All is ‘Good’ with the Mariners — 2018 slogan is revealed

PEORIA, Ariz. – The Mariners’ 2018 slogan is short, to the point and good. That’s not commentary, mind you – that is the slogan: Good.

“We’re pretty ‘Good,'” said Scott Servais when asked to expand on the new mantra.

Felix has strong 2nd bullpen | Healy on surgery | Ramirez talks lat strain

That’s all the skipper was willing to give up. As with “Are You Ready?” and “Whatever it Takes” the past two years, this slogan is for the players. You won’t see it emblazoned around the park at Safeco or on a T-shirt at the team store. ‘Good’ was however on T-shirts that were left on each player’s chair in the clubhouse Tuesday, and on a poster above the door at one end of the clubhouse (with “Bueno,” the Spanish translation, at the other).

It is also on the minds of players after Tuesday’s introduction, which included a video on “Good” by retired Navy SEAL Jocko Willink, a Silver Star and Bronze Star recipient.

The message and the messenger caught Tony Zych’s attention.

“To me, it just resonates as I try to be as close to them as I can internally, and they are the best at it so that’s who you want to hear it from,” Zych said. “It’s pretty simple. It doesn’t let anything affect you. No matter what it is, Good goes in everything. It picks you up quick and let’s you snap out of feeling bad for yourself. I really like it.”

“You can’t harp on the negative,” added fellow pitcher Chase DeJong. “For me, it’s you get sent down to Triple-A? Good. Get yourself back, you have got a job to do here. You are in a long relief role? Good. Do your job. There is so much in this game you can’t control, but your attitude you can control.”

The message is aimed to help the team through adversity when it arises. Last year the Mariners saw plenty of adversity as injury after injury had the potential to push the team further and further from their goals.

“I think we did the best we could with the cards we were dealt,” said Servais. “It was challenging because it cut so deep into our depth. How did we handle it? I think we handled it OK. Could we do better? Yes.”

Here is where Good comes into play.

“I think you can’t run away from it and you can’t feel sorry for yourself,” said Servais. “It’s going to happen. Every team that wins anything is going to overcome it. It’s going to hit at some point; it’s how you react to it.”

Reliever Nick Vincent had an opportunity to hear Jocko speak while with the Padres.

“It’s the way of putting bad situations into good situations,” said Vincent. “It’s a way of thinking of stuff. You can take a bad at-bat and make it into a learning process. Good. Go from there, learn from that, and see what we do next time. It’s a learning word.”

In addition to learning, Vincent believes in knowing the genesis of Good. Each use of the slogan should bring perspective, as well.

“You can see the work they have to do to be the best at their job. Alright. we can’t complain about an 0 for 3 day or 0 for 20 week,” he said. “They have got to go through a lot harder stuff and circumstances than baseball players do. I think it makes us a little tougher knowing the stuff we do isn’t that bad so deal with it, be a man and just go out there and do your business. I hope it is something everybody buys into as a team.”

More Mariners spring training coverage from Shannon Drayer

Follow @shannondrayer