Cal Raleigh chooses Seattle
The heart and soul of the Mariners signs on through 2030
In just four years as the Mariners backstop, Cal Raleigh has compiled a CVS receipt of impressive accomplishments.
He hit the homer that broke the Mariners’ multi-decade playoff drought once and for all, and then hit a homer in the first inning of their first playoff game since 2001 for good measure. He has the most home runs for a primary catcher in the first four seasons of a career in MLB history, and he had just two during his first season. In 2024, Raleigh won both the AL Gold Glove at catcher as well as the AL Platinum Glove, which is awarded to the best overall defender in each league.
For my money, the accomplishment that best defines Raleigh took place on the last day of September 2023, shortly after the rising Mariners fell short of the playoffs. On that day, one of several fateful Game 161s for the Mariners over the past decade, Raleigh let loose on the organization over their handling of transactions after his drought-breaking heroics and throughout the disappointing 2023 season.
Among Raleigh’s comments that day, from CBS Sports’ recap at the time:
“We’ve got to commit to winning, we have to commit to going and getting those players you see other teams going out and getting — big time pitchers, getting big-time hitters. We have to do that to keep up.”
"We've done a great job of growing some players here and within the farm system, but sometimes you've got to go out and you have to buy.”
"You look at the other locker room, they've added more than anybody else and you saw where it got them this year."
“That other locker room” proved to be prescient, as the visiting Texas Rangers would win the 2023 World Series less than a month later.
Raleigh, by that time a Mariners legend but still just 26, cemented himself as more than just team hero that day. He directly vented the frustrations of the fan base, frustrations that have only intensified since, and showed his desire not just to win, but win for Seattle.
A perfect extension for the perfect Mariner
No player or person is more responsible for the success, such that it is, of Mariners baseball this decade than Raleigh.
Raleigh has amassed nearly 14 fWAR since debuting in 2021, second only to Julio Rodríguez on the team in that time. That’s a reflection of his immense impact on the field, but only begins to highlight his overall influence on the Mariners.
You can’t tell the story of the rise of the Mariners’ elite starting rotation, now widely considered a top 3-5 unit leaguewide, without Raleigh. Raleigh and Logan Gilbert, the Mariners’ newly minted ace, have been thick as thieves since both joined the organization in 2018. Cal has continually stewarded breakouts from young Mariners pitchers, as George Kirby, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo have ascended to consensus status as Top 30 starting pitchers in the league.
Raleigh also simply shows up as much as any other MLB catcher. He played an absurd 145 games in 2023, and backed that up by appearing in 153 in 2024. Only William Contreras and Sal Perez played more among primary catchers last year. For a player who weathers an astronomical amount of dings and dents behind the plate, he’s been remarkably durable, a consistent power-hitting presence in the Seattle lineup.
The extension, which begins immediately and tacks on three additional guaranteed years, is a favorable deal for both sides.
For Raleigh, the deal adds $69 million in guaranteed money into his first three years of free agency, as well as a reachable vesting option that drives the post-arbitration years value to nearly $100 million. For the Mariners, the deal locks in their other franchise cornerstone through the remainder of the decade, but also doesn’t require them to pay a catcher with significant tread on his tires beyond age 35.
In his profile published Wednesday, Ryan Divish called Raleigh “the conscience of the Mariners”, and that characterization supports how Cal is more than just a baseball player who plays for the Seattle Mariners. As the comments in 2023 showed, Cal not only cares about winning, but leading his team to victory. Even after he apologized the next day, he remained steadfast in the message he had communicated.
“I'm not gonna apologize for wanting to win and wanting to bring a World Series to the city,” Raleigh said. “They deserve it. The fans do and this organization does. And I'm committed to doing that.”
A championship move?
Raleigh’s messaging stayed the same Wednesday evening when the extension news dropped. From the official press release announcing Raleigh’s extension:
I wanted to stay here because of the connection with the people of the Pacific Northwest and the Seattle Mariners, but I know it doesn’t always work out the way you want it to. I feel blessed that the Mariners gave me this opportunity and I can’t think of a better place in MLB to call home. We have a great nucleus of players here and aren’t far off from bringing the World Series to Seattle. It won’t be easy but I believe ownership and management share the same vision and commitment. I won’t stop working and I won’t stop grinding until this city gets what it deserves, and that is a perennial playoff team and a World Series Championship.
The man wants to win the World Series with the Seattle Mariners, that’s for sure. Cal’s already the most universally beloved Mariner and the fan favorite of Seattle sports in the 2020s. It certainly helps that at every turn, he says what the fans of the only baseball team to never make the World Series want to hear.
The message remained clear in his comments on the Mariners’ social media channels.
“I’m here for the long haul. Super excited to be playing for you guys, best fans in the world. Really looking forward to getting to work and winning a World Series for the city.”
It’s meaningful to hear this sort of ‘‘shoot for the stars” messaging from a fan favorite like Raleigh, especially when so much of the Mariners’ baseball operations strategy seems geared toward winning 85-88 games without ever risking winning 95 or 75. It’s much easier to believe in your baseball team when your trusted team leader publicly commits and talks World Series. It drowns out the unreliable narrators at the top who speak about long-term plans that still haven’t come to fruition after a decade or talk out both sides of their mouth about committing without the backing of their wallets.
The timing of this move couldn’t be better for the Mariners. After an offseason of doing very little, skepticism about the direction of the organization reached the national baseball zeitgeist. While hope always springs eternal this time of year, the fan base appeared much more guarded as March wound down, with most optimism about the team trending cautious.
The one-two punch of the ROOT Sports Streaming deal and Raleigh’s extension have upped fans’ moods significantly ahead of Opening Day Thursday. If you had to pick the two biggest priorities for Mariners fans other than “make the playoffs” or “win the division”, extend Cal and make ROOT Sports accessible OTT could easily be both.
With Cal extended, the heart and soul of the Mariners remains intact for any season a fan could reasonably care about on the verge of Opening Day 2025. Not only do fans have yet another bankable star, alongside Julio, to consider “forever” Mariners, the key to the success of the pitching staff and the glue of the locker room is now firmly locked into place.
If there’s one player I’d want to chase that World Series with as I prepare for another season with my historically inept hometown baseball team, it’s Cal Raleigh.