Mariners home games are drawing just over 21,000 fans per game this season, down from 28,388 last yearGETTY IMAGES
Mariners Chair & Managing Partner John Stanton said that the team's rebuilding process has "gone as expected, with decreased attendance and more losses than wins -- that’s all accepted collateral damage," according to Ryan Divish of the SEATTLE TIMES. Continuing to "remove veteran players on guaranteed contracts is part of the plan." But the recent trades of OF Jay Bruce and DH Edwin Encarnacion "didn’t fetch as much of a return as some expected." Part of the team's "outlook is knowing what was paid in the past and the relief gained -- specifically long-term commitments" to 2B Robinson Cano and SS Jean Segura. Projecting the committed dollars to the 40-man roster, the Mariners sit above $80M in '20, $43M in '21 and "not a single dollar in guaranteed MLB contracts" for '22. Meanwhile, the Mariners’ home attendance is "down, which shouldn’t be surprising." They are averaging just over 21,000 fans per game after averaging 28,388 last season. Telling everyone it was going to be a step-back season "doesn’t generate preseason excitement or ticket commitments." Stanton said, "I don’t want to say we expected that, but we certainly knew it was a strong possibility when we announced the step-back policy. The alternative was we didn’t say it was a step back, did a bunch of things that were baffling to people and then lost credibility" (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/26).
