SeaTown Showdown: Are they any good?

We debate whether the M’s, Reign, and Sounders are any good.

Photo Credit: Flickr

As summer approaches, SeaTown Sports writers Brian Elsner and Kevin Cacabelos debate whether Seattle’s soccer teams and the Mariners are any good.

Are the Reign any good?

Elsner: The short answer is no. The pending – and apparently not fully complete – sale of the Reign stunted the growth and expansion of this franchise this offseason. While no one has officially blamed the weird offseason on the sale that wasn’t announced until mid-March, it is hard to find another reason why Rose Lavelle and Emily Sonnett bolted for Gotham FC this offseason without replacement players of the same caliber. A team that once attracted Lavelle, Sonnett, and Tobin Heath all within months is now competing for players who simply aren’t as talented. (Megan Rapinoe’s retirement didn’t help either).

While the Reign are a gritty bunch, they simply lack the creativity and skill that other NWSL teams have right now. Laura Harvey hasn’t become a worse coach this year – she simply has worse players. It doesn’t help that Jordyn Huitema has been out with injury for the past three games, but the reality is they have no one who sets up their targets forwards in Huitema and Bethany Balcer. Additionally, they have no one aside from Jess Fishlock who can take on a defender one on one to create a scoring chance. With only 11 goals scored on the season and a plus/minus of negative 9, the Reign are a mess. Maybe even worse than their lack of scoring is their gaffes on defense outlined nicely here. Sadly, in addition to losing often (second to last in the standings), the Reign are predictable, lack discipline on defense and worst of all - boring. Hopefully this is a one season blip as they rebuild next offseason with the new ownership in place.

Cacabelos: It’s insane to think this team was in the championship game last season, and now finds itself near the bottom of the standings. They are not good, they are not average, they are flat-out bad. Maybe I’m being too harsh, but I saw how bad they were, in person, when they dropped a 3-2 match to Bay FC (*full disclosure I’m a Bay FC fan). The new ownership tidbit that you bring up is interesting, and it makes me wonder if this new ownership means the team is basically in the same position as an expansion team now in terms of building a roster and figuring out how much money it is willing to spend to move from being bad to average. There is a lot of season left, but the Reign may have their first losing season since their inaugural season in 2013.

Are the Sounders any good?

Elsner: The state of soccer in the Emerald City isn’t great. The Sounders, sadly, are also not good. But not quite in as bad of a spot as the Reign. With Jordan Morris, Christian Roldan, Stephen Frei, Joao Paulo and Raul Ruidiaz, the Sounders still have talent. In fact, they have some young talent as well which is intriguing. But the talent is not turning into anything worth watching.

After the most recent 1-1 draw against Vancouver, the Sounders sounded the co-existing alarms of lack of discipline and lack of urgency. In the Sounder at Heart recap, Frei was quoted as saying: “I appreciate the effort, but in terms of controllables we give away a shit free kick at a dangerous time to a dangerous player”. It is pretty clear that Frei was referring to Nouhou’s foul that set up the free kick that ultimately tied the match. However, this lack of discipline wouldn’t come under so much scrutiny if the team could actually create a scoring chance or two. The Sounders rank in the bottom third of all advanced stats including expected goals. Last week, before thier 2-1 victor y over St. Louis, the Sounders ranked dead last in shots on target. Dead last.

Cacabelos: “They always find a way to make it to the playoffs.” This is what my friend that works for the MLS told me when I lamented that the Sounders were a struggle bus. And he’s right. In 15 seasons, the Sounders have made the playoffs every season except for 2022. They only need to finish in the top nine in the Western Conference to qualify for the playoffs, and they currently sit in 9th place, a point ahead of Portland. As I answered above regarding the Reign, there is a lot of season left. In their past 9 matches, the Sounders only have lost one match against Salt Lake. This is good momentum, and I think this team is trending upwards.

Are the Mariners any good?

Cacabelos: To abruptly switch sports, I’d happily declare the Mariners as good. They are in first place in their division. They have the best pitching staff in baseball. And its fan base’s biggest complaint and gripe is that their superstar isn’t playing up to his potential. I’ve been obsessed with the marine layer theory ever since Adam Jude’s article about it earlier this month. I firmly believe that Julio Rodriguez will get better. He has been exceptional at the plate for two seasons in a row, and there’s no reason to think he will not get better at the plate. For the third time, there is a lot of season left. Once his bat gets going, the lamented offense maybe won’t appear as bad as it has been so far this season. I still think this team needs another big bat at the deadline, but we still have another month until we should start to obsess over possible trade targets.

Elsner: You are wrong, Kev. I wish you weren’t, but you are. Anyone that knows me, knows that the Mariners were my first love - long before my wife came along. And you would think that a first-place Mariners team would have me more optimistic, but the facts stare me in the face. That 28-26 record is the sixth-best record in the American League so let’s not get excited about leading the division. And worse than that are these atrocious numbers: .224 batting average (13th in AL), .297 OBP (13th in AL), and 548 strikeouts (worst in AL). This team simply can’t hit and hasn’t changed a bit from their offensive woes of the last few years. And to your claim that they have the best pitching staff in the American League, they do not. The team ERA is 6th in the American League because of the woes of George Kirby and virtually everyone in the bullpen not named Munoz. We better get to those trade targets ASAP.