The 2019 season was a ‘step back.’ What does 2020 look like for the Mariners?

Weeks before they stepped on the grass to open the season, the Seattle Mariners were tagged with a new, not so enviable catchphrase. The 2019 season would be a “step back.”

Reporters and Mariners personnel used the phrase freely. Not long after Seattle nearly ended its long playoff drought in 2018, the front office cleared out the roster, aiming to bolster a subpar farm system. Big names left, prospects still a few years away from the majors were sent in return, and expectations for the big-league product plummeted.

A pleasantly surprising April eventually gave way to cruel summer, the Mariners were officially eliminated by the first week of September, and the longest postseason drought in major North American sports extended to 18 seasons.

So, that was the “step back” — a forgettable season with forgettable results that is part of a grander plan the Mariners have to someday field a championship team.

Where does the leave them as spring training begins Wednesday in Arizona? Well, a bit further along in this rebuild than they were a year ago.

If 2019 was the “step back,” let’s call 2020 the next step. The Mariners still don’t expect to contend for a division title, or even to scratch out a Wild Card appearance, but they do expect many of the pieces they consider pivotal to the future of the franchise to be installed in Seattle.

“It’s about the development of our young players,” Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto said in January. “At the end of 2018 we were the oldest team in the American League on the field. We enter this year right now — if all lines up on Opening Day such as it sits right now — we’re the youngest team in the American League.

“So, we have really shifted a paradigm. We have created a great deal of roster and financial flexibility as we move forward. We don’t think that we’re likely to threaten for a playoff position this year. We will measure our season based on the development of our young players.”

Which is consistent with how the Mariners measured success in 2019.

“We didn’t have a very good year on the field in the big leagues,” Dipoto said. “Much less than we were hoping for, but not shocking to us. We knew when we walked through the door, in putting together a different roster and rebuilding our team, that there was the potential for disappointment, and it was disappointing.

“We took the positives away from it, because we entered the season with the idea that we were going to measure our progress by how efficiently we were able to develop our young players, because that’s what’s going to be required for us to return to a competitive state on a timeline that satisfies our goal.”

The youth movement started gaining speed last September, when rookie pitchers Justus Sheffield and Justin Dunn, and outfielder Kyle Lewis — all rated as top-10 prospects in Seattle’s system last season by MLB Pipeline — saw regular playing time.

A few more Mariners youngsters, like outfielder Jake Fraley, infielder Donnie Walton and reliever Art Warren also reached the majors, and up-and-comers like starting pitcher Logan Gilbert, first baseman Evan White and catcher Cal Raleigh spent the final week of the season getting used to the atmosphere in Seattle’s clubhouse.

Expect to see more of these moves in 2020, and for the Mariners — who only have three players on their current 40-man roster older than 30 — to continue to trend younger.

Sheffield is a lock for the starting rotation, and Dunn will battle for a spot. Lewis should return to Seattle’s outfield right away — especially with veteran Mitch Haniger expected out at least 6-8 weeks after core surgery in January — and White will start the season as the Mariners’ everyday first baseman after signing an unprecedented extension in November.

Prospects like Gilbert and Kelenic aren’t projected to crack the Opening Day roster, but they should show up in Seattle at some point during the season.

And younger players with a bit more big-league experience, like ace Marco Gonzales — who signed a multi-year extension earlier this month — shortstop J.P. Crawford and second baseman Shed Long, along with veteran third baseman Kyle Seager, will anchor the Mariners on the field as what is hoped to be a future contender is built around them.

“We feel like we have a combination of young talent and financial resources that are effectively saved to go out and do things that put the Mariners on the map and allow us to stay there,” Dipoto said. “We want to contend in a sustainable way. It’s been our goal since we got here and we have crafted a roster now that I think will allow that.”

It’s not likely to start with a winning season in 2020, and the playoff drought will surely continue, but the Mariners still see the potential for a competitive 2021.

This season will be about building toward that future, and should these up-and-coming prospects progress at the big-league level as quickly as they’ve climbed through the minors, that timeline should still be in play.

“It may not show up in wins and losses all the time, but as a group of players getting better,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said last month of the 2020 season. “Are they making better decisions? Is the production on the field getting better? Are they more consistent? Are there the consistent routines that will lead to the outcomes we want? Are those things all in line? If they are, we’re doing our job.”

This story was originally published February 12, 2020 at 5:00 AM.

Lauren Smith

The News Tribune

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Lauren Smith is a sports reporter at The News Tribune. She has covered high school sports for TNT and The Olympian, as well as the Seattle Mariners and Washington Huskies. She is a graduate of UW and Emerald Ridge High School.