Seattle Mariners Survey Options for Starting Pitching Depth

Even after adding Yovani Gallardo, the Seattle Mariners are still considering options for their starting rotation. Where might they look?

The Seattle Mariners did some remodeling in their rotation at the end of last week, acquiring Yovani Gallardo from the Baltimore Orioles and then promptly shipping Nate Karns off to the Kansas City Royals. When the dust had settled on the trades, the M’s had also parted with outfielder Seth Smith while bringing in Jarrod Dyson.

However, in talking with the media, Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto suggested that he might not be done tinkering with his starting staff. As Bob Dutton of The News Tribune points out, Seattle still needs to settle on a fifth starter to back up Felix Hernandez, James Paxton, Hisashi Iwakuma and newcomer Gallardo.

For now, Dipoto appears to be focusing on the organization’s internal options for rounding out the rotation:

"Dipoto cited Ariel Miranda and Chris Heston and Rob Whalen as possibilities along with “rising young players” such as Max Povse, Andrew Moore and Ryan Yarbrough.“I don’t envision adding a Cy Young contender,” Dipoto said, “but we [are] always looking for ways to get deeper and a little more versatile.”"

Although there are still a few notable starting pitchers remaining on the free agent market, it seems unlikely the M’s will make a play for someone like Jason Hammel unless his asking price has truly cratered. (Stay tuned.)

Travis Wood could be a possibility if the club is willing to fulfill his reported preference for being a starter rather than a reliever. The 29-year-old did a nice job out of the bullpen last year, posting a 2.95 ERA for the Cubs over 61 innings. He has been erratic as a starting pitcher, though. In 2014, the last season in which all of his appearances were starts, he sputtered to a 5.03 ERA across 173.2 frames. However, he earned an All-Star nod a year earlier while managing a 3.11 ERA over 200 innings as a starter.

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Betting that Wood can recapture that form in the rotation would be a definite gamble, one the M’s probably won’t take unless he’s willing to accept a budget-sized deal. That doesn’t seem to be in the cards right now.

What about a reunion with Doug Fister? The veteran faltered with the Astros last season, generating a 4.64 ERA and 1.43 WHIP, but he did put in some work, logging 180.1 innings over 32 starts. As a number-five innings-eater on a cheap one-year deal, you could do worse.

Despite his struggles in 2016, Fister did manage a ground ball rate over 45 percent and could post better numbers back at Safeco Field. Nevertheless, as Dipoto hinted, the team might prefer to consider some younger in-house arms over the soon-to-be 33-year-old Fister.

Seattle is hoping that the pitcher-friendly nature of its home ballpark can maximize otherwise middle-of-the-road talents like Gallardo. While the 30-year-old right-hander struggled mightily with Baltimore last year (5.42 ERA) amidst battling injury, a move to the Pacific Northwest could lead to a bounce-back year in the final season of his current deal.

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The Mariners are certainly hoping that is the case. 2017’s goal is clear: make the postseason for the first time since 2001. The franchise wants to do right by ace Felix Hernandez while he is still in his prime. Bolstering its starting pitching ranks would also take some of the pressure off of a king who showed some cracks in his armor last year. Seattle is expecting a rebound from him as well, but it may need to get used to the idea that they won’t be seeing the 2010 Cy Young version again.