ESPN’s Buster Olney has never had expectations for Mariners like this

The view on the Seattle Mariners going into this season is truly different than we’re used to.

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Entering their fourth season since ending a 21-year playoff drought, the Mariners are defending American League West champs and are coming off of taking the Toronto Blue Jays all the way to seven games in the ALCS. And the thing is, they may have even gotten better over the offseason after re-signing Josh Naylor, adding Rob Refsnyder and trading for Brendan Donovan.

As a result, the Mariners sit in spring training with the highest predicted wins in 2026 of any AL team per FanGraphs at 88. Not only that, but FanGraphs’ playoff odds also give the Mariners the best percentage of any AL team to make the playoffs (79.7%), win their division (61.5%), clinch a bye through the wild card round of the postseason (45.3%), and – most importantly – win the World Series (8.2%).

Historically, the state of the team entering the season is unlike anything longtime ESPN MLB reporter Buster Olney can remember with the Mariners.

“Nothing quite like this,” Olney said Monday when asked on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy if he can recall a year where the Mariners’ expectations entering the season were as high as they are now. “I mean, those teams in the 90s when they had (Ken Griffey) Jr. and Edgar Martinez and Alex Rodriguez, you knew going into every year that they would compete for a playoff spot. But nothing like this where you’re starting the season (and) a World Series appearance seems totally reasonable.”

Though the baseball world continues to revolve around the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, Olney said that if he was to pick any other team besides LA to win it all in 2026, he would choose the Mariners.

Part of that is because of what he’s hearing from those associated with the franchise.

“I think they really grew last year, and from what I understand from talking to people in the organization, that conversation’s out there in that clubhouse. They’re not running from that,” Olney said. “They go into the year thinking that they’ve got a real chance to represent the American League in the World Series.”

Hear the full Bump and Stacy conversation with ESPN’s Buster Olney in the podcast at this link or in the player below. Catch Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Seattle Sports.

More on the Seattle Mariners

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• What we learned from Mariners’ Brendan Donovan
• Drayer: Three things standing out early at Mariners camp
• How ‘challenging’ year led Luke Raley to a new offseason focus
• Seattle Mariners prospect ‘stole the show’ in Cactus League opener

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