Once again the Mariners did not make the MLB postseason, they put up a helluva fight all the way to Game 162 but fell just a bit short. It was a bittersweet ending to Seattle’s season but they didn’t do enough to make the playoffs. The offense fell apart at times and couldn’t help the best pitching staff in the American League. I lost track of how many times the M’s needed just a run or 2 to win a game and they simply couldn’t produce. I also really enjoyed the last week of the season with Chris Taylor and Kendrys Morales consistently hitting into double plays and squashing rallies. I don’t understand how this can be the problem for the last couple of season yet the Mariners front office or GM won’t go out and address this issue. If they could score even .5 of a run more per game they would have easily made the playoffs. I hate to bring this up but the M’s could have signed Nelson Cruz if they had flashed him a little bit more cash. How nice would a .271 AVG with 108 RBI’s and 40 HR’s hitter been in the 4 hole behind Robinson Cano? Sure he was suspended 50 games in 2013 for PED use but come on you signed 2 players both coming off major injuries (Logan Morrison, Corey Hart) for a combined $7.75 million dollars. Plus they just splurged $240 million dollars on Robinson Cano so it appears you aren’t hurting for cash after signing the reported $2 billion dollar deal with DirecTV. I never understood why Jack Zduriencik didn’t just give Cruz whatever he wanted after they lost out on Kendrys Morales. To me this was a lost season all due to the lack of offense, having one of the top pitching staff’s anchored by Cy Young winner, Felix Hernandez, and having the best bullpen in the majors along with having the best closer, Fernando Rodney (who gave me countless heart attacks), should have been a recipe for success and playoff baseball.

It hurts wasting a baseball season because the grind is so long and hard and very few teams actually make the postseason but it hurts more because Felix Hernandez, who has spent his entire career with the Mariners, has never pitched in October. When he cried at his contract extension press conference in 2013, I cried. King Felix deserves to be rewarded for his unwavering loyalty to the Seattle Mariners and the City of Seattle as a whole because he is the 1st player to come up through their farm system and not leave town at the first opportunity. Watching him grown from the 19 year old who was out of shape, wild with his command and didn’t speak much English into the most dominate RHP in the MLB with a genuine affinity for Seattle has been an amazing  and rewarding experience. There is nothing more I want than for Felix to make the playoffs and have the ability to showcase his skills to the masses. I’m begging you Jack Z, do whatever it takes to get the Mariners and especially King Felix into the 2015 MLB playoffs.