Cruz, Paxton, Zunino top 2017 Mariners season grades

Click through to see the SeattlePI's 2017 Seattle Mariners season grades. Click through to see the SeattlePI's 2017 Seattle Mariners season grades. Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Image 1 of / 48 Caption Close Cruz, Paxton, Zunino top 2017 Mariners season grades 1 / 48 Back to Gallery

The 40th season of Seattle Mariners baseball ended the same way 36 prior did: with the M's on the outside of the postseason looking in.

In 2017, year two for the club under the leadership of general manager Jerry Dipoto and manager Scott Servais, the Mariners finished 78-84, seven games out of the final American League wild card slot and a whopping 23 out of first place in the A.L. West.

The season was a disappointment for a team predicted by most to finish around .500. So when asked by reporters Tuesday what he'd do differently if given another chance to put together the 2017 squad, Dipoto's answer -- "If I had to go back and do it over again, I'd probably do it all the same" -- might seem ridiculous on its face.

The thing is, he's got a point.

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Injuries derailed the Mariners' season before it could get going, particularly in the starting rotation. Starting pitchers Drew Smyly and Hisashi Iwakuma, two of the team's top four starters, were both on the disabled list by May, never to return.

The team's current ace (James Paxton) and former one (Felix Hernandez) each earned extended DL stints of their own, leading to a league-high 17 players starting games for the M's during the season.

"By mid-May our rotation was decimated," Dipoto said. "We were just trying to do the things we needed to do to survive."

The strain of a permanently shorthanded rotation eventually took its toll on an overworked bullpen, as well as on position players who knew they had to produce night in and night out.

"It's hard to score runs every night," Servais said. "Does it wear on position players? It can. There's no doubt, knowing that you've got to go out and put up five or six (runs) every time out there to have a chance to win."

The injuries and a 24-30 mark in August and September ended any chance at the team's first postseason berth since 2001. Still, there were bright spots in the 2017 season, including a sterling campaign from an ageless wonder and a former top draft pick who finally lived up to his billing.

Check out the gallery above for our season grades.

Seattlepi.com reporter Stephen Cohen can be reached at 206-448-8313 or stephencohen@seattlepi.com. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @scohenPI.