Karen's postseason primer

The baseball playoffs began today, so it's now time for, by request, the lowdown on who made the playoffs and which players on those teams once played for Your Seattle Mariners.

Interpret this information how you will; back in my youth, when the Chicago Cubs hadn't won a championship since 1908 and hadn't won a pennant since 1945, Chicago-based columnist Mike Royko posited that a predictive element for the postseason was "the ex-Cub factor," alleging that the team with the most former Chicago Cubs was at the greatest disadvantage because, once a Cub, always tainted with Cub cooties. Perhaps the "ex-M factor" is similar, given the Mariners' lack of a single pennant in their history.

So far. The M's are still in this year's mix, so maybe this is the year. In the words of Mr. Spock, "for everything, there is a first time."

Or, just use this to find some interest in the non-Mariner games this month. Whatever floats your boat, as it were.

Here are the twelve (ugh, twelve) teams to make the postseason tournament, starting with the lowest seed and moving up, and their respective ex-M factors:

Cincinnati Reds (83-79, NL Wild Card): Ex-M factor 1½

The Reds backed into the postseason by the skin of their teeth with the third-worst record of any playoff team in history (1973 Mets: 82-79, 2005 Padres: 82-80). You'd figure them to be quickly eliminated this week, but this is the Rob Manfred era of wacky playoffs so who knows. Just a couple years ago, the 2023 bottom-seed Diamondbacks won the National League pennant despite an 84-win regular season, so we'll have to wait and see.

The Reds and Mariners have had a number of deals made between them over the past few years, yet Cincy has an ex-M factor of only 1½. With Jake Fraley having been lost to a waiver claim in August, only lefty closer Emilio Pagán (M's 2017) remains as a former-Mariner Red. Also on the roster, though, is infielder/outfielder Noelvi Marte, (M's minors 2021-22) who was the prize minor-league prospect dealt from the Mariners to Cincinnati in the 2022 trade for Luis Castillo.

Detroit Tigers (87-75, AL Wild Card): Ex-M factor 3

After dominating the American League for most of the year and building up a 15½ game lead in the AL Central, the Tigers imploded in September and finished second to Cleveland. But they still squeaked in as the third Wild Card by virtue of their tiebreaker record over identical-record Houston.

Detroit boasts(?) three former Mariners, all right-handed relief pitchers: Rafael Montero (M's 2021), Will Vest (M's 2021), and Paul Sewald (M's 2021-23). Montero was a free-agent bust for the M's in his one partial-season in Seattle (7.27 ERA) and traded away to Houston; he was a bit better this year between Houston, Atlanta, and finally Detroit (4.48 ERA in 59 games). Vest spent a couple of months in Seattle as a Rule 5 draftee but couldn't stick in the big-leagues and was thus sent back to the Tigers; since being called up for good, he's been a solid setup option out of the Detroit bullpen. Sewald, of course, was traded to Arizona for Dominic Canzone, Ryan Bliss, and Josh Rojas; he then signed a free-agent deal with Cleveland this year but was traded to Detroit in a deadline deal this past July. He's only seen action in four games as a Tiger thus far.

Boston Red Sox (89-73, AL Wild Card): Ex-M factor 1

Boston wasn't expected to be particularly good this year, and through June they were living down to expectations as a sub-.500 team. But they caught fire in the second half, going 47-29 from July 1 through the end of the season. They finished third in the AL East, but in this era that isn't a deal-breaker.

Boston's sole ex-Mariner is infielder Abraham Toro (M's 2021-22). Though not active in the Wild Card round, he could be placed on the roster if the Sox advance to the ALDS. Toro was great for about a month and a half with the M's after coming over from the Astros in an unpopular trade (for Kendall Graveman), then stank it up for the rest of his Seattle tenure, to the point where, during a game I attended with my Smiling Potatoes of Death softball teammates, he served as the Mariners' DH with an average of .130-something and when he was announced as "designated hitter Abraham Toro," my teammate Brian remarked, "well, now they're just using random words." The M's traded "Fatty Tuna" to the Brewers, for whom he spent most of a year in Triple-A; the Brewers traded him to Oakland, where he was shockingly good for a while before reverting to form; and he signed with Boston as a free agent for this year. He was mildly useful as a versatile defender while posting an unimpressive batting line of .239/.289/.371.

San Diego Padres (90-72, NL Wild Card): Ex-M factor 1

Among the great underachievers of recent years, the Padres seem to be staking a claim for the honor of who can spend the most money and not win a title of any kind while not being the New York Mets. Though only the 6th-highest in player payroll in 2025, over the last four years they've paid their players roughly $785M, the most for a non-Met team that won zero divisions or pennants (the Mets spent almost $1.3B to average 87 wins; avg. for MLB $662M). This is their third playoff appearance in five years, all as a Wild Card entrant; they were bounced out by the Phillies in ’22, the Dodgers last year, and I'd put a small amount of money on them being bounced out by the Cubs this time.

