Cal Raleigh did what leaders are supposed to do when a season starts slipping through the cracks: he owned his own part in it. He called his performance “awful,” put the blame on himself first and showed the kind of accountability teams usually beg for.
But in doing so, he also went out on a limb for a Mariners operation that has plenty of explaining to do.
Raleigh defended manager Dan Wilson, president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and general manager Justin Hollander, saying Seattle’s decision-makers weren’t the ones at fault because the players are the ones on the field.
“It’s not their fault. It’s our fault,” Raleigh said, according to Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times.
That line carries real loyalty. It also shifts a lot of heat away from the people who built this roster and are charged with steering it.
The players absolutely own part of this. Raleigh went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in the Mariners’ latest loss, and his offensive game has not found its footing this season.
The rest of the lineup has looked just as stuck - impatient, disconnected and overwhelmed. Nobody needs Raleigh pretending otherwise.
Still, a broken offense doesn’t become a front-office free pass just because the players are the ones taking the swings. Dipoto and Hollander assembled this group.
Wilson and his staff prepare it, deploy it and set the standard for how it plays. When an entire lineup looks lost, that’s bigger than 26 individual cold streaks.
That’s organizational failure.
The numbers in Divish’s piece make that point loud and clear. Seattle is 48-29 when it hits at least one home run and 8-34 when it doesn’t.
That’s not a normal offensive dip. That’s a team built with almost no room to breathe. If the Mariners don’t leave the yard, they struggle to function.
Raleigh seems to understand that better than most. He talked about using the whole field, taking singles when they’re there and resisting the urge to sell out for every swing. He also described the trap Seattle keeps falling into: hitters getting caught between approaches, missing fastballs they should handle and chasing breaking balls once they’re behind.
It’s a strong read on the problem. It also raises the obvious question: why is Raleigh the one spelling out how the Mariners need to reinvent their offensive identity in August?
This didn’t happen by accident. The front office helped create it by building the roster the way it did, and the coaching staff helped shape the approach that now looks so easy to attack.
Raleigh can adjust his own plan at the plate. He can try to drive a single the other way instead of swinging for the seats. None of that changes the larger truth that Seattle has an offense with almost no margin for error when the power disappears.
Wilson, to be clear, can’t step into the box and deliver the hit the lineup keeps missing. But he isn’t detached from the problem, either.
He sets the lineup, helps establish expectations and decides how long struggling players stay in key roles. If the Mariners are lacking energy, urgency and attention to detail, as Raleigh suggested, the manager belongs in that conversation.
So does Dipoto. This isn’t about pinning every slump on him.
It’s about recognizing the link between how a roster is constructed and how it performs. If a team keeps losing the same way, the architect doesn’t get to watch from afar and act surprised.
Bryan Woo put Raleigh’s burden in plain terms, saying his former roommate sometimes needs to be reminded that he doesn’t have to carry the entire ship himself.
And yet that’s exactly what Raleigh tried to do here. He attempted to fix his swing, steady the pitching staff, lift the clubhouse, supply the urgency and shield the people running the organization all at once.
That is a lot for one player to shoulder.
Raleigh should absolutely be accountable for his own production and his leadership. He should not be left to answer for the entire franchise.
His willingness to step in front of the collapse says plenty about the kind of player he is. It also gives the people above him a convenient escape hatch if they let him stand there alone.
In Other News...
Mariners Pressure Is Rising Around Dan Wilson And His Staff
The Angels latest round of coaching changes offered a familiar reminder of how quickly a season can turn into a referendum on the people in the dugout. After poor results piled up, Los Angeles moved on from pitching coach Mike Maddux, bullpen coach Dom Chiti and assistant pitching coach Darryl Scott, and the explanation included concern that the staff was not making enough use of available technology. It was another example of an organization deciding the message had to change when the performance did not.
For the Mariners, that kind of shakeup is only going to sharpen the attention already circling Dan Wilson and his staff. Seattles struggles have put Wilson under scrutiny, and the hitting side has not escaped it, with Edgar Martinez and Kevin Seitzer part of the conversation as the club looks for answers. Other teams, including the Phillies and Red Sox, have already shown how quickly front offices will redraw the map when results lag, and that is the backdrop hanging over Seattle now. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Add Catching Insurance Behind Cal Raleigh
The Mariners added a little catching depth to the organization this week, claiming Willie MacIver off waivers from the Blue Jays and sending him to Triple-A Tacoma. It is a straightforward move on the surface, but one that fits the kind of roster housekeeping contending clubs often do when they want to keep the position insulated without forcing a bigger shuffle at the major league level.
MacIver gives Seattle another name to stash in the system behind Cal Raleigh and the rest of the current catching group, with the club having room on its 40-man roster to make the claim. The Blue Jays had just designated MacIver for assignment after picking him up from the Rangers, so the Mariners were able to jump in and add an experienced depth option while leaving the bigger question of how far he might climb in the organization for later. [Read more 🡒]