Despite finishing the 2025 regular season with 90 wins and an AL West title, the Seattle Mariners finished things on a bleak note. Entering the postseason with high hopes, they would eventually be eliminated in the American League Championship Series after blowing a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven showdown against the Blue Jays. While Toronto was playing in the Fall Classic, the M’s were forced to sit home and wonder what might have been.
“It was hard, just because the World Series was going on, and you feel like you should still be playing,” Raleigh said, according to MLB.com writer Daniel Kramer. “Part of me is like, I don’t know if you really ever move on. I think, essentially, you’re going to be feeling that one for a long time.
CLICK FOR MORE: Will 2026 be The Year of J-Rod?
“And it doesn’t matter if you eventually go on to win it or not — like, you’re still going to look back and be like, ‘Wow, that season, we felt like we had a real chance, a real shot.’ So I think part of me will always feel that. But at the same time, you can’t dwell on it. You’ve got to understand that that chapter has closed and we’re opening a new one.”
Rodriguez & Raleigh are on the same page
Oct 20, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez (44) runs after hitting a double against the Toronto Blue Jays in the first inning during game seven of the ALCS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images | Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Julio Rodriguez agrees with Raleigh regarding the sting of Seattle’s stunning elimination. The two team leaders have more than implied that the bad taste left in their mouths is something they are using to propel them in 2026.
“That’s something that you kind of carry with you,” Rodríguez said. “It’s just the experience, something that you now have. I feel like that’s something that I carry with me, like the experience that I had in those [playoff] games. And I feel like it’s going to help me to become a better player, and come with kind of like a little adjustment of mentality for this new year.
“The difference from my rookie year [in 2022] when we made it to the playoffs and this time, it felt like we were actually in it. It felt like we were actually a legit team, and that we had a shot to even win it all. And obviously, we know we were caught a little bit short.”
“But I just feel like the experience side of it, you can’t make it up. You’ve got to be there. You’ve got to be able to play those games — and know you can’t perform in those games. And I feel like everybody as a team definitely took the best out of it.”
More Seattle Mariners News & OpinionsCould the Seattle Mariners have three 40-home run hitters in their 2026 lineup?Logan Gilbert discusses how the Mariners’ rotation prepared for this seasonRick Rizzs, iconic voice of the Mariners, announces he will retire after 2026 seasonSeattle Mariners pitcher ruled out for the 2026 seasonShould the Seattle Mariners target free agent Miguel Andujar?