If the Mariners’ front office does not speak about the team’s playoff drought in explicit terms very often, well, it’s only fair—the streak predates any of them. (When Seattle last made the postseason in 2001, current president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto was 33, only just done with his playing career.) Seattle’s drought has not been about the failures or poor planning or bad luck of any one regime. It’s bigger. But it’s not hard to see how it colors the experience of everyone involved: There is no way to escape the weight of the longest playoff drought in North American major professional sports. It affects what fans want, how they feel about the future, what they think about the past. October is no longer a month. It’s a fantasy.
Such is the backdrop for the Mariners’ news on Friday night. They’d entered deadline season with a comfortable hold on a playoff berth, and just as everything began to heat up, they dove in to make a splash: They acquired Reds starter Luis Castillo, the best pitcher available on the market, in exchange for four prospects (including some of the top names in their system).
It’s a big move. But it could be exactly what they need.
