2003 Seattle Mariners, 93-69, .574, +158 run-differential
The third-best non-playoff team in the wild card era is the 2003 Seattle Mariners. They took over first place in the AL West in mid-April and had an eight-game lead by early June. The staff ace was 40-year-old left-hander Jamie Moyer. He would have the only 20-win season of his 25-year career. Amazingly, the Mariners used just five starting pitchers that season. All five started 32 or 33 games.
By mid-August, the Mariners’ division lead had slipped to five games, but the worst was yet to come. From August 20 through September 16, they went 10-16 and dropped to 4.5 games behind the surging Oakland A’s. They would eventually finish second in the AL West by three games.
While the Mariners went 13-12 in September to finish with 93 wins, the Boston Red Sox went 17-9 to finish with 95 wins. That gave them the wild card spot. Both the Mariners and Red Sox finished with more wins than the Minnesota Twins, who won the AL Central with a 90-72 record to make the MLB playoffs.
Mentioned above, the ageless Jamie Moyer was the top pitcher on the staff, with Ryan Franklin (3.57 ERA in 212 IP) and Joel Pineiro (3.78 ERA in 211.7 IP) also having solid seasons. The offensive leaders were Bret Boone (111 R, 35 HR, 117 RBI), Ichiro Suzuki (212 H, 111 R, 34 SB), Mike Cameron (18 HR, 17 SB) and Edgar Martinez (.406 OBP in 603 PA).
This was Edgar Martinez’s last good season. He would play just one more year before hanging up his spikes. It was also Bret Boone’s last great season. He would be out of baseball after two more years during which he hit a combined .240/.307/.397. Mike Cameron was granted free agency and would sign with the Mets.
The Mariners went from winning 93 games in 2003 to winning 63 games in 2004. They haven’t had a 90-win team since 2003 and would need to go 11-6 to get to 90 wins this year. In fact, they’ve only had four winning seasons since 2003. Barring a massive collapse down the stretch, this year should be their fifth.