Being on the cover of a magazine is a big deal. Anyone in any grocery store or newsstand could see you and think, “hey, would you look at that.” Today we learned that the Seattle Mariners are on a magazine cover. Sports Illustrated, to be exact.



First, a disclaimer: this isn’t a nationally syndicated cover. It’s a regional exclusive, and can only be found in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada, Utah, Alaska, and Hawaii. Everyone else gets covers featuring the Royals, Indians, or Nationals, depending on where they live.

Here’s the big question on everyone’s minds: does this jinx the M’s or what? There’s Robinson Cano and Felix Hernandez, two of the best baseball players in the world. But they’re being touted, and we all know how this goes. You hype something up, it lets you down. As far as we can tell this all but guarantees an underwhelming 2015.

Which means it guarantees as much for Cleveland, Kansas City, and Washington, too. Can you imagine this Nationals team collapsing? Cleveland, who SI picks to win the World Series, also seems like a pretty soundly strong team. The Mariners are supposed to be good, too! The Royals, eh, they can be the ones who collapse. That’s what they deserve for that ridiculous Kendrys Morales contract.

It should be noted that the entire East Coast region will receive the Nationals cover, giving them by far the biggest reach. Funny, since they’re the one team out of these four who are an undeniable elite. Way to play it safe, SI. I get it, the Mariners are up here in the corner, but come on, how about a vote of confidence?

Of course, we all remember what happened last time the M’s were featured on a major magazine cover:

…they lost 101 games and kind of ruined themselves for a few years. And not like there isn’t precedent for this kind of thing happening:

Hey look, another bold magazine cover proclamation followed by a crippling 101-loss season. Yikes.

In short, the Mariners are supposed to be good, and everyone knows it. They’re on a magazine cover, which may or may not mean they’re going to blow it this year. Go Mariners!