Five teams that can help the Mariners reach the playoffs

Sep 8, 2025, 9:10 AM

Seattle Sports

The Seattle Mariners find themselves in a tight battle for a playoff berth in the American League.

How Seattle Mariners could shake up lineup in ‘outside-the-box’ way

The M’s enter Monday holding on to the final wild card berth by 1 1/2 games. They also trail the Houston Astros for first place in the AL West by 2 1/2 games.

The most direct path to the playoffs for the Mariners is to, of course, just win games down the stretch. But they’ll surely take any help they can get from other teams around the league.

Who can help the Mariners the most over the season’s final weeks? Here’s a look at the five teams Mariners fans should be rooting from here on out. All games remaining mentioned were as of entering play Sunday.

Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays are on top on the American League East and far enough in front of the Mariners that even a red-hot run to a division title likely wouldn’t be enough to pass them for any potential home-field advantage in the playoffs. They also may be able to make the biggest impact on Seattle’s path to the postseason. A whopping 16 of the Blue Jays’ final 19 games come against teams the M’s are competing for playoff spots with.

Toronto’s remaining schedule includes three against the Astros (starting Tuesday), three against the Royals, three against the Red Sox and seven against the Rays.

Minnesota Twins

The Twins aren’t the best team to be relying on due to their fire sale before the trade deadline. They’re 6-17 since Aug. 14. But Minnesota has three games with the Rangers, three with the Yankees, four with the Guardians and one with the Royals left on its slate.

Detroit Tigers

The AL Central-leading Tigers fall into the same boat as Toronto as being unlikely to catch for any potential home-field advantage scenarios. Detroit has three games with the Yankees, three with the Red Sox and six with the Guardians left on its schedule.

The Athletics

The Mariners will be looking for some help from their AL West rival. The Athletics have three games against the Astros, three against the Royals and six against the Red Sox. They also have none against the M’s and are well out of playoff contention. So, the A’s can get as hot as they want as far as the Mariners are concerned.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers have a tough schedule down the stretch, but they don’t play anybody in the AL playoff race – except the final three games of the season against the Mariners. But that’s why Seattle fans should be rooting for them.

Los Angeles holds a one-game lead in the NL West over the Padres. If it can pull away and clinch its division before the final series of the season, there’s a chance Seattle could close its season against a team resting its starters. However, there is the potential the Dodgers could still be playing for seeding even if they’ve clinched the NL West.