FanPost Friday: Wild Card races and All-Star breaks

The American League is wide open, but will the Mariners do anything about it?

Hello and welcome back to FanPost Friday. We’re three games away from the All-Star Break and the Mariners have been absolutely stumbling their way to it in a very relatable way (who hasn’t mailed in the last few days before a vacation?), but hopefully they can salvage a win or two in Detroit? Okay, one win? I don’t wanna be greedy. Calm down, Jeff.

Anyways, with the news that Julio will be skipping the ASG and the general malaise brought on by the team’s under-performance the last week and change, it’s safe to say we all need a break. But! There are still some things to look forward to and feel positive about:

• Cal Raleigh!!! Like, in general, but also his first All-Star game and first Home Run Derby appearance. Joey Bart could never.
• Andrés Muñoz is an All-Star again! Maybe he’ll pitch this time!
• In spite of everything, the Mariners are still very much in the AL Wild Card Race!

Let’s get more into that. So, like many of y’all, I’ve resigned myself to not worrying about the division anymore because clearly the Asstros are doing their usual evil baseball thing and there’s no way this crew of Mariner slapdicks will be able to catch up with them. But, the AL Wild Card? Friends, rejoice, for the American League is once again Fried Ass. Not since 2017 have we seen such a wide open field of mediocrity and objectively bad teams. Did the Mariners just get swept by one of their direct WC competitors? Yes. Yes, they did. But! Let’s see who else is in the mix.

• Tampa Bay? Fairly fraudulent, do not have a real stadium right now.
• Boston? Probably the most legit threat.
• Kansas City? FRAUDS besides Salvador Perez.
• Texas? Outside of Corey Seager, FRAUDS.
• Anaheim? (gets on ladder, grabs biggest megaphone possible) CATEGORICALLY FRAUDULENT IN EVERY SINGLE WAY, GET A REAL LIFE.
• Minnesota? You are not serious people.
• Cleveland? Appreciate you sweeping the Astros, but I’m also not scared of y’all.

Remember the 2017 Mariners who spent nearly the entire season floating around .500 and were still in a playoff spot in early August? It’s okay if you don’t, it was not a fun season, but it happened because the AL was bad that year. Like early 2000’s fashion trends coming back around, It’s alllll happening again and these 2025 Mariners just need to be a handful of wins better than the 2017 Mariners and they’ll find themselves in a Wild Card spot, against all odds. That’s what I’m telling myself, anyways. Let’s hear what y’all have to say.

Have a great weekend, folks!