Cal Raleigh brutally blunt about failure of 2026 Mariners

"I think there's a lot of areas you can point to. I think ultimately, I think it was a lack of focus, a lack of execution, a lack energy at times. Defense was not good all year, controlling the running game was not good all year. Playing bad on the road all year, hitting with runners in scoring position was definitely not good. I'd say those were some key points that I kind of look at."

One thing Raleigh is steadfast in is not blaming injuries for the team's poor performance, shutting down that line of questioning immediately.

"Every team deals with that. Guys are going to go through aches, pains, injuries. So it's silly to use that as an excuse. 29 other different ball clubs are dealing with the same thing that we are, and you can't use that as an excuse. And we're definitely not going to. It came down to play on the field, and it was not executed."