The early offseason moves for the Mariners have been nothing but subtraction. First, the Mariners didn’t make a qualifying offer to Teoscar Hernandez. Jerry Dipoto and Justin Hollander then traded away the Mariners starting third baseman Eugenio Suarez. The latest move came just a few days ago when the front office traded Jarred Kelenic, Marco Gonzales and Evan White to the Braves.
All of those moves have saved the Mariners about $38 Million in salary. Besides that, they’re not expected to sign two-way player Shohei Ohtani. So what exactly is the Mariners’ plan? How does Jerry Dipoto plan to make this Mariners team better?
“We did what we needed to do to create the framework from which to build the team we envisioned,” president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said yesterday, per Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times. “Our goal is to go get better.”
According to Divish, there has been some uncertainty with the budget due to Root Sports NW being moved to a higher package on Xfinity. So understandably, there are some concerns regarding viewership.
Per Roster Resource, the Mariners have about $25 million to put them at where they were at last season ($140 million.
After trading away Kelenic and opting not to bring back Hernandez, the Mariners find themselves without a corner outfielder who had a significant number of at-bats last season.
“We would like to add, I would call it, ‘1½ corner outfielders’ with the half being of someone at least capable of platooning with the idea that Dominic Canzone could fill the other side of it, or Cade Marlowe or Taylor Trammell,” Dipoto said, per Divish. “And then, we would like to find someone who is just a presence, more of a middle-of-the-lineup type, and if that means a primary DH, if it means some part of a corner position and DH, that’s a possibility, but we’d like to add bats that can make our offense better.”
All three of the outfield options that Dipoto mentioned hit from the left side, which likely means the Mariners may look for a right-handed platoon bat. This year’s outfield is headlined by Cody Bellinger, Hernandez, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Jung Ho Lee and more. Getting any of those guys would require Seattle’s front office to go above the threshold they were at last season. The Mariners also haven’t given any free-agent position player a multi-year deal since Dipoto was hired in 2015. So adding a star to the Mariners outfield would certainly be going outside of the comfort zone.
In fact, AJ Pollock who signed with the Mariners last offseason had the largest guarantee under the watch of Jerry Dipoto at seven million. Pollock is one of the right-handed options that the Mariners could consider. Though, it’s unlikely that Seattle would sign him again. They could consider someone like Whit Merrifield or Tommy Pham to platoon.
At DH, they could consider either J.D. Martinez or Rhys Hoskins.
What about adding through trade?
While that is always an option, it doesn’t seem likely. The club has been fielding calls about their young pitchers. The Mariners sound high on their young arms and it may take a star to pry them away.
“We’re always likely to trade. That’s just what we do,” Dipoto said. “Our comfort level in moving any of those [top prospects] wouldn’t be very high. But if we target the right player with another team, and we’re able to access that player, we will consider just about anything.”
Even then, its probably very unlikely that the Mariners would trade Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert or George Kirby. One of Bryan Woo, Bryce Miller or Emerson Hancock is more likely. The Mariners also have Robbie Ray returning after Tommy John Surgery at some point in the second half of the season. Though Injuries are inevitable and to be a playoff team you need good depth.
The Mariners still need to find a starting-caliber third baseman to replace Suarez. The options in free agency are a little on the older side. The options in-house are Luis Urias, Josh Rojas, Ty France and Jose Caballero. Of those four, France and Rojas are likely the only starting-caliber players. Rojas will likely be the team’s second baseman. First Base is probably the best position for France.
In short, it seems like Jerry Dipoto plans on adding through free agency. Though, this time finding someone who can help the Mariners better offensively.
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