Another summer has come and gone, another summer showing us that the Seattle Mariners are among the biggest frauds in baseball.

Yes, the Ms are not mathematically eliminated, but they weren’t able to withstand a surge by the Houston Astros and haven’t been able to put together any sort of meaningful win streak to get with realistic striking distance of the AL West crown. It’s just a matter of days before the Astros’ magic number winds down to zero.

This is a Mariners team with arguably the best pitching in baseball — 1st in WHIP, 2nd in ERA — but also one of the worst offenses — 25th (out of 30) in runs per game, 25th in OPS, last in batting average.

This team once had a 10-game lead in the AL West before their slow meltdown began and led to the firing of manager Scott Servais.

Certainly, Seattle has had rays of hope since Jerry Dipoto took over as general manager for the 2016 season. Since then, the Mariners have had five winning seasons and perhaps six if they can squeeze out enough wins before the end of this season.

But … c’mon. This franchise has won only one playoff series since the beginning of the 2002 season. This is the only franchise in baseball that has never even been to the World Series. This is a franchise in a very rich, very growing metropolis area which has enjoyed championship success on the football field (Seahawks) and basketball court (Supersonics).

In 2001, the Mariners were the talk of all of baseball. They won the most games in a single season (116) in history. They escaped the Cleveland Indians before being exposed by the New York Yankees in the ALCS.

This is a franchise that, during a stretch of years in the 1990s, had Hall of Famers Randy Johnson, Edgar Martinez and Ken Griffey Jr. and a potentially future HOFer in Alex Rodriguez. Even that squad couldn’t get it done.

In fact, since launching the franchise in 1977 in the Kingdome, the Mariners have won a total of four playoff series. Four in 48 years.

Some say the Mariners don’t spend enough money in free agency. Their huge signings didn’t work out great — Robinson Cano failed to get the Ms to the postseason during his 10-year, $240 million contract. Years earlier, the Ms paid big for Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson and that didn’t get them to the playoffs either.

But how does a franchise define success? The Mariners play in one of the nicest parks in the league (47,929-capacity T-Mobile Park) that has attracted at least 30K per game over the past three seasons. The team makes money even without winning titles. Is that true success?

Maybe it is, for the Mariners. And, for the time being and maybe for a few more years to come, that will be the only success this franchise will have.