San Diego's sole ex-Mariner is pitcher Nestor Cortes (M's 2020) who is on the injured list with tendinitis but is eligible to be activated should the Padres advance. Though they probably don't want to do that. Cortes has made all of eight starts this year in stints for both the Brewers and Padres in between trips to the IL and wasn't good (6.29 ERA). Still better than his horrible five games with the M's, though.

Chicago Cubs (92-70, NL Wild Card): Ex-M factor 2½

The Cubs may well be the best of the Wild Card clubs this year, but as we know from the few years of experience with the Manfred Playoff Structure, that means little. Unlike the Red Sox, most of the Cubs' 2025 success came in the first half; they were in first place as late as July 27th but their barely-over-.500 performance post-All-Star Break couldn't keep up with the surging Brewers. Still, they're an exceptionally well-balanced team playing under one of the best managers working today in Craig Counsell.

Chicago's ex-M count would have been higher, but pitcher Chris Flexen  was cut mid-season and infielder Carlos Santana joined the team too late to be eligible for the playoffs. So they're left with these guys: infielder Justin Turner (M's 2024), a late-season rental for Seattle in their failed playoff push of ’24, and pitcher Matthew Boyd (M's 2022), a late-season rental for Seattle in their semi-successful playoff run in ’22. Turner seems to be on his last legs and didn't produce well in his bench role this season; Boyd, on the other hand, emerged as a top starter for the northsiders, going 14-8 (tops on the staff) with a 3.21 ERA (second-best to rookie Cole Horton's 2.87).

They also have pitcher Drew Pomeranz, who signed a free agent deal with the M's last year but spent just a month in their system at Triple-A before being dealt to the Cubs for the ever-popular cash considerations. Pomeranz had a pretty decent year out of the bullpen, his first big-league action since losing all of 2022 to injury.

New York Yankees (94-68, AL Wild Card): Ex-M factor 2

Yeah, they're back again. Though denied another division crown, they did match the Blue Jays for best American League record and are favored to advance past the WC round. This version of the Yanks has weaknesses (infield defense, relief pitching), but those are countered by Aaron Judge and a surprisingly decent starting rotation.

One key contributor has been half of their Ex-M Factor, late-season acquisition José Caballero (M's 2023). The infielder led the American League in stolen bases this year (49) and posted a .372 on-base mark since he was traded to New York. The M's got him as a prospect from Arizona in a deal for Mike Leake at the end of his career, then later dealt him to the Rays for Luke Raley. The Yankees got him for a prospect and a player to be named later on July 31st. The other ex-M is pitcher Luke Weaver (M's 2023), who was nothing to crow about in six weeks as a Mariner but has had flashes of brilliance as a Yankee since signing with them last year; in ’25 he's been pretty decent if sometimes shaky.

They also have reliever Mark Leiter, but it's not the same Mark Leiter that once toed the Kingdome mound, it's his son.

The Yankees have one other Mariner-related curiosity—bullpen coach Mike Harkey, who famously was Mariner owner George Argyros' choice for the first draft pick in 1987; Argyros had to be talked down from that by Seattle's scouting director, who lobbied hard for another guy, someone named George Kenneth Griffey Jr.

Cleveland Guardians (88-74, AL Central Champions): Ex-M factor 1

Cleveland was arguably even hotter than the Mariners were down the stretch, winning 24 of their final 31 games of the regular season to overtake the Tigers and claim the AL Central flag. And they did it despite having only two decent hitters in José Ramírez and Steven Kwan; overall, the Guards were 29th of the 30 MLB clubs in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. They scored the third-fewest runs in the bigs and had the fewest hits. Remarkable. You might think that means their pitching was elite, but it wasn't; they were just a little above average in most team pitching stats. They did it mostly by beating up on bad teams (20-6 vs. the White Sox and Twins, 14-8 vs. other last-place teams) and having the good luck of playing the Tigers six times (five wins) during their September hot streak. They're 13-23 against the non-Detroit playoff teams, which doesn't bode well for their chances to advance.

The sole ex-Mariner on their roster is reliever Matt Festa (M's 2018-23). Festa had a typical Festa year, serving as an OK option in middle relief.

The Guardians are managed by Steven Vogt, who was Seattle's bullpen coach in the one season between his long playing career (mostly with Oakland) and signing on to manage the Guardians last year. Cleveland's pitching coach, Carl Willis, spent three years in that job with the Mariners (2011-13).

Los Angeles Dodgers (93-69, NL West Champions): Ex-M factor 1

Well, they didn't run away with things like many thought they would before the season started, but LA is a formidable entrant to this postseason. Injuries hampered their pitching staff all year, and they still have a dozen names on the injured list, but all of their key players are healthy right now. They have elite bats in Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith, and Freddie Freeman; a Cy young candidate in Yoshinobu Yamamoto; and tons of experience with playoff veterans and no-doubt future Hall of Famers in Shohei, Freeman, Clayton Kershaw, and Mookie Betts.

