BBTF's Newsblog Discussion :: Mariners’ Cal Raleigh apologizes for calling out team after season-ending loss

Baseball Primer Newsblog
— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand

Monday, October 02, 2023

Mariners’ Cal Raleigh apologizes for calling out team after season-ending loss

“Obviously yesterday was a really emotional day for everybody. I just want to apologize to my teammates, my coaches, fans. It wasn’t a time to talk about what-ifs in that scenario,” Raleigh said. “That being said, I’m not going to apologize for wanting to win and wanting to bring a World Series to the city. They deserve it, the fans do and our organization does, and I’m committed to doing that.”

Raleigh expressed his frustration with Seattle falling short after Saturday’s 6-1 loss to Texas. The Mariners snapped a 21-year playoff drought last season and entered this year with the expectation of making it two playoff appearances in a row.

“Anytime you can add, I mean look over in [Texas’] locker room right there, they’ve added more than anybody else and look where it got them,” Raleigh said after Saturday’s season-ending loss. “There’s more than one way to skin a cat, that’s for sure. But going out and getting those big names, people who have done it, people who have been there, people who are leaders, people who have shown time and time again that they can be successful in this league is definitely what would help this clubhouse.”

RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: October 02, 2023 at 08:52 AM | 15 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: mariners

Reader Comments and Retorts

Go to end of page

Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.

1. The Duke Posted: October 02, 2023 at 12:40 PM (#6143120)

Player vocalizes that he wants to win; apologizes immediately. Microcosm of our world. Wanting success is the sign of corrupted mind.

2. Captain Joe Bivens, Pointless and Wonderful Posted: October 02, 2023 at 01:52 PM (#6143135)

Yes, I always appreciated teammates who whined after we lost about why we lost. It's not Raleigh's roll to call out the FO for not adding pieces, like other teams did. Who would Raleigh have liked to be replaced? Would he care to single out anyone? I doubt it. So he should apologize and from here on STFU about losing.

3. Tony S Posted: October 02, 2023 at 02:19 PM (#6143138)

Raleigh wasn't apologizing for wanting to win (nor should he). He was apologizing for blaming the front office for his team falling a couple of games short of a playoff berth.

And Texas, with all those big names, staggered to the line as well, giving away the division title on the final day. Playing against Seattle.

Oh, I notice Mr. Raleigh went 3-for-20 with no walks or extra-base hits in the season's last five games.

The Orioles were in a tough divisional race too, and the only big stretch-run move they made was adding Jack Flaherty, whose impact was marginal. Does Mike Elias not want to win?

4. Is Zonk Vermin within the Confines? Posted: October 02, 2023 at 02:29 PM (#6143141)

IDK... if you go 0-4, you're behind the plate as your team's ace gets knocked out in the 3rd, and the only WP in the game leads to a run with you also behind the plate....

5. John Northey Posted: October 02, 2023 at 04:37 PM (#6143168)

If he had hit like a house on fire during the final weeks and did everything imaginable to win but the team fell short due to an obvious problem the front office ignored all year then he'd have a much stronger case, but at the trade deadline (after games of July 31st) the Mariners were in 4th in the AL West 55-51 5 games back and behind the freaking Angels who went out and tried the trade route and blew their future for nothing. So it is hard to blame the front office for not doing a ton at the deadline. They went 33-23 after that, best in the AL West by 2 1/2 over Houston, 3 over Texas but that wasn't enough. 1 game out of the playoffs. Ouch. The Jays did that in 2021 (1 game out) then went and made the playoffs each of the next 2 years. That is what the Mariners need to try to do. That winter the Jays went out and signed Kevin Gausman, Yusei Kikuchi, and traded for Matt Chapman. All important parts this year in making the playoffs. What will the Mariners do this winter? Chapman is a free agent, and so are many pitchers if they want to go that route.

6. Ned Garvin: Male Prostitute Posted: October 02, 2023 at 06:11 PM (#6143184)

Shifting the conversation to the Mariners' offseason, they don't need third base or pitching (beyond every team needing more pitching). They need corner OF, DH, and 2B. They need a big bat (or two) to anchor the lineup. Which means the only guy that really fits their needs is ... Ohtani. It's not my money, so as a M's fan I am strongly in favor, but ownership may not agree.

7. Howie Menckel Posted: October 02, 2023 at 06:52 PM (#6143192)

The Pacific Northwest has a very significant-sized Asian population, and Ohtani would be as big a sensation there as anywhere.

ok, he'd be a sensation literally anywhere. but from a revenue standpoint - well beyond just season tickets and suites - they'd get more bang for their buck than some other markets.

of course, NYC has large populations of virtually every culture on Earth, including Asian countries (especially Queens, but the demographics there don't match Manhattan of course).

