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Seattle Mariners
Overall: 104
Title track: 118
Ownership: 105
Coaching: 100
Players: 112
Fan relations: 104
Affordability: 88
Stadium experience: 31
Bang for the buck: 91
Change from last year: -14
The start of the season always looks so promising for Mariners fans -- King Felix Hernandez is on the mound, the city is full of pride after a Super Bowl appearance from the crosstown Seahawks, and newly inked free agents are primed for breakout years. And yet all of that never seems to lead to a playoff appearance. Fans' enthusiasm -- and patience -- is wearing thin, and this year the M's fell to our bottom 20 for the first time since 2011.
What's good
As usual, fans love Safeco Field. The M's received their highest score in "fan-friendly environment." You can walk around the whole field and watch the game the entire time while sampling delicious food ranging from salmon to pad thai to gluten-free sandwiches. Come early for happy hour at the Pen and enjoy $6 beers while watching the home team take batting practice. Slugger Nelson Cruz might even provide a souvenir or five. When the beloved Hernandez pitches, sit in the King's Court and receive a T-shirt -- and maybe see a no-hitter, or at least a win. In certain sections of the upper deck, you can see the Seattle skyline, Elliott Bay and the Olympic Mountains. Unfortunately, what happens on the field often isn't so pretty.
What's bad
In the early 2000s, the Mariners led the majors in attendance, drew incredible ratings and were more popular than the Seahawks. (No, really, they were!) But with Toronto in the postseason, the Mariners' 14-year playoff drought is MLB's longest. So no surprise that Seattle's 118th-place title track ranking is dead last in baseball. To add insult to injury, Seattle is the only major league city to never have a team in the World Series. (D.C. hasn't had a team in the Series since the Senators in 1932, but still, at least it happened.) Seattle's waterfront tunnel project, the equivalent of Boston's Big Dig, could finish before the Mariners contend again.
What's new
If you told Seattle fans before the season that Cruz would mash 40-plus home runs, Robinson Cano would hit around 20, King Felix would approach 20 wins and Hisashi Iwakuma would throw a no-hitter, they might have considered investing in postseason tickets. Instead, the M's are proving that last year's winning record was an anomaly, and fans have soured on both the players (down 19 places since last year) and just-fired manager Lloyd McClendon (down a team-worst 29). What went wrong? The bullpen completely collapsed, the outfield remains a mess, the catchers are below the Mendoza Line and the farm system continues to produce almost no promising prospects. And while GM Jack Zduriencik is gone, Howard Lincoln is still CEO. Sigh. At least fans have Safeco's garlic fries.
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