So you wanna go to a Mariners’ playoff game?

Prepare for ticket prices at T Mobile like you’ve never seen before, and is this year’s team better equipped for a longer playoff run than the 2001 team that won 116 games?

BEND, Ore. - I’d like to take my kids to a Mariners’ playoff game this weekend. Or heck, they can go without me, I’d just get two tickets for them. But I can’t afford it.

For a normal game, you’d be looking at what, $40 or $50 a ticket, maybe $70 or $80 a ticket, and on some of the value nights during the regular season, you can get tickets for 10 bucks.

But these aren’t normal games this weekend. The Mariners are in the playoffs for only the sixth time in franchise history. So the demand for tickets is through the retractable roof.

I looked at one of the secondary ticket sites, Vivid Seats, last night and found that standing room only tickets in center field are going for $261. That’s the cheapest get-in price.

If you want an actual seat, you can find them for a little less than $300, but they’ll be in the upper deck a long way from home plate.

I get it, it’s supply and demand, and I wasn’t expecting ticket prices to be inexpensive, it’s just that it still sucks for so many fans who would like to go but can’t afford to.

Think about the moms and dads who are taking their two kids to Game 1 Saturday afternoon. They’ll be paying at least $1,100 for their four tickets, probably closer to $1,500.

They might park their car for $100 at one of the lots, and if mom and dad have beers, and the kids have Kidd Valley burgers, garlic fries and Dippin’ Dots, now we’re talking about a game that will approach $2,000 to attend.

If you really want to go first class, Diamond Club tickets are available at Vivid Seats for $1,767 for Game 1.

This is all well and good, actually not so good, but I doubt that it’s much different at other ballparks; in fact, the prices might be even higher at Dodger Stadium and Yankee Stadium.

But here’s the thing, if Josh Naylor gets away in free agency or if the Mariners aren’t serious bidders for offseason free agents who could be difference-makers, no one wants to hear that they were out of their price range.

Mike Cameron had a no fly zone of his own in 2025.

IS THIS TEAM BETTER THAN THE 2001 TEAM?

I’ve been thinking about it, it sounds crazy to even suggest that the 2025 Mariners that won 90 games might be better than the 2001 team that won 116 games, but it very well could be.

With their starting pitching, they appear more equipped to make a longer playoff run than the 2001 team, which was better built for the regular season.

The 2001 team had a lineup that included catcher Dan Wilson, first baseman John Olerud, second baseman Bret Boone, third baseman David Bell, shortstop Carlos Guillen, left fielder Al Martin, center fielder Mike Cameron,. right fielder Ichiro and designated hitter Edgar Martinez.

They averaged .288, second in MLB to the Rockies, believe it or not, and first in on-base percentage at .360. That was the year Ichiro set a major league record with 242 and also had 56 stolen bases.

But the 2025 team hit 69 more homers than the 2001 team. And I’d say that position by position, the 2025 team had an edge, obviously, at catcher (Cal Raleigh), third base (Geno Suarez), at shortstop (J.P. Crawford) and left field (Randy Arozarena).

The 2001 team had an advantage at first base with Olerud over Naylor - but not a huge advantage - and I’d give a slight edge to Julio Rodriguez over Cameron in center field. Ichiro was far in front of any of the players the Mariners have thrown out in right field this year.

At DH, the Mariners obviously had a huge advantage with Edgar over the rotating DH’s this year’s team uses.

Pitching-wise, the Mariners’ 2025 rotation of Bryan Woo, Logan Gilbert, Luis Castillo, George Kirby and Bryce Miller is better, if not clearly better, than the 2001 rotation featuring Freddy Garcia, Aaron Sele, Jamie Moyer, Paul Abbott and John Halama.

With a 3.06 ERA, Garcia was sensational, and Sele and Moyer were almost as effective, but if we’re talking five starters vs. five starters and measuring them all, I’d give the advantage to this year’s starters.

And that’s where this team has a chance to shine brighter than the 2001 team that lost to the Yankees in the AL Championship Series. No other playoff team can match up with the Mariners’ rotation.

Oh, in comparing the relievers, I might have to give a slight edge to the 2001 team that had Kazuhiro Sasaki, Arthur Rhodes, Jose Paniagua, Jeff Nelson and Norm Carlton in the bullpen.

And you’d have to give a big advantage to Lou Piniella over first-year manager Wilson.

If those two teams played in a hypothetical seven-game series, how do you think it would turn out?

I’m betting it would go seven games with the 2025 team winning the series.

SOLICITING QUESTIONS FOR Q&A POST

I’ve got four good questions so far for this week’s Q&A post but could certainly use some more so please send them along in the comments section or to my email at jimmoorethego2guy@yahoo.com. The question of the week receives a $10 gift card to Dairy Queen, and I have to tell you something, I was damn proud of myself yesterday when I went to buy three $10 gift cards to send out to previous winners and didn’t get a Blizzard or a Peanut Buster Parfait or a dipped cone or a shake or a Dilly Bar or anything at all, which is unprecedented because I basically have no willpower whatsoever when it comes to ice cream generally and Dairy Queen specifically.