Having jettisoned longtime Dodger and onetime Mariner Chris Taylor, they have only Teoscar Hernández (M's 2023) in the ex-M bucket. Teo had a subpar year for him, but still managed to crank out 25 homers. First base coach Chris Woodward played a few games for the M's in 2009-2010 and was a coach with the M's after that until 2015.

Seattle Mariners (90-72, AL West Champions)

The Ex-M Factor doesn't really apply here. But I'll toot the Mariners' horn some anyway.

Having won their first division title since the turn of the century, the M's are hungry for more and they've got just as good a shot at a pennant as anyone else. They cruised to the end of the season, winning 17 of 18 down the stretch to clinch their spot before dropping their last three when they didn't mean much. The vaunted Seattle starting rotation didn't really deliver this year, but they were good enough, and if not for Detroit's Tarik Skubal would have a Cy Young contender in Bryan Woo. The lineup stepped up over the last few seasons—how could it not when those years were plagued by manager Scott Servais and alleged hitting coach Jarret DeHart and this time they have Dan Wilson, Edgar Martínez, and Kevin Seitzer in those jobs—helped by the late-season addition of Josh Naylor. They've got three regulars with .340+ on-base marks (four if you count part-timer Dominic Canzone), the home-run and RBI leader, and a pretty solid bullpen.

They made the playoffs on the strength of the season's bookends—16-9 in April, 17-8 in September—while holding their own the rest of the time (two games over .500 in other months). As Jorge Polanco and J.P. Crawford go, so go the Mariners? Those two also were red-hot in April and September and up-and-way-down the rest of the time, but their September to Remember was largely thanks to Julio Rodríguez and Naylor, who put up a combined line of .314/.372/.525, and Raleigh, who posted an OPS over 1.000 in the month.

Philadelphia Philles (96-66, NL East Champions): Ex-M factor 1

The Phils have become a perennial power in the league, with two NL East flags and an NL pennant in four consecutive postseasons. They have the NL batting champ in Trea Turner, the NL home run and RBI leader in Kyle Schwarber, and one of the best pitchers nobody's ever heard of in Christopher Sánchez. And they play their home games in what might be my favorite ballpark if it weren't located in a blah sea of asphalt far from downtown Philadelphia.

The Ex-M Factor here is represented by pitcher Taijuan Walker (M's 2013-16, 2020). In his third year as a Phillie he held down the back end of the starting rotation plus made a few relief appearances. Though he never quite lived up to his prospect status, he's turned in a solid career and at 32 is maintaining that middle-of-the-road caliber performance.

Toronto Blue Jays (94-68, AL East Champions): Ex-M factor 2

The Mariners' expansion cousins overcame a poor start to take the East by the skin of their teeth. They reached first place in early July and never surrendered it, though had to settle for winning the division on a Manfred technicality. They depend on the supersons, Bo Bichette and Vlad Guerrero Jr., but plenty beyond those two can play; they lead baseball as a team in hits, batting average, and on-base percentage. Pitching is meh, but when you can outscore your pitching staff you're going to win some games.

Ex-Mariners on the Jays are infielder Ty France (M's 2020-2024) and reliever Yimi Garcia (M's 2024). Even money whether either will be on the roster when the Jays open their Division Series on Saturday. France came to the Jays as part of the Minnesota Twins' fire sale at the trading deadline, but he doesn't really have a role in Toronto; Vlad Jr. has first base locked down and it's been a while since France put in any time at third. He did bat a decent .277 in 94 ABs after the trade, offering some value off the bench. Garcia only appeared in ten games for Seattle as they made their unsuccessful run for the postseason last year, then returned to Toronto on a free agent deal this season.

Milwaukee Brewers (97-65, NL CENTRAL Champions): Ex-M factor 1

The former Seattle Pilots have been good for a long time, but never good enough to win the National League pennant. They do have one from their American League days (1982), but this stretch of Brew Crew success (eight postseason appearances in the last nine years) saw the NLCS only once (2018, lost to the Dodgers). This year's Milwaukee team is in a class of its own, though—best in the league in ERA, batting average, on-base, and steals. My kind of club.

The only ex-M on the Crew is utilityman Jake Bauers (M's 2021), who split ’21 between Cleveland and Seattle. He only hit .235 in 85 games this year, but walked 32 times to post a very respectable .353 OBP.

In the realm of near-connections, Milwaukee has both second baseman Bryce Turang and outfielder Daz Cameron. Bryce is the son of 1990s Mariner Brian Turang and is a much better player than his dad was. Daz, son of Mike, split the season between Milwaukee and Triple-A; he very much seemed to fit the modern Brewer mold in Triple-A but has yet to show much in the bigs. Not likely to make the playoff roster.

And there you go. I'd like to see the Mariners face their expansion cousins in the ALCS and then the M's take on their antecedants, the former Pilots, in the World Series. We shall see.