The Seattle Mariners have infuriated fans this offseason through their desire to cut payroll. Rather than going for a World Series title, as they should be, the M's have sold off useful players like Eugenio Suarez and Jarred Kelenic all for the sake of shedding the contracts of Suarez, Marco Gonzales and Evan White. Furthermore, the team elected not to offer Teoscar Hernandez a qualifying offer that would have paid him $20-ish million.
All offseason, Mariners fans have wondered why this is happening. And now? We know why.
Per an article from MLBTradeRumors, which cites an original report from the Seattle Times (subscription required):
The Mariners will take full ownership of the ROOT Sports Northwest regional sports network on January 1, according to Ryan Divish and Adam Jude of the Seattle Times. The Mariners had already held a 71% share in ROOT Sports NW since 2013, and they’ll now assume the 29% share previously held by Warner Bros. Discovery, as the corporation is getting out of the RSN business.
So that's the answer. The Mariners will now own 100 percent of the television broadcast rights, and with that comes added expenses. With those added expenses will come a lowered payroll.
It's certainly not an answer that any Mariners fans wants to hear, but at least we have an answer now.
I would counter by telling Mariners ownership that investing in the roster and making the team good will bring more fans to the ballpark and increase revenue, but evidently, I am not in charge.
We'll see just how much the M's have to spend this offseason and how they are able to field a competitive team in 2024.
More must-reads: