Now is the time to be aggressive in putting the finishing touches on a team that could be a brewing powerhouse.

With the glow and good feeling of postseason baseball still felt, even with a frustrating finish in Saturday’s 18-inning loss to the Astros, and the understanding of so much being accomplished in 2022 and the possibility of more ahead, the Mariners’ season-ending media session had a vastly different feel than years past.

We knew Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh had been playing with a nagging left thumb injury for a while, first injuring it sliding into first base during a game in early September. But after the Mariners’ playoff-ending loss to Houston, the extend of the damage was revealed.

If defying expectations is what defined the Mariners’ season, they saw it to the very end. Because one would expect a team that just got swept in the American League Division Series to be mourning – miserable from the results of three games that spanned 36 innings.

SEATTLE – In the middle of the home clubhouse, Paul Sewald approached Andres Munoz and wrapped him in his arms.

SEATTLE – With each failed plate appearance and squandered scoring opportunity, particularly when only one run would have stopped the eventual marathon of pitches, outs, stranded runners and scoreless innings, the Mariners were allowing the potent bats of the Astros’ top hitters, held silent for longer than reasonably expected, opportunity after opportunity to crush their victory hopes and extinguish their World Series dreams.

TUKWILA, Wash. – Prepare yourself, the Sounders might not make a significant roster move until summer .

On the eve of the first home playoff game of his young career, Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez smiled widely for the cameras. He has been waiting for this moment his whole life.

SEATTLE – Their season on the brink, the Mariners will hand the ball over to a 24-year-old rookie to make his first postseason start in the first playoff baseball game in Seattle in 21 years.

Everyone was thinking it, and Dusty Baker said it.

The Mariners’ best pitcher, and one of the most dominant pitchers in the early stages of this postseason, stood on the mound ready for another battle with his team leading by a run in the sixth inning and the tying run on first base.