Stanton, the soon-to-be face of ownership in Mariners country — if not the majority owner himself — wants to bring the enthusiasm of baseball from 2001 back to the Pacific Northwest.
“The number one goal of this ownership team is to win a World Series,’’ Stanton said in an introductory news conference. “We want to win a World Series here in Seattle and have a parade and celebration for that event. I think that it’s time that we had that accomplishment. It’s something that I know all of our fans and, most of all, every person in this organization, want nothing more in their lives than to see (that happen).”
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In a world where the small-market Kansas City Royals are defending world champions, the Mariners have a lot of things going for them already. The regional television contract, which covers more square miles of the U.S.A. than any other, adds about $200 million to the value of the organization. While a long way away from the 3.5 millions fans they drew in the early 2000’s, the Mariners have had at least 1.7 million in attendance every year since then, even with the playoff drought.
The sale is a relatively stable one; the Nintendo of America ownership group is getting old, and there are more players in the video game industry than ever before, cutting in to Nintendo’s market share considerably. The old group didn’t need to negotiate with anyone else, and the new group did its due diligence in putting itself in a winning position.
“We had a series of meetings during February and March among the minority owners and a lot of conversations,’’ Stanton said. “We did spend some time making sure we were comfortable with the valuation. I’m sure to you it’s an eye-popping number, and it certainly was to us. But we got comfortable that that’s an appropriate number for the team and that then led to frankly what was a pretty easy and quick process.’’
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So there’s a lot for Mariners fans to be excited about in the coming seasons. Maybe Robinson Cano won’t be the only household name in a Seattle uniform, and October baseball can make a return sooner rather than later.