Remember the beatdown in Milwaukee back in August? The Mariners got roughed up by the Brewers, including that 22-0 nightmare in the opener, and now it looks a little different in hindsight. If you’re going to get embarrassed, getting embarrassed by the team that ended up as World Series champs at least gives the whole thing a sharper edge.
More importantly, it gives Seattle a blueprint.
The Brewers do a lot of things the Mariners don’t, and a few of those habits are exactly the kind of habits Seattle should steal if it wants to chase the same kind of October run. Some of it is philosophy.
Some of it is roster design. And some of it is just plain old baseball stubbornness - the kind that turns a decent team into one that can grind you down.
The Mariners won’t be able to clone Milwaukee’s whole operation. The pitching pipeline issue is real, but what the Brewers are producing there is closer to a machine than a normal staff.
Their average fastball during the playoffs was 98.5 frickin' miles per hour. That kind of thing doesn’t get replicated by wishful thinking.
The defense gap, too, is mostly a personnel problem. Seattle isn’t going to snap its fingers and become a different team overnight.
That part is on Jerry Dipoto and whatever changes come this winter.
But there are still pieces Seattle can borrow.
The first one starts at the plate: make pitchers work.
Brewers hitters were patient all season, and it showed. They swung at just 43.8 percent of the pitches they saw in the regular season, the lowest rate in baseball.
That mattered because only 47.5 percent of pitches were in the strike zone to begin with, and Milwaukee was the best team in the league at refusing to expand it, posting a 26.6 chase percentage. The payoff was obvious.
The Brewers tied for the league lead in walk percentage and were ahead in the count 27.7 percent of the time, good for third in MLB.
Seattle went the other way. The Mariners had the league’s seventh-highest chase rate despite also having the fourth-lowest zone rate.
They weren’t walking enough, and they weren’t getting ahead enough. At T-Mobile Park, that kind of discipline should matter even more.
It’s the worst park in baseball for stringing hits together, which makes free passes feel less like a bonus and more like a necessity.
The next lesson is about moving runners without waiting for the long ball to do all the work.
Milwaukee broke the usual scoring script this season. The Brewers were near the bottom of the league in home runs, yet they finished second in runs scored.
That only happens when the rest of the offense is doing real work. They put a ton of runners on base, ranked second in stolen bases with 162, and finished second in productive outs with 186.
No, that’s not the whole reason they led MLB in plate appearances with runners in scoring position. But it’s a big reason.
The Mariners were fine on the bases with 116 steals, but they weren’t in Milwaukee’s class. More glaringly, they were seventh from the bottom in productive outs with 140, and they finished with the fourth-fewest plate appearances with runners in scoring position at 1,458. That’s not a profile that gives your best hitters enough chances to do damage.
This is where the Brewers model gets a little messy for Seattle, because the roster differences matter. Milwaukee found ways to squeeze value out of everything, even with a light hitter like David Hamilton leading the team in sacrifice bunts with 13.
Still, the bigger point holds: even if the Mariners are built for more power in 2027, they shouldn’t settle for a station-to-station offense. The bottom half of the lineup should be able to do the dirty work that creates cleaner opportunities for the middle.
The final lesson is the one front offices hate talking about in public but can’t escape in real life: churn the roster.
The Mariners probably can carry a higher payroll. In fact, they definitely can.
Their Opening Day payroll this year was $161.8 million, which was basically the same range as 2018’s $157.9 million - except that 2018 figure would be about $210 million in 2026 dollars. Still, John Stanton is not acting like a spender.
He has said the team is "well situated with a good young team and a middle of the road, roughly, payroll." And with Seattle ranking 16th this year in Opening Day payroll, that sounds like the current lane.
If that’s the lane, then the Brewers and Rays offer a better roadmap than most. Milwaukee keeps moving pieces around, even when the moves sting.
Josh Hader, Corbin Burnes, Devin Williams and Freddy Peralta all went out the door in unpopular trades, but the returns mattered. Joey Ortiz, DL Hall and Robert Gasser played key roles this year.
Caleb Durbin also gave them a good season before being flipped for Kyle Harrison and David Hamilton, who each became important pieces too.
Jerry Dipoto has already shown he can move on from expensive mistakes, as seen with Robinson Canó, Robbie Ray and Luis Castillo. What he hasn’t really done, at least not often, is trade established major leaguers while their value is still high.
That’s the part worth questioning. It’s time to wonder whether that approach needs to change.
The rotation may be the place to start. There had been rumors in past years about interest in George Kirby and Bryce Miller, and both of their values have since dipped. There aren’t do-overs there, but Logan Gilbert or Emerson Hancock could be the kind of offseason trade chips that bring back a bat the Mariners need.
That’s a tough sell anywhere, and it’s even tougher with fans. But front offices around the league understand the logic, especially for teams operating without a giant budget. The Cincinnati Reds front office is reportedly aware they should be built more like the Brewers, but ownership hasn’t let them do it.
Seattle isn’t being called the Reds here. But if the choice is between that path and the Brewers’ path, the answer is obvious.
In Other News...
Mariners Face A J.P. Crawford Reunion Problem This Offseason
J.P. Crawfords offseason is shaping up to be one of the more interesting Mariners subplots, because his value may sit right at the crossroads of affordability and fit. Jim Bowden of The Athletic ranks Crawford 38th among free agents and projects a two-year, $20 million deal, a price tag that suggests other clubs could view him as a useful infield option even after a down year in Seattle.
The Cardinals and Twins are among the teams that could make sense if theyre looking for help at third base, while the Mariners would have to decide whether keeping Crawford around in a different role still makes enough roster sense. Seattle could entertain a reunion if the terms are friendly, but anything longer or pricier would push the conversation into a tougher place for a club trying to manage its future roster shape. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Prospect Boston Smith May Be Becoming More Than A Surprise
Boston Smith has gone from a name buried in the lower reaches of prospect lists to someone worth tracking closely this fall. The Mariners No. 13 prospect turned in another eye-catching performance in the Arizona Fall League against Glendale, adding to a breakout year that has followed him through three different farm systems after being traded twice in 2026. Along the way, Smith has drawn attention for more than raw numbers. His approach at the plate and ability to adjust have become part of the conversation, and that kind of growth tends to matter more than any one hot week in October.
For Seattle, the appeal is obvious. The organization has watched Smith keep moving up the ladder while showing that his development is not tied to one stop or one set of coaches, which makes his rise feel less like a fluke and more like a real leap forward. The AFL is often where prospect momentum gets tested against better pitching, and Smith is doing enough there to make it fair to wonder how much more he has in him, and how quickly that progress could turn into something bigger for the Mariners. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Just Sent An Early Offseason Signal With Three Roster Calls
The Mariners began shaping their offseason plans early with a trio of roster decisions that offered a clear glimpse at where theyre placing their priorities. Seattle picked up closer Andrs Muozs contract option for 2027, keeping one of its most trusted late-inning arms in the fold as the club continues to lean into bullpen stability and long-term structure.
Elsewhere, the roster math shifted in a more complicated direction. The team declined options for Bryce Miller and Victor Robles, trimming the 40-man roster to 34 players and creating more questions around the edges of the roster picture. Miller remains under club control, while Robles is now a free agent, leaving Seattle with another decision point as the offseason starts to take shape. [Read more 🡒]