For many years, the M\u2019s were a team that entered the season labeled as one that could surprise or one that has potential to reach the playoffs if things go right. And going back to previous front office leadership, they were sometimes just an afterthought hoping to avoid a 100-loss campaign.<\/p>\n
But in 2026, Seattle is the clear favorite to defend its crown and win the American League West. It\u2019s even a team many think can make it to the World Series.<\/p>\n
The expectations are high, but perhaps none are higher than the ones coming from MLB Network\u2019s Greg Amsinger.<\/p>\n
Amsinger joined Seattle Sports\u2019 Brock and Salk on Tuesday and gave a lofty set of predictions about the M\u2019s in 2026.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cMy bold prediction: 98 wins, the Mariners go to the World Series, Bryan Woo wins Cy Young,\u201d Amsinger said.<\/p>\n
Yeah, that\u2019s pretty bold. But FanGraphs does agree with Amsinger on one of those of takes.<\/p>\n
Seattle has a 19.2% chance of reaching its first-ever World Series, per FanGraphs<\/a>. That\u2019s the highest of any team in the AL. The next best odds are the New York Yankees at 14.2%. However, the M\u2019s are projected to win 88 games. Just two teams in all of baseball (the Dodgers and Braves) are projected to reach 90 wins.<\/p>\n Why is Amsinger so bullish on the Mariners?<\/p>\n \u201cWell, you\u2019re going into opening day with an intense competitor in Josh Naylor, who you brought back immediately. You needed to bring him back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n New third baseman Brendan Donovan is also a major reason.<\/p>\n \u201cYou go get the X-factor guy that every single team that\u2019s in win-now mode wanted,\u201d Amsinger said. \u201cJust follow the clues. Why would every club that wants to win the world championship right now want Brendan Donovan? Because he does everything you need to win.\u201d<\/p>\n Amsinger is a St. Louis native and friend of Donovan\u2019s former manager with the Cardinals, Oli Marmol.<\/p>\n \u201cHe knew the writing was on the wall that they were gonna move Donovan, and it was it was heartbreaking because that was his favorite player,\u201d Amsinger said. \u201cAnd when the manager absolutely loves a guy, there\u2019s a reason for it. Brendan Donovan is the polish of this team. The tiny little things that you don\u2019t see in a box score, he\u2019s bringing that edge to the Seattle Mariners. I love it.<\/p>\n \u201cI think they check every single box for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Woo for Cy Young<\/p>\n Of the three predictions Amsinger gave, Woo winning the Cy Young might be the most unlikely. That\u2019s not because Woo isn\u2019t a talented pitcher capable of making a push for the award, it\u2019s because of reigning two-time AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers.<\/p>\n Skubal, a Seattle U product, is still in his prime at 29 years old, but Amsinger is convinced he won\u2019t be able to pull off a three-peat.<\/p>\n \u201cI just think it\u2019s impossible for Tarik Skubal to do it three straight years,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m also looking at what happened with the arbitration case and the fact that minutes after (the Tigers) realized they lost the arbitration case to Tarik Skubal and he won $31 million, they gave a different left-handed pitcher (Framber Valdez) an (average annual contract value) higher than $31 million to ensure that Tarik Skubal wasn\u2019t even the highest paid left-handed pitcher on the Tigers. So I just think that\u2019s gonna be a drama mess, and I\u2019m going Woo.\u201d<\/p>\n Hear the full conversation at this link<\/a> or in the audio player near the top of this story. Listen to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.\u00a0<\/p>\n More on the Seattle Mariners<\/p>\n \u2022 Seattle Mariners\u2019 Cal Raleigh addresses the \u2018elephant in the room\u2019<\/a>
\u2022\u00a0ESPN\u2019s Buster Olney has never had expectations for Mariners like this<\/a>
\u2022\u00a0Seattle Mariners have same \u2018secret sauce\u2019 as Super Bowl champ Seahawks<\/a>
\u2022\u00a0What we learned from new Seattle Mariners leadoff man Brendan Donovan<\/a>
\u2022 \u2018Challenging\u2019 year led Seattle Mariners\u2019 Raley to new offseason focus<\/a><\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SeattleSportsEmail-830x100-1.jpg\")
\t