Seattle Mariners, Jerry Dipoto to take a “step back” in 2019
The Seattle Mariners, a team confused and lost in their division, are taking a unique, yet unsurprising approach to the 2019 season, and beyond.
Recently, the Seattle Mariners have been the subject of loads of debate. In trading away catcher Mike Zunino and stellar starter James Paxton, all signs have pointed to them entering a rebuild, or taking a “step back”.
As Ryan Divish, the Seattle Times’ Mariners beat reporter wrote, general manager Jerry Dipoto and the Mariners are going to “step back” in 2019, hoping to, at some point “take two [steps] forward”. In his speech, Dipoto noted that while Paxton and Zunino (who’d both been with the organization for six season) were valued assets, they didn’t have the team control the organization wanted.
Though they did acquire longer term assets like outfielder Mallex Smith (in the Zunino swap) and pitching prospect Justus Sheffield, they still have other contracts they’d reportedly like to unload this winter. Many reports have suggested that Dipoto and company are interested in trading starter Mike Leake, who, despite pitching to a serviceable 4.36 ERA this past season, still has over $40 million left on his contract, which includes a no-trade clause.
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Divish notes that Leake’s contract, just like that of infielder Jean Segura, who is under contract until the 2023 season, aren’t exactly that easy to move, especially with the clogged market for middle infielders this winter. Still, Segura, 28, has certainly performed well enough to warrant some return. In 2018, he slashed a healthy .304/.341/.415 in 144 games, earning an All-Star nod and stealing 20 bases and knocking 29 doubles.
Dipoto’s comments, while not exactly groundbreaking, provide a basis of Seattle’s 2019 season. Segura is likely to be moved, and with franchise anchor Nelson Cruz (who bashed 37 home runs and posted an OPS of .851 in 2018) hitting the open market, the Mariners will be a vastly different looking team next season.
Unfortunately for them, there isn’t a ton of upside in having a sub-par 2019. According to MLB Pipeline’s list of the top 100 prospects in baseball, the Mariners have just one prospect on the list, the newly acquired Sheffield, who is ranked 31st.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Mariners deal with their roster going forward. With the Houston Astros exhibiting a virtual stranglehold on the AL West, and the sneaky Oakland Athletics poised to pick up complementary assets this winter, the Mariners are in a tough spot, to say the least.
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Of course, this isn’t even taking into account the underwhelming Angels, who, despite lofty expectations in 2018, limped to a record of 80-82. Though they’re somewhat of a wild card, the Mariners will have their work cut out for them if they’re looking at long term success in one of baseball’s most brutally competitive divisions.