After the Seahawks season came to an end about two weeks earlier than Seattle sports fans had been getting used to, I started to see tweets about fans getting excited for the Mariners season to start.

That used to be me, but this year, I just can’t get excited.

A new general manager, a new coach and a revamped roster has helped create a buzz that has some fans putting the awful 2015 season in the rearview mirror.

I’m not sold.

It’s the same story every year for this abysmal franchise. Every year is supposed to be the breakthrough year, but it never is.

The 2014 season was the closest the Mariners have been to making the playoffs in over a decade. The Mariners seemingly came out of nowhere after signing Robinson Cano and fell just one-game short of a wildcard berth, but did so in the typically painful fashion Seattle baseball fans have come to expect.

‘King’ Felix Hernandez blew-up against the Toronto Blue Jays down the stretch, and the Mariners never were able to catch an Oakland A’s team that waited at the finish line for Seattle for the final month of the season.

You can’t put the blame on Hernandez, though. The Mariners never would have been in position to make the playoffs without him, or sign Cano, without him.

Maybe you could put the blame on former manager Lloyd McClendon for spot-starting Erasmo Ramirez against an awful Texas Rangers team in order to push Hernandez’s start back a day to face a better team. Seattle lost that game against the Rangers 10-0, but McClendon is gone and he won’t be able to make that mistake again as a manager in Seattle.

Fast forward through an offseason. The Mariners are the sexy pick by baseball writers across America to win the American League West and compete for their first World Series title.

In typical Mariners fashion they fell flat on their face. The exact same thing that happened in 2010 when the Mariners were a trendy pick to go deep in the playoffs after a surprisingly good 2009 season.

Not even the historically magnificent month of April put together by Nelson Cruz, the team’s big offseason acquisition, could bolster Seattle’s terrible offense.

Cano, the $240 million man, didn’t start hitting until July and Kyle Seager had an awful month of April after getting his big deal. That was accompanied by one of the best bullpens in the league the year before collapsing.

Throw in a couple of awful and desperate midseason trades by former general manager Jack Zduriencik, and the Mariners were truly a recipe for disaster.

Zduriencik was fired and the Mariners actually made a good move by hiring Jerry Dipoto. Since his hiring, Seattle’s roster has seen some major changes.

Dipoto said he is committed to making this roster more athletic, which he has done. The roster is no longer filled with first baseman being forced to play in the corner outfield spots.

As a matter of fact, the offseason moves Dipoto made look pretty good on paper. Adam Lind should be able to hit at Safeco Field, Joaquin Benoit and Steve Cishek should be a solid one-two punch in the bullpen and Leonys Martin is a good low-risk acquisition that will provide a much needed defense boost to the outfield.

The team also got lucky when Hisashi Iwakuma’s deal with Los Angeles Dodgers fell through and he returned to Seattle.

I still can’t buy into this team though. They’re going to find a way to lose–they always do.

And if this crop of Mariners can’t make it to the playoffs, help is not on the way.

Zduriencik’s push to win last year left the Mariners minor league talent depleted. They might have the least depth of any organization in the MLB.

Countless ‘can’t miss’ prospects haven’t panned out, top talents Alex Jackson and DJ Peterson struggled as they took their next steps in the minors last season and the rest of the hopefuls were traded away to get the likes of Mark Trumbo.

It’s hard to admit this, but if you take away the eight-year stretch between 1995 and 2003 when the Mariners were good, they’re the worst franchise in the MLB, and I’m not buying in until they prove to me that they can be a successful franchise.