Mariners Players Are Mad That Team Store Will Sell Rival Blue Jays Merch During Series In Seattle
In a bizarre move, the Seattle Mariners have decided to sell their opponent's merchandise in team stores for an upcoming weekend series against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Well, that's one way to get your own players mad at you.
The decision is even more puzzling considering that the Mariners are only 5.5 games behind the Blue Jays for an AL Wild Card spot, making this weekend's series that much more important.
PLAYERS ARE NOT HAPPY
As photos got around social media of the Mariners team stores proudly displaying Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and other Blue Jays gear, some Mariners players took to social media to drop the equivalent of "WTF" without getting fined.
Mariners shortstop JD Crawford expressed his disappointment:
While pitcher Paul Sewald was a little less subdued:
MARINERS AND BLUE JAYS COMPETING FOR WILD CARD
The Mariners organization claims that they've done this from time to time for other Mariners - Blue Jays series because it's easier for Canadian Blue Jays fans to see their team play in Seattle than travel to Toronto. The Mariners T-Mobile Park is located about 150 miles away from the relatively big city of Vancouver, Canada.
Sorry Canadians, but this is what you get for living in Canada. We do things a bit differently down here (all of us except Seattle apparently). I've attended Mets and Yankees games my whole life - do you think we would ever sell the other New York team's jersey in our official store? Same with the Chicago White Sox and the Cubs. Florida State University is only 149 miles away from the University of Florida - I don't recall seeing the home team selling the opponent's stuff at their games.
Perhaps someone should alert the Canadiens to something called Fanatics.com if they really need a shirt or a jersey. Until then, the M's should not want anyone easily purchasing rival gear for a series that could potentially have playoff implications.