8. bookbook Posted: October 02, 2023 at 09:53 PM (#6143227)

Cal Raleigh is an incredible, and incredibly underrated, player who was overworked for the last stretch of the season, once Murphy was injured and the M’s backup catchers couldn’t play. He still finished as a top 5 catcher in the majors, leading all catchers in HRs and catcher caught stealings.

The front office had been making noises for years about saving their bullets and being ready to spend big once the team had developed and was ready to benefit from the support.. Last offseason, they abandoned that plan. The stopgaps they did acquire, Pollock, Wong, La Stella delivered a combined negative 2.2 WAR, before the team traded away its closer to plug holes with prospects. Rental bats were available cheap, but we’re not acquired.

Raleigh may have been wrong to say what was on many folks’ minds, but his veteran teammates all spoke out in agreement, afterwards.

9. Walt Davis Posted: October 02, 2023 at 10:48 PM (#6143244)

As noted ... at the deadline they were 55-51, 4th in their own division with a worse record than the 4th-place Red Sox and equal to the 5th-place Yanks. The only teams they had a better record than were the entire ALC (of no use to them) and the A's and 3.5 games back of the Jays for the 3rd WC. They played 589 ball the rest of the way and still came up a game short -- was anything the FO might have done likely to have resulted in anything better than that? The FO likely understood they were going to have to play something like 600 ball from that point to have a shot and they, like rational human beings, realized there was very little hope of that happening no matter what they did.

Of course fans aren't rational and sometimes it makes "rational business sense" to do the irrational to please your customers.

10. The Honorable Ardo Posted: October 02, 2023 at 11:03 PM (#6143248)

I'm with Raleigh here. You only get so many chances at postseason play as a professional athlete.

That said, the mistakes were made this past offseason, not at the deadline. Sewald for Rojas and prospects helped the team down the stretch.

11. bookbook Posted: October 03, 2023 at 04:56 PM (#6143366)

Yes. The mistakes were made this past offseason. Because the Carlos-Santana, Mark Canna-types were available to rent so cheaply at the deadline, it hurt that the team didn't seem to be willing to expend their 15th best prospect to provide token support. But, yeah, they didn't look like a contender at the deadline.

12. Tony S Posted: October 04, 2023 at 11:41 AM (#6143478)

You only get so many chances at postseason play as a professional athlete.

In baseball, you have a 40% chance any season. So a player can expect to make the playoffs two out of five years. It's not that hard to attain.

In other sports, it's even less of a distinction. In the NBA and NHL, the playoffs are one step up from a participation trophy.

13. DCA Posted: October 04, 2023 at 12:52 PM (#6143488)

Yes. The mistakes were made this past offseason.

I wouldn't say that they made mistakes, but the moves didn't work out. They needed a 2B. Prorating 2020, Kolten Wong was coming off five 3+ WAR seasons in a row. He was -1 WAR in 67 games before being released.

They needed a corner OF bat. Teoscar wasn't terrible (2 WAR in 678 PA) but over the last three years he had produced at about twice that rate.

They made real offseason moves to address plug holes with good players, and came up 5-6 WAR short of reasonable expectations. They were 2-3 wins away from the #2 seed (I'm not sure how the tiebreakers work).

14. Tom Goes to the Ballpark Posted: October 04, 2023 at 02:57 PM (#6143500)

So a player can expect to make the playoffs two out of five years. It's not that hard to attain.

*Rockies players are exempt from this expectation.

15. bookbook Posted: October 05, 2023 at 12:57 PM (#6143633)

Wong and Teoscar and Pollock did underperform any reasonable expectations. Suarez, and France also had off-years (or declines).

JP and Cal overperformed, as did Caballero, Ford, several no-name bullpen arms and--most dramatically--the unfinished rookie hurlers who don't yet have breaking pitches: Miller and Woo.

I don't think the Mariners had any right to expect the defensive development of Julio to be so dramatic, nor to expect Kelenic to be cromulent overall. (Nor Gilbert and Kirby to be so flawless in their progression to #2 arms.)

Because the team didn't play in the FA market, nor acquire stars or big bats, they became responsible for counting on all of the variability to be on the positive side of the ledger in order to deliver the serious playoff team they seemed to be promising.

That feels to me like mistakes.

You must be Registered and Logged In to post comments.

<< Back to main

Monday, October 02, 2023

Mariners’ Cal Raleigh apologizes for calling out team after season-ending loss

Reader Comments and Retorts

BBTF Partner

Support BBTF

Hot